milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Hi Sara," A Michelle sans-entrance post is standing by her.

"Hi Michelle." Sara writes a few more notes before looking up. "How are you?"

"A little worried," she answers honestly. "How are you?"

"About the same." She looks serious. "Tony told me about what's going on."

"I can't even believe this is happening here."

"Frankly I'm amazed she got past Security. I told Tony I'd be willing to go over any physical evidence you guys have and see what I can find."

"I'm not, from what I remember she doesn't exactly look dangerous and since she's from our future, none of us remember her." She smiles a little, "That would be really helpful Sara, thank you."

"Isn't it always the ones who look the least threatening?" A sardonic smile.

"And you're welcome--I've never taken having my friends threatened kindly."

Michelle thinks for a moment about the enemies she's faced or heard of - they seem to fall into two basic categories, seemingly harmless women or fanatical men. "Sometimes. But, usually you can tell something's wrong."

She nods, "Me either, but I thought we were safe here."

"I suppose even here, there are the exceptions to the rules. I'm glad that Jack will be all right."

"At least for now, he seems to have a knack for almost getting himself killed. I just hope that Kim doesn't find out about it."

"Someday that tendency truly will get him killed." She's not thinking just of Jack at the moment.

"Christ, you're right. I don't want to think of how Kim would react."

"I wouldn't worry, he's really good at getting out of dangerous situations," she pauses, picking up on something in Sara's comment but she doesn't know how to ask what she meant.

"At this point I'm not even sure since she already thinks he's dead."

"She already thinks he's dead? Is that why she left initially?"

Michelle shakes her head. "No one really knows why she left but apparently she entered some kind of alternate universe outside the bar and she was captured by one of Jack's enemies. I'm not entirely sure what happened but the alternate universe version of her dad came to rescue her and he was killed in front of her."

She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That's horrible--and she's not believing that did not occur in her own universe?"

"She's not sure which universe is real. I'm not sure if it's a reaction to psychological trauma or something else."

She sighs, "So what's going on in your life?"

"Psychological trauma is to be expected after an experience like that."

"Hmmm...my life? Well, the twin brother of one of my closest friends has arrived here--after my friend's death. Which hasn't occurred to him but will, of course. And Grissom and I were called out a few days ago to search for a colleague that had been abducted and buried alive. We found him but it was a close thing."

One can almost here the but I'm not bitter at the end of her statement.

Michelle nods, "Especially since she was tortured and I think Jack said they'd injected something into her."

"I'm so sorry, Sara. I think that's one of the worst things about the bar, finding out events in the future that you're powerless to change."

She looks at her for a moment, "Buried alive?"

"Worse comes to worst, we could ask one of the healers here to see if there is something they can do for her."

A nod. "I knew of my friend's death before--in fact, Grissom informed me of it. He died last year in my time. But I didn't know him outside the bar. And I guess I was in denial for some stupid reason." Logic means nothing where family was concerned.

"Yeah. The guy who abducted Nick buried him in a coffin made of plexiglass--in an ant infested horticulture nursery. He included a webcam, wanting us to watch Nicky die. I don't think he expected we would find him--in fact, the guy killed himself without giving us information. But we did find him."

[ooc: need to run, bbl]

"That's a good idea. I'll talk to Tony about it." ~~because mun is being lazy and not having her characters talk~~

"It's really hard to accept that something's going to happen to a friend. Denial is kind of a natural reaction."

Michelle stares, "That...that's one of the most horrible things I've ever heard. Is your friend okay?"

"He is, or rather, he will be. Nicky's a fighter and you have to have a strong mind to do our kind of work anyway. He will be fine."

[ooc: See ya!]

"Still, I almost wish it was possible to bring a healer to him."

"Hey. What's up?" It's Barry, in a good mood, with his usual hug and kiss for his love.

[ooc: jury duty done. work resumes. slowtime possible.]

[ooc: Not a problem.]

"A possible security breach. Tim is aware, from what I understand, as is Faith. Someone has been trying to poison some people here. And I've offered to go over any physical evidence that has already been acquired from the suspect they have in custody." Once a CSI, always a CSI. She probably looks wryly bemused.

"I thought I was on vacation here."

He lets out a puff of air, and makes a concerned face.

"It never rains but it pours. Anything I can do to help?" He sits.

"By the way, take it from an old hero. Crimefighters never really get vacations. Never mind that if things go right, the Bar will be paying us to do this kind of thing."

A slightly frustrated look. "Nothing that I know of. I'm going to need to get print cards from some of the people--Faith included--to exclude them initially. I'm not sure what else I would find..."

A thought. "Can I borrow the lab-in-a-box?"

"Of course. Wait here." A blur of Barry running off. And then him racing back but more visible, as he hasn't quite gotten the balance of the case yet and isn't ready to run full out.

"Here you go, my lady."

And it is pounced on with a very grateful smile. "Thanks--hopefully I can get some of the proper Trace and Tox equipment to see what exactly was used."

"But enough of that--how are you today?"

"I'm okay. Ran into another old friend from the gang of heroes. Former kid sidekcik of Green Arrow." his smile fades a little

"And had Eska take a reading of her own of the headless rose. She said the magic was from her world, but the rose itself wasn't. Which seems to muddy things further about our phantoms, or phantoms." He sighs.

"Nothing like being a detective, I suppose."

"Well, we didn't want it to be too easy or simple, did we? Then again, that information is helpful in narrowing the scope of the investigation."

"No, I don't think we did." And he gets that smile that only detectives and pathologists get when confronted with a mystery.

"I think my next step is to talk to Suti, since he's possibly the local expert on horticulture. Maybe he can shed light on the origins of the flowers.

"And perhaps, with that in mind, I should make sure you have a sample of the headless rose. I think I have two. That way, whichever one of us sees Suti first can talk to him."

"Certainly." Opening her kit, she pulls out an evidence container. One quick snap later and she's holding out a hand for one of the roses.

Barry, in turn, reaches into the case and finds a headless rose. As usual, to the naked eye it seems there is nothing there.

"Hmmm. I've been using the case as an evidence container. Which it probably is. But I should have done what you're doing first, anyway. Never a bad thing to fall back into old habits.

"And I do apologize for giving you so substandard a rose. Next time, I promise you will get more stunning - and less magical - a flower."

An appreciative smile. "Sounds lovely to me." She opens the container, moving it over to Barry, who apparently drops nothing into it.

"Shasta daisies are my favorite, if you were wondering." A teasing smile.

"Hmmm. I'll make a note of it." His voice is very noncommital, almost academic, but his eyes are anything but as he places the case on the floor.

"I was really glad I got to meet Murphy at last. He was about what I expected. Excpet that he's so young. Can't recall ever being that young myself." And as he says this, he remembers that Murphy won't get all that much older, and winces.

"I know--I'm four years younger than them, apparently. I seem to be alternating between being the older sister to Murphy, and the younger one to Connor."

A brief sigh. "They're good men. Both of them. Doing something that I can't deny I've been tempted to do. But inevitably it would catch up to them."

He has a bit of a puzzled look at the age question. Milliways time, he figures, and shrugs it off.

"I've always been of two minds about vigilantes. On the one hand, such activities often speak of a failure of the law, and as sworn officer of the law of sorts, I was never thrilled by it. Never mind that violence leads only to violence.

"But on the other, many considered what I did as vigilantism, even though the heroes always made a point of never killing. And I can't - won't - judge someone from a place where such methods are needed and where the super-hero option wasn't available."

"Murphy is in his mid twenties at the moment. Connor in his mid thirties. They're twins. And it's making my head hurt."

A brief nod. "Precisely. I was doing some research the other day--tracking their hits. Not once did an innocent person get harmed because of them."

"Twins. Of course. Must make their heads hurt as well. That would mean Murphy is from closer to my time that yours.

"You let him know that the Sox finally win it in your time? Or is that not necessarily something easy to take either?" He thinks for a moment.

"I won't shed a tear for dead Russian mobsters. But there's always a part of me that wonders if there could have been another way. And a part that, like that part in you, wonders if they were in the right and I was deluding myself."

"1996. At that time--I had just graduated from Harvard and was starting at Berkeley. No wonder I hadn't heard anything about them; I was too busy working on my masters."

A quick grin. "Don't know if he follows baseball, though I suppose I could tell him if it comes up."

"The only one who can answer that is the one (or ones) we face after we all pass on, I think."

"Guess I'm lucky that so far no one has challenged what I did in my day, then. But I'm comfortable with most of the choices I made, and the mistakes I made as well.

"Though my grandson did once ask me why we don't kill. He was being a bit rude that day, but it was a fair question. Not that even executing some of them makes a difference with some. Still, I made my choices, just as Murphy and Connor and you and any crimefighter makes his or hers."

"I understand why you wouldn't kill. In the same sense, I understand why the twins would. I can't say I was happy the one time I was forced to shoot a suspect--then again, he was threatening to slice the throat of a 10 year old girl. In retrospect, it wasn't a hard decision."

"No, that would be an easy choice to make.

"I was lucky, though. Speed gave me a lot of options beyond killing. And for the most part, my enemies weren't killers." A cloud passes over his face for a moment, as Barry remembers one thing that wasn't so good.

"But like I said, it goes with the job. Doesn't mean we don't sometimes have sleepless night, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything." He smiles, but somewhere in his head, he still remembers.

[ooc: gotta run. Will revisit this topic next time as Barry has something to say and I don't have time! Take it easy!]

[ooc: Sounds like fun. Take care!]

"Oddly enough, me too. What I did was worth the nightmares."