2008-03-25: If I Had A Nickel

Starring:

Church_icon.gif Noah_icon.gif

Summary: Church has a present for Noah.

Date It Happened: March 25th, 2008

If I Had A Nickel


NYC - Angela's Office - Company Headquarters

Not long ago, Church was packing up his office at Brubaker; it seemed like minutes to him, but it was at least a couple of hours after school that he stayed. Why? He turned around and saw a little red flash drive sitting on his keyboard. He had to stop and look over everything- that was the purpose of the exercise.

Though it took a lot to resist trying to take the information and use it himself, after a moment or five of deliberation, Lawrence decided that the best course of action, despite his wonton need for acknowledgement, was to take it all to Noah Bennet.

It's quite an accident, but the knock that sounds on Noah's door is the first few notes of shave-and-a-haircut. It's more of a warning, really; the door handle turns and the wooden blockade opens up a few seconds later, and the first thing through it is Lawrence from the chest up, trying to subdue his glee and make a serious face(he's mostly winning). "Yoohoo~. Bennet?"

Various files that were once classified to him are now opened, currently on a few people currently in Level 5 opened up. Of course, not all the Founder secrets are here, but enough are present to ensure that Noah can run the Company as needed. At least in a way that might enable it to survive and perhaps assist in the dark days to come.

At first, the Company Man doesn't even look up as the fellow Senior Agent speaks. "Agent Church, I didn't expect to see you so soon," Noah replies as he looks up from the file he is holding, putting it back down and closing it for the time being. He doesn't say anything else, but he motions the chair in front of him, clearly giving Lawrence the floor.

"So soon? Did something happen that I should know about?" Lawrence steps forward into the office, some part in him being just a teensy bit territorial about the office space thing. It doesn't show.

On the man's finger, twirling, is a USB drive on a small bead chain, a red swirl against the light blue of Church's shirt. When he stops at the front of the desk, he keeps his arm hovering. The little red drive comes to a swinging, tantalizing halt when the chain is caught between his fingers. "I've got a treat. Do you have a sweet tooth?"

"No… Nothing as of yet. But if Angela's predictions were as ominous as she made them seem to be, I presume that it is only a matter of time before we get the first round of bad news." There is a brief pause as Noah looks at the dangling USB drive. "I don't accept a gift until I know what it is," Noah replies in a dry tone, despite the faintest smirk that appears. "I trust you have something important." The last comment is stated more of a fact than an unspoken threat. After all, Church should know what is VII (Very Important Information) and what isn't.

"We've seen the maps before, the power grid is new, the state of the building is assessed, and the security is vague-" Church's fingers curl up around the drive in his fingers, and the man reaches blindly back to pull up a chair and sit on the edge near to the desk, a breezy smile on his lips. "-but I know where Angela is." Unless this is an elaborate ruse- which he doubts so very much.
Bennet's eyes don't open wide in joyous surprise, nor do they accuse Church of trying to pawn false information on him. One calm question explains his feelings on it perfectly. "…Where did you get this?" he inquires, knowing that espionage is not exactly Church's expertise.

Espionage is what he was built to do. Jeez, Bennet. Give him an ounce of credit. One thing he is great at though, is bullshitting and using that silver tongue of his in un-Evolved, exemplary ways.

"If I tell you where I got it, there's a good chance you'll tell me to disregard it as misinformation. If I don't tell you, you'll probably say that anyway." Church sits still for once, the hand holding the drive moving down to the table, palm down with the drive under his fingers, ready to slide across the desk. "I made a promise, Noah. Besides that, we have to see this-" His eyes dart down to his hand. "-through, even if the person that left it with me makes steam come out your ears."

HRG leans forward in his chair (or Angela's or Bob's chair, depending on who you ask), looking up to Church with an unwavering gaze that seems to be displeased. "This person gives you information with the expectation to have the Company move upon it… Yet this person made your promise to not share the sort of the information to make it seem creditable?"

"No." Church has a simple answer. "No, he did not. I am hesitant to tell you, that's all. And hoping not to look entirely incompetent while doing so." His hand moves away, and slides the drive over to Noah. "I seem to have missed a chord with you somewhere, huh? Or you just happen to assume I'm a total dumbass." Which Church does laugh at. Sometimes, yes, he can seem not-at-all equal in terms of brainpower. 'Seem' is the keyword.

"Peter gave it to me. Future Peter." See. Not entirely a fool, right? Steam, ears, y/n?

Mr. Bennet takes the drive without a hint of mirth in his expression. "I've had a very long couple of months, Church… I'll just leave it at that and I recommend you do the same." While the times at the Company have been hard, few people have had to worry about their family being terrorized quite like Noah has. There is a long pause as Noah looks at the drive. After mulling it over for awhile, he gives a sigh and puts it into his computer. "Hopefully, it is actually him and not some imposter. I'll take a look over it, then see if we can get the Agent I sent to get information from Pinehearst to varify some of it for us."

"It was him. When he came to me, he did only know things that Peter would know. And Peter's head is obviously not easy to get into." Lawrence sits back, finally. "The password is 'world war z'. With spaces." The second book he left with the Peter Petrelli currently out in the new Level Five.

"Even if there's no verification, we need to check it out anyway. If that's the case, we just have to be more cautious. The fact that it has a timestamp worries me."

There is a brief pause at the password as Noah looks up from putting the drive into the laptop situated at the desk. Noah doesn't say a word on the bizarre name, just attributing it to some fad that he doesn't have the time nor the desire to understand. Besides, he has more distracting matters at hand. Shortly after opening the files, Noah glances up.

"Timestamp?"

Noah furs his brows, troubled blue eyes framed by infamous horn-rimmed glasses. He pauses for a moment, looking over the information given to him. "If this is really from Peter, there is a good chance that this information will be inaccurate the moment he got here. Every action he takes changes things… The last time he traveled in time, he found out about a distaster that ravaged the future. He went back in time while he stopped the catalyst event… a lot of other things went wrong." Pursing his lips together, Noah prys his gaze away from the monitor to glance over to Church. "However, like we did for the rescue at Pinehearst, we have to take the risk that the information unreliable. If it is a trap or the Peter McFly's trip changed important facts, we'll just have to make sure that we are prepared and react accordingly." There you go, Noah's quarterly pop culture reference. Enjoy it while you can.

Don't worry, he will. Church sighs when Bennet finishes, his eyes grazing over the wall behind the other man. "Timestamp, yes. He gave a frame for us to move before. Or on. As for the whole Butterfly Effect, yeah, it could have changed. But obviously it may not have. I never take time travelers at face value, but there's absolutely no way to tell if he fudged something. He may have actually gone to check on the place, I have no idea. Might leave him a message on that number to see if he knows more about the security they've got. After that last debacle, the regulars might have more heat resistance. Though I doubt they'll have enough of it." Sitting back, Lawrence has knuckles curled under his jaw and an elbow on the arm of the seat. He smirks. "It's not like that's my only trick, though."

"Being prepared is the best thing we can do. Pretty much our only option right now. Sometimes I wish I remembered if I was a boy scout." The answer to that is Yes, once, he was. Brown eyes settle back on those behind the browline spectacles. "But at least we know the turf by heart. That's one advantage. Chances are they might not know about all of our… 'fire exits'." Verbal Quotation Marks.

"I sincerely doubt that they will prepare the common security for your appearance. The more concerning matter would likely be the presence of other Evolved." Sylar, that teleporter that gave Micheals an unpleasant trip, and even Niki Sanders, the elusive vixen of violence… Then there is Arthur himself. Of course, there are likely other Evolved, but those are the only ones that Noah has an awareness of vicious Abilities that could turn the battle. Sighing, Noah glances over the plans for Level 5 that flash on his screen. "As for 'home team advantage', I wouldn't depend on it… Not considering we've been having loyalty issues."

"That teleporter would be a problem if she worked at that building. She's PR. And I wouldn't worry about Gabriel being in the way- but I know that you do anyway." This is said with a deliberate amount of gentleness. He's not oblivious to the hate, or anything else between Sylar and Noah. "If Arthur is there past the regular security- then we'll need a plan. Especially on whether or not to engage him, or just- well, run." If he had the best chance, Church would put a bullet in the man's brain himself. But as it stands, that won't happen anytime soon. Lastly- "If we had given them their child, we would have a teleporting specialist on hand." Church sounds bitter, and from the start he had wanted to help the Ivanovs. Now when they're needed, they have been scared off. Though perhaps, just maybe- they are having problems with Pinehearst too. If that is the case, they share a common enemy. But otherwise- "There is no option of popping in and out-" Wait. Unless-

"Hiro?"

While there are many things that Noah could start his conversation on, his attention goes swiftly to the those that turned their back on the Company. Noah utters each word with contained frustration, as if he was the only man sane in a world of mad men. "If we had given them their child before her powers were under control and they continued to stay in New York, there is a good chance we'd all be dead. Even if we have played the villain and forced them into hiding, that protects us and the child from exposure to Evolved. What would have happened if that child ran into you while you were at the school?"

"She's what, seven years old. She wouldn't have. But if she did- nothing. Because we'd have impressed the use of the nullifier pills as part of a regular regimen." He's mostly thought that through- he just hates what happened with them so much that it has imprinted. "And now, they're off somewhere with her, and we have no idea if the girl has her ability under control or not. We're in a similar situation as you brought up, except now we have no bearing on directing them. They could come back at any time and throw us all into a spiral. But it's too late for hindsight anyway, and getting that under control is not a priority unless Arthur intends to use them. So maybe we should be finding them before he decides to ask for pittance? I don't know, exactly. I just hate what had to happen and how it turned out this way, Bennet."

"Other than finding them and asking forgiveness, our fastest option is Nakamura. I'm willing to bet he'd help us. He knows what his father did here, and chances are that he's trying to devise his own plan for Pinehearst."

"She killed an agent already with her abilities and caused Elle to lose control of her powers. And if the parents refused the regime of pills or the girl was kidnapped, we'd be in the same position we are now. We did the best we could, they somehow find out where the child was. I suggest until we find out how, that you keep such vocal disagreements to yourself. Control is what keeps this nation safe. Police control society, the border patrol controls immigration, we control the uncontrollables. It's just how things need to be until we can have the time to figure out a better way." With that said, Noah moves on, presuming that Church is on the same page or wise enough to let it drop. There is a reason why Noah has had an understanding with Angela.

"If you wish to get Nakamura involved, I can support that. I have reason to believe that he already knows of Peter's imprisonment." There is a short pause. "Or will know. It is better that we have this conversation on our terms before he acts irrationally. I trust you to find with the man and have him come here." It would seem that Noah has better things to do than look for Japanese geeks in New York.

"So you want me to set up a meeting? I can do that. I'm good at that. And people like to talk to me 'cause I'm so cute." Wisdom levels are totally subjective. Lawrence has his very own brand of it, and he's not dead yet. "…We can try to find out how they got her back. We could try to contact them first. Make peace. There's such a thing as situational forgiveness. Sometimes people do foolish things when given little options. It's human nature." He watches Noah, but not for a reaction. "I'm just saying that we could offer to help them with pills- and proper training- but on their terms. They liked me while they were here, and I could tie a white flag to my head and go talk to them. I'd really like to at least attempt that, Noah. I'm useful for peaceful trips too, and I know you know that." Nope, Not dropping it. Yet. Soon, perhaps.

"If you want to make peace as an individual, you can. Our stance remains the same, Agent Church. The Company always offer a hand to help, never reigns to steer. However, doing so might make your actions in the future a little more suspect. Keep that in mind for the days to come," Noah states in a serious tone.

"You wanna know how many times I've heard that? Cause I do too. I lost count back in eighty-nine, Bennet." Lawrence puts both palms on the arms of his chair, lifting himself from the seat. "Oh boy, If I had a nickel…" We all know the end to this line.

"You can skip the mandatory warnings about 'actions being suspect'. You know me way better than that." Lawrence was even here for a few years by the time they hired Noah. Now he'll just feel old again, in due time.

Noah doesn't say anything for roughly fifteen seconds. In a day, it goes by in a blink. During a conversation it can really drag on. Placing his elbows on the table, he looks straight at Church. "You done?"

"Yes ma'am." Well, Noah's the one at Angela's desk. If there's a name placard there, he turns it around to face Bennet name-first. Even in dire times, at least one of them has a bit of humor. "I'll find Nakamura. Expect a meeting time soon- I'll forward it." Lawrence smiles amicably, turning on his heels and just about skitters back out the door. Later, HRG.

Watching as Church goes out the door, Noah gives a sigh as he files through a few boxes, hrmming as he pulls out a few on the people that were once on Level 5. There is a thought and then a smirk. Who knows, maybe Peter and Church have inspired him for an idea. Only time will tell.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License