Participants:
Scene Title | You Gotta Leave It At The Door |
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Synopsis | Magnes is tied up in knots over something he can't stop. |
Date | Aug 17, 2009 |
Police Precinct
NYPD Headquarters
The New York Police Department Head Quarters is an old stone building, rennovated many times over the years. The plaster walls are not as cracked and in need of repair as the various Precinct buildings around the city. The fluorescent lights give the room a rather sterile glow. Old posters, civic reminders, duty rosters and newspaper clippings are tacked up on the walls, rustling every time one of the doors opens. A high, wooden desk sits on the north wall, manned by two clerks, who records all visitors and arrests.
The way out to the street lies to the south, while doors to the offices of the Head Quarters lie to the northwest.
Sitting outside the NYPD headquarters, figuring it's about time for Elisabeth to get off, Magnes simply waits instead of walking in. He doesn't wanna be a bother by barging in, eating a can of cashews in his semi-casual suit with a pair of old black sneakers on.
Good Lord…. of all the people she expected to see on her way out of the precinct, Magnes Varlane is not one of them. Elisabeth looks like she's heading somewhere other than straight home, most probably. Dark green capris topped by a white and yellow striped sleeveless blouse, white canvas shoes, and her blonde hair pulled up… she looks maybe a little younger than her years and certainly not like a hard-edged cop at all. She double-takes when she sees him, but doesn't automatically assume he's here to see her as she walks down the steps.
"Detective Harrison!" Magnes calls out as she walks down the steps, standing up to follow. "Sorry to bother you, I waited out here so I didn't become a bother or anything. I uh," He takes a deep breath, walking next to her. "I was wondering if you knew anything about the Peyton situation, like, stuff that's not on the news?"
"Peyton…. Peyton Whitney?" Elisabeth stops walking to turn and face the young cop-to-be. "Are you a friend of hers?" she asks with a tilt of her head. Why on earth does it NOT surprise her? Six degrees of separation biting her in the ass again.
"I'm not, I don't know her, I'm just trying to learn all I can, maybe I can help somehow." Magnes offers innocently enough, looking over at her, even giving a quick once over. He doesn't comment, he actually doesn't seem to be in the best of moods for whatever reason, just appearing a bit down.
Elisabeth's had a bit of a rough day herself — serial killer knows FAR too much about her personal life than she's comfortable with. Hence the going out; taking her mind off it. She gives Magnes the Eye. "Don't go trying to bluff me, kiddo; you haven't got the chops yet. You don't waltz up to a detective asking for inside info on a victim of a case by her first name only without knowing her personally. So how about we start from the top of this? When's the last time you saw her? And if it was the day she went missing, I think you need to march your little butt straight inside and ask for Detective Shelby or Detective O'Shea — it's their case."
"No, really, I don't know her. I guess I just came here in the wrong mood, sorry, that might have been a bit unprofessional." Magnes admits, staring down at his feet as they walk. "I broke things off with a girl for another girl, though I didn't tell her that was the reason. Either way, she was angry with me, and well, some things happened, and now I'm just in a crap mood. I came to ask about the case anyway, since I know there's not much time."
The blonde detective studies him quietly for a long few moments. "All right…. so do you know how odd that all sounds? If you do, I'll leave it alone, but… just sayin'." She sighs. "Basically, at this point, I can't tell you what we know or don't. It's not my case, to start with. And even if it were… the only thing I can tell you right now is that I hope to God we can find a trail on where these two girls were picked up and find a way to trace them. Because these Humanis First guys? They're not fuckin' around. They'll do it."
"So there's no lead on her trail at all? Damnit…" Magnes kicks at the ground for a moment, just going where ever Elisabeth happens to be going, trying his best to brainstorm. "You don't have postcognitives or anything? There has to be some way."
Elisabeth stops once more in her tracks. "What exactly is your interest in this case, Varlane? And stop blowing smoke up my ass, cuz if you lie to me this time, I'm hauling you in and letting Shelby have you." She sounds perturbed.
"I really don't know her, and I really am in a crappy mood for the reason I said." Magnes repeats, stressing the point that he was indeed telling the truth. "I watched that video, do you have any idea how scary it was? The things they'd put another human through just because they're afraid. I wanna stop them, but above all else, I want that girl to live, she doesn't deserve to die just because of how she was born, she doesn't deserve to suffer that way…" Of course the point that he knows Abby might add some context to how he feels about people being abused simply because they're evolved. "I have the power to do something, but I don't quite have the resources yet, that's why I came to you."
Blowing out a breath, looking at him, Elisabeth has a frown on her face. It seems to take a long while, and finally she says to him, "I know exactly how frightening that video is. And I know how bad it can be for someone who is a victim of kidnapping." And she does understand the idea behind what he's not saying. "I'm going to give you a piece of advice that you're going to hate. I hate it and I have to live with it just like every other cop does. There's a point where, when it's not your case, you have to learn to leave it at the door. Just like any other job, if you don't leave it at the door…. eventually you're going to either fall into a bottle to cope or you're going to literally burn yourself out. The hardest, the absolute worst part of being a cop — and most especially of being an Evolved cop — is that feeling, the one you have right now. The sense that you have all this power at your fingertips and you should be able to do something …. to fix it. To change it. To save them all. And it doesn't work like that," she says softly. "You do the best you can to save the ones that are put in front of you… and you hope that the cops handling the others are doing the same."
Magnes doesn't like that advice, that much is clear by the twisted frown on his face, staring at his shoes again. "Do you think she's gonna be alright?" he asks, seemingly looking for more reassurance than actual honesty. "It's not fair that the world is like this. I was in 2006 once, time travel, y'know? I often wonder what the world would be like if I broke the rules and tried to change everything. Maybe it wouldn't be this bad… but I guess he thinks about that all the time." Of course 'he' is given no name.
Oh, Liz doesn't need to ask to whom Magnes is referring — she knows all to well. THAT man has seen some shit. And she's wondered before if, in fact, he has tried to change things… maybe even tried to change them more than once… only to maybe make them worse. "Time's a tricky thing," she says quietly. "I've always believe nature abhors a vacuum and that certain events are… pivotal. So that even if you change the particulars of an event, a similar one will take its place so as to set the course of time back on the path it's supposed to take. Sort of like diverting a river. Once you start… you sort of have to keep making tweaks, else the water will go back to the path that it wore for itself." She shrugs. "Maybe that's not the way to look at it, I don't know. I know I sure as hell do the best I can to make things better for the people around me." She reaches out and touches the boy's — and that's really what he is, just a boy — shoulder. "I have faith in Shelby and O'Shea. And I'm sure going to be praying really hard for them." She can't promise him they'll be all right. It would be a lie. But she can share her own hope. Maybe.
"Everything in this world is going bad, good is being slowly but surely swept under the rug, and it's getting to the point where I'm not sure whatever I'm doing right now is enough, I'm not sure what anyone is doing right now is enough." Magnes gives her hand a quick glance, then stares up at her, taking a really good look, as if he could somehow find the solution to everything in her head. He wishes, possibly for an easy way, but… "If you could push the reset button on this world, would you? And if you wouldn't, why?"
Elisabeth sighs heavily and studies him. "I don't know, Varlane. I really don't. Good and bad are never as clear-cut as anyone would wish them to be," she says gently. "I wish I had the answers for you."
"It's alright, Detective Harrison, I just wanna see something good in the world, well, no, I can't say I haven't seen anything good, what I want is to see more good than bad." Magnes corrects, since while that wish is a stretch, it's not completely impossible. "I'm starting to feel like the more I improve, the worse the world seems to get. Or maybe I'm just noticing because I'm improving… Oh well, at least I'm dating, can't say I expected to do that this year. That's what got Shaft through, right?" Yeah, he's asking about Shaft.
She has to laugh. Elisabeth can't help it. "You're probably noticing more because you're more aware, this is true." She shakes her head. "Tell you what…. check with me tomorrow. If I can tell you anything more, I will. Okay?"
Magnes smiles, her offer at least lightening his mood a little, but rest assured, the emo will attack again about ten minutes after the conversation ends. "I will, Detective Harrison. Thanks for talking to me, a lot of the other detectives seem like their cat died or they'll punch me if I talk to them."
Elisabeth rolls her eyes. "Yeah, well….. it's stressful, Varlane. I'm not going to lie to you. And some of 'em are just arrogant pricks anyway." She shrugs. "Even me, sometimes." With a smile, she says, "Just call. I'll take the call and tell you what I can, though I doubt it'll be much. I'm reasonably sure that if we get them back, you'll see it plastered all over CNN."
"Good luck, Detective Harrison." Magnes offers, then runs off into a nearby alley. A few seconds later she'll see him zip right into the sky, quickly shrinking into the clouds.