2007-11-25: Data Point

Starring:

Cam_icon.gif Cass_icon.gif Lee_icon.gif

Summary: Lee stops by Bat Country to give Cass a new 'data point'.

Date It Happened: November 25, 2007

Data Point


Bat Country

After all the excitement the day before, Cass is trying to keep things mellow in Bat Country. Mostly, she's been on the phone trying to call a few people she knew back in med school to see if they have somehow have a connection to a big research facility. There's one place she knows that she may be able to go and she even has a good contact there - two, if that's what it takes - but the last thing she wants is to go to the Company. Who knows what they'd do with any of the information she gave them. Taking a break between calls, she moves back into the main room to make sure that Cam has everything he needs and is, most importantly, cold. Which seems like a strange thing to be keeping a sick victim.

It may be strange, but seems to be helping a lot, assuming she can keep him around the freezing mark. Cam comments when Cass comes by to check on him, "Sorry if I'm any trouble or anything."

Lee comes in to visit Cam and bring him materials from that day in school. Just being sick is no excuse for falling behind in Mr. Jones' classes. Lee can be a bit of a hardass at times. Today he is particularly standoffish, distracted and all-around grouchy. Still, he puts aside his personal feelings to be encouraging to Cam. "Hello, Cam." he says. "I brought your assignments. Everything but math. Mr. Rucka was…" …drunk by lunchtime… "…sick today." He gives Cass a smile too, as best as he can. "No more trouble, I hope?" he asks her.

"Not as far as I can tell. I still don't know what to make of the other day." Cass frowns and goes for another freezer pack for Cam. It's kind of an absent minded gesture. "Thanks for bringing Cam his work," she also adds as he's going to be stuck here for a little while. Especially while he has to be all but chained to cold packs and the like. "No, you're not any troube at all. If you were I'd ship you off with Lee to teach you a lesson."

Cam brightens a little at the mention of the lack of math homework, and says, "Oh, awesome." Yeah, he makes no secret of hating that subject. He accepts the work, glancing through it. "I'll get it done, don't worry." Then he looks to Cass and asks, "How long does this… whatever it is last?"

Lee says, "I'll have the math for you tomorrow." almost cautioningly, but he leans back against the wall with lazy gracefulness, letting patient and doctor converse.

Handing over the ice pack to Cam, Cass frowns a bit at the question. "Well. It's not something that has a definite beginning and end. Not without a cure. But, don't worry, it's cureable. We're actually working on getting that done right now."

Cam ohs, nodding a little, once again tucking the ice pack under his shirt. "Can I help? Anything?" He adds, then, "Know I got homework and stuff to do, just…" He shrugs a little. "Tired of being hot," he finally says.

Lee listens. He's gotten the very vaguest idea of the situation from hanging around but that's about it. "That's good that you're close." he says to Cass encouragingly. "Any ideas on how to distribute it?"

"You can keep yourself well rested and cold." That's still strange. While she's used to trying to keep people cool from a fever, cold is different. "I'm trying to keep you as cool as I can." Cass moves so that she can lean against something, too, and take some of the weight entirely off her feet. "We're working on it. We just don't have enough at the moment. We're attempting to manufacture more."

Cam would, of course, explain if asked. But for the moment, he's quiet on that subject, nodding. He grins a bit, "Think that's why Niki called you. I *was* fine, I just sat with the door wide open. Thought the heater was broken or something, so I cooled off the house.. Didn't know I was the one broken."

Lee nods. "Sounds like you have your hands full. If there's anything I can do, let me know? Are Cam's symptoms, uh, typical?" he asks, with a slight bit of nervousness around his expressive eyes.

"No, you're not broken. Just sick." There's a difference to Cass for some reason. Maybe there shouldn't be. "This is something a lot of people are starting to get. We're hoping to get it controlled quickly. Do you remember doing anything out of the ordinary before you were sick, Cam? That could help." As for Lee, she shrugs her shoulders. "Being cold? Not particularly. The virus tends to disrupt abilities, though, so…" she let's that trail off since he can tell from there what it means for their young charge.

Cam thinks about Cass' question a moment, hesitating, and then shrugs a bit to her. "Um.. not really. Not 'cept getting beat up a bit, but the guy who was doing it got caught 'fore I got really hurt." Then to Lee he says, "Normally when I get sick, I feel the cold more. Feelin' heat like this, it only happens when I use my power to let the cold feel normal. Usually can turn it off. Well, mostly.. *always* feel heat a bit more'n everybody else."

Lee doesn't quite follow everything Cam just said, from his expression, but he nods. "All right." he says. "Call me if you need any help, okay? My phone number is on the front of the assignment. Cass, can I see you just for two seconds outside? Won't take long at all." He steps out with her, then asks: "Stand right there. Throw your pen at me. You know you want to, just throw it."

Frowning, Cass thinks that over. "You didn't eat anywhere unusually? Were any of those…boys…were they under weather?" She's trying to figure out where Cam could have been exposed to this virus. It's a mystery to her. She's pretty sure a lot of the outbreaks started at Peter's apartment building but past that it's a race to see who stocks local meats from Gemini. "I…okay?" She's confused, but she gives Cam a look. "Keep those icepacks on. If you need anything, I'll be right in the other room." Though it takes her a few moments, she follows out behind Lee and just gives him an incredulous look. "I know I get frustrated with you sometimes Lee, but what is this about? I have a feeling this isn't about letting out my anger."

Lee says, "Just throw it, it's easier than to explain."

Cam adds to Cass quickly before she leaves, "I did trade lunches with one of the kids at school. He wants to be a vegetarian, but his mom keeps making him meat sandwiches. I bought a salad at the cafeteria and traded with him." Then they're in the other room and he occupies himself with homework.

Lee looks almost embarassed, he has his arms crossed, his eyes already half-rolled, leaning on one leg.

That makes Cass pause as she makes her way out the door. Trade lunches at school. Meat. That…that's something. She holds up a finger to wait with an apologetic look tossed in the boys direction before she gives Lee her attention again. "What is this, Lee? Why do you want me to throw writing utensils at you all of the sudden?"

Cam nods quickly at the gesture to wait, and goes back to doing his homework.

Lee says, "It doesn't have to be writing utensils, just whatever you have handy, will you just do it, please? It's a data point for you."

A data point? Cass isn't exactly sure what that means, but she sighs and takes a pen out o her pocket and without much other warning, tosses at Lee. She's curious as to what this is all leading up to.

Lee flicks a finger up - the index finger, peanut gallery, and the pen, about a foot away from Lee, shoots up into the air about two feet, plummets sideways over his head, drops down behind his back into Lee's outstretched-behind-him hand. "I /told/ you." he says. "Now I have to do something with my parents' stupid experimental data, since it's now the most valuable collection of garbage on the planet."

There's a raised eyebrow from Cass at Lee's demonstration. She could sort of guess what he was trying to get with this, but his sneering and snide remarks about her work kind of made this seem like he may not want to have anything to do with it. There's a long pause and she takes a breath. "You don't have to do anything. Nothing's really different for you, Lee, except now you know that you have an ability. You're not some strange experiment or anything."

Lee says, "Cass, I'm an eighteen year experiment that ended only when I moved out of the house. I have a whole storage unit of paperwork and chemistry set test tubes proving it. I'm just letting you know. You're collecting data. You're my friend. You deserve to know. If things start going weird and I get sick, I'll let you know."

There's a frown at that. Cass doesn't know how to handle this. Lee is suddenly talking without his cynicism and without his snide comments about what she's doing. How can she take that? "This is something you were born with, Lee. It's not an experiment." She'll repeat that. "If…if you need any help or want to talk about it…you know where I am."

Lee says, "Thanks." It doesn't comfort him, though. He departs.

While she tried, Cass sighs and moves back into the room with Cam, alone this time. Putting on a smile for the young boy, she goes to check his temperature. More for cold rather than warm, for once. "Sorry about that, Cam. How're you feeling? You were talking about a lunch?"

Cam doesn't seem to be improving much. The cold's keeping him from overheating, but the fever's still burning away. He nods a little at the question and says, "You asked if I ate anything weird. I traded lunch with another boy, dunno what was in the sandwich except it was meat."

"Who was this boy?" Because if his family eats the meat and that's where Cam got it, then that family could potentially have the virus, too. It just keep spreading outward and outward. Cass takes her hand away from Cam's skin and then gets him a glass of water. "Here, drink this."

Cam answers, "Michael, dunno his last name. Mr. Jones would know him, he's in his class with me." He accepts the water to take a drink, and then asks, curiously, "Is this the place Kory said I'd be able to practice my powers, someday? She said it wasn't available right now, but that'd be 'cause of this whole thing, right?"

"I'll talk to Lee about it." Or she'll try to. He doesn't really seem all that interested in talking at the moment. Cass sighs and runs a hand through her hair, a woman running out of options. But, she smiles again at Cam, trying not to let that show. "Yeah. This is it. Sort of. I mean, it's the start of something that I hope will will be bigger, you know? Yeah…I've been quarantining people here for awhile off and on. They've all managed to go back home, though. I hope by the time you go home, you'll be all cured."

Cam smiles again at that and nods a little, "Cool." He sips his water again, and then puts his finger in, freezing some of it to add some ice to it. Even that seems to take some concentration, but that could be normal. "Does this disease only get people with powers/"

"It affects everyone," Cass replies seriously. "Anyone can get sick." Seeing him freeze the water makes her tilt her head a little. Strange that the virus affects his internal regulator of temperature but he can still freeze things. It's an odd situation.

Cam sips the water again and then says to Cass, "Hope you make enough cure 'fore too many people get it." Then he says, "Are people allowed to visit me here?"

"You and me both," she replies, sinking into a chair nearby Cam. That way they can still talk and should she need to get him anything, she's close enough to ask. "Well, I guess it depends. Kory and Niki can, of course. Who else would you want to come visit you?"

Cam smiles again and says, "Good. Kory I was thinking of. And Micah… but dunno. He's my best friend, don't want him to get sick too." He sips his water again, then adds, only partly joking, "But definitely *not* whatever social worker they give me next."

"Micah's Niki's son. If you'e been staying with Niki and neither of them have it, it should be safe for him to come down and see you." Cass rests her head against the back of her chair and tilts her chin so that she's still looking over at the boy. "Just be careful. We don't want him to get sick, you're right."

Cam nods quickly, and then apparently thinking Cass knows all about Micah, adds after a moment's thought, "'Specially with what he could do. His power goes wrong, he could crash the net. Maybe worse!"

"What he can do?" With her head resting against the chair, Cass is finding it harder and hearder to keep her eyes open. What with the working overtime to get her contacts and try and study things on her own, it hasn't left much time for sleep. Eyelids fluttering closed, she's all but asleep in a matter of moments.

Cam blinks, starting to ask something, but seeing Cass falling asleep he quiets and doesn't answer. Instead, he just opens his homework book and gets back to work quietly.

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