It's not unsettling. It makes sense. They weren't picked randomly - he was more sure of that by the day. They were all part of some great chain of events, stretching backward and forward, and he kept finding his name etched on the links. He wanted to ignore this, and in truth, some of his reasons for doing so were ones he wasn't proud of. But he couldn't. There was a vast, dark unknown in the future, and more frightening than knowing that everything he'd heard was the truth - that he lost his badge, that in time he became someone virtually unrecognizable - was knowing nothing more than that his name was out there, floating somewhere in the black.
Apollo was from the last available date. He'd question him first - if his hunch was right, the younger man was just as tangled up in this as any of the rest of them, and he'd have at least some of the answers. More than that, he had something else. It wasn't the kind of trust in Phoenix that he would've liked from someone who presumably knew him, maybe, but Apollo had thought that he'd been canny enough to track him down out in the wilds of definitely-not-L.A., and more than that, that he'd been willing to. That was all the faith he needed, right now. The rest could sit on basics, until then.
Phoenix released a deep breath after a long silence, aware of the bright humming fallen to a lower frequency inside his skull, the way the rest of the room became dimmer if he tried to focus on the place where illusions should have been. It was the same as ever: he'd use what he had.
"Here's how it is." When he spoke, his voice was frank, eyes regarding the other attorney levelly. "I'm worried about these events that haven't happened yet, but I'm worried about getting out of this place more. Still, I still need to know one thing, Mr. Gavin, because it's like you said - this place is getting less safe by the day, and we all need to know who our allies are." He regarded him seriously, and though his voice didn't rise in volume, it seemed bolder all the same. "Would you or your brother have any reason to harbor some kind of ill will towards me?"
no subject
Apollo was from the last available date. He'd question him first - if his hunch was right, the younger man was just as tangled up in this as any of the rest of them, and he'd have at least some of the answers. More than that, he had something else. It wasn't the kind of trust in Phoenix that he would've liked from someone who presumably knew him, maybe, but Apollo had thought that he'd been canny enough to track him down out in the wilds of definitely-not-L.A., and more than that, that he'd been willing to. That was all the faith he needed, right now. The rest could sit on basics, until then.
Phoenix released a deep breath after a long silence, aware of the bright humming fallen to a lower frequency inside his skull, the way the rest of the room became dimmer if he tried to focus on the place where illusions should have been. It was the same as ever: he'd use what he had.
"Here's how it is." When he spoke, his voice was frank, eyes regarding the other attorney levelly. "I'm worried about these events that haven't happened yet, but I'm worried about getting out of this place more. Still, I still need to know one thing, Mr. Gavin, because it's like you said - this place is getting less safe by the day, and we all need to know who our allies are." He regarded him seriously, and though his voice didn't rise in volume, it seemed bolder all the same. "Would you or your brother have any reason to harbor some kind of ill will towards me?"