Starring:
And a little hint of:
Date: July 16, 2010
Summary:
Mark shows up to bail his employee out of jail and brings her a gift.
"Bailed Out By The Boss"
Downtown, NYC - Police Station
The Lower Manhattan West police station drunk tank: you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy…or something along those lines. Following the protest last night, it can't really be called a drunk tank so much as the 'teary, weepy, coughy, pepper-sprayed and tasered protesters' tank. There's a handful of the homeless from out on the street, along with a few over-eager college students, and some uncharacteristically less-'protesty' protesters. We'll go ahead and say that Alexandra is in that last group.
It was all just a misunderstanding, she told them. She had only bumped into that cop's riot shield because of all the pepper spray in the air, really! She had work in the morning, she pleaded. The only thing that trying to sweet-talk the cops and explain her good intentions for being there - she thought it was going to be church members protesting homeless that frequented the shelter going missing, and the lack of police action - had gotten her was a an extra phone call or two. One of them had gone to labs at Lane Industries explaining that no, she wouldn't be in to work today, on account of a debilitating case of in jail.
So here she is, pacing around the cell. It's a few protesters lighter now, some having made bail, some having been taken into more secure custody with outstanding warrants or long rap sheets. Alex has none of those things however, so she waits for help from the outside.
"You know… I know Amazon toughened people up and was hell, but jail?" The voice is awfully familiar since Alexandra had to hear it for a few months. At least, he looks better. His hair is cut, the beard is gone, but it looks like a good amount of stubble is shadowing his chin, not to mention… no face paint. A hand curled around to bar of the cell she's in, leaning on it, Mark Scotts studies her with that ever present look of amusement.
"Next thing you know you'll be joining a biker gang, getting all tattooed up and wearing a leather bikini." He's seen pictures of what tough women look like. There is a thoughtful beat before he adds with a grin. "The leather bikini would be okay, but… don't tell Jo I said that."
He's dressed casually, in a jacket, shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. He may not be working currently, but he still needs to look the part when trying to see a friend. Money talks after all. "Assaulting a police officer, Alex?" His head shifts to look at her with a 'are you serious?' look, that smirk pulling up a corner of his mouth.
"It was all a misunderstanding. I told them that. First, I was trying to…ah, shake things up a little to calm the crowd down, but then they were launching pepper spray. The only thing I'm guilty of is getting disoriented and bumping into the officer's shield, honestly!" The voice certainly does shake her out of whatever little reverie she had been in, and she approaches the sides of the cell. Because it's a pretty old-style cell with the heavy steel bars, bolted down to the cement floor with just a few benches inside, she can look out at anyone, and anyone outside can look in.
Luckily, she didn't bring a whole purse with her to thing thing, but she still clings to her wallet for dear life. Likewise dressed in jeans, a plain shirt, and comfortable sneakers, her hair is mussed up from trying to spend the night napping on a hard bench in here. "I've already gotten one tattoo though, and that's enough for me. And I think a leather bikini would get unbearably hot. That's really why I could never be in a gang."
"Shake things up, huh?" A brow arches at the younger woman, and suddenly all the vibrations she might have been feeling cuts out - right about the time a big truck is rumbling past even, leaving her feeling disconnected yet again. "Lucky you, Dr. Ray contacted me as soon as he heard." Straightening from the bar, Mark tucks a hand in the pocket of his jeans. A nod goes to a police officer standing off to one side. The young jailer moves quickly to open the the cell door.
"You're free to go Miss Lambert." The officer says briskly and yet he seems so bored doing it. "Your bail has been posted by Mr. Lane."
Mark flashes her a bright smile as that's announced. "Dr. Ray insisted that he had to have his assistant." With a gesture to motion for her to follow, the man turns and walks towards the door of the cell. "Course, I couldn't have a team member behind bars, either."
At first, she's all smiles, figuring that that's what Mark may be down here for. She did get ahold of Dr. Ray on the phone, and hoped he'd go to tell the big bossman. When the cop comes over and opens the bars, Alex (and a few others) step forward, but of course, the cop is there to let only her out. A nasty look and a few shouts gets the others back to their benches or wandering around the far corners of the cell.
She only goes a few steps though before she stops. Her brows furrow, and she looks down at the conrete floor of the cell. In the last week or so, her ability to feel rumbles and vibrations through the ground had been returning, slowly but surely and now…nothing. It just stopped. One minute it's there, the next it's gone. Again. "Wait. Did you feel something? I can't feel anything now," she says, sounding not a little off her rocker.
Already turning to leave with her, Mark stops as she stops. Turning back, both brows lift and he glances at the officer, who is giving Alex an odd look. "Ah… No?" Taking a step back, he moves to hook a hand around her arm and pull her along with flashing the officer a grin. "It's all fine." That more for the officer then her.
Pulling her out of range, Mark leans down and says softly,"Don't forget… people don't really know your kind, lets not alert them." The sensation continues as he pulls her through the station. "What do you mean nothing?" He asks, keeping his voice low, so the sounds of the precinct covers up what he asks of her, leaving it for her own ears.
"I mean," Alex begins to say as she's hauled through the station. She has to walk pretty fast to keep up with Mark, who's a good deal taller. "I mean that the last time I stopped feeling things through the ground, no matter how strong, I lost the power to do anything at all. That was a few weeks ago, when that eclipse happened. I'm not trying to make my secret public, just saying. This was sudden, since things were starting to come back to normal. Still, nothing."
Realizing he's walking pretty fast, the Lane heir slows his pace, letting his hand fall away as he gives her an odd look. "Huh…" Is all he can think to offer, since he doesn't have an ability, Mark is pretty clueless in how all that works.
As they start by an office — human resources to be exact — Mark puts a hand on her shoulder. "Hold up a moment. I need to pop in here and remind them about a contract." He might be on vacation, but sometimes you can't leave it all behind. "In fact…" He reaches into his jacket and extracts the manilla envelope. "This… is for you." It's offered over, before he moves to rap on the door of the office. "Excuse me? Can I have a moment of your time?"
"Mr Lane! Come in… come in."
"Thank you. I came here to see if there is any new…" The door shuts behind Mark as he starts to conduct business. Along with cutting out the voices in the office, Alexandra can suddenly feel the world vibrating through her feet again.
There's a bench nearby, which Alex takes a set on, bending back that little metal thing to open the flap of the envelope. Crossing her legs at the ankles, she leans back and tilts the contents of the envelope into her lap…which consists of a magnetic swipe keycard. The papers that are in there don't come out as easily. When she does pull them out though, the first thing she spots is the Lane Industries letterhead.
"Hmmm, this is interesting. Dear Dr. Lambert…" she begins to read aloud, after looking up when the door shuts firmly. "A section of lab space all for conducting my…"
Then, it's like a light switch connected to a bulb that's a little browned-out. What limited powers had been returning over the last two weeks suddenly come back, not as intense as they were before the eclipse, but back to where they were prior to leaving that cell. That cop in the polished duty shoes thumping along on the tile floor? Yeah, she can pick that up. The little kid in the sneakers kicking his feet on the floor while mom comes down to pay a parking ticket, not so much.
The door handle rattles before the door opens, mid conversation. Mark is chuckling as he says. "..no no. I'm on vacation, but call Caroline and she'll get it our to the people that need to know."
"Vacation? Didn't you just get back?"
"You read the story I'm sure, being lost in the rainforest after the plane crash does not a vacation make. Take care!" Mark has always had a good relation with people on a different level of his brother. Robert takes the sleazy way, Mark just treat them as people. "And get rest, I hear once there is a baby… you won't get a good night sleep for sometime."
The door shut again, the explorer turns back to the terrekinetic, brows twitch upwards as he sees her look at the contents of the envelope. She's still firmly connected with the ground still even as he gives her a small smile. "So… what do you think?" Head nodding to the paperwork in her hands.
"Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, in fact. The problem is that I've always worked for someone else, not really doing my own thing. It's a change of pace, to be sure." The key card gets put safely into a jeans pocket, and the papers are shoved back into the envelope before she stands up. "So…thank you for this. And thank you for this," she says, nodding in the direction of a few cops there inside the police station. "But…really? We wandered around and miraculously survived in the rainforest? Does that make us the world's biggest fans of 'Man vs. Wild?'"
"Hey, better then the real story, my father would have lawyers all over that." Mark gives her a wry grin. "Heard rumors of a TV movie." He comments lightly, motioning her to proceed. "Not that I've heard a damn thing directly," Mark doesn't sound at all upset about it, really just amused. "You'll do fine in your own lab anyhow.
"I do.. however have a favor to ask you. Keep an eye on Dr. Ray still?" His gaze drops to the linoleum tiling as the continue on. "Your lab is situated near his, so it shouldn't be hard to see who is coming and going. He's out here for a few months working on a project, so… you won't have to worry about going to D.C… that would mean a commuter plane of course.
"I'm going to Egypt, taking Jo with me." Mark lays out his reasoning for her watching out for the old scientist. "I… have no idea how long I'll be gone, but it also means I won't be here to watch out for him."
"A TV movie huh? I wonder who they'd get to play me?" Narcissistic much? Alex certainly is smiling pretty brightly, at least. "And yes, absolutely I can do that. I'm certainly not going to be flying again, well, any time ever. That last flight of yours I took was a little…rough for my tastes." That coming from someone who didn't like flying all that much to begin with!
The next thing she says is suddenly much quieter. "Is this Egypt trip going to be another 'special' expedition? Is there another special in Egypt your father is going after?"
Mark's gaze is firmly on the path ahead, the doors of the Police Department looming in the distance. Brows furrow over blue eyes and his head slowly nods. "Possibly." Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he gives him a tight-lipped smile. "More then one this time, maybe…
"There are rumors of collars over there, so I'm going to go have a look." Sounds simple enough, but then Amazon was hell, leaving the older man to wake up at night, occasionally, covered in sweat. Mark slides both hands into the pockets of his jeans and his shoulders give a slow shrug. "Time to clean up my father's messes, at least until I can figure out how to take him down and keep everyone protected."
"He's not going to be involved with anything at this lab, is he?" That's one thing to be worried about, and maybe that's what Mark meant by keeping an eye on Dr. Ray. "I'm not sure that if things go down I'll be much help. Like I said, my special skillset…that's been going haywire lately. It hasn't been at even the same level it was before. And now, apparently, it's short-circuiting."
"Dad? Naw… not really. What you do, I don't think he'll have much of an interest in." Mark gives her a grins, "You lab is my special project and honestly… I don't think anything will happen, just being vigilant."
Reaching the front door, Mark pulls it open and holds it for her, using a sweeping motion guide her through. "My cars nearby. I'll give you a ride and I'll answer what questions I can about what I know. You can tell me about what's going on with your ability."
Can't say Mark doesn't take care of his people.