2007-03-08: How To Fit Saving The World In A College Girl's Schedule

Starring:

Elena_icon.gif Jack_icon.gif Hiro_icon.gif

Date It Happened: March 08, 2007

Summary: As requested, Elena goes to meet Jack in his apartment and meets a certain time-traveler who is on a mission to save the world. The secrets of her abilities manifest after Hiro leaves, and Jack is left to further indoctrinate "Scrappy" on the events happening.

How To Fit Saving The World In A College Girl's Schedule


Jack's Apartment, New York City

Jack's been busy the last couple of days. Figuring that more help will be better than less, he's been contacting the few trustworthy Evolved that he's met since moving to NYC. As Eliana can hardly be called amiable to the cause of rescuing Peter Petrelli, it seems wiser to hold this tiny meeting in the safe, familiar confines of Jack's apartment. Having contacted Elena to extend this invite, and Hiro to fill him in on the situation, he has little to do but wait for them to arrive, now. Unfortunately, Jack does not wait well. At the moment, he's paused in mid-pace to scratch the ruff around his bearded dragon's neck.

Hiro Nakamura knocks on the door, just about on time: He usually does that. He doesn't have to worry about transit time. Ever. "Mr. Jack!" he says, brightly, still carrying his substitute sword. It looks like a hockey stick wrapped in cloth. It is not as subtle as his last sword, and that is saying something, really. "You have a friend you want me to speak to?"

She furrows her brows, Elena glancing at her cellphone and looking up at the apartment building. "….where is this…?" she murmurs. Her hood is pulled up, and her clothing today is nondescript. Blue jeans, sneakers, a black jacket that she pilfered from a bargain bin in a recent shopping trip. Black gloves. She liked color in her ensemble but considering Jack's present activities she tried to keep herself looking as generic as possible. With a sigh, she presses the buzzer, and gets on the intercom.

"Hey," she says, her voice filling his apartment. She doesn't address Jack by name while she's outside. Fear keeps you sharp, he once said. It was a mantra that tumbled over and over and over again in her head. "You home?"

Jack stands and greets Hiro with a friendly grin and a firm handshake. "Aye, I do," he replies. "ScraperElena has shot me some extremely useful information. She's got a talent of her own, as well—" his voice cuts off as Elena's wafts through the air. "Speak of the devil," he murmurs. "Just a sec." Quickly, he crosses the room to the intercom and buzzes her in. "Come on up, 'Lena," he says into it.

Hiro's handshake is not terribly firm. In fact, he sort of cringes when Jack nearly crushes his hand. For such an iron-willed little guy, he is still awfully… mild-mannered. "Elena?" Hiro repeats, and then a few more times: "Elena. Elena…" Okay. Name remembered. They've been coming more and more, lately. "Remember… we cannot tell her everything. Not all at once. It is not safe for her." He recalls Cass, maybe. "How much does she already know?" he then asks, pushing his glasses up onto his nose with his finger.

"A lot," Jack says, his mouth twisted into a wry smile. "But she didn't learn it from me. I called you both here so that you could decide if we should bring her in. She seems willing enough, and you /are/ sort of like our Morpheus."

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. A hand comes up to pull the door open, Elena closing the door and working her way quickly up the stairs. She doesn't stop until she reaches the designated apartment number. She doesn't knock, Jack can probably hear her approaching and he was expecting her anyway, so when she reaches the door, she just pushes it open and steps inside. She closes it, and pulls down her hood. She was young, very young - 18 years old with tousled dark hair and darker eyes. She looks around urgently as she strides through the apartment. "Jack, what's going on?" she asks, finally getting to where she could hear voices. "I was at dinner when you sent me that me—" Her eyes land on Hiro….and his sword. "-ssage." For some reason, her eyes are fixed on his sword and she's about ready to bolt. Images dance in her head, involving the pudgy little Japanese man laughing maniacally while he harasses Rose, and Benjamin flying in to put him to sleep and carrying his daughter off. For some reason, Benjamin's wearing a Superman costume.

"Shh! Please don't call me that," Hiro says, in sudden protest. He does kind of blush, a little bit, in the process. He starts to unwrap his sword, still holding the thing in hand as he gets ready. It rests against the floor, and he still has to lean it up with one hand. "Okay. I will do… my best," he says, awkwardly. And then Elena comes in. Hiro spins on his heel, and sort of smiles. "Oh. Hello! My name is Hiro. Hiro Nakamura," he explains, chipper as a squirrel.

"Hey Scrappy. This is a friend of mine. I wanted the two of you to meet." Jack pauses and shoots a smile in Elena's direction. "The girl's a spicy one. She saved my hide a few days back. I'll bore you with the bloody details later, Hiro."

……no this can't be the creepy lolita man who was accosting Rose. Could it? Elena is still gaping at Hiro openly as he turns to her and greets her brightly. But his description fit! In his twenties, carrying a sword….but he wasn't creepy at all! All Benjamin said the man carried a sword, and was creepy, and seemed to enjoy harassing barely legal girls. Hiro isn't really emitting any creepy vibes. "Hi….I'm Elena," she says cautiously, keeping her last name out of it as she steps further into the room. "….why are you carrying a sword?" she asks. As always, she's straightforward as usual. "You weren't the one who scared my friends at the park a week ago or so, were you?"

As the words come out, she can't help but facepalm inwardly. If she had any dreams of being a superspy, it's all shot to hell now. She's just not subtle enough with her questions.

"Scared them? Um." In the park? He hasn't been to the park in awhile. "I do not think so. And I have a sword because this… well, I—" Hiro stops to think. "It was my destiny to defeat a very evil man with a sword, and I found that sword in the past. It is the sword of Takezo Kensei, the greatest hero in Japanese history. This is not it, but this is the sword that belongs to my best friend, which I will use proudly until I find /my/ sword, which was stolen." Hiro is aware of how ridiculous all of this sounds.

"Ah….sorry, I had to ask." Elena also looks a little puzzled at what he says, until her eyes widen. "Kensei?" Images flood back into her head. She was back at Times Square again, held onto by a classmate until all hell broke loose and bullets were flying. "I heard that name before. At the Square. There was a man who was stopped by the police. Someone called out 'Kensei' but I didn't see who it was." She sighs as she sinks down on a chair. "As for the sword, I had to check. New York's become a center for the weird all of a sudden. My father's friend and his daughter was almost mugged the other day by a man carrying a sword. He said he was in his twenties, and creepy. I suppose if it's a growing fad to carry swords around New York, it could've been anyone. So…Hiro-….san? How do you know Jack?"

Even to Jack, who's experienced a good amount of mindbreak since meeting Hiro, this proclamation sounds a little kooky. Still, no reason to judge a man by his weapon-carrying habits, as Jack is known to have a few strange ones of his own. He shrugs it off and confirms, "That doesn't sound much like our Short Round. Once you get to know him, I think you'll find he's pretty stand-up. We met each other over.." He shoots Hiro a glance. Better to let him tell the story, as this is his show.

"… That sounds like Sylar," Hiro says, grimly. "He is the one who took the sword. It is okay. He is in jail right now." Hopefully for keeps. "I met Jack after I arrived…" From the past. He leaves that detail out. "… He helped me stop some bad men from getting ahold of something very important. I trust him very much."

Her mouth goes dry. "….Sylar?" Benjamin and Rose had a run-in with Sylar? It couldn't have been him, could it? But he was in jail and they were safe, sort of. But….if she told Benjamin this he would probably turn a little gray. Just as she was a little bit. But yes, she knows the name. Elena glances at Jack and grins just a tiny bit. "Hah. You get around," she teases, sliding her hands in her back pockets and her eyes turning to the Japanese man again. "Yeah," she says with a laugh. "Sounds like Jack alright. He helped save a bunch of people from getting shot in a coffeehouse. That was how he and I met." She rocks back on her heels. "Soooooooooo…….why was I called? Is Jack in trouble?" She -looks- at Jack. "What did you do -this- time, Irish?" There's a jesting tone in her voice. But come on. It's Jack. She had to ask.

"Thanks, Hiro-san. I wuv you, too." Despite his teasing words, Jack fairly glows from the praise. This is his first chance to be a part of something bigger than a petty, criminalistic existence, and it's nice when the guy who brought you in thinks you're pretty ok. Then he fixes Elena with a mock-glare. "I didn't do nothin', Scrappy. I'm clean, I swear. You're here for a sort of audition. I think I can trust you, but I need to know if Hiro thinks he can trust you." He shuffles his feet briefly. Despite the fact that he saved lives at Hava Java, blowing a woman away with an automatic weapon is a somber subject, at best.

This is the part that Hiro's face flushes at. He's certainly not good at 'testing' people, in any sort of fashion. That's why he tries to trust people that the people he trusts trust. It's a very simple sort of meaningless, circular, and catastrophic system. "If you trust her, Jack, then I trust her, too." Why's he gotta be the leader? Whine, whine. "Um. I was saying." The awkward, sword-wielding Asian man shoves his glasses onto his face with his thumb. "My name is Hiro Nakamura. We are going to save the world."

"Trust me? Me? What about -both- of you?" Elena says, planting her hands on her hips. "You carry a gun and Hiro-san has a sword. You saw me in a fight, I'm a wuss!" She doesn't look all too happy about that. God, she was easy pickings. After looking at both, she sighs. "Ugh, I'm sorry. I've been cloak-and-daggering all week this week. It's exhausting." She drops heavily on a chair and buries her face in her hands. "I—"

She pauses, and looks up at Hiro. She stares at him for a really long time. Now? Now she's officially heard everything.

"…..well, I know the world's been in a downward spiral to Hell for a few centuries now so I'm not going to deny that the world does need some saving," the teenager remarks skeptically. "But …what are talking about here?" she says slowly. "Nuclear apocalypse? Asteroid? Alien invasion?" She had to ask! And if super powers were cropping up all over the place, who's to say they weren't about to experience an Independence Day moment too? She didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Tornado," Hiro says, quickly.

This is the part that Jack really likes. After all, who /doesn't/ want to save the world? Sure, he's got a few idealistic notions about what being a Hero entails, but his heart is in the right place. He answers Elena's skeptical queries with a simple statement. "Tornados and biotoxins and brain eaters, oh my. We've had a glimpse of the future, and unless we change it, the future is going to /suck./" For the moment, he lets the issue of who should trust who slide.

"….what." Okay. She hasn't heard everything. NOW she's heard everything. Elena is looking at the both of them with confused eyes. "…..we're pretty far up north to worry about tornados. From what I know scientifically the climate here can't feasibly support one, much less create one," she points out. "And biotoxins? What biotoxins? What glimpse of the future?" She stands up slowly. "Is Mr. Nakamura psychic? Or—" She pauses, and epiphany strikes her in full force. She sighs. "The paintings," she murmurs. "The Mendez guy you mentioned at lunch, Jack. You saw them, didn't you?" She knew Jack was familiar with a Mendez who somehow painted the future, but she didn't know Jack actually -saw- these works of art.

Hiro prepares for 'the speech'. The big infodump. He's had to go through it a couple of times:

"Maybe you should sit down," he says, before he gets into it. "I used to know a man who could paint the future. That was his power, like Mr. Jack has a power, and like you do. I have a power, too. Mr. Isaac — he's the painter — helped us save the world. The bomb that exploded in November was going to blow up in the middle of the city. We saved the world." In more ways than she can know. Hiro tries not to tell people about his time travels. It's hard to swallow. On top of all this. "The last paintings he left us when he died show a tornado destroying the city. Some kind of disease breaking out. A very bad man — one of us — who uses his powers for evil. We have to stop them all. The world is depending on us." He stops, and fixes his glasses again. "I think Mr. Jack brought you here to ask… if you could help," Hiro says.

"But it is very dangerous. Please. Do not feel as though you must. It is enough for you to live in peace. But — you must be warned. Sylar," She knows Sylar, it seems. "He uses his powers for evil. He hunts other people to kill them, and take their abilities. You must be careful. And there is the Company — They are a group of men who want to kidnap and control people with powers. We must warn you." That's Hiro's priority one. If she wants to help, well, she'll find a way.

Jack shuffles his feet uneasily. Suddenly it occurs to him that he's asking a girl who should be smooching and ice skating to help handle some of the meanest, most dangerous characters he's met in his fairly long career outside the law's influence. Still… They need the help. "He's right, Scrappy. It's gonna be dangerous. Nobody can decide what you need to do but you.. I figured you deserved to make yourself an informed choice, though." Alight with nervous energy, his nimble fingers fumble a cigarette and lighter from one pocket. He lights up and puffs, obviously a trifle agitated.

What greets Hiro is silence. The teenager stares at Hiro, though to her credit she doesn't look slackjawed. As the story pours out, she remembers that. The papers. Was that it? She could remember it, several months ago, stepping out of the NYU Campus and turning to head home when she saw some strange supernova in the sky. The student paper called it some unidentified cosmic event. She was curious, of course, but she didn't think much of it until now. She just thought it was weird that there was no trace of it that astronomers could detect….

And then, everything. The city being destroyed. People dying. Hiro made a very good case to appeal to her altruistic nature and her desire to help others. It was why she wanted to become a doctor in the first place. Ever since her mother died, she put her own desires on hold for the sake of her crumbling family and now she finds out if nobody does something, people were going to DIE.

"I know about Sylar," Elena tells Hiro softly, glancing down at her hands. "Gabriel Gray. That was his real name. It came from a friend of mine who knows a woman who runs a Foundation. She has intimate knowledge of the Company's operations. I….my best friend was taken by the Company when he was fourteen, or fifteen. But he was taken when he was really young." She takes a deep breath. "I think….after yesterday I believe that the Company isn't all bad. Believe me Hiro-san when I say that I know there are individuals inside the organization who are trying to help. And I think….there are also a few trying to go against it -while- they're still inside. I also know that the Company's methods aren't fool proof when they take people. Some of them escape, like a pyrokinetic named Kellie, and….someone else. A man who makes you kill yourself."

Hiro bites his lip. He decides not to say anything about having been responsible for Kellie's escape and continued freedom. There's all sorts of misunderstanding involved there. He doesn't know about the other. "Yes. Not everyone in the Company is evil. My father is a good man, but I think he helped create it. They meant well. The Foundation…" Hiro stops. "I do not agree with what the Foundation does, either. I think they can be as bad — or as good — as the Company."

Jack's mouth gapes open, his usual poker face nowhere to be found. Elena never ceases to amaze him with all the information she's managed to aquire. If anything, she knows more than /they/ do. And a guy who can make you kill yourself? Jack shivers and grimaces distastefully. Suddenly, he doesn't much care for this new conversational turn. She even knows about Kelli, for the love of God! Careleslly, Jack flicks a column of ash from the tip of his cigarette onto the high-gloss, red oak flooring. His own knowledge of both the Company and the Foundation is limited, but both names are familiar. Finally, he speaks up. "What worries me about both Company and Foundation isn't what they are, but what they might become. If people like us are already being policed and detained, what's the next step? Because there's always a next step, you know. People are terrified of things they can't explain away."

"The Company and the Foundation both talk about taking control of the world because it will be better for the world, and because people with powers are going to evolve anyways…" Hiro says, summing up the basis of his disagreement with the the 'organized world-changing' philosophy. "I say this a lot. My father said it. He has an ability, too: Just because we have the powers of gods, does not mean we are gods. I am a computer programmer from Tokyo, and I am a hero. I do not want to change the world, only save it. The rest must be up to the world."

"…you know about the Foundation?" Elena asks, surprised. In her experience, not a lot of people knew about it. She looks up at Hiro. "Why? What do they do exactly? They don't bag and tag people like the Company does, but I could smell an agenda. What is it? I thought about barging into her office and asking her questions, but I didn't because….my source. She was wiped, and around the same time, the Foundation was set on fire, so if no one sold out my source, I could only come to the conclusion that the Foundation's chief might be being watched by the Company." She had been planning to go to the Foundation's chief to tell her about Jane, but if Hiro knows something less benign about them, she inquires about it before she makes any more mistakes. "And your father helped found the Company?" Her eyes are wide now.

To Jack, she nods, grimacing. "That's what I keep thinking," she says. "And I'm not the only one. And not just me on the outside. People -involved- with the Company are going against them. Not big things, they do little things. Like letting some people who they think should be under the radar go." Someone like Drake. Perhaps someone like herself and her father. "After hearing that I thought….something IS going down with all of those organizations that even THEY don't like. And if they were loyal agents before….that something must be really bad."

"I just…haven't been able to find out what it is yet," Elena says to the last, muttering.

All of this is a little over Jack's head. He has only the most basic knowledge of both organizations and their goals. Only enough to know that they're not going to be good for the general populace in the long run. Otherwise he wouldn't be risking his life, his freedom, and his girlfriend to try and free Peter Petrelli, who by all accounts could be the most dangerous weapon on God's Green Earth at the present. "I'll agree that some of us can be dangerous to others, but rounding those up and locking them in cages hardly seems like a humane or efficient means of rehabilitation. People like that need guidance, and counsel. Not barred windows and locked doors."

"The Foundation thinks that we — people with powers — must be prepared to take over the world, because sooner or later the people without will try to destroy us." Hiro stands up. "I think that if you do not believe that people will be good, they never will be," he says.

"…WHAT?!"

Elena pauses, and groans, falling back on her chair and hiding her face with her hands. "Great." She mutters. "New York's got it's own superpowered Illuminati." She was glad she followed her instincts on that one. She sighs, and looks up at Hiro and Jack. "Alright. So now what? How do we stop a tornado and how do we stop a viral holocaust? I mean….if you guys know, and I know, then….where do we start?" Yes. She says we. She has a family to think about. If it was just about something small she would be walking out of there. But New York was her life. It was her father's life. And without it, she won't be able to put certain things that need to rest to do so.

Hiro's phone beeps — he reaches for it, and takes a quick look. He seems concerned. "I have to go. It's an emergency. Mr. Jack will give you my phone number. Call me if you need anything, at any time." The decision on how to use her powers, it seems, is up to her. Hiro didn't even ask what they were. All this done, Hiro quickly scuttles out the door, grabbing his sword and hastily wrapping it up on his way out.

Jack lets out a small, relieved sigh. "Don't worry, Hiro-san. I'll take it from here," he says lamely to the closed door. "He's a good guy.. A little preoccupied, though," Jack muses.

As Hiro moves away, Elena glances over at Jack, looking expectant. "…..and what audition?" she asks slowly. "Jack….." She sighs. "I'm not going to deny the fact that I'm extremely intimidated about this. I mean. Save the world? Isn't that like…the motherload of all pressures you can give to someone? I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't like hearing it when he was twelve."

"That was your audition, Scrappy. You passed. Welcome to our little after-school X-Men club." Grinning, Jack gives Elena a friendly chuck on the shoulder. "We could give you a sexy codename, but I sorta like Scrappy." Jack takes a final draw from his near-forgotten cigarette, then tosses it into the sink.

"Great. Not like I don't have enough to do after school," Elena says dryly, but she can't help but smile at Jack. She stands up, and walks over to where she is, leaning against the sink and crossing her arms over her chest. "….so I don't even get a secret handshake? A badge? 'I'm Going to Save The World And All I Got Is This Lousy T-Shirt'?" She grins, trying to inject some lightheartedness in the conversation before looking out the window. "So all this is going the way of the dodo, huh?" she says, a more somber tone to her voice and gesturing to the cityscape outside of Jack's window. "Unless we all do something?" She looks at Jack. "What are we going to do? I'm…a little bit at a loss here. My abilities - whatever the hell I have….they aren't exactly End of the World stopping."

"Maybe I can get you a leotard with your initials embroidered on it," Jack jokes. "Anyway, I guess that I'm in charge of briefing you now that Hiro's off on a lark. First of all, exactly what /is/ your ability?" Jack peers at Elena curiously. "I know it's enough to take at least one person down. I'd be a leaky sack of meat if you hadn't worked your mojo on that lady with the gun at the coffee house."

"I…." Elena pauses, and glances down at her hands. "…..to be honest, I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet." She takes a deep breath. "I was wiped. But I wasn't tagged. But the memories they were after were tied to the night I supposedly helped my father recover from poison just as I was touching him. And then there was that night at the coffeehouse. I know that…" She pauses again. "When I was sixteen, a few months after my mother died, I was volunteering at a clinic. There was this kid who lost his arm in a car accident. I went over and tried to make him feel better. He was in so much pain, and I was desperate. I didn't know what to do. And then suddenly he told me he felt better after I held him and talked to him. Ever since then it started happening. I just thought I had a good bedside manner is all. And then Papa told me about the poison, and then the coffeehouse. I don't know what I have, Jack, but I can do a bunch of stuff with it."

She halts, and then she continues. "I want to test it….but I'm so afraid of hurting someone with it. Testing what I have would require a living subject. A friend of mine volunteered but….I don't know. I'm afraid what I would do to her."

Jack lets out a long, low whistle. "That's pretty impressive. Though honestly, I was hoping it was something a little simpler," he admits. And something a little more under control. "Look.. The Company is holding is holding a man named Peter Petrelli against his will. He has a family, and friends. They want him back, and we're breaking him out, simple as that. If you want to tag along, you're welcome. You can stay right in my back pocket, and we can keep and eye on one another." Pausing, he takes in a deep, steadying breath. "If you /do/ come along, you'll need a better idea of what you can do, though. Maybe you should test it out on someone… I'm tough as nails, you can try it out on me, if you like." Despite his best efforts, this last statement is a bit hesitant. Getting experimented on /is/ a bit worrisome, after all.

"….." Elena looks at him. "Petrelli. I heard that name before," she says. She does pay attention to politics, she reads the papers every day. But Nathan's name doesn't stand out to her simply because he quit almost instantly as soon as he was elected. "I just…it's familiar." She stops, and she does look a little apprehensive. "I know you are, but… you're -actually- going to break out somebody from the Company? Where? Kirby Plaza?" The girl's been around, she knows things. Though she doesn't say where she got the name Kirby Plaza. While she's on the verge of revealing her abilities to a few people, her father she wants to keep under wraps. After a pause, she looks at Jack. "You sure?" she murmurs softly. "I mean, if you really don't want to Jack, I understand."

Jack gives his head a slow, languid nod. "First off, yes. We're going into Kirby Plaza. Sure, it might sound crazy, but we've got to do what we've got to do. As for your powers—" He takes a long, deep breath. "I'm sure. Just let me sit down first, ok? I saw what happened to the lady. I can handle it." Speaking with a confidence he doesn't quite feel, Jack crosses the room and takes a seat on the couch. Though he does feel a bit hesitant, helping people explore and control their abilities is the highest calling one can aspire to, in his opinion.

"Okay," she says, following Jack to the couch. When he sits down, she drags the coffeetable a bit away from him. Maybe it'll help. And then, Elena sits down on it, crossing her legs. She continues. "I didn't know what to do at first, or what happens - how it comes out. But a friend of mine….she said something to me the other day. The Kellie I mentioned took me hostage in Central Park," she tells Jack. "And my friend, who was a witness, pointed out that even though I was held in the hands on someone dangerous, it didn't lash out. It didn't go out of control. I have a few theories as to why that is." Most having to do with her father if her abilities -were- genetic. "But I think my abilities actually need something more in order for it to come out. I might have an idea as to what it is. But it's a theory. One we're going to find out pretty soon." She looks at him and takes a deep breath. "You ready?"

Jack nods once again. Slowly, carefully, the tension eases out of his muscles as he rolls through the motions of breathing and relaxation exercise he uses before big poker games. "Ok," he murmurs. "I'm ready. Do your worst." Eyes closes, hands on his knees, body lax, Jack /does/ look ready for anything.

She nods. Elena staring at Jack and her eyes narrowing. She goes back to the time where things were the most stressful, desperation. She could see Sybil at the back of her head. She could see her pulling the trigger. Only this time the target isn't Jack, because Jack is standing in front of her. It was her father. Someone was going to kill her father. If her tests with Eric are any indication, followed by Jane's brilliant idea from the other night, and her own spiel of consciousness and control…. her stare sharpens as she looks at Jack. Her expression shifts from neutral to determined to angry. Her expression hardens on her face, as if saying: You are the enemy. And you have to be stopped.

Immediately, Jack begins to flop and writhe on the couch. His muscles clench and unclench spasmodically. His joints are on fire. There is broken glass in his stomach, poking at his innards. His eyelids fly open, and before him the world spins and swirls. His head his going to explode. His head is going to explode. Then, blessedly, he loses conciousness.

She stares, horrified, watching Jack twist around and writhe, but part of her marvels at the fact that despite ALL of that….he doesn't scream. Not once. He was so….tough! She can't help the glimmer of admiration there despite her horror. Elena can't help but turn somewhat ashen, her complexion turning somewhat gray. "Jack!" she cries, scrambling off the table and running for him. "Jack! Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god!" Her hands are shaking. Did she kill him? Oh god! She can't have killed him! Tears unbidden start coming to her eyes. She gets on the couch, scrambling up, and checks his vitals. "Jack, come on, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

His heart, thankfully, is still beating. Her hands comes up to cup both sides of his neck, and then his face. She checks his eyes. They were rolled to the back of his head. "Wake up, Jack…" she murmurs. "Wake up."

Her mind flashes back to the accident on the bus, when she did the same thing to the bus driver. Her power then had been enough to cancel Benjamin's, though she has absolutely no idea it was Benjamin who caused it.

Half awake, Jack murmurs, "Yes.. Yes, more gravy." Slumped back against the couch, both legs kicked out akwardly in front, the oft-drunk magician's mouth makes tenative chewing motions, and the creases across his brow flatten as he lets out a happy sigh. Sweet, delicious gravy.

Then, under Elena's tender ministrations, he suddenly snaps back to the land of the living. His eyelids fly open, and upon seeing Elena face-to-face with him, he nearly let out the scream he'd sucked in when he was being strong-like-bull. "Holybleedin'goddamnfreakin'sonofawhorin'clapmongerin'… Shit!" He exclaims. "Oooh… I'm a sore little monkey. At least I get to wake up to your pretty face. Hope all that concern isn't for lil' old me." Teasing, Jack reaches out shakily to thumb Elena's chin. "Ok, Scrappy. You can come."

She lets go when Jack rears his head back and yells and curses. Elena winces, the forceful blink pushing out a single tear trickling down the side of her face. And then, he thumbs her chin shakily, and grins at her, she stares at him. And then? She hits him. Not with her fist, but she grabs a pillow and hits him with it. She knows he's sore, but good GOD. "I told you!" she cries, aghast. "I told you! It's why I didn't want to…I thought I killed you, you jerk!" Even if she was the one who put him in the state he's in to begin with. But she can calm down now, and she sighs. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to….I just….oh god." She buries her face in her hands. "You know things were a lot simpler if I thought I could just make people feel better."

"Whoa.." Jack reaches out to lay a comforting hand on Elena's shoulder more than a little akwardly. Wooing women he's familiar with, but comforting has never come naturally to him. Besides it's been a while since he was Scrappy's age. "Don't worry, dearie," he urges, and graces the girl with a shaky-but-confidant smile. "Like I said, I saw what happened to the lady at Hava Java. I had an idea what I was getting into." Then he winces melodramatically. "Think you could do that in a pinch? I don't know that I want to play target to your practice again." The hand on 'Lena's shoulder gives a couple of reassuring squeezes.

"I think so…" Elena says softly, smiling ruefully towards Jack as he squeezes her shoulder. She looks down at the pillow she holds, cradling it a little bit in her lap. "It was easy because it made sense. I….haven't told anyone this but I know a few others who have abilities as well. One of them, I've been helping him discover the full limit of his powers. We haven't even scratched the surface but it gave me at the very least a better understanding as to how our abilities in general work. And then….I didn't understand how mine works for the longest time until a friend of mine inspired me the other day. And now I tested it on you." She pauses. "But I haven't been using it this long. I've been using them unconsciously until now. I might be more liability than I am any help." She looks at him. "But I don't want you to go without backup either. I don't know. I might hurt others on your side as friendly fire too."

The possibility of that is enough to elicit a wince from Jack. "That wouldn't be any good. Maybe you should hang back.. I'd feel right awful if somethin' were to happen to you after I dragged you into all of this." Gently, slowly, Jack begins to stretch the kinks from his muscles and shake the aches from his joints. Granted, if Elena could control her power, she'd become a valuable asset.

She could control it coming out, it looks like. Elena starts mulling over her past, what she could remember. In all of those instances, she thought to make them feel better. She willed them to, and it happened. But if she wasn't willing others to get hurt, it doesn't. If she wasn't willing other people to stop, they don't. She turns her head to Jack as he stretches. She turns around to face him. She doesn't ask this time, but her gaze sharpens again. She wills the soreness to go away. It was her fault, after all. The benign side of her powers, now that she knows her 'trigger', she has no qualms with using. This time, however, she tries to do it without touching him.

Just as fast as the pain reared its ugly head, it is gone. Blinking, Jack gives one arm an experimental shake, squeezing his eyes closed against the pain. The pain? Hey! It doesn't hurt. Relaxing, he wiggles his torso, then each leg in turn. Grinning appreciatively, he gives Elena an encouraging cuff on the shoulder. "You did that, didn't you? I saw you get all focus-y. OutSTANDing. You're pretty impressive when you do that voodoo that yoodoo."

"Thanks," Elena says with a smile, glancing down at her fingers and wiggling them slightly. "At least now I know I can do whatever I do without touching you - at least from a certain distance." She ponders…..looks like she'll have to be her own guinea pig after all. Pain and taking it away were simple enough, but that didn't explain her ability to wake people up from sleep, or her ability to keep poison at bay. No, it was something else. She would have to look into it. But the best lesson she got out of this was that she can keep her powers on lockdown. She can control it almost instinctively by willing it out, and if she doesn't do it, it stays in. If she could do it….her father might be able to do the same. There might be a way to keep her father from imploding.

She looks at Jack and reaches out to hug him tightly. "You have -no idea- how much you've helped me out right now," she murmurs, squeezing. She lets go and looks at him. "So when's this thing going down? I'll hang back, but….I'll go just in case you need an extra hand. Stick me in the kid's table or something. Or in the getaway car."

Jack lets out a warm, surprised laugh and pats Elena on the back when she hugsqueezes him. "I'm glad I could help you on the first run," he jokes. "I'm not sure you'll be able to talk me into a round two. As for our little soiree? I /would/ be more comfortable if we could keep you out of the line of fire. I'm sure we can find something for you to do." There's no shortage of work to go around, after all. Even if the girl could be an asset, it'd be patently wrong to give her a baptism by fire.

"Works for me. I'm a wuss. My body will probably cave into itself if I were shot," Elena says with a grin. She sighs, and then she looks at him. "Look…..I don't know what the plan is, but if you're going in with Hiro-san and others? Just be careful okay? I don't want to be the one to have to drive the getaway car. I don't exactly have the skillset to be a driver." She grins sheepishly. "In car I'm probably a weapon of mass destruction. I -am- a native New Yorker after all." She winks at him, and after a few moments of silence, stands up slowly. "Keep me posted? I will too," she says.

Jack nods and waves grandly toward the door. "I'd show you to the exit, but I believe you'll be able to find it well enough." Grinning, he tips a wink at the girl. "I'll keep you posted. Stay out of trouble, you hear? I'm in charge of the trouble." He laces his fingers together, content to remain on the couch for the moment. What an afternoon!

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