you better run for your life if you can little girl

[redhairring]

WHO: Freddie Lounds & Power Girl
WHERE: A coffee shop!
WHEN: Sometime after the two talk.
WHAT: hello there potential new bodyguard, I am scared of cannibal serial killers and legless serial killers
WARNINGS: possible eventual talk of violence

Freddie was starting to wonder if her blood would eventually turn into caffeine. Between unintentionally meeting Gideon and Danger in a coffee shop, to purposefully meeting Kate Bishop in a coffee shop, to meeting this Power Girl character in a coffee shop, she had a feeling she was single-handedly funding the production of the syrupy overly sweet monstrosity she drank. But Freddie liked coffee shops. Coffee shops were public, they were neutral and (most importantly), they consistently had people in them. People watching others as they wait in line for their drinks, people watching others as they drink their drinks, not like a restaurant where everybody was wrapped up in their own mind. Coffee was different.

Freddie sat at a table near the window, coffee monstrosity in her hand, thinking about Power Girl. She knew next to nothing about the woman, just that Chilton had listed her as a superhero and possibly someone to be a bodyguard. Normally, she wouldn't even consider a bodyguard and would just go about her daily business. But, with the arrival of Hannibal Lecter, the idea of getting more powerful friends suddenly sounded attractive.

Because it wasn't just Hannibal Lecter that worried her. Oh no. Who knew what would happen to poor, easily swayed Will Graham now that Doctor Lecter was here? She had let Will tell her his side of the story, after he had attempted to kill Lecter, but some of the pieces were still worrying her. And, she still had Gideon to worry about. Freddie had partially been working on assuaging that worry of hers by befriending Danger--after all, at the moment? His scary robot girlfriend worried her more than the not to able-bodied Abel Gideon.

Heh. That was kind of funny.

Still, the truth was unavoidable: she needed stronger friends. Or, at least, she needed stronger people that she could coerce into being something like friends. She was all too aware that nobody would let her hire them as a bodyguard, especially since Tattlecrime was up and running. A half-assed attempt at friendship seemed to be the only option. So, sipping her drink, Freddie's eyes scanned the coffee shop, looking for obvious superheroes.

Comments

also let me know if listening in on her heartbeat is okay? i'm worried it may be godmodding

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It's difficult to ascertain if she's getting the whole story, half-truths, or blatant lies from Freddie and Frederick Chilton (what was up with two Freds in her life suddenly?). There was no misstep in her heartbeat as she spoke about this Abel Gideon, a name she had seen around the network enough.

"Dr. Chilton says you saved his life." She canted her head, gaze never wavering. "Sounds like you ruined someone's plan."

naw dude, go ahead and do it!

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As Peej mentioned Chilton, Freddie couldn't help but look surprised. He had actually told her that? At least from her part, Freddie had carefully tried to dance around that question, tried to not tell what had really happened in that observatory with her, Chilton and Gideon. After all, she wasn't the one who was gutted. But if Chilton had told Power Girl this...then surely there wouldn't be any harm in talking about it.

"Honestly, I don't know if his plan was for Chilton to be alive or dead. I just was to keep him alive during the...ah, 'procedure' and then keep him alive until the FBI arrived." Freddie's obviously a bit fidgety here. Talking about this act of goodwill (though she would argue an act of necessity) didn't sit well with her at all, the self proclaimed woman with no shame.

thank you!

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"What happened?"

There were a number of scenarios she could run in her head, but only Freddie and Frederick knew the truth. While it was best to hear the tale from the victim's point of view, Peej hadn't wanted to push it in her conversation with Frederick. She could be brash and short-tempered, but tact was important to her when she could help it.

And it might have been a little test to determine if Freddie could be trusted to some degree — any degree.

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Chilton had told her already, Freddie kept reminding herself. So she could tell Power Girl what happened--even though really, part of her didn't want to talk about it. After a short inhale, she started talking, in a matter of fact tone, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Abel Gideon kidnapped Doctor Chilton. He also lured me to an abandoned observatory where he...for lack of a better term, he vivisected Chilton." A dramatic pause for effect. "Gideon surgically removed one of Chilton's kidneys and then took some more organs out of his body. It was my job to keep Chilton alive during Gideon's 'surgery' and until the cops and ambulance came." She was tense, obviously not really wanting to talk about this unless she had to.

"Chilton's fine now. He just walks with a cane and has forcibly joined me in being a vegetarian. It was...certainly an experience, though," said with an annoyed sigh.

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The expressions on face morphed between horror, disgust, and anger at someone doing that to another human being. It made her toughened skin crawl to think about the sheer number of humans who never experienced even the slightest hint of remorse for their cruel actions. And it seemed at oftentimes that putting them into a system that was supposed to take care of them did more bad than good.

Chilton said it had been a patient. Someone he had been trying to help was the bottom line. It breached all levels of trust a psychiatrist and patient were supposed to share between each other and it was pitiful.

"That's horrible." For the first time since she had sat down and began this conversation, sympathy laced Peej's words. "I'm sorry the both of you were forced to go through that."

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Freddie shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, trying to seem like she didn't really care about the fact that she kept a guy alive, it didn't bother her, no psychological scarring here no sirree bob.

She was trying but pretty much failing. And she knew she was failing. So, Freddie turned her head downwards to look at her coffee as she continued to speak.

"We both made it out alive which, at least in Baltimore, seems to be a bit of an accomplishment." There were a lot of murders in Baltimore for some reason.

[boobwindow]

Well, that didn't curb her concerns at all. Who knows what kind of psychological damage Abel Gideon had done to both Freddie and Frederick. The question she wanted to ask, however, is why. Patients attacking their doctors wasn't uncommon, but there was always some kind of catalyst for it. She wondered if his treatment simply wasn't getting him anywhere.

"He's here, isn't he?" she pursed her lips. "Has he made any contact with you?"

It could have been the catalyst for this unorthodox, budding "friendship".

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"He is and he has," she tightly responded, trying her hardest to seem rattled. Because here was a good opportunity. She was perfectly fine casting Abel Gideon as the villain, the reason why she had sought out Power Girl. Better him, who had essentially became a public villain, a public nuisance, than Hannibal Lecter, who Freddie was certain would slither out of any sort of trouble, or Will Graham, who seemed so annoyingly normal at first glance that hardly anyone would pay him any mind.

"I won't lie, it's tough on the nerves."

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"Has he threatened you?"

And more importantly, why hasn't she gone to the police with her concerns? There's got to be something they can do from Peej's perspective, though her UNSETTLED status may make it difficult to get their full cooperation if it's ever necessary. She's been fortunate enough so far to avoid the police getting on her case.

[redhairring]

"Not yet." Though, from the tense tone of her voice, it's pretty much implied 'and I have no idea why.' Freddie idly tucks a strand of hair behind her ears, accidentally flashing her 'unsettled' tattoo at Peej while she does so. Here's another one who doesn't entirely trust the government.

"I don't want to be up a creek without a paddle when he does."

[boobwindow]

Bright eyes flickered over the glow of the tattoo for a split-second before settling back on Freddie's face, watching for any strains at the corner of her mouth, the tightening of a muscle in her temple, involuntary twitch of her nose... anything.

Freddie Lounds may be a tabloid reporter with a sketchy request or at least an unorthodox method of gathering protecting for herself, but she was acting like most people would whenever they felt threatened. Someone who had nearly turned Frederick Chilton into an organ salad was someone to rightfully fear.

"And have you spoken to the police yet? Or did they say they can't help you until Gideon's done something."

By then it could be too late. She rarely railed on the police when she got along swimmingly with them back in New York, but they weren't perfect and the system wasn't either as much as she liked to pour her faith into it.

[redhairring]

Time to lie.

"There's no proof that Gideon did anything against me. He attacked Chilton, but he hasn't made any overtures towards me yet. The police said that once he did something-sent a threatening letter, attacked me, something like that-then they'd protect me. But at the moment, it's just our words."

Yet another problem. Tossed in a new world, she had no records. No Jack Crawford and the FBI to back up her assertions that Gideon was dangerous. Even if she did talk to the police, what could (or would) they do for her?

[boobwindow]

"He hasn't attacked the doctor here, has he?"

That would help build a case, if not grant Freddie the protection she needs from someone as dangerous as Abel Gideon.

She could always drop by Gideon, wherever he is, and warn him that if he were to lay a hair on Freddie or anyone in this world she would personally see to it that he would be stuck in a body cast for a month or two.

But being Unsettled means she may not be able to risk it. Besides, if he's got a "clean" record here, she's threatening an "innocent" man. Peej knows better than to provoke the authorities without good cause.

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Freddie shrugged, frown on her face. "I don't know. Chilton and Gideon both have been here longer than I have--for all I know, Gideon might have attacked him here or back in the City." She absolutely had no idea herself.

"But if he has...I doubt Chilton would talk about it." The good doctor, at least in Freddie's mind, didn't want to appear weak, to appear helpless. That was one of the reasons she was so shocked that he had told Peej about Gideon's first attack on him. That was weakness. That was a sign that you had failed. Never mind the fact that she was essentially kidnapped by Gideon as well.

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"I understand it's not easy," she began solemnly, "But it's hard for people like me and the police to do their job without people stepping forward."

She may be a living lie detector, but she's no telepath. She had an over abundance of abilities, yet telepathy was not one of them. She doubted she would have enjoyed a power like that anyway.

[redhairring]

It didn't hurt to at least mention it to the cops. Freddie was certain she'd be shoved away in a filing cabinet somewhere, never to see the light of day again, but at least then she would have told them. And plus, if she ever did end up with her throat slit or her organs sitting pretty on her chest, the cops would have an idea about where to go.

"You're right. I'll go to the police later today and file a report, or whatever it is." Plus, it would win Peej more over to her side. Win win situation.

wow that icon sure was sincere

[boobwindow]

"Good," she rapped her fingers along the surface of the table. "They may not be able to do anything yet, but they'll have a heads up about Gideon."

She had fought a lot of murderers over the years, but she often dealt with the superpowered sort who were after something more. Power, land, annihilation of mankind... the sort of criminal Abel Gideon apparently was was not something she dealt with on a regular basis. It seemed more up Batman's alley.

But once brought to her, she couldn't turn the other cheek. That wasn't what a superhero did.