Participants:
| Scene Title | What We Need Is… Someone On The Inside |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Liz comes to pick up Niki from the Emergency Room and ends up reintroducing Jessica to Cardinal as they plot to overthrow Linderman. |
| Date | August 6, 2009 |
Emergency Room
It's another busy morning in the emergency room, and Niki is sitting on a hospital bed after waiting several hours to see a doctor. As soon as she was able to scrape herself up off the sidewalk, she made her way to the ER where she waited. And waited. After a couple of hours, she sent a text to Liz Harrison noting that she was the ER and that she had been assaulted. Other than that, she called no one.
It was shortly after that text, she was finally seen by a doctor, or someone who resembles a doctor, though he didn't come across as rather bright. An X-ray later and they confirm there was a fracture and the shoulder was dislocated. After several attempts to reset the shoulder, and a few death threats later, they were finally able to put the shoulder back in place, and they put her in a sling. She was waiting now for a prescription as she sat, her legs hanging off the end of the bed.
Outside at the intake desk, Elisabeth Harrison flashes her badge to the nurse and says, "I'm looking for Niki Sanders. She called in." The nurse directs her back toward the curtained space where Niki sits, and Elisabeth peeks briefly before pulling the thing aside to take a good look at the superstrong blonde. After a brief, silent assessment, Elisabeth throws up a silence field around the two of them and demands quietly, "Who?" Because if the answer's who she thinks it is…. she's going to be seriously pissed.
"The name John Logan mean anything to you? Apparently he's some messenger boy for Linderman. Seems that Linderman doesn't want me intruding upon his life." Other than the shoulder, and a few layers of dirt that can be dealt with by a shower and some soap, Niki seems to be okay. "He somehow sapped my power, but even Jessica with her.. skills, couldn't do anything to him. His eyes were very creepy as they kept changing color." She just wants to get her hands on him again.
"Oh fuck," Elisabeth says softly. "Yeah…. John Logan's ability is, from what I can gather, negation of some kind. I don't know what his radius is, but yeah. And he's working for Linderman? Sonuvabitch." She hesitates and says to Niki, "Remember when I asked you to go to Staten to look for Abby? John Logan and his bastards are the ones who held her captive and brutalized her for her healing ability." She's pretty sure exactly how that's going to go over and tells Niki anyway.
Gritting her teeth, Niki shakes her head. "And I let this bastard get away. Dammit." She hops off the bed and she clenches the hand on her good arm. "The fucker shot at me, but I think he was packing blanks." Her voice is a little different now, more husky than it had been. Jessica slams her fist into the bed as it buckles under the force of her fist, bending in the center. Luckily, it's not heard with Liz's bubble around them.
"Well, now I have more reasons than one to go after him. Any idea how we stop him?" Certainly by 'we' she's not talking about her and Liz because Jessica is a 'we' all on her own.
Elisabeth purses her lips thoughtfully. "I have an idea how to stop him." She smiles faintly, though it doesn't reach her hard blue eyes. "There's several people I know who've also got a beef with him, and I have a feeling one of them's going to be real happy to know the information you just gave me…. because it may mean he kills two birds with one stone." She considers. "How well do you know the layout of Linderman's building and office and such?"
Jessica's eyebrow pops up for a moment, then she offer a wry grin. "You mean they didn't report the fact that I tore their front door off their hinges a few weeks ago?" She turns a more serious expression as she shrugs. "I've been in there a few times. First couple of floors and been ones up to Daniel's penthouse or whatever he calls it. What is it you need to know?" she asks as she wiggles the fingers of her slinged hand to keep the circulation flowing. "Whatever it is, I want in."
With a snicker, Elisabeth says wryly, "No. No, he didn't report you'd gone and ripped anything up. Not that it shocks me much." She tilts her head. "Your knowledge of the building's floor plans and Linderman's office may actually be quite helpful to this friend of mine. And since I'm pretty sure his agenda regarding Logan is about the same as yours, I think maybe putting the two of you in touch would be good," she finally says quietly. "Never thought I'd see you and me agreeing," she adds, shaking her head.
"You and I may not see eye to eye all the time, but I just don't see you seeing eye to eye with too many as it is. I guess the same goes with me as well." The doctor comes with her prescription and hands her the bag. Without a word to the doc, Jessica starts to walk off. "If it means getting my hands on Linderman, or Logan, then count me in. I'll meet whoever you want. I'll meet the devil himself, if that's what it takes. Just tell me when and where."
Elisabeth laughs. "Well, you'd have that shit right. At least this week," she comments ruefully. "Let me make a couple of calls after I drop you off." She tilts her head. "You wanna press charges on Logan just to jam him up a while?" She smiles wickedly. "If you tell me where to find him, if he's on Manhattan, there's also kidnapping and assorted other charges pending with regard to Abby."
As they walk towards the exit, Jessica shrugs gingerly. "He ambushed me on the way home from Lucy's last night. I have a feeling he's been watching me as I walk home at night. So, honestly, I'm not certain where to find him. He's been finding me. Maybe your guy might want to tail me for a few nights to see if he spots him?" Using her good arm, she pushes the glass door open and steps out into the sunshine, squinting her eyes. "Damn, I was in there far too long."
"Too long for what?" Elisabeth asks curiously. "And I'll let him know. If you decide you want to press those charges, lemme know. If nothing else, it'll thrill me to haul his ass to jail and then let someone shank him on the inside." Her tone is dark. "C'mon, I'm parked over here. I'll getcha home to rest." She hesitates and comments, "Abby's going to be coming home soon. Keep an eye on her, okay? Some things have been going on that lead me to believe she may be on a serial killer's hit list."
"Seems like I was in that ER for hours, and I guess I was. It's morning already." The mention of a serial killer has Jessica's attention. She's due to kick someone's ass, so maybe the killer will come around and grant her wish. "I'll keep an eye out. For Abby and for Logan. If I happen upon him, I'll give you a call. Even if it's to come cart away his dead body." Jessica's tone matches Liz's in darkness as she gives an evil smirk towards the detective. Just give me a heads up if your guy decides to follow me home, so I don't mistake him for Logan."
"MMmmmm," Elisabeth drawls with a cheeky smile. "If the person I'm going to introduce you to follows you home, darlin, you'll never even know it." After she unlocks the car and goes around to the driver's side, Elisabeth pulls out her phone and drops a quick text.
U got time? Got a present for ya.
The response comes fairly swiftly:
change ur mind about the schoolgirl outfit?
Elisabeth laughs at her screen and shakes her head. Ass. Meet @ Nite Owl. She puts the phone down, chuckling. "This ought to be entertaining," she says mildly as she starts the car. She drives like any New York City cop — not as bad as Felix, though! Still it might be a touch harrowing for Niki on the way to the Nite Owl.
Jessica watches as Liz types on her phone and waits. Then Liz drives. For Niki, yes, it might be quite the ordeal, but for Jessica it's a day in the life. She doesn't seem to feel too much in danger during the trip. It's been a while since she's been to the Owl, but it's probably for the best they didn't meet at Lucy's. "I take it he's going to meet us?" she asks with a grin on her face.
The answer is obvious, so Liz doesn't bother to do more than grin at Jessica. They get to the Nite Owl in a reasonable amount of time, and Liz even holds the door open for the other blonde — what with her arm being in a sling. "They give you painkillers or muscle relaxers for that?" she asks curiously, not having thought to ask before.
At the bar, they might spot Cardinal. He's beaten them here, and is currently ordering a drink from the man behind the counter, gesturing with one hand to punctuate his words. No jacket tonight, just a form-fitting black short-sleeved shirt with a hint of a collar, and black jeans.
Elisabeth points the blondes toward a table and murmurs, "C'mon, you. Stop flirting with Tom." It'll carry exactly to Cardinal and nowhere else, the imp of mischief riding Liz's shoulder as she slides into the table with Jessica.
Jessica shrugs, again gingerly with her arm in a sling. "Oh, probably something for the pain." She follows Liz into the building and then gives her an odd look at the mention of 'Tom'. She shakes her head and her eyes take note of Cardinal sitting at the table. "Not bad." she whispers to Liz before they reach the table.
The whisper at his shoulder turns Cardinal's head, and a smirk curls to his lips, noting where they're walking before returning his attention to 'Tom' once again to finish up his order. So, it's with a basket of fries and a milkshake in hand that he meanders his way back along towards the table the pair are at. Jessica gets a curious, thoughtful look, that sling noted and her clothes considered as well.
Liz winks at Jessica. "Not bad at all," she agrees quietly. She waves to Tom and then encloses the table in a silence field when Cardinal joins them. "So … you two haven't had the pleasure yet, though you've got the same goals. John Logan's a sonuvabitch who's working as Linderman's messenger boy and muscle, and Linderman needs to go down as fast as humanly fucking possible. Introduce yourselves," she offers, if only because she's not sure if the two of them will be offering real names or alternative ones given their 'wanted' statuses.
"Jessica", she chooses to introduce herself as. Niki will probably have very little to do with this operation. She looks like she got her ass handed to her, and she did. Arm in a sling and she's come straight from the emergency room so no time to freshen up. "Bastard decided to ambush me on my way home from work." she explains.
"It was you or Strauss, and I don't think she'd be caught dead in a place like this…" A wry smile tugs up at one corner of Cardinal's lips, his chin coming up in an easy nod to the woman. "We've met before. Staten Island? At the Happy Dagger? Abigail?" A few words tossed out there to help stir the memory, even as he sets the basket of fries down upon the table and drops down to sit with them, "Richard Cardinal."
At the mention of Strauss, Elisabeth grimaces. The third face of Niki/Jessica/Gina and Tracy Strauss still has no name, and she can't dig into it too deeply at this precise moment, though it's on her list to be followed up on. She steals several of Cardinal's fries while the two talk. "I'd forgotten that in all that's come later." She glances at Jessica. "I asked him to look for you out there when you never came back." That was when Jess wound up in Moab, after all.
The name Strauss is mentioned and for now it seems to go over Jessica's head. Not that she's dumb, just she hasn't has much time to dwell on that. It has been mentioned in passing a couple of times to Niki, but look alikes are common place, so she doesn't think they literally mean 'look a like'. Okay, so someone looks kinda like her. She gets it. "Oh. Okay, I recall now. Sorry, a lot has happened since all that. Moab was not one of my better moments, actually. So, Liz seems to think we can take down Linderman together. In fact, I've a friend who seems to think she can help as well." She doesn't mention Eve by name just yet. "I've been inside that building. Security is 'no shit', but if you know where you want to go, I can probably get you there."
"I can walk in the front door," admits Cardinal as he leans forward, reaching out to pluck a french fry from the basket and gesturing with it, "Or through any side door I want, honestly, and not raise any alarms whatsoever. It's what I do what's inside, that's more of a question…" Back, again, he purses his lips in a slight frown, "The Flying Dragons are making a big push against Linderman soon, too. Actually, they contracted me regarding that already."
"A gang?" Jessica hesitates for a moment. "I am not certain we need to involved a gang. The more that get involved, the more liklihood this will go bad and quick. How sure are you about these folks?" She glances around the diner for a bit before turning her attention back to Liz and Cardinal.
"Oh, they're a bunch of scumbags that're just out to take over the criminal underworld themselves," Cardinal replies in rather dry tones, his head shaking a little, "The thing is…" He hesitates for a moment to consider how to phrase things, "…it's not a— simple situation. There's more people than the Linderman Group on this particular game board, and there's more joining every moment."
There's a brief moment of someting internal going on with Jessica. In fact, there's a rather interesting discussion going on within the woman of multiple personalities. She doesn't look at Cardinal or Liz during this time, her lips are barely parted her front teeth peeking through before she finally looks up. "I'll be straight with you. Whatever this game is that you have going on, it doesn't concern me in the least. Linderman took my kid when I thought he was dead, kept him in a hospital without my knowledge and when I found out too late. When I got there, he was dead. You want Linderman out of the picture, I can help you with that, but I have no real interest in dealing with anyone else."
"That sounds like something Daniel'd do." Cardinal exhales a faint snort of breath at that, leaning back slightly, "If you want to ignore the big picture, even then things're going to be hard. You've got two choices. Kill him— easily done, if that's what you want— or expose him. The latter's harder."
"To make him suffer as.." Jessica almost says 'we', but she stops herself, ".. I have, would be justice. That's what I want. Death, is the easiest, but not really as fulfilling as I would like. Do you have a plan?" She rolls her slung arm a little, feeling it beginning to stiffen on her.
"Mnm." A thoughtful sound, Cardinal's hand sliding over the milkshake's glass and bringing it up; taking a sip thereof, he lowers it a bit, "It's always harder to ruin a man. What we need is an insider. Someone who can find out where his weaknesses lie, where his secrets are…" He pauses, a faint and not very pleasant smile twitching to his lips, "…someone like John Logan."