2008-01-08: An Enemy Of My Enemy

Starring:

Church_icon.gif Mohinder_icon.gif

Summary: Church is in Srs Bzness mode today, and so does not manage to make a fool of himself. He and his new temporary partner confer on the matter of Pinehearst.

Date It Happened: January 8th, 2008

An Enemy Of My Enemy


Downtown, NYC - Isaac's Loft

This large space, once devoted to an artist and his work, has been turned into a top notch science lab. The only remnant it seems of the former resident, is the mural of the nuclear explosion taking out the city, painted there in the middle of the floor. Little about the interior structure has been changed. In the area surrounding the mural, there are a few easels left standing. To the left of the entrance, a work station is set up for running tests, along with a computer nearby. All of the lab equipment is quality, high tech and state of the art. (Which appears out of place with the loft's overall design).


Much like it was last night for Peter's surprise visit, the lab is back to normal. Items and equipment have been repaired or replaced, the signs of the struggle have been cleaned up. Mohinder is locked securely in the lab, safe from anyone who doesn't have the lock codes, or doesn't break in. Currently, he's leaning against one of the work tables, staring intently at the computer monitor in front of him.

Maybe he should have called before coming, but to tell the truth, Lawrence forgot the loft number.

The agent outside in the hall walks slowly down towards the door, his pace relaxed for several reasons; he still hurts, he's taking in the loft building itself, and he has not actually spoken one-on-one with Mohinder for months. The last time? Well, the last time seems incredibly stupid. As Church comes to the door, his outline does fall over the window with a shadow, and probably against his best interests in being polite- Lawrence starts to punch in the door codes without knocking first. He belongs over here! Assumptions like that make him seem just a bit surprising. No phone call, no knock, just sudden.

Mohinder hears Church out in the hall. The shadowed figure in the glass, then the codes being pressed on the pad outside the door. Not wanting to take any chances, he slips out the Company issue sidearm and holds it under the table. Safety off, it's ready to go in the event of an unfriendly face coming in through the door.

It's probably another assumption that Mohinder can't take care of himself, and that's partially why he happens to think that despite being on a new assignment, Church is being used doubly as a glorified bodyguard. That, or Church is simply too jaded in dealing with Doctors of any kind lately. As the door clicks open, the face slipping in the side of the doorway is anything but unfriendly. Smiling, and just his face in the door for now. "Yo, Doc?" Hi! It's me! Here's hoping Mo already knows why he's here.

Mohinder may need a babysitter from time to time, but mostly he lets his guard down at the wrong times. When the door open and Church makes his identity known, there's a sigh of relief from the geneticist, and the audible click of the safety being engaged before the gun disappears back to where it was hidden. "Come on in Church, I thought you might come by." Just, with no announcement as to /when/, the doctor's a bit jumpy.

Church raises his eyebrows half an inch as he glances behind him into the hall, and slips into the loft. As the door shuts behind him, a crooked smile falls into place. "Gonna shoot me, Suresh? You're learning, I see."

Lawrence steps forward and practically jogs his way doen that short length of stairs, his hand gripping the short rail in order to bring his almost jaunty gait to a halt. "First off, let me say-" The agent picks up the edges of his blazer just enough to perch his fingers on his hips. "-that the last time we spoke I think I may have been high." Yeah, okay. See, Church knows when he's been too stupid.

"Only if you were here to accost and kidnap me," Mohinder says in a tone devoid of humor. The bruises on the man's face are fading in with his dark skintone, evidence left from the struggle of a week ago. Brows lift somewhat at the admission of being high, but it's shrugged off. "I see. And what of now, with the injuries you sustained recently?"

Church runs the back of his hand against a jaw that hasn't seen a razor for the day, and the older man just smirks. "Nurses do me wonders. I'm sore, but at least I'm not dead, eh?" While he speaks, Lawrence lets his eyes roam the loft, and then they flit up to inspect what may be left of those bruises on Mohinder's face. "You're back in here again, so I assume you're doing well too?" Not even bodily injury of epic proportions could keep Suresh away from his lab, right?

Mohinder has a secret torrid love affair with lab equipment, he can never part from it. Or so people are free to think. "Well enough, I wasn't injured terribly. Nowhere near what you went through." The comment about nurses goes untouched. He's not one to really play with the ladies. Although, speaking of, "When I was in Mt Sinai for observation, I had a most odd visitor by the name of Charlotte. I suspect she knows quite a good deal about what happened. She seemed afraid when I asked her directly how she knew I was in the hospital, why I was there, and about Nathan and Niki."

"Charlotte?" There is something invisible and intangible that passes Lawrence's eyes, something of a shadow that flickers underneath of his expression. It is not recognition- it is something more base, and more instinctual than recognition. It disappears soon after appearing, as if the name simply waved a hand over the agent's face. "That seems like such an obvious flag, doesn't it? Some woman showing up and being like that. What exactly did she know about what happened?"

"She wasn't specific about it, and she kept referring to knowing that they were okay. She was also insistent that she didn't work for anyone." Mohinder is indeed skeptical. "She said she probably wasn't supposed to be there, but was.. I think she might be working with the young woman who rescued me." From the surface of his table, he picks up an envelope containing the hard copy of his official report. Paperclipped inside is the business card for Pinehearst that Daphne left with him. "Charlotte came quite prepared to feed an army, it was a little unsettling. She did become scared and nervous when I asked if she worked for an organization."

"This girl sounds new, by what you're telling me. New, or just inexperienced at these… things." Church steps forward when Mohinder picks up the envelope, ready to receive it when the man offers, his hand even half-held out for it. "If she knew exactly how to find you, It's likely that she is also with the other woman. There is coincidence and there isn't."

"She's not with the Company, that's for certain," Mohinder states in a firm tone. "She was insistent that my friends were okay and that I should know this. The woman seemed well practiced however, in coming into hospital rooms, armed with food." She would have been right up Church's alley. The envelope is offered for Church to take. Inside, is what Mohinder remembers from the time he was tazed to the hospital. There is also a description of Charlotte, and what he can recall of Daphne as well. "That's what I was thinking. She visited soon after Bob left, and he was the first person I called. I only called one other and that was home to Matt and Molly."

"What I wish I knew more of, was who they stole you back from…it's like someone's been fighting custody battles. Do you know if they took back the others as well as you?" Church murmurs and dives into the envelope's contents as if he were some sort of scanning machine. Beep, beep, beep. He seems to be drawn most of all to the card, which is what he does not tuck back into the clip as he folds the letter away. "…is this were she was from? Or where it's assumed she is?" Lawrence holds up the card, twirling it between his finger.

"There are so many unanswered questions. Nathan and Niki were taken for study, in a less kindly manner." Mohinder still can't bring himself to describe Pierce as a doctor. "When I woke up in Mt. Sinai, the card had been left with me. I can only presume that the young woman who rescued me left it. She said they drew straws on the rescuing. Which tells me associates of hers rescued Nathan and Niki. I've seen neither the rescuer or Charlotte in the past week." Along with Daphne's description, is his analysis of the ability she displayed. "Both organizations appear to be more inclined towards those with abilities. Which might explain why there's been no sign of Niki or Nathan since." Otherwise, why was Mohinder dumped at a hospital while the others are missing?

"Then I suppose I'd better not just stroll up to the front doors, hm?" It's not entirely a joke, though. There is sarcasm there, which means he has already thought about it. They just handed over their location? Maybe they are just not as shadowy as other people want them to seem. "That just leaves finding out who it was that came here in the first place." Church does prefer to know who or what he is dealing with, as his years happen to increase. "An enemy of theirs? One of ours, certainly- but." The agent pauses, sighing and glancing to the floor past his vision, fixing his eyes to that painting on the floor. Looks familiar. "An enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"No, but I think I should," Mohinder says in regards to strolling up to the front doors. "They probably know of my affiliation with the Company. They were quicker than we were in finding our location. Which makes me suspicious of their motives. I wonder if the kidnapping was an elaborate plan, but why? The best I can determine is Pinehearst being a biotechnical firm." The geneticist is perturbed visably. This firm just appeared out of the blue it seems. How did they escape his notice for so long? All of the firms he's courted for funding before the Company made their offer.

"Maybe." Lawrence turns his face away from looking visibly down at the floor. He seemed too drawn to that. "Maybe you going, I mean. If they took all the trouble to make themselves seem good to you- then perhaps they do have something riding on this. On you." He tucks his bottom in just a bit, biting on the corner in thought, his voice suddenly weary. "That, and if they kept Nathan Petrelli and Niki Sanders-" People with abilities being stolen by a Biotech firm? Come on. "-I'd guess that they do have something to do with…us. Employing us, stealing us, tempting you, of all the geneticists in the world?" Us as in him- Nathan, Niki, et cetera. Special people. "It almost sounds like they want their own Company." That, however, draws Lawrence out of his buzz, and the man lets out a laugh that sounds almost incredulous.

Mohinder shakes his head, "Why now? Just a year ago I was looking for funding. No, this is something more. As of yet, there hasn't been any tempting or courting of my knowledge." No. Daphne just left him at the hospital with a business card. If they really wanted to tempt him, she would have taken him to their facilities. Quirking a brow, Mohinder turns to stare at Church as he laughs. The expression is questioning, as if asking the man to share the humor.

Church doesn't seem as if he wants to share the irony of a second Company, ignoring that quizzical look and giving back his own.

"Maybe they were waiting for something? Something you've been working on? Something they were working on? Maybe they only just realized that you'd be an addition if there was one, even. Maybe they were just genuinely slow." What does he work on? "Had you noticed anyone else watching you, or something like that?"

"No one in particular. If they've been watching for some time, they've been careful not to notice. Bob had the security feeds pulled, so if anything or anyone unusual is seen on the feeds, someone will notice." Mohinder settles down onto a stool at the table. "The card was left for a reason, so I will be going there to see what further information I can gather." His tone reeks of someone who has their mind made up. Now to see if he takes his assigned partner with him, or goes alone without telling anyone.

"I won't let you go in there without a lick of backup, Mohinder." There is a distinct difference between Will Not and Cannot. Cannot implies Church has no choice in the matter. While that might be the case, technically, he doesn't see it that way. When he has a partner on an assignment, he takes that very seriously, if nothing else. Or it could be the fact Lawrence is a genuinely nice guy. Take your pick.

Mohinder's expression is grim, yet he still looks resolute. "If I go there with backup, they might become suspicious." Unless that's precisely what they wanted. "I appreciate that you take your job seriously." But goes unsaid. "Also, if they wanted to cause me harm, they would have done so by now."

"Even if you don't take me, or someone- I have to at least keep tabs on you somehow. Any undercover work always carries a risk- even if it appears to have none. They could have harmed you some way by now, sure, but there's always the chance they're biding their time." Church is no greenhorn, here. Perhaps a third reason for his being with Mohinder this turn.

"I know this, and there will be a way to keep an eye on me," Again, if Mohinder sets this up ahead of time. The man has a tendancy to do foolishly stupid things, even reckless at times. "I would like to start there, by checking into Pinehearst on researching this matter." He's fairly certain that Bob is having image recognition and cross referencing done on the surveillance as far as the identities of the kidnappers. Or something along those lines. The rest? Follow on the few leads he's been given.

"If you would like to start there, then I'll see what I can set up for you to be able to safely do just that, okay?" Lawrence makes a point of using sure words, brow furrowing at Mohinder. He's not unfamiliar with that foolish nature when he makes up his mind. "I don't want to set something secure for you and find out that you packed your beakers and took off already."

"I think that's the most logical place to start," Mohinder says as he gets up from his stool and moves over to the pile of incoming mail he has yet to touch. For a geneticist that is scorned within his own circles, there's a gathering following of those seeking answers. "I think we should discuss safety measures tomorrow, for now I have to get back to work," and sort through the mail. Perhaps he should cave and request an assistant.

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