2009-10-13: Common Cause

Starring:

Samantha_V4icon.pngMatt_V4icon.png

Date: October 13, 2009

Summary:

Two people with kidnapped family members make plans to rectify the situation.


"Common Cause"

Namir and Samantha's apartment, Greenwich Village

So Sam was at Namir's station, raising a ruckus, after her missing person's report has thus far turned up nil. And of course, she's aware of the Company, but has no earthly idea of how to actually do anything about that particular situation…maybe find a Petrelli to hassle. Either way, it's been a rough few days for Sam, nor has she been a particular joy to work with at the hospital.

Well, that report may not have turned up any Namir-type objects just yet, but it did catch the eye of one Detective Parkman. He's been trying to get back in touch with the ESU guy himself… no wonder those voicemails never got returned. Time to go pay his wife a visit, see if maybe they can help each other out.

"No, I don't want to be put on hold again, look, he's part of the ESU, don't you people care when one of your own go missing? I don't know, I - don't put me on hold again!" She curses and slams the phone down, hands balled into fists of impotent rage. Right. She stalks through the apartment, intent on something until there's the sound of someone at the door. Stalking toward it, she flings it open, barely restraining from snapping. "Can I - Officer Parkman?"

"Whoa!" Matt takes a step back and puts both hands up in a classic don't-hit-me gesture. On the job, he would take a lot worse in stride, but getting that opening reaction from a sorta-friend catches him off guard - he was expecting more in the way of broken-up rather than snappish. "Yeah, hi," he adds, recovering, "I heard about your husband and… May I come in?" Best not to have this discussion out in the hallway.

"Are you here about him? Please," Samantha opens the door wider, beckoning him in. "Can I get you something? Coffee? Water?" No booze of course, Matt's on duty.

Matt steps inside and gets out of the way so she can close the door behind. "Water's fine, thanks. See, the thing is… I'm following up on a kidnapping myself. My son. Well, my ex-wife's son that I thought was someone else's but--" Yeah, it's just a little bit of a messy situation. "Anyway, I've got reason to believe that it's part of a pattern— still pretty sketchy right now, but there might be a link."

"Two isn't a pattern." Samantha points out. "Have you heard of others?" She gestures to the living room while she goes to the kitchen and fetches a pitcher, pouring water into one of Namir's Transformers glasses. Bringing it back to offer Matt, she asks in all seriousness, "It's not the Company, is it? I thought they were leaving us well enough alone now."

Reaching for the glass, Matt starts to answer, then stops. Wait, she knows about the Company? Somehow, that information missed getting transferred from Molly to him. Still, that wording and that cadence probably aren't coincidence, and a quick listen-in with his ability will remove all doubt. "Not specifically, but that there've been others, yeah. And no, not the Company… word has it that it's the government, this time."

Samantha sits, stunned. "But Namir is serving this country by working as an officer. Why would they just take him?"

Matt shakes his head. "I don't know— if I had to guess, I'd say somebody found out about us, got scared… a few phone calls to black ops teams, suddenly it's The Company Mark II. So yeah, we should be able to track him down, one way or another." Especially with Molly around, but he doesn't want to suggest her help until he has a better idea what dangers might be lurking on the other end. He never did find out who that guy-worse-than-Sylar was, for one thing.

"Black ops…but not wetworks?" Yes, she knows the difference. "I don't know anything about anyone who would take him…though I never did find out just who came after us on our honeymoon and dumped us in the desert." She shakes her head. "I'm as clueless as you are. Could Molly…?" she trails off, uncertain. She hates to ask.

"No, word is they're not hurting people— just not letting them go." Matt finally gets around to sipping the water, absently, then sets it right back down again. And ah, there's that suggestion coming up anyway— "I'll ask her. I don't know about having her look for one of us - they might have some kind of trap set up - but it's worth a shot, if he doesn't turn up on his own first." At the mention of the desert hijackers, he thinks back for a moment— but no, that was over a year ago, and this has all been going down within a few weeks' time.

Samantha shakes her head. "He'd try everything in his power to get away." she swears. "I know him. That's how he thinks. What's going to be done, even if they're found? If the government has them."

Matt sighs, picking up the water glass again. "The thing is, he might not have much in his power… They nabbed Molly too, but then they let her go for some reason— she was fine, but pretty groggy, so I'm thinking maybe they're keeping people sedated. Makes sense, if they're still trying to figure out what they want to do long-term."

Samantha blinks at that. "Wait…these people grabbed your daughter and then let her go? And you're not at all interested in why they might have done that?"

"Of course I'm interested!" Matt gestures with his hands, then as an afterthought sets the glass down again: let's not spoil Namir's hoped-for homecoming by breaking his stuff. "I just don't know yet— and this is so new, still, maybe they aren't sure themselves yet. The point is, no matter what it is, we still have to get to them… then we get our people back, then we get them to quit trying."

"So how do we do that?" Samantha asks seriously. "I'm a doctor, not a field operative. Truth be told, I was going to call a few people I know with clout and see if they've got anything to offer."

Matt nods. "If you trust them, then yeah, good idea. The guys I've been getting intel from— well, the one who sees the future is pretty loopy, but the one doing text messages seems pretty organized, I need to ask him what he thinks. Otherwise, I'll try to get in their heads when I get there and work it out."

Samantha blinks. "You're getting intel from someone who does…text messages?" She shakes her head. "I am so calling the Petrellis."

"Good luck," replies Matt, under his breath. Everyone's heard about Nathan disappearing a while back. "I need to make some calls, too— I need to leave Molly here, but I can't just trust a regular sitter. I was actually going to ask Namir about it until I saw your report."

Samantha cocks her head. "You need someone to watch Molly? For how long? I can take some time off of work, or I can adjust my schedule for a little bit."

Fishing out his cell phone, Matt calls up the last couple of those text messages and shows them to Samantha. There's the date and time of the train rendezvous. And there's Rebel's callsign; if he contacts her as well, she'll know that it's… well, the same unknown guy who contacted Matt.

Samantha considers the texts a few moments. "Huh." she says, leaning back. Her expression is thoughtful, and she notes absently, "So you were saying about Molly?"

Matt nods as he takes the device back, slipping it into a pocket. "They nabbed her a couple weeks ago. In India, so someone's pulling some serious strings here. It was just for a few days, and I spent most of it flying back and forth so it's all pretty hazy."

"No, I mean, you wanted someone to watch her?" Sam clarifies.

Matt blinks once as he switches mental gears. "Oh, right! Well, yeah, about this time… maybe longer if it goes badly, but we're supposed to have the element of surprise, at least."

Samantha pinches the bridge of her nose. "When would you want to bring Molly over?"

Aha, narrowing down the 'about' part, then. "Probably the day before, around six or seven in the evening? I'll let you know for sure when I know for sure."

Samantha cocks her head. "Molly's always welcome, but…I'm a sonic projector, Matt. Are you sure you wouldn't want to have me there?"

Matt scratches at the back of his neck, thinking it over. "What sort of levels are we talking here? You said yourself you're a medic, not a soldier." The last sonic ability he encountered was Jane's, and she seemed gung-ho in more of a social than a physical sense.

"I'm not a soldier, but Namir's my husband. And I've been in hostile situations before. There was Nevada, and before that, I was in Darfur with Doctors Without Borders." She leans back. "I've made bleed from their ears, if that's of any help. If you think it would be better to stay and watch Molly, I can do that, but you better get Namir out if you leave me behind." Or she might rip poor Matt's head off.

"…you know, maybe it would be better if you came along." Matt hasn't recruited anyone else for this op yet, and while Rebel may be doing so, he doesn't want to rely totally on someone he's never met. (That he knows of.) "There's one or two others at the station I could check with, so— I'll let you know."

Samantha nods, eyes narrowed, though not at him. "I'd appreciate it." Maybe it's safer if he brought her along! "Soon," she adds, determinedly.

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