Habit made a careful listener of Jensen, but he quickly realized the conversation was veering into an official category. The two officers acted more like detectives than beat cops, and Jensen's shifting was clearly uncomfortable. "Perhaps I should go?"
He asked of Ivan, but included Dorian in the look also. He rose to his feet.
Ivan furrowed his forehead and darted his eyes at the preacher at Vega's questions. Kinda odd to be asking stuff like that in front of a stranger. They guy had the power too but it wasn't like he was showing it off or anything.
Unless Vega had heard more than he let on. For some reason, that bothered him though he wasn't sure why. They were on the same team, he assumed. And yet...he still couldn't put his finger on it. Then too, Ivan didn't feel like outing the guy any more than he was already. It was clear he was uncomfortable with the direction Vega had decided to take things from the way he stood and began to excuse himself.
Truth be told, Ivan was a little irritated too. Learning from this man was more important to the Domovoi now more than ever- especially with a lunatic terrorist group out and about now, from what he'd seen on the news. What this guy had done was a near miracle. Other than the Ascendancy and his attacker, Ivan had not met another like him. Especially who could and would actually teach him. Yeah, the more he thought about the opportunity, the more irritated he became.
"You know, in all honesty, I don't really remember all the much about it at the moment."
His eyes widened slightly and cut toward the preacher, hoping Vega caught his point. Sheesh! You'd think he'd already know all this. Not that he didn't trust the man, but he'd still look him up when he had a moment. See what kind of cop he was. "I should be outta here today."
Thanks to this guy, he didn't add. "I'll call you and we can meet up and I'll do my best to answer your questions."
He looked at the preacher with a bit of pleading on his face. "Can you stay father? I have some questions I'd like to ask a man of the church."
He hoped that sounded legit enough. It was true, though not, obviously, for the reasons he hoped Vega would assume.
Dorian wasn't particularly happy about the way this man was handling things. Apparently whatever personal shit he had going on was more important that catching a f... god. Dorian put his temper on the back burner. He hated repeating himself.
Dorian wanted to say, 'Yeah that's not how it works and you know it.' But that was not a good way to make friends in a new place, not that Dorian wanted to be friends with the pretty boy. He could think of all sorts of things to say that would put the boy in his place, but he nodded instead. "Fine."
He smiled as he handed Ivan his card. Tech was still well and good, but there was nothing like handing a vic your physical card and making sure they understood they could call whenever.
It's not Ana would have minded. They hadn't shared a bed in years. Besides he worked all manner of hours anyway. Dorian wanted to say so much more to the boy playing cop. He was going to have to watch the tapes again and not just for their known godling.
"I expect your call with in the day."
He'd give the man 24 hours but then he was not going to be quite so pleasant. Dorian turned and left. He felt like the man was hiding far more than he said, which meant he knew a lot more about the power the gods wielded. He was not going to enjoy this job if he had to work on the sly for the Atharim AND the CCDPD. Lying to both parties was going to be very difficult.
Jensen's weight shifted uncomfortably where he stood, feeling as though the pair of eyes on either side of him were pulling him two directions. The detective's penetrating gaze made him want to bare all his inner secrets. Jensen feared the detective already knew them, and it made him want to shiver in the chill air conditioned room. Ivan's, on the other hand, were pleading. A soft smile touched his lips as he retook the seat. "Of course, Ivan. I'll stay."
But his eyes flicked back to Dorian. "A pleasure to meet you sir."
Vega was pissed. Ivan shrugged. He was sure he'd be pissed too. Then again, he wasn't just healed with the power. And in front of a guy who seemed the only likely candidate available to actually teach him.
Vega could be butt-hurt all he liked. Ivan was looking at the larger picture. That thug had beaten him and killed others. And there were guys like him and worse out there. He needed to train, to be stronger, to be ready. That trumped everything.
If that meant the feelings of men like Vega got run over, well....he could buy the guy a beer when they got together next time. He was probably a good cop or the Cap wouldn't have chosen him. Looked all serious and stuff but eh. Some guys just looked that way. And he had kinda shut him down real fast. So yeah, no hard feelings. Just more going on than he knew.
Thankfully the preacher had at least decided to stay. Ivan waited till Vega was gone and even then lowered his voice. "Sorry. He's probably a good cop but I imagine you don't want others involved."
And now, with the moment at hand....he wasn't sure where to start. Which startled him. And then that pissed him off. And then he decided to screw it and go on.
"You control the power. You healed me. My job is to protect people."
He nodded to the TV screen that was currently running a news feed- the terrorist attacks- along the bottom. A memory of Smiley's uncaring face came to mind and his sense of urgency increased. He didn't really suspect him- didn't seem like something he'd do- but he'd inquire as to his whereabouts. Frustrated, he went on. "There's a lot going on in my city and I can't protect them if I don't know what I am doing."
The pleading he'd allowed in his voice before had been for show. Now it was real. "Please. can you teach me?"
This was far more important than anything else.
Jensen waited quietly while Ivan gathered his thoughts. Dorian certainly left an impression. He didn't come with the bearing of a man wishing a wounded brother well. He came armed with questions. Maybe he was a superior officer, although Ivan didn't address him as such. The politics of Custody police wasn't something Jensen understood, having spent most of his years in the CCD fiercely avoiding police.
Jensen gently held Ivan's gaze as he began to describe what clearly weighed on his heart. He nodded, although he wouldn't say that he healed anything. It was this gift. If anything, Jensen resisted it for years, but if he had accepted the truth sooner, more lives would be saved by now. Forgiving himself that fault was unlikely to come, but his actions from this day forward worked to rectify himself.
Finally, Ivan asked his question. The yearning in his heart and eyes was clear, but Jensen's breath froze in his chest. His jaw parted, speechless for a moment. "Ivan. I don't think..."
He shook his head and stood, backing away from the bed and licking his lips. "I don't control it. I wouldn't even know what to teach. I'm not the man for that job."
His gaze flicked to the door. "I wish you well. I really do."
He ran his hand across his hair, attempting to hide the shift that positioned himself to quickly leave. Ivan was healed now, but hooked to tubes and monitors, he couldn't readily give chase.
Ho boy. Healer the padre might be, but he was also skittish. Crap! This was not what he needed. Unless he was willing to look Smiley up and make are nicey-nice with him, this guy was his only real chance.
Ivan sat up, feeling the tug of the tubes and needles. They were irritations, though, now. He reached out his hand though he obviously couldn't reach the man as he backed towards the door. "Please"
The word held it all, the entire weight of everything sat on his shoulder, the responsibility he had. It was who he was. "Look, I know you're scared. I can protect you. But I need to know how to control this...this power."
He let his frustration show, the sense of failure and guilt that he usually kept at bay.
His eyes bored into the man. "People died because of me. Because I couldn't stop him. I reach for the power..."
- he stretched out, seeking it, trying to grasp that light just in the distance and it might as well have been on the moon.-"...and nothing. I don't know what I'm doing. He nearly killed-"
his voice caught at the thought of something happening to Zo, like his brother or mother being killed- "-someone special to me. He did kill someone's son or daughter. So are these other people,"
he said gesturing at the TV.
He was naked and exposed before the man. "Please. Whatever you can do, however you can help me, whatever you can teach me...."
He let the words trail off.
The pleading in Ivan's voice broke his heart. Years of wandering, lost and afraid of this power, and more, afraid of its allure, Jensen likewise longed for answers and hope. Ivan deserved it, but Jensen wasn't the answer. There was nothing he could do. What wisdom could he impart to an impressionable young man like Ivan? How to save someone and let your friend be shot in the process? How to end a man's life when angry?
"I'm sorry. You have a far wrong impression of me. I can't teach you anything. I have no idea how I do what I do."
He looked away. Anonymity beckoned from the hall. Swinging his sight back to the patient, he grew dizzy. "I have to go."
And he slipped away.
Ivan felt disappointment well up as the pastor high-tailed it out of there. Damnit!!! He ground his teeth in frustration. Now that he was alone, with the machines and TV on silent mode, the room seemed so empty.
He lay back down, feeling the now cool pillow against the back of his head and ears. All of his pains were gone and he felt constricted now around his middle where he was bound.
He was tired. It was odd. Not like he had been out all night partying or anything. All he did was sleep. But the quiet of the room seemed almost overwhelming. He didn't like it. He could almost hear the slight hum of the air control system switching on and off. He had gone somewhere, touched and opened something that he normally kept a lid on. And now that he'd exposed it, it was hard to stuff back in the box.
His eyes fell on the TV and the endless scroll at the bottom. It was hard to read at this angle. The images seemed distorted, as if through glass. Or water. But he knew what it said. He squeezed his eyes shut and felt the ghost of a tear at the corners. He swallowed and tried to push it all away. But the images from the screen and from the marketplace followed him.
Despite his tiredness, sleep was a long time in coming.
Despite his miraculous recovery, the doctors wouldn't release him just yet. He played it off, of course. And, of course, they didn't believe him. But it wasn't a crime to recover quickly. Especially when they looked at his record and saw that not only had he already been AT the Guardian but had been released on the Ascendancy's orders. Lucky, that.
Not that he minded totally. Not when one of the hot nurses came by to check on him. Then he totally played it up, flirting and joking. Officer injred in the line of duty wasn't exactly a turn off, after all. He even had a few new numbers in his phone. But it was all a game. None of it felt real. Underneath it all, that sense of disappointment seemed to suck it out of him.
Still, no use crying over spilled milk. That wasn't who he was. He may not have his mojo back just yet, but, well, life didn't wait on you. There was a job to do. Some assholes to track down and stop.
One in particular, he thought. And for that he'd need help. Dorian probably would be pissy but it couldn't be helped. It had been worth the risk, despite how it turned out.
Finally forcing the docs to discharge him- and wearing some actual freaking pants in for what seemed like forever! sheesh you never imagined how nice it felt to be fully dressed!- he walked out of the hospital and into the squad car that had been sent to pick him up. He chatted with the officer for a bit and then pulled out his wallet and dialed up Dorian. Might as well get this over with.
Dorian had to divert the CCDPD away from where their little god was going down. It wasn't the first time, but it was the first time he'd actually had to almost lie to do it.
Dorian had gotten someone else in the Atharim to call in a fake sighting, near where he'd been last scene that would allow him to redirect the police force away from the action. Now hopefully no other reports came in as Dorian sent his fellows off on a wild goose chase.
An Atharim informant handled the call and had just given it to Dorian. He sighed, he was off hunting in the tunnels until the man went down. Hopefully Martin would call in an emergency so they could close this case. Dorian hated loose ends. No body meant he'd forever be a cold case. And Dorian had very few of those on his record. Martin better remember that, Dorian thought.
Dorian started for his car as his phone rang.
"Vega."
"This is Detective Sarkozy. I just got released from the hospital. You up to get together?"
Dorian stopped walking just before leaving the building, no point going out in the cold weather at this moment.
"So, now you want to ..."
Dorian had to curb what he was going to say. He hadn't been on a proper hunt in months and this felt like that. He missed the hunt, but his job came first. He'd get a chance to hunt here. He hoped.
"catch the bad guy."
The man had said he was going to call him when he got out, apparently he'd forgotten that he wasn't in charge of his own treatment. Dorian tried not to let his aggravation show.
"I'm heading out the door to the last known location of our so-called terrorist."
Dorian sent the location to Sarkozy.
"Meet me there."
Dorian didn't wait for a response. If he showed, good, if not his loss.
Edited by
Dorian, Sep 14 2015, 01:34 PM.