it's over, no longer, I feel it growing stronger

[enabeled]

WHO: ABEL GIDEON, KATE BISHOP, BILLY KAPLAN
WHERE: Downtown Heropa
WHEN: 4/17, evening-ish
WHAT: Kate and Billy are on the case; it was Abel Gideon, in the office, with the surgical equipment.
WARNINGS: References to violence/torture.


[ He couldn't go home. Home would be the first place anyone might look for him should someone throw his name into the ring -- and Abel Gideon was not naive enough to think no one would -- and home was where Danger lived; he was not inclined to go where she might be right now, not while she was upset with him. He thought it would pass, but had not the sort of death wish to assume it wouldn't take a little time.

But with that in mind, he isn't particularly concerned about what happens next. This is how his crimes tend to go: Action, reaction, he does it and they know he did it. Maybe he does have freedom here, but freedom is a struggle for those without a purpose, without a history, without... self. He doesn't know what to do with himself these days, there is no order to his life except the troubling routines from a life once lived.

Chilton disappeared in the midst of Gideon's revenge, before he'd been able to complete it. Though in frustration he'd made some mess of the office -- not thinking, just breaking things, knocking them over -- now he has only his own apathy about recovery. There's nothing left to claim, is there? He may as well just take things now as they come.

Where he ends up is by a large fountain downtown, situated in a square bordered by palm trees, benches, and a 15-foot high clocktower behind him; he stands facing the fountain, looking into the clear rippling water as more pours itself in through the fountain's stone spouting structures. It's too clean for his reflection to be visible, but his hands are stained with blood up to the wrists and more blood stands out darkly on his pale grey shirt. He sits himself on the side of the fountain, pulling off his shirt and drenching it in the water so that he can begin to wring it out. As it and his hands part the surface, the water around him stains pink. ]

Comments

[selfequipped]

[The images themselves are too vivid. They run together in her mind, permanently imprinted, colliding with her perfect ability to retain information, and almost overwhelming her. In the office, it's almost too much as she reaches around, a face flickering into her mind before his rage imprints upon the objects. Not rage, no, not the emotion, but he remains there. Kate remembers his face. She remembers his name, and it becomes clearer, too, as she touches the blood, as she touches other aspects of the office.

They don't stick around in the office long enough to speak to the cops. Kate isn't interested in having a discussion with the authorities about why she's there, even if she's dressed in street clothes ... and wearing her quiver. She couldn't risk it, not with Billy in tow, not when she needs him there.

At some point, she takes Billy's hand. At some point, they have breakfast. Kate's overwhelmed by the information, and she needs to be in top form before she heads after Chilton's (intended) murderer. She checks the network, checks Kenzi calling for more sympathy. But she knows Chilton's actions led to that—how, what, why, the means, those are unclear. A conversation doesn't give away everything, even when there's a confession involved. It doesn't mean he deserved it, but she does feel like his lack of caution came back against him. She doesn't blame herself for it, but she hates that she saw it coming. Apparently, it wasn't Lucifer that he had to fear.

Her knowledge if Chilton is still patchy at best, but what she grasped, what she pieced together, makes her stomach twist. What he seems to have done to that man. Sometimes, even (seemingly) despicable men deserve protection, and she would never call for his torture—for his murder.

When it's midday, she finally lays it out for Billy. Kate doesn't tell him all the details, but the important pieces are there. Abel Gideon is a man she met before, and she almost wishes she shook his hand at that time. (She can't blame herself, she knows, but she does share that piece of knowledge with Billy, that wish—). She says what happened to the doctor, and when they set back out, for Kate, it's with grim determination.

She's looked at the evil version of herself in the eye. She can handle this.

They happen upon the fountain thanks to Billy's locating spell, and Kate walks beside Billy, conscious of the fact that she can grip her friend's hand at any moment. She won't. She doesn't do that sort of thing when it wouldn't do to look vulnerable, but she feels better knowing it's there.

As they draw closer, she defaults to a way of speaking that's almost second nature: banter, being at ease, being relaxed] The YMCA wouldn't take you in, then. [Only it's delivered without a punch. Too bad.]

[inmyothertights]

[At some point Kate takes Billy's hand, and Billy lets her before he remembers her power, and then he realizes it doesn't matter because there's nothing he would hide from Kate, anyway.

She doesn't know who this man - Gideon - is, but he knows that if Kate needs him he's there, and if Chilton is in trouble, well. Billy is actually all right with Chilton. He's his therapist, after all. So he'll be the magical muscle, the backup (which is funny. He never thinks of himself as the muscle, that's Teddy, but he supposes that he's probably more effective than Teddy is, isn't he, in a way?)]

I hear it's overcrowded.

[A pause. Wait, is he supposed to talk?]

[enabeled]

[ Pausing in the wringing of his shirt when he hears a familiar voice, rose-colored water dripping back into the fountain before he sets the now damp (not sopping) clothing over his shoulder, Gideon turns his head and looks first at Kate -- the one he recognizes -- and then at Billy. He says nothing right away, eyebrows furrowing very minutely as his mind slowly works over if he's been approached because he's washing himself in a fountain like a vagrant or because he's suspected of attempted murder.

Seems most likely to be one of the two things.

He looks back at Kate and shrugs a shoulder. ]

Didn't seem worth all the trouble for just a few minute's work -- convenience over comfort in a pinch. I can be flexible.

[ He inclines his head slightly. ]

Wonderful to see you again, Ms. Bishop. Who's your friend?

[selfequipped]

I'm sure they can make temporary space to let a man have a shower. [It's a retort granted to Billy, some silent way of assuring him that yes, he can speak. She wants him to speak. Idly, she's reminded of going to Captain America and trying to reason with him and Billy's parents. She's reminded of the moments before they headed into that battle with mother, minutes before Billy would have to ascend (temporarily) to his place as the demiurge.

Of course, Billy doesn't remember any of that, but there was a reason why it was the two of them. Of the set that remained of their team, they were the closest. Of course they would take that side by side.

That remains true here.]

But this is Wiccan. I'd prefer Hawkeye right now. This is official business, Dr. Gideon.

[Now that they're in action, now that they're on the scene, it's easy to pretend nothing from the day has affected her.]

One of my powers is psychometry, and Dr. Chilton is an acquaintance of mine. [Of ours. She knows from her investigation of Chilton's office that Billy had been there before. That's his business, an aspect of patient-doctor confidentiality that she had no right to break. And she won't.] If you've acquired your Ph.D., surely you can figure out the next step here.

[inmyothertights]

[He gives a nod, because hey, no, that's fair. Billy manages not to wave like a total idiot when she says his name, and instead gives a sage nod.

(It probably doesn't look sage, he thinks. But whatever.)]

And I would really prefer it if we could do this with minimal violence. Or running.

[He doesn't know if this is the kind of guy who runs, for all he knows he is. Billy doesn't actually mind the running, he's already feeling the magic under his skin wanting to get out and later he'll be concerned about that. He'll be worried that maybe that the desire is something he should examine. And then he'll examine it and it'll make him more uncomfortable, in a self-perpetuating cycle.]

[enabeled]

I'm presuming minimal violence can be avoided, in any such case where I'm not forced to defend myself. Otherwise...

[ He puts his shirt back on, turning so that he's facing both of them, though still seated; he rests his hands on his knees, neither running nor giving the impression he's about to. ]

You'll notice I am unarmed. [ He tilts his head and inclines his shoulder in a thoughtful shrug, raising one eyebrow. It's the only thing that disrupts his otherwise calm expression. ] So you're here about Dr. Chilton. Shame about all that -- has he been found, yet?

[selfequipped]

That isn't information that I'm at leisure to discuss. [What she means is that she doesn't want him to know that he hasn't turned up immediately. Kate doesn't want him to turn desperate. She assumes he'll conclude that anyway, but thinks it's better to be difficult.]

We'd like to bring you in. It's really obvious what your involvement was, especially after the mess that you left. That's the real shame.

[inmyothertights]

I'm not attacking anyone. We're just here to talk.

[As far as Billy knows, but that can get more complicated. Talking isn't always how these things end. Billy knows that better than anyone, considering once when he was brought in to "talk" he ended up fleeing the Avengers in a bubble of magnetism.]

So if you answer her questions, we'll be fine.

[enabeled]

If you're going to accuse me of something, I don't see the harm in answering my questions. But you haven't found him yet... have you?

[ It's not accusatory on his end, because he doesn't think Chilton is anywhere close by to be found... as far as Gideon himself knows, that is. Not that he's any expert.

His brow furrows slightly, like he's troubled by the thought, then looks at the two of them to offer his open, slightly raised palms. He's unarmed, he demonstrates. ]

Do you have questions?

[selfequipped]

[Since she is not a cop but a vigilante, she can ask questions and there will be nothing to say that it could be used in court. Kate knows that, and from her previous communication with Dr. Gideon, she knows he knows that. He's a doctor, and he's a clever man. Unfortunately, she has a few ideas as to how he went into retirement before.

More than a few if she lets her imagination get the best of her.]

I want to know why you did it. You have a lot of contempt for Dr. Chilton. [Kate glances at Billy out of her eye.] Anything to do with that will be helpful. He's in touch with a great number of people here. [She doesn't hide that she has some extranormal way of knowing that, but doesn't spell it out, either.

But they did get there, didn't they? They found him. She trusts him to put the pieces together.]