[And sure enough, a little under half an hour later, Steph will hear a rapid knock-knock-knock and find Saul standing outside, briefcase in hand, looking uneasy.]
[She watched his approach from a nearby rooftop, and easily slips down to ground level, appearing from the side rather than, you know, answering the door.]
This way.
[The door doesn't work, so she'll lead him in through what looks like a patched up hole in the wall, but there's a panel that can be easily removed and replaced. The first two floors of the building are empty, falling apart, and the staircase looks like it might break at any moment (she's reinforced it, not that any of those can be seen). The third floor, at first, looks the same, but once she's walked through another deceptively moveable section of wall, there's a clean, neat space. It's a simple set up, a large desk lining one wall, with lab equipment and some assorted mechnical projects scattered across the top, with a miltary style stretcher against the opposite wall.
It's recently been slept in, but Steph heads to the desk, offering Saul the lone chair as she hops up on the desk itself.]
I'd offer you refreshments, but... [a wave of the hand, she figures he'll realize there aren't exactly refreshments around.]
[Her appearance startles him considerably more than it might have under other circumstances — his eyes go wide for a second, but he doesn't jump. (Outwardly, anyway. His heart might have skipped a beat or two.)
He feels more comfortable once they're inside, though, enough that he can take the first full breath he's had in about twenty minutes. The surroundings are certainly unfamiliar enough, which would usually be cause for concern, but the scenario isn't; there's something almost pleasant about sneaking around and slipping through secret passages.
Hiding, basically.
He's careful to note the route they're taking, file away the details for later. Just in case.
Once he's seated, he flicks his briefcase open and retrieves his laptop.]
Don't worry about it. Nice place you've got here, by the way. It's... uh. Cozy.
[She's in a good enough mood that she huffs a laugh. shrugging.]
It's a burner place. [Like a burner cellphone, and she's already deciding whether or not Saul knowing about it is enough to make it worth burning. On one hand... she doesn't know people knowing here hideouts, but it could be useful to have somewhere that he does know, if they need to meet or if he needs somewhere safe to go. Either way, she can decide later.]
[Aw, Steph, why'd you have to go and remind Saul that he's only got one burner cellphone left and it doesn't work? The things you don't expect to miss. Man.
He does a bit of typing and clicking, gaze locked on the screen as he speaks.]
How good are you at — [A pause.] Let's call it espionage. I mean, you're obviously adept when it comes to sneaking up on people, but what I'm talking about is more along the lines of... long-term. Maybe. Big, big maybe.
[She's quiet for a moment, actually weighing that up instead of responding with the cocky, Batgirl answer. It's something she's trained to do, of course, but there are all different sorts of espionage and she's only had practice for certain things.]
I spent two months on a solo mission that involved working undercover and monitoring the operations of an extensive crime syndicate, if that's the sort of thing you're talking about?
[Having to work near the Penguin was actually the worst]
[After a few more seconds of work, Saul sets the laptop down on the desk with the screen tilted back so she can get a good look at what he's pulled up. It's part of the file he's been keeping on Walter White since day one, complete with biographical information, financial records pertaining to their business transactions, and photos. That's what's on display now: a picture, one that was clearly taken without the subject's knowledge.
They all look like that, actually. But this one is the clearest, and this one shows Walt's face in enough detail that should Steph ever see him, she'd know who he is.
Which brings Saul to his point.]
This man is an ex-client of mine. I need you to keep an eye out for him, if you're willing.
[She takes a moment to look at the picture, memorizing the face as best she can.]
You got a reason why?
[She has forgotten that Saul is a criminal lawyer, which means the man on the screen is, in all likelihood, a criminal. That alone is enough to put someone on Steph's radar, but if Saul wants her to specifically keep an eye out for someone, there must be a reason that he's particularly dangerous, and there must be a reason she's asking him to look out for him, amongst what must be numerous clients.]
[He's smiling, but it's not the playful kind of smile Steph might expect from him by now. It's much more strained.]
His name is Walter White. He's in the meth business. Jesse Pinkman, who I mentioned to you a few weeks ago, is — was his partner. If Walter shows up here, I need to know. I need to be the first to know. He's dangerous, he's not to be trusted, and I need to keep him away from Jesse. Keeping him away from me would be pretty great, too, but that's not really an option.
[He rubs the bridge of his nose, glancing toward the floor.]
[That smile gets an arched eyebrow, but she doesn't say anything, listening instead to Saul's expression. She doesn't bother to hide the anger at meth business; she hates most kinds of criminals, but there's something about drugs that always gets under her skin the most. It might just be that it's personal, with her mom, but she's never quite sure.
She nods.]
If he does show up, how do you want me to deal with him, aside from letting you know?
[It's not that she's going to necessarily take orders from Saul, but she'll listen to his opinion about what might be the best way to handle Walter.]
[He sits back in the chair and sighs, setting his hands on his knees. That's the question that's been on his mind ever since the possibility occurred to him. He told Jesse he had a plan. Surprise: he lied.
There's no plan. Aside from this, there isn't even an inkling of a plan.]
Not long term, I've grabbed people to interrogate, but that's not quite the same thing.
[Usually she was the one being kidnapped, but there's really no need to mention that to Saul.
Instead, she looks thoughtful, trying to think of ways to deal with this.]
The easiest option might be to get the Tranport run police force involved, but Walter would have to commit a crime here before they'd intervene. [a beat] Or we could just threaten him, I can be pretty convincing when I need to be.
[Much more convincing than her joking around with Saul.]
[Whether that's a comment on police in general or the force here will remain a mystery forever.
She hates that this has her thinking about other people that might turn up here, even if she never really stops worrying about that, but-- at least at home she knew Sionis was dead. That doesn't matter, here.]
Why don't you give me the full story? I tend to work better if I have all the information.
[Instead of having half of it, which leads to things like gang wars and jesus her thoughts are not being kind to her, right now.]
[Not that he thinks he has to say that, but one can never be too careful.]
He was a chemistry teacher. Real family man, you know? The kind that would do anything for them, so when his doctor slammed him with a lung cancer diagnosis, that's exactly what happened. Jesse was an old student of his, pretty notorious for being involved with the drug scene in town — nothing big, though. Not meth. But Walt got it in his head that Jesse was his only hope.
[It's still that way, he thinks.]
I dunno how Walt came to the decision he did, but I bet his DEA brother-in-law had a lot to do with it. He probably had a light bulb moment when he found out how much money meth cooks rake in. So it all sounds innocuous enough, right? Illegality aside.
[There's the briefest of nods, because it really should be implied that she can keep a secret. It's possible she might decide to fill Ellie in on this, or Dick, but... after everything that happened in the UE, she's more likely to work solo.
So she just listens, filing everything away. She doesn't have the memory Babs or Tim do, which means she might have to write some notes down, but that can happen later.]
He started cooking and selling meth to cover medical costs?
[She's seen a lot of desperate people do a lot of desperate things, but that's definitely up there.]
And to make sure his family would have some money after the inevitable. The diagnosis wasn't good.
[He leans forward, fidgeting for a moment before picking the story back up.]
But he got lucky. Someone decided he should have more time, so he spent that time cooking, learning the trade, getting involved. Then he got a little too involved, and... I've been in this business a long time. I've never seen things spiral out of control as quickly as they did with Walter and Jesse. And I want to make this crystal clear right now: Jesse's not the one you have to worry about. Not at the moment, anyway. If Walter shows up, maybe, but I don't want you to take what I'm saying to you here and go off sneaking around Jesse when we're done. Okay?
Jesse's friends with people I care about, I was already keeping an eye on him.
[It's not that she thinks Ellie and Collette can't look after themselves, but.... she kind of thinks Ellie and Collette can't look after themselves.
She hasn't devoted a lot of effort to it, but basically she's telling Saul that she'll go sneaking around whoever she wants, thank you very much. Though it... does give her a bit of a clue to what this is about.]
The main aim here is to keep him away from Jesse, isn't it?
[There it is. His bargaining chip. If Steph says no, if Steph says yes and changes her mind, if Saul ever needs her to be more than a passive observer — that's all it'll take, he suspects. If your friends are Jesse's friends, they're in danger, too.
Which is true. Or would be.
He has to keep reminding himself that this is an if scenario, not a when.
...though it might as well be the latter, at this point.
[That changes things a little, because it's different to need to keep Walter away from one person, rather than trying to keep him from being a criminal all together.
She exhales slowly, considering everything.
God, she misses Babs.]
Have you talked to Jesse about this?
[Because that'll also have an impact on how things could go.]
[There's visible relief in her expression, at that, because it will hopefully be simpler if Jesse isn't completely a) in the dark and b) against the idea.]
I'm good with keeping it between us.
[She hasn't met Jesse and doesn't really need to.
Hopping down from the bench, she goes for a quick walk from one side of the room to the other. She wouldn't call it pacing, necessarily, she just needs to move for a bit.
This really isn't her area of expertise. She's great at punching things, at thinking on the fly to solve whatever problems the world throws at her, at sneaking into things and sticking her nose in places it doesn't belong. But all the complicated plans, that's more for people like Tim, like Babs or Bruce.
She hates admitting a weakness but with all this, she feels she should be honest with Saul.]
Look, I'm not-- [smart] I'm the brawn, not the brains, usually, and I want to help, I will help, but I'm gonna have to think about the best way not to fuck this up.
[Because fucking it up is something she's good at, unfortunately.]
[He watches her go, half-tempted to get up and move around, too. It's what he does when he needs to think.
Instead, he settles for restlessly bouncing one of his feet.
It's nice that she's being honest. No — wrong word. Straightforward. Saul's not used to that from people who aren't Mike, but that's a comparison he doesn't want to make.
The situation is more than a little analogous, though. There's no denying that.
He turns to fully face her, suddenly all confidence and smiles.]
And I'm usually the brains, so there you go. We'll figure something out. New people only show up on the first of the month, right? So we have time.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
controlledvariable) wrote2014-02-02 07:59 pm
text;
[Not that he's particularly concerned, but then again, he kind of is.]
text;
She sends an address]
one of my safehouses, i'll be there for the next 10 hours if you want to drop in when you're ready
text → action;
[And sure enough, a little under half an hour later, Steph will hear a rapid knock-knock-knock and find Saul standing outside, briefcase in hand, looking uneasy.]
action;
This way.
[The door doesn't work, so she'll lead him in through what looks like a patched up hole in the wall, but there's a panel that can be easily removed and replaced. The first two floors of the building are empty, falling apart, and the staircase looks like it might break at any moment (she's reinforced it, not that any of those can be seen). The third floor, at first, looks the same, but once she's walked through another deceptively moveable section of wall, there's a clean, neat space. It's a simple set up, a large desk lining one wall, with lab equipment and some assorted mechnical projects scattered across the top, with a miltary style stretcher against the opposite wall.
It's recently been slept in, but Steph heads to the desk, offering Saul the lone chair as she hops up on the desk itself.]
I'd offer you refreshments, but... [a wave of the hand, she figures he'll realize there aren't exactly refreshments around.]
no subject
He feels more comfortable once they're inside, though, enough that he can take the first full breath he's had in about twenty minutes. The surroundings are certainly unfamiliar enough, which would usually be cause for concern, but the scenario isn't; there's something almost pleasant about sneaking around and slipping through secret passages.
Hiding, basically.
He's careful to note the route they're taking, file away the details for later. Just in case.
Once he's seated, he flicks his briefcase open and retrieves his laptop.]
Don't worry about it. Nice place you've got here, by the way. It's... uh. Cozy.
no subject
It's a burner place. [Like a burner cellphone, and she's already deciding whether or not Saul knowing about it is enough to make it worth burning. On one hand... she doesn't know people knowing here hideouts, but it could be useful to have somewhere that he does know, if they need to meet or if he needs somewhere safe to go. Either way, she can decide later.]
What's up?
[She doesn't bother hiding her curiosity.]
no subject
He does a bit of typing and clicking, gaze locked on the screen as he speaks.]
How good are you at — [A pause.] Let's call it espionage. I mean, you're obviously adept when it comes to sneaking up on people, but what I'm talking about is more along the lines of... long-term. Maybe. Big, big maybe.
no subject
I spent two months on a solo mission that involved working undercover and monitoring the operations of an extensive crime syndicate, if that's the sort of thing you're talking about?
[Having to work near the Penguin was actually the worst]
no subject
[After a few more seconds of work, Saul sets the laptop down on the desk with the screen tilted back so she can get a good look at what he's pulled up. It's part of the file he's been keeping on Walter White since day one, complete with biographical information, financial records pertaining to their business transactions, and photos. That's what's on display now: a picture, one that was clearly taken without the subject's knowledge.
They all look like that, actually. But this one is the clearest, and this one shows Walt's face in enough detail that should Steph ever see him, she'd know who he is.
Which brings Saul to his point.]
This man is an ex-client of mine. I need you to keep an eye out for him, if you're willing.
no subject
You got a reason why?
[She has forgotten that Saul is a criminal lawyer, which means the man on the screen is, in all likelihood, a criminal. That alone is enough to put someone on Steph's radar, but if Saul wants her to specifically keep an eye out for someone, there must be a reason that he's particularly dangerous, and there must be a reason she's asking him to look out for him, amongst what must be numerous clients.]
no subject
[He's smiling, but it's not the playful kind of smile Steph might expect from him by now. It's much more strained.]
His name is Walter White. He's in the meth business. Jesse Pinkman, who I mentioned to you a few weeks ago, is — was his partner. If Walter shows up here, I need to know. I need to be the first to know. He's dangerous, he's not to be trusted, and I need to keep him away from Jesse. Keeping him away from me would be pretty great, too, but that's not really an option.
[He rubs the bridge of his nose, glancing toward the floor.]
Unfortunately.
no subject
She nods.]
If he does show up, how do you want me to deal with him, aside from letting you know?
[It's not that she's going to necessarily take orders from Saul, but she'll listen to his opinion about what might be the best way to handle Walter.]
no subject
There's no plan. Aside from this, there isn't even an inkling of a plan.]
I have no idea. You ever kidnap someone?
[HA HA JUST JOKING...
not really though]
no subject
[Usually she was the one being kidnapped, but there's really no need to mention that to Saul.
Instead, she looks thoughtful, trying to think of ways to deal with this.]
The easiest option might be to get the Tranport run police force involved, but Walter would have to commit a crime here before they'd intervene. [a beat] Or we could just threaten him, I can be pretty convincing when I need to be.
[Much more convincing than her joking around with Saul.]
no subject
[He trails off and frowns.
That wouldn't be his first option. Then again, his first option wouldn't work, either. Not here.]
It depends. On when he comes from, if he does. I'm really hoping I'm taking all this precaution for nothing.
no subject
[Whether that's a comment on police in general or the force here will remain a mystery forever.
She hates that this has her thinking about other people that might turn up here, even if she never really stops worrying about that, but-- at least at home she knew Sionis was dead. That doesn't matter, here.]
Why don't you give me the full story? I tend to work better if I have all the information.
[Instead of having half of it, which leads to things like gang wars and jesus her thoughts are not being kind to her, right now.]
no subject
[Not that he thinks he has to say that, but one can never be too careful.]
He was a chemistry teacher. Real family man, you know? The kind that would do anything for them, so when his doctor slammed him with a lung cancer diagnosis, that's exactly what happened. Jesse was an old student of his, pretty notorious for being involved with the drug scene in town — nothing big, though. Not meth. But Walt got it in his head that Jesse was his only hope.
[It's still that way, he thinks.]
I dunno how Walt came to the decision he did, but I bet his DEA brother-in-law had a lot to do with it. He probably had a light bulb moment when he found out how much money meth cooks rake in. So it all sounds innocuous enough, right? Illegality aside.
no subject
So she just listens, filing everything away. She doesn't have the memory Babs or Tim do, which means she might have to write some notes down, but that can happen later.]
He started cooking and selling meth to cover medical costs?
[She's seen a lot of desperate people do a lot of desperate things, but that's definitely up there.]
no subject
[He leans forward, fidgeting for a moment before picking the story back up.]
But he got lucky. Someone decided he should have more time, so he spent that time cooking, learning the trade, getting involved. Then he got a little too involved, and... I've been in this business a long time. I've never seen things spiral out of control as quickly as they did with Walter and Jesse. And I want to make this crystal clear right now: Jesse's not the one you have to worry about. Not at the moment, anyway. If Walter shows up, maybe, but I don't want you to take what I'm saying to you here and go off sneaking around Jesse when we're done. Okay?
no subject
[It's not that she thinks Ellie and Collette can't look after themselves, but.... she kind of thinks Ellie and Collette can't look after themselves.
She hasn't devoted a lot of effort to it, but basically she's telling Saul that she'll go sneaking around whoever she wants, thank you very much. Though it... does give her a bit of a clue to what this is about.]
The main aim here is to keep him away from Jesse, isn't it?
no subject
Which is true. Or would be.
He has to keep reminding himself that this is an if scenario, not a when.
...though it might as well be the latter, at this point.
The question makes him hesitate.]
It is.
no subject
She exhales slowly, considering everything.
God, she misses Babs.]
Have you talked to Jesse about this?
[Because that'll also have an impact on how things could go.]
no subject
[He studies her for a moment.]
I owe him. I need to figure out a way — the best way — to keep him safe.
no subject
I'm good with keeping it between us.
[She hasn't met Jesse and doesn't really need to.
Hopping down from the bench, she goes for a quick walk from one side of the room to the other. She wouldn't call it pacing, necessarily, she just needs to move for a bit.
This really isn't her area of expertise. She's great at punching things, at thinking on the fly to solve whatever problems the world throws at her, at sneaking into things and sticking her nose in places it doesn't belong. But all the complicated plans, that's more for people like Tim, like Babs or Bruce.
She hates admitting a weakness but with all this, she feels she should be honest with Saul.]
Look, I'm not-- [smart] I'm the brawn, not the brains, usually, and I want to help, I will help, but I'm gonna have to think about the best way not to fuck this up.
[Because fucking it up is something she's good at, unfortunately.]
no subject
Instead, he settles for restlessly bouncing one of his feet.
It's nice that she's being honest. No — wrong word. Straightforward. Saul's not used to that from people who aren't Mike, but that's a comparison he doesn't want to make.
The situation is more than a little analogous, though. There's no denying that.
He turns to fully face her, suddenly all confidence and smiles.]
And I'm usually the brains, so there you go. We'll figure something out. New people only show up on the first of the month, right? So we have time.
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