2010-01-09: Motel Magic

Starring:

Gene_V4icon.pngBert_V4icon.png

Date: January 9th, 2010

Summary:

Band-aids, Bactine and Baby Jesus, Oh My!


"Motel Magic"

Motel in an Unspecified Location

A few hours have passed since Gene called Bert and Eric to let them know what is going on. While Eric is likely doing things to ensure that Gene and Bert may have a nicer place to stay or at the least damage control for the explosion, Gene is focusing on taking it easy. The rush of 'battle' has left him, and his head throbs from the violent toss against the wall.

Currently dressed in a simple men's tank top and some grey sweatpants, the geek god rests on the queen sized bed of the cheap motel, which has remodeling that appears to be from the 70's. A bag of ice rests at the back of his head, a few flicks of blood frozen to the bag itself. He currently is checking channels on the cheap TV, trying to see if there is any news on the fight. What concerns him more than then talking about too much is what he finds… Nothing at all.

Bert is in a fairly mild state of panic. Dressed in jeans and a dorky t-shirt of her own, she arrives at the door of Gene's motel room. There are a couple of shopping bags in hand, filled with unisex clothing items, toiletries, a first aid kit, some snacks. (Hey, when he told her what had happened, these things were essential to get en route!)

The only thing she wears in the way of a disguise is a surgical mask. If anyone asks, it's to ward off swine flu or SARS. While this life under the radar is exciting, it's also got its cons. A whole lot of them. Yet Bert's on the fence as to whether or not she wants a semblance of normalcy back in her life.

And then, there is a knock on the door.

Pulling out a gun from under the mattress with his free hand, Gene tucks it into the back of his sweats as he moves toward the door. He gives a look through the peephole to see Bert. While he would normally be really paranoid even of Bert (after all, shapeshifts DO exist), the items in her possession suggest that she got the message and therefore needs to be Bert… Or at least go with the flow until a good time presents itself. "Hey, Bert" he offers as he still holds the bag to his head, using the one hand to open the door and then usher Bert in. "You alright?"

As the door is opened, Bert drops the bags and FLINGS her arms around Gene. "OH MY GOSH, you're okay! What in .." She pulls back just enough to get a good look at him, before another squeezing embrace is delivered. "Of course I'm alright you dork! Look at you! What are you doing up!" Nevermind the fact he had to get the door. "You need to be laying down, I grabbed a first aid kit!" She's still latched onto Gene. Poor guy.

Not wanting to pry himself away from Bert, but at the same time concerned about security, Gene returns the hug with one arm. "It's not that big a deal. I was just throw up against the wall. Not like he was trying to kill me. Or at least I don't think he was. Hard to tell to have conversation with a guy you're shooting repeatedly. …The bleeding has mostly stopped, just need to clean it up and stuff after it starts to scab." There is a short pause as he remembers what he has done. "Sorry about the apartment."

"Just thrown aga.. oh jeez, you still could have been killed," Bert admonishes as tears swim in her eyes. She lets go of Gene, it seems security has her concerned too. "Go lay down and I'll bring these things in." She grabs the bags and scowls at Gene from behind her mask, "Like it was your fault. You got attacked. It's not as if you set off bombs or something… now go lay down and I'll get you mopped up. I got the most non-stingy looking stuff I could find. Hope you don't mind Bactine." Who doesn't have fond childhood memories of Bactine?

"I don't need to lay down… Just need to take it easy. A little tired, that's all. Just glad no one else was in there. That and Artoo was able to fry Gabriel a bit. Or Sylar. Whoever he is these days," Gene replies as he takes a step back and moves to sit on the bed, figuring that Bert will bring in the stuff and close the door. "As for the apartment? I kinda did. I had the place rigged to blow up in case we needed to leave in a hurry." He winces in advance, figuring that this is going to be one of those things that won't go over well.

Bert does bring in the bags and starts unloading them, looking for the first aid supplies. The door is of course shut and locked before she gets too into pulling out things and tending to Gene's bumps and ouchies. "Oh.. Oh.. well.. that's a really good plan actually. Like rigging a computer to self format as a safety precaution. I'm sure you didn't have any other choice… Aha! Here," she hands over a bottle of Tylenol to Gene, "Take a couple of these, I'll go get you a damp washcloth. You're a mess." She sounds a little impressed about the rigging of the apartment, but disappointed. That's one hideout down and destroyed. But still..

Looking over toward Bert as she unpacks, the Geek God gives a small smile to see that her reaction was not what he intended it to be. "Well, I wasn't sure if he would try and use the stuff in the apartment to track us… or if the government wasn't following close behind. After all, they were going to try and use Peter for their work, maybe they were using him too." The young man pauses to take the Tylenol with a big swallow before he gives a small smirk. "Not that bad. Shoulda seen him. I unloaded two clips into him after I gave him what is usually a lethal dose of electricity. While he wasn't dishing it out, he could sure take it." Gene shakes his head. "Pity, I couldn't recruit him. He woulda been able to take out that Juggernaut guy that took out Arnie."

"If you didn't know his motives, then you did the right thing." Bert says as she finally takes off the surgical mask. With all the flu concerns, no one really asks if you go around wearing one of those. A damp rag in hand, she converges on Gene to start mopping up any bloody spots she can see on him. Whether or not it's invited. "That's just scary. Two clips and he was still moving, and electricity too." Being around people with superhero abilities is just damn neat, but downright frightening. It's one thing to read about them in comics, but another to live it. "What is he, a human cockroach?"

A causal shrug is given, in response, wincing slightly at the cool rag hitting his slightly bloodied shoulder. Speaking as Bert works on the head, it seems there is a bit of blood, but thankfully not a large cut. Seems like its bark is worse than the bite. "I know he's got mutliple abilities. He can kill people and take theirs. Peter had given me some when the me in the future asked him to ask me in the past to help him kill Sylar. Of course, that was before 'Sylar' changed." Gene is about to shake his head when he realizes that Bert is still working, so he just remains still as he continues talking. "Hopefully, I can get the spies in to do their thing. Have a woman that can control illusions, another one that possess people, and a third that can shapeshift. If those three working together can't get into the new government building, I don't know who could."

Bert notes the wince and takes it easier with the cleanup. "I'm glad this just looks worse than it is," she says softly as she works. "That's just.. Oi. I thought normal serial killers were scary as it was… wait.. he changed? I've got to pull my head up from the hacking and pay attention while all of this information is flying over." As areas are wiped clean, Bactine's applied as well as bandaids. (Spider-man bandaids, thank you very much.) "Hopefully. It'd be nice when people are no longer hunted and having to hide and can go back to their life best they can."

"Yeah, he helped before… Now not so much," Gene admits, closing his eyes as the Bactine/bandaid combo is given. He silently approves of the bandaid choice. "I've been trying to keep tabs on all the information and even that's a little hard. I have a feeling Peter will likely look into Sylar himself. Those two have a lot of power, so likely best to let Peter check things out first. As for everyone else? I have no idea what it'll be like when people aren't being hunted… It'll be odd, that's for sure. So, what about you? When all of this is over, you gunna go back to working for the government, but just do it for the CIA or something else instead?"

"If Peter can hold his own against this Sylar, better let him. Especially if he's got as many powers. Back up him best you can, but, you're already taking on more than you can handle," Bert says gently as she finishes 'doctoring' on Gene. That done, she starts unpacking the other items from the bags to put neatly away. "I.. don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. After all this, begging for my game designing job will just be weird. I just wanna get through this, then think about it."

Gene's blue eyes try to meet Bert's brown as he gives a soft smile. "Thanks for helping me out, Bert…" With the bandaids in place, he tosses the semi-melted bag of ice into a nearby trash can. "I'll do what I can. I'm /trying/ to get teams into place, people that I can just give assignments too based on the information I or other people get, but there are holes… And where people can't fill in, I do. Never ask something of other people if you aren't willing to work yourself."

The young man lays down on top of the covers, watching as stuff gets packed away. "As for life after, I've been thinking about it here and there, but that's my thing… Always thinking what's next. For me? I think I'm gunna try and start my own company. You know, making machines. Maybe cars, maybe other stuff, I dunno. But if I did it, you'd be welcome to whatever you wanted to do there. I'd likely use it as a place to hire Evolved. You know, people that wouldn't be able to find normal work elsewhere. Having you around…" The young man looks gives a small smile in the short silence that follows. "Been nice."

"You need more ice?" Bert asks, even as she eyes it being tossed into the trashbin. "I can see that. I'm starting to understand the feeling that you just can't do enough. I'm glad you're getting more people to delegate work to. You're gonna work yourself into a nervous wreck." Abandoning the putting away of supplies, she drops to sit at the foot of the bed. "That's an excellent idea, starting your own company. You'd kick all kinds of ass, but just don't forget you could probably use a nice vacation. A couple of weeks on a deserted island." She looks over her shoulder, offering a small grin at Gene. Touched, she turns around to more directly look at him, "You mean that? Even if I was helping to track people like you?" Sure she didn't know that's what she was doing for awhile..

The genius gives a childish grin. "But this stuff is kinda my vacation though… I mean, I saved two friends from the government through Arnie… And while I lost Arnie, it was because I was trying to take down this psycho Evolved. Apparently, there is an ability that makes it so you can take hits from a robot all day and just laugh about it. I'll need to figure out how to take out this guy if he pops up again." As Gene rabbit trails, he shakes his head, only to realize that might not have been a great call as he holds a hand up to support his skull. "Nah, no ice needed. And you were just trying to help, Bert, to do the right thing. You're smart and attractive woman with a good heart… And I trust you. It's a rare combo these days with the people I know."

"So, it's just been nice then, having me around?" Bert says, teasing in her tone and expression. She tuts a little as she watches Gene hold a hand to his head, "Just lay still. Too bad I can't take you to the ER in case you have a worse bump." She's not too sure if she'd agree that this could be construed as kind of a vacation. "Maybe I can tell myself we're just wargaming.. but with live ammo." Perhaps then she can enjoy this a little more. "I know, and yeah, I was under the influence, but I don't think I can ever fully forgive myself for it, y'know? I'll just keep trying to do the right thing to hopefully make up for it all."

Scooting up on the bed, Gene gives a smile at Bert's first words before the explaination of her motivation hits. He positions the pillow to be at the small of his back while his head reclines against the headrest. "The man didn't know his ability from what I gather… And we both know you are the sort of woman that normally wouldn't do those things. You had no way of knowing what would happen. It would be like if someone suddenly jumped in my head and controled me, I shouldn't feel bad if they use my body to do something bad. If I can forgive you, and I'm sure Baby Jesus forgives you…" With that, he displays his newest and most powerful weapon from his belt: Plastic Baby Jesus. "…I think you could too." The baby is put away before Gene finishes with. "Life is too short to beat yourself up. At least that's what my grandfather used to tell me."

A shudder is barely suppressed as Gene explains. "I.." She doesn't continue, because she's not entirely sure what to think. She was harboring a lot of ill will towards Ivory, thinking he was manipulating people on purpose. The man still isn't a saint by any stretch, considering what he was involved with it. His situation with powers, was probably no different than Peter Parker realizing what was going on, or Clark Kent. "Sure, Baby Jesus might forgive me for that, but what about y'know, being all, hey, Jewish?," she quips with a grin that threatens to turn watery. "Smart words. I'll have to keep them in mind. Of course you keep me too busy to really sit and dwell."

"Baby Jesus can love or forgive /everybody/. It's why people aren't supposed to make him cry… People tend to anyway," the young man replies as he looks toward the TV, seeing something about a terrorist attack. He picks up the remote by the bed and just turns it off, figuring he'll look into it later. "Just know that if you need time off or you need anything, you know you can just ask, right? I mean, if you want to just lay low and let other people handle the rest, you can do that. Doubt you'd want to, but I figure I need to offer just the same."

"You're too sweet," Bert says, watching as Gene turns off the TV. She folds her legs up under her, sitting indian-style, "Thanks, but no. I can't sit still and relax. It's better to keep busy right now." She's avoided looking into whether or not there are any warrants out for her or what have you. "I'd rather stay put and contribute what I can and as much as I can… as for Baby Jesus, I believe you. I'm just not gonna tell my parents that." She says the latter with a faint wink. "Why don't you get a nap? I can go for takeout if you're hungry when you wake up."

The covers are pushed down with bare feet as Gene speaks to Bert, clearly showing his intention as he speaks"That does sound like a good idea. My stomach isn't too happy with me, so likely will just want something with bread in it." Sliding himself into the covers, Gene yawns before lays his head down. "Thanks, Bert… One in a million… Be safe… Dodongo dislike smoke." And with that… He's out. Must have been more tired than he let on.

"Good call, and you looks so beat up and tired," Bert says before sliding off the bed, even if she was just getting comfortable. Letting Gene get all tucked in, she starts to look around the room and ferret for a laptop, but only after she looks down at Gene. She takes a step towards the bed, and looks ready to move in, but thinks better of it. "C'mon Bert, keep busy," she mutters to herself.

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