Starring:
Summary: Lawrence Church makes a fool of himself twice in the same day(thinking about stuff that never came up before worries the guy! Thank you, Felix), but at least Mohinder is polite enough to not say it to his face.
Date It Happened: August 24th, 2007
Doctor, Doctor, Gimme The News
Mohinder's Lab, Primatech Paper, Hartsdale, NY
The meal that was brought earlier is ignored as it sits there on the work counter. The sandwich and side salad, still in their respective containers. The person they were meant for, remains hard at work.. lost is a more apt term. Mara was right in pegging Mohinder for the type of person to work right through mealtimes and bedtime. His back to the meal, the geneticist is bent over the next counter, flipping through a folder, alternating between the paperwork and the specimen slides under his microscope. Adjustment here, there, a few notations made on the paperwork..
With a blank manila folder under one arm, and a blue-filled slushie cup in the other hand, Lawrence has to actually take the straw from his mouth before rapping upon the door to Mohinder's laboratory. It is a sudden and loud noise, one that quickly quiets down when the man outside realizes the fact that it was probably too disturbing of a knock. "Doctor Suresh? You in?"
Mohinder almost doesn't hear the knocking. He's that engrossed in the current work. It's the voice that gets his attention. Looking up, then around him, it dawns on him that the door is being knocked at. "Come in," he calls out as he sets his pencil down and tries to tear his attention from work.
Church opens the door with the fingers not wrapped around the edge of the folder, stepping in nearly sideways and bumping the door closed again. He waggles the folder once in the air, white smile growing fast over his lower face. "Felix Ivanov's power synopsis. Something made him budge, and I got a little testing in while he was warm." Lawrence moves inside with a couple of strides, stopping and balancing on his heels when he gets close enough to extend the folder. It feels like a peace offering. "Momentum, it turns out. He's got some nice tricks."
Mohinder frowns a little, it's a thoughtful sort of frown, as he reaches out to take the folder. He wastes no time in going through the contents, "Interesting.. I was just comparing his DNA to that of another patient in custody.. Momentum you say? He shouldn't be able to do much of anything right now. Last I saw, he was still on suppressants." Unless there was a change he wasn't aware of, which can and does happen. "What happened? You say something made him budge.. I'm curious about the particulars."
Church takes a look around, eyes falling over a few things, but most notably on the food left untouched. "Yeah. We know. And I took him off of most of the suppressants. He started on them when he came, like everyone else, but it was soon pretty clear we needed him off of them. You don't listen to the mill much, do you, Doc?" Maybe he completely missed the Babenkov Incidents, shut up in here. The older man takes a pace back, only to sway on the edges of his feet. "Salonga has been keeping him company off and on. I guess she must have said something to him, or he might have just relaxed enough to lay himself on the line. I wasn't around when it /did/ happen, but as long as it made him speak up, I have no problems." Both of his brows lift a touch, and he momentarily returns the straw in his cup to his mouth.
Mohinder glances sharply up at Church, "You what? We weren't finished going over his testing. We aren't certain as to what he is capable of doing. He must stay on the suppressents a little while longer.. The what? Oh.. No, I can't say that I have much time to listen to gossip or idle chatter." He pretty much stays right where the higher ups want him. In the lab. "Hmm.. I see.. what did he wind up saying?" Tearing his gaze from the larger man, Mohinder turns back to compare the paperwork brought to him, to what he already had on hand. "Momentum.. fascinating.." Sorry, his attention is back on the results. "Was he stopping items or people in motion?"
"We weren't certain, but he couldn't have showed us if he /was/ on them. It was a choice that I had to make pretty quick, so I made it. He hardly touched anything we gave him, either. At least at the start." A shrug brings the cup from his mouth again. "I'll put him back on a couple weaker doses if it makes you feel better." Lawrence adds a small chuckle to that smiling. "We discussed the terms of his abilities, and I asked him some runaround questions about it. Everything we talked about is in the summary. He can work with solid masses up to sedan-size, stop objects in motion, accelerate their motion. Threw a pillow at him a couple of times and he stopped it right in its tracks. I also put the instances where he used it before down-" His now free hand motions out to the folder. "-slowed agent Muldoon, trapped agent Babenkov in his tracks, sped me into some double doors…that sort of thing. A few rumors about bullets during his job, too." An annoying slurp accompanies drinking the slushie this time.
"No.. no.. You have a valid point in taking him off them. We can't properly test his abilities if he can't use them." Not to mention that Church ranks higher in the scheme of things, so his word most likely trumphs Mohinder's. The geneticist's eyes are back on the folder's contents, "Is this my copy?," he asks without looking up. "I would like to interview him myself, run some controlled testing.. especially since I've been testing Sasha.."
Church nods with a sudden dose of what might be mild excitement. "Yessir, that's all yours! Since you're working with Sasha's information now, thought you'd like your own copy. I've made a few other hard copies, and left a file for the tech guys to keep in the electronic records. If you want to do your own interviewing, testing, what not, I can tick you off on the free clearance. Otherwise I have to come with you. He's been under a watch cause of Babenkov. They've got history, and it flared, and they're all hissing and spitting-" A dismissive wave accents the air in front of Lawrence's chest.
Mohinder smiles gratefully as he adds the papers to his own file on Felix. "Thank you.. and I see.. Whatever is most convenient for you Agent Church. Especially if there is a problem." He reaches for his mug nearby, only to find the contents positively glacial.. How long has that tea been sitting there? Another thoughtful frowns forms at the contents before the mug is set aside. "Just let me know how you plan to handle this. Has anyone informed him about Sasha?" This time, his frown is of disapproval. He sees why things have been handled as they have for the child, but he isn't fond of it.
There is a teeeeeenytiny wince. "Yeeeah. Mentioned! He didn't seem to buy it. Told us he was 'as queer as a three dollar bill'." Getting back into uncharted waters again, Churchie. When the doctor picks up the mug and simply sets it back, a smirk crosses the older man's lips. He /does/ stay in here that long. "We were going to tip off Wilmer, but now that he's sung, not so much. I'll also be needing to see if someone can get him back into better health. He looks like a walking contusion right now, so a visit from someone with a magic touch might be in order. Other than that, we're only going to start cooking up some excuses for his FBI division bosses."
"I see.. perhaps he honestly did not know about her existance. It happens." Mohinder's still ready to believe the best, even if the annoyingly grey tendencies of the Company are creeping up on him. "Yes. I would like to try speaking with him." A different approach. He blinks once, as he lost track there of what Church was saying, then catches up. "That sounds like a wise move. Too much longer and he will be missed.. if we need to hold him longer.. I'm sure we can work out a solution." And by 'we', obviously he means those better at coverups than he is. "Hurrying his healing along shouldn't be difficult, if so, have some excuses ready." Then there's a beeping from his pocket.. Patting down his pockets, Suresh finds his phone, digging it out and checking the message. "…" Is /that/ the time? "Was there anything else that I should know?," he asks before putting Felix's file into perfect order to set aside for later.
Church takes at least a few seconds to do anything, leaning one hand onto the nearest empty edge of counter to look at Mohinder curiously. There is an almost comical look of seriousness plastered upon his face, and a twitch of a frown on his strong chin. "No, nothing I can think of…" Another moment of squinting at the doctor passes. "…is there such thing as a vaccine against queerness?" What.
Mohinder pulls off his labcoat, remembering to hang it up.. and to put his cellphone in his pants pocket.. and to reclip his badges to his shirtfront. There are a few folders gathered to take home with him.. or rather back to the rooms at Kirby that he's calling home these days. "Alright, I will get with you at your convenience then for further work on Feli.. and beg your pardon?" When there should be a simple no to this question, he rattles off, "There is of course an argument amongst medical minds as to the cause of homosexuality… is it a chemical in the brain? Born with it? Personal choice.. personally that isn't my field of study.. I could refer you to another doctor if this is a concern for you.. but I can't say that I've ever heard of something as.." Silly? Ridiculous? Hilarious? ".. well.. something like a vaccine against it."
Church is stuck in very serious trains of thought, still sipping at the slushie clutched in his hand. His eyebrows are creased together in concentration as if Mohinder holds the answers to the Meaning of Life. "It's just…it's like I've been Freudian slipping like the floor's just been mopped." Lawrence almost swaggers back to the door of the lab, opening it preemptively for both of them and continuing in a vaguely guarded tone. "You're a geneticist, and there's all that nattering about stuff like that being born in people or not. Or it being some sort of contagious change. Maybe I'm imagining things, or thinking too much, and actually being an ignorant ass, but-" Lawrence is still quite serious. "-at least I asked."
Mohinder smiles with amusement shining in his eyes. Clearly he finds this funny. "Personally? I wouldn't worry. I doubt it's as catching as a cold. Unless you are confused, and the idea has you wavering." Now, he's just teasing Church. Dangerous game to play with a man who can torch the place with a single thought.. but he does it anyway. Folders in hand, he heads out the door with Church, unable to wipe the amusement from his face and tone. "No. It's not a contagious change. I've yet to see any proof in that. There could be a hard wiring in the brain, similar to a chemical embalance, or a child wired from DNA with a predisposition towards Autism. Some people claim they've .. well.. Let's not get into this out here in the hallway.. and yes at least you asked.. If this is still a concern for you. For whatever reason, come back to me and we can set you up with testing." Either Suresh is serious, or he's still teasing Lawrence. It's.. really difficult to say.. and he doesn't seem intent on giving anyone a chance to find out as he's hurrying away from the man. He's got a 'date' to keep with Molly.