2010-04-04: Ice Cold Intervention

Starring:

Nathan2_V4icon.pngTracy_V4icon.pngKeLyssa_V4icon.png

Date: April 4th, 2010

Summary:

Nathan and Tracy try to talk to KeLyssa. Also, Nathan gets schooled by his new mentor, a ten year old.


"Ice Cold Intervention"

Tracy's Safehouse

New Jersey

After flying to Washington and back and traipsing through the woods back to the safehouse, Nathan is parched. As such, before doing anything else, he heads for the kitchen. But he doesn't feel like drinking water, no, he wants something else. He pads up to the refrigerator, and opens it, his sunglasses still perched on his nose. Glancing at the contents, he extracts a milk bottle which he removes the lid to and begins to down the white milk.

"You're supposed to use a glass Mister Petrelli," says the little blonde girl who sits at the table. "Mommy always said we had to use a glass…"

Nathan virtually chokes on the milk at the sound of the small voice, "PFffft!" He begins coughing. In between his coughs he corrects again, "Cough… Nathan… cough.."

"Mommy always said!"

Tracy, after the recent flight, had disappeared upstairs — but before long, she comes sauntering quietly down the stairs from a higher floor. Once more, her long and straight hair is neat with no signs of being windblown.

On the hunt for KeLyssa, she moves through the sparsely decorated living room to appear in the entryway of the kitchen to come upon Nathan, an entirely unintentional mimic of a few days prior. Her arms fold. "…Nathan?" When she's relatively sure he isn't choking to death, Tracy's chastisement follows, less serious than that of the little girl's. "She's right, you know."

If anyone said that an Easter Service was not the place to yell and shout in anger at God…well, they were wrong. KeLyssa had gone to an Easter service and, when she was sure that the place was completely empty after the service, she got angry. She yelled and screamed at God. If anyone heard her, they probably just thought she was a crazy girl and stayed away. With that out of her system, however, she made her way back to the safe house, which is where she finds herself now, outside the door of. Open, enter, close. Simple as that, and that's exactly what she does, making her own way to the kitchen.

The blonde child nods emphatically at Tracy's words. "You should use a glass next time~" she virtually sings before hopping off her chair and skipping off to the yard.

"I was going to finish it — " Nathan begins while taking off his sunglasses. He pockets the sunglasses and manages to down the rest of the bottle of milk. " — I'll get more." Because that makes everything alright, right? He glances at the door and then back to the table, "Does she sit there all day waiting…" to correct, help, or otherwise mother Nathan.

His gaze turns to the door as the new figure enters the kitchen, "KeLyssa." He glances at Tracy and then back at his former assistant. "Where were you?"

Tracy certainly has no answer for Nathan, not knowing what goes through the mind of that little girl, but she does look momentarily amused. A roll of her eyes off this expression turns into a look over her shoulder. "KeLyssa," Tracy states after Nathan, voice slightly pitched to get the young woman's attention also. She turns to the side to let her pass into the kitchen, and though she remains in the entryway, her eyes follow KeLyssa's trajectory rather closely.

KeLyssa stops at the entrance of the kitchen, where Tracy is standing. She eyes Nathan. "What's it matter where I've bin? I bin out. Tha's all there's to it." She says, leaning against the wall, crossing her arms.

Matching KeLyssa's body language, Nathan crosses his arms as his jaw tightens. "It matters." He glances around the kitchen of the safehouse. "You are a part of this community — which deserves to be safe. And while you're not a prisoner here, for everyone's safety it's important we know." He doesn't get to the part about the agent and her photo, instead, he uncrosses his arms, shrugs off his jacket, and places it on the counter.

Tracy moves away from the doorway a few paces, her arms unfolding. This is an Approach With Caution situation. "Nathan— is right, KeLyssa. I meant it when I said you wouldn't be locked up here. But these circumstances— they're not exactly normal. They're not ideal."

KeLyssa eyes Tracy and Nathan. "Look, I 'preciate ya'll takin' me away from the psycho hair bitch, bu' I don' feel I need ta answer ta ya'll ta letcha know where I'm gonna be every second o' every day!" She frowns. "Ifin I did that, it'd be almost as bad as livin' with her!" Her being Cody. "An' tha's one've the reasons I wanted ta get outta there. She had ta control everythin'!"

"And I understand that," Nathan affirms diplomatically. "It's frustrating. It's hard. It's annoying. And it's maddening in a way — from one prison to one of a different kind… but you have to admit, even if people keep tabs on you, it's better here than there…" His eyebrows furrow further and he takes a deep breath before resting his palms on the kitchen counter and then hoisting himself to sit on it, his legs dangling off the edge. "People are looking for us. All of us. And if any of us were to compromise ourselves, we would compromise everyone. They could follow any of us home — "

Though Tracy holds her features firm, jaw tense, there is empathy in her eyes. Whether KeLyssa sees it— that's another story. While Nathan decides to sit on the counter (good thing that little girl is outside), she moves toward the young Southerner, one hand gesturing. A wave, an explanation. "— someone followed you home," she interjects, her voice kept calm, level, but insistent. "….to the other safe house. If they could find you there, they could find you here and catch you. You, 'n' everyone else."

With her arms still crossed, KeLyssa looks between Nathan and Tracy, icy eyes staring at them both. "People may be lookin' fer us, bu' that don' mean they'll actually find us, do it?" If Tracy's revelation comes as a shock to KeLyssa, she doesn't show it. "Don't matter ifin they followed me there. I ain't there no more."

Nathan's features soften some. "But the point is they are looking, they found you once, and we want everyone safe." He presses his lips together. "Including yourself. And I'm not saying you can't leave; however I am suggesting perhaps keeping these journeys to a minimum and only as-needed." He shakes his head, "No, they won't necessarily find us, but they're resourceful. They found my mother who can see into the future — " this statement leaves Nathan just a little queasy, evidenced by nothing more than a small frown " — if we're not careful, they will discover us."

Tracy, for once, has the opposite reaction as Nathan. Where his features soften, hers go harder. "You're not at the other safe house anymore, but other people are." Her friend among them. If there wasn't a personal angle to all of this, well, she might just be not quite as angry. "You have to know the kind've resources the Protocol has. They found me more than once."

KeLyssa doesn't move from her position, and her gaze doesn't become any less icy. "Well, maybe yer mother's power ain't workin' properly none, ifin she can't use it ta keep 'erself safe from 'em." Comes her rebuttal to Nathan. Looking to Tracy she says, "Yeah, an' now it's their problem. It ain't my problem what happens there no more. I ain't responsible fer what happens o'er there no more. An' ifin yer gonna be all uptight 'bout it, maybe I made a mistake thinkin' this place's better'n that one. Maybe I should jus' leave ya'll now. That way none've ya'll gotta worry 'bout 'em followin' me back here."

"There's a lot of things about my mother that aren't working properly. I have a distinct feeling her power isn't one of them," Nathan observes, his voice edging on bitter. Pushing it out of his tone he manages to sigh, "Have you seen the kids around, KeLyssa? The other people? There are a lot of people hiding here and we want it safe. For everyone. Yourself included." He hops off the counter. "You have a choice here: you can stay, try to contribute to what we're doing here as far as crippling the beast, and keep everyone safe…" he doesn't say the second option as he doesn't particularly want to give it to her.

Tracy, the other hand… "Or— leave, and get yourself imprisoned and turned into a weapon," she says. Though she steps closer to KeLyssa, a hand poised in the air as if to stop her, she does not. "You just better be smart enough to leave us out've it." The woman's words are not of warning: they're laced with a cold threat instead.Tracy, the other hand… "Or— leave, and get yourself imprisoned and turned into a weapon," she says. Though she steps closer to KeLyssa, a hand poised in the air as if to stop her, she does not. "You just better be smart enough to leave us out've it." The woman's words are not of warning: they're laced with a cold threat instead.

Tracy, the other hand… "Or— leave, and get yourself imprisoned and turned into a weapon," she says. Though she steps closer to KeLyssa, a hand poised in the air as if to stop her, she does not. "You just better be smart enough to leave us out've it." The woman's words are not of warning: they're laced with a cold threat instead.

KeLyssa tilts her head, for a moment Tracy is the only one she looks at. The only one she cares about. Holding her palm upward, something seems to be appearing, moving upward out of her hand. First a head, then the rest of the body. It's a tiny ice statue of Tracy. "Well, I don't suppose I gotta worry 'bout addin' no more o' these inta the collection I had at home." She says softly, as she lets the statue fall from her hand and crash on the floor. Looking to Nathan, she says, "Ya know what? I'm thinkin' I'm gonna take a walk. Jus'…around. Nowhere in particular. Ifin ya wanna follow me ta see where I am an' make sure ain't no one followin' me, I suggest ya use that fancy flyin' ability o' yours, so I can't see ya too nearby." With that, she makes her way to the door, opening it. However, she turns to look toward the kitchen where Tracy and Nathan are. "An' so ya'll know, I was at church. M'sorry ifin that inconvenienced ya'll."

Hopping off the counter, Nathan sighs heavily. "That's not… going for … random walks…" he twitches before raising a frustrated hand to his forehead. Why is it that things have gotten so incredibly complicated? "… do you intend to come back?" is what Nathan manages. He crosses his arms over his chest again.

Tracy's eyes widen on the ice sculpture, never having seen anything quite like that before, and never an ability like hers so close. Agape, her wonder veers close to horror, especially as the thing crashes to the kitchen floor. After another moment of watching KeLyssa — expecting her, obviously, to leave as she said she would — Tracy crouches down, gathering the largest shard of broken ice into her hand. She's still harboring anger as she steps toward the back door, but she holds her hand palm-up and makes some attempt to help KeLyssa see they're on the same side. Her own hand chills, wisps of cold drifting off of her skin; the ice freezes even more, cracking, shattering. "You're like me."

KeLyssa looks at Nathan and shrugs. "Seems as if I dunno…but ifin I'm a danger, might not. Don' wanna put none o' yer lives in danger, none." She rolls her eyes. Her eyes go wide for an instant, gazing at Tracy. "I ain't nothin' like you." She says after a moment. "I ain't the one gettin' angry at someone fer somethin' that ain't their fault. Ya're the one, it almost feels like, tha's blamin' someone else fer the Protocol followin' 'em. I don' want people like us ta get hurt none like the next person. Bu' this is a war, an' people'll get hurt one way or another. Ya gotta realize that." And with that, she steps out the door and slams it behind her.

Nathan's eyes narrow. "That could've gone better," he observes as he pads towards the door, trying to decide whether to follow or not instead of following he allows a single hand to rest on the door itself. He turns to Tracy, the weariness taking over again. "I… am at a loss…"

The door slams, Tracy sighs, lets the ice fall to the floor, and with it, her ability seems to dissipate. "She doesn't get it, does she," she says dully to Nathan. "Now I know why Baker wanted to kill her. The thing is— " she laughs without humour. "I know where KeLyssa's coming from. Even so," Tracy shrugs and she, too, eyes the door. "The best thing for everyone would be if she didn't come back," she adds honestly. One word manages to come to being at the end of that sentence that, several months ago, it probably wouldn't have. "But…"

"I know. It would be simpler if she stayed away, but she needs our compassion, not our judgment, I just don't know how to keep everyone safe," is the quiet reply as Nathan takes a step towards Tracy before lowering his hands on her shoulders. He gazes intently into Tracy's eyes. "I could go after her. I just don't know if it would do any good… and I don't know how we'd move everyone if we were compromised…" He leans forward to plant a soft kiss on Tracy's forehead.

Tracy sighs yet again, a sign of her frustration. It's not solely KeLyssa's stance that has the woman frustrated, but the whole situation and her part in it. "I'm at least partly responsible for the people in this house, but I can't control them," she says practically through her teeth, looking up the small distance to Nathan. "If I could just talk to her again…"

"Hey, hey, hey. You're doing what you can, and you're doing a good job of it," Nathan chides softly as he shakes his head just a little. "You're not responsible. We all are. That's what it means to live in a place like this." He reaches up and brushes her hair behind her ear gently. "Do you want me to try tracking her down? I can follow her, I can fly pretty fast. Try to convince her to come back, if only to talk…? Or we can wait. She could be back on her own…"

Tracy falls short of looking reassured; she's not looking for reassurance right now. She only shakes her head at Nathan. "If I were her, I wouldn't want to be found for awhile." Obviously. KeLyssa made that crystal clear. "You get her angry… 'n', if her ability's anything like mine— " She gives Nathan a pointed look.

"Alright. I'll stay away then," Nathan nods, lowering his hands from her shoulders finally and taking a step back. "Hopefully she'll cool off," the instant he says it, he cringes. "Pun wasn't on purpose." With another sigh he pads back to the countertop and retrieves his jacket.

(FADE)

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