Harvey Dent / Two-Face (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dualistic) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
damned_institute2012-10-03 01:30 pm
dualistic) wrote in damned_institute2012-10-03 01:30 pm
Night 66: Main Hallway, 1-West
[From here.]
That hadn't taken long. So much so that it looked like he was the first person to make it this far. Harvey took a moment to scan the hall with his flashlight, including near the stairs, but he didn't see (or hear) much of anything. It was the sort of thing that set him on edge.
Since he couldn't do much else, he leaned himself against the wall by the stairs and then grabbed for his gun, holding it near his side as he waited. Normally he didn't take the weapon out unless he planned to shoot it, but when there was a possibility that some transformed patient might come barreling down the halls in the next few seconds, he wanted to take precaution.
Hopefully Scott and Sangamon would haul ass over here before all hell started to break loose. If things got too hairy, Harvey was ready to make a run for it on his own. That was the logical thing to do.
[Waiting for S.T.]
That hadn't taken long. So much so that it looked like he was the first person to make it this far. Harvey took a moment to scan the hall with his flashlight, including near the stairs, but he didn't see (or hear) much of anything. It was the sort of thing that set him on edge.
Since he couldn't do much else, he leaned himself against the wall by the stairs and then grabbed for his gun, holding it near his side as he waited. Normally he didn't take the weapon out unless he planned to shoot it, but when there was a possibility that some transformed patient might come barreling down the halls in the next few seconds, he wanted to take precaution.
Hopefully Scott and Sangamon would haul ass over here before all hell started to break loose. If things got too hairy, Harvey was ready to make a run for it on his own. That was the logical thing to do.
[Waiting for S.T.]
no subject
She didn't really care what his response to that was. "Have you seen Nina yet? Or did she decide that traveling with two people quite likely to turn into monsters was riskier than taking her chances alone?"
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The way he had to sort through a constant series of shifting minutiae to try to shake out infinitesimal advantages on the off chance that he would need them irritated him, but nothing showed on his face.
"I haven't seen Nina." The fact that Lana was asking meant that he was probably right in assuming that she had been waiting for a few minutes. "I'm not sure that's why, however. Does she strike you as the type?"
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"I thought you were the one who knew her?" Lana said, trailing off delicately. "I wouldn't have the first idea what her motivations would be."
"But the simplest explanation is usually the best. In this case, that she intends to join us, but isn't having much luck. We'll have to make a decision before long." Two could move more quickly, but only if they were healthy. "I'd prefer it if we had someone unaffected in the group."
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He paused, his head tilting to the side as he considered the situation. "I agree that it would be better to have someone with us, assuming it's someone we can trust." Taylor, maybe, but there he was, walking up to Dent. Occupied. "In a worst-case scenario, or if it's difficult to get out of the Institute itself, I don't know how much of a fight we'll be able to put up on our own. There would be adrenaline, but--" Another shrug, more helpless this time. "That only goes so far. And whatever has happened to Nina, we can't afford to worry about her much right now. All we can do is to wait a few more minutes, but not longer than that."
It was a dilemma, but it seemed to him that not addressing their illness as soon as possible was the more obvious hazard in comparison to trying to travel alone and in poor condition. Either could end in disaster, but in the latter case, they might at least get lucky.
no subject
"I agree." To all of it, was the implication. "If it comes to it, you know I have a gun." The way it changed the hang of her overcoat was visible, if one knew to look for it. "I wouldn't blame you." Most people found the idea of the dead blaming anyone a little strange; Lana hadn't needed the Institute to get used to it. Just because Fey had never demonstrated her families' purported talent, nor even been fond of mentioning it, didn't mean she hadn't heard the story. If the dead could talk, the dead could forgive, but it was still better to do it pre-emptively.
She didn't think she'd be able to shoot him if it came to it, but she'd done a lot of things she never thought she'd be able to do. This one, at least, would probably not get anyone killed permanently.
[timing: this entire conversation up to their departure should take place before Dent & ST are attacked, to avoid needing to react]
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It wasn't a matter of tact; it was a matter of how much he rebelled at the idea of being as cornered as this by an opponent who held so many cards. His mood and energy were already low from illness. Resentment could act as fuel--it had been as much of a fuel in the previous three weeks as food had been--but there had to be a balance. He couldn't let it make him sloppy. But still, the fact that this line of discussion was a necessity evoked a number of emotions, all of them negative. The idea that either of them, or anyone with them, might come to a bad end was omnipresent, more so since they had become ill, but he could ameliorate that by being careful and by focusing on the task at hand. Brooding about the worst-case scenario was useless if it might hamper your success.
"I have no intention of shooting you, Lana."
He sounded sincere; serious. He had put people in the line of fire before, in grave situations where everyone understood the risks they were taking, but pulling the trigger himself, especially in the literal sense, was a last resort that he would rather not be forced to take. "I'd like to get through this without having to kill anyone. If we're unlucky enough that one of us changes, we may still be lucky in terms of our location... far enough afield that if we're alone, and the one who's endangered can get away, it might not be necessary to take that step." He hesitated again before continuing. "Unless..." Unless you would prefer to be shot.
He had good aim, in theory; on the range he could deliver a kill shot with relative ease, although he wasn't the marksman that Watari was, and having to use a firearm in that way would have meant that he had made several serious and uncharacteristic mistakes in quick succession. That was all hypothetical: the circumstances had never come up.
There was also the fact that he would prefer a tidier ending. Deaths happened, and they happened more often and readily when someone got careless. It seemed extremely unlikely that the solution to this mess was within his current powers, but the urge to see it tied up neatly, as many sick people as possible on their way to recovery, Landel as near to utterly undone as L could manage--it was there nonetheless. Apart from that, any of the scenarios related to the current situation would be a stupid, embarrassing way to die. If Lana was talking about the possibility of him shooting her, she was also considering that of being on the other end of the gun.
"That's what you want?" Grim, but he almost managed to keep the defeat out of his tone. There wasn't just the chance that they might hurt each other if they changed, or whoever was with them--and Nina still hadn't arrived--there was the chance of hurting one of the outside contacts who might be waiting at the river. If they came, if that was what the message meant, they would be armed... wouldn't they?
[yes, indeed.]
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Gumshoe continued to look over his shoulder once he'd passed it; the place where he'd been ambushed, that was! Unfortunately, he was so caught up in what he was doing that he hadn't thought to check for things that might be in front of him!
When he finally noticed that the voices up ahead were getting louder, he turned his head and--
"Ahh!" He comically jumped back in surprise. Phew. That was close! He nearly ran into someone. "Ah, sorry about that... Whoa!" He gazed in awe at what the lady was wearing. How did someone come across an outfit like that here!? A smile spread across his face. "Somebody's dressed to the nines! Where did you get..."
But then he realized who he was speaking to, which stunned him into silence. The smile vanished. "Wait, you're Ms. Skye?"
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"Guilty as charged, Your Honor." Before the good detective had a chance to think she'd actually mistaken him for a judge, she continued. "Whoever put this in my closet didn't volunteer their source, or their motive in giving it to me." She hadn't really thought about it, beyond giving it a quick once-over with a trained former-detective's eye for anything incriminating. Though...it couldn't cause the flu to change, could it? No one else had said anything of the sort, after all.
"Are you free this evening?" That would solve all of their problems, nicely. He was unaffected, and loyal to a fault; the worst that could happen is that he would put himself at risk, and he knew what he was getting himself into. "We could use another set of eyes."
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When she issued the invitation, however, L aimed a quizzical, appraising glance at Lana. Are you sure about this?
The new arrival seemed brash and unsubtle, but she seemed to know him, and if she was asking him to come along and protect the two of them, she most likely trusted him to have her back. L didn't know that he would trust the man to do the same for him--the man seemed as if he would probably gravitate towards helping Lana, if he was forced to choose--but as long as he didn't actively hurt either of them, it would probably be better than nothing. L preferred not to travel at night with someone he hadn't already evaluated during the day, but just now, he and Lana needed help, and he couldn't afford to be selective past "Probably won't kill me": it was a matter of balancing the tension between that and "Will help me if I'm attacked." At the moment, they didn't have many other options.
What she'd said about the outfit caused him to wonder... never mind. It wasn't important at the moment, and it might make an interesting topic of conversation for later, to pass the time on the long, dull slog.
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No source or motive, huh? He made the connection, and his face lit up again. "Is that right?" he said with a smirk, then grew more serious. "Sounds like someone on Dr. Landel's payroll might've had a change of heart." He paused to rummage through his right pocket until he had his police badge in his hand and was holding it up for her to see. "Look what I found in my room just now."
His eyebrows shot up at the invitation. "Well, I was going to check out the X-Ray Room in case there happened to be any evidence left over, but... Now that I think about it, Dr. Landel's people might have beaten me to it, anyway. I'll bet they turned the room upside down after last night." The first item on his to-do list had already been taken care of. It was hard to tell, but while she definitely did look sick, she didn't seem to be on the verge of "turning"... Whatever that looked like... At least, he hoped not.
Gumshoe looked away from her and cleared his throat before continuing. "Where are you going?" he asked her, looking over at the poor guy he'd almost bowled over and offering him a small smile. "Heh, sorry if I scared you before, pal." Knowing it had been rude of him to take so long to introduce himself, the detective dropped his badge into his coat pocket again and extended that same hand toward the stranger. "Detective Dick Gumshoe. Homicide."
no subject
She started walking down the hallway, gesturing for Gumshoe (and, by extension, Ryuuzaki), to follow her.
[to here]