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xp_logsSet Friday evening. After having followed the trail from Haroun's file to some cold cases she'd worked on at the FBI, Madelyn goes to see Alison to make sure she knows what's going on. Alison knows what she needs to know, however, and let Madelyn know she plans to return with Haroun now that he's had the time he needs.
Hank would probably be unhappy that she wasn't getting that sleep she'd said she'd get, but she'd finally had the breakthrough she'd been looking for. Padding down to Alison and Haroun's door in her sweat pants and an Xavier's t-shirt, the relevant print-out from the FBI database in her hand, she tapped softly on the door. She hadn't seen Haroun for a day or so, but she could talk to Alison. It was probable she already knew, but at least there wouldn't be assumptions.
"Come in." Alison's voice drifted through the door from the common room. Once Madelyn stepped in, a breeze greeted her, slipping through the window and ruffling the curtains, causing a few of the decorative beads in the fabric to clink lightly together merrily. "Evening, Madelyn," Alison said a touch absently, clicking a few more times as she watched something unfurl on the monitor of her portable, then nodded to herself and flipped the top closed. "Huh," she said, looking up at the red head. "No giggling this time. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I come bearing news again, but I figure it's something you already know. I just wanted to... I don't know. Touch base? Make sure I wasn't making assumptions?" Madelyn began a bit awkwardly. "Haroun came down for a check up the other day, and he was behaving really... oddly. I mean, he's not always in the best mood when he's in medlab, but this was... more than usual. He said some things..." She was hedging, Madelyn realized, and made herself come out with it. "I remembered something from his file, about this time of year, and I did some digging. In the Bureau's cold case files."
"It's been coming for weeks now," Alison said after a moment's silence, having followed the path of information offered by Madelyn with meticulous care. Closing her portable's screen entirely, she lifted it so as so not scratch the top of the table and moved it a bit to the side. "He'd told me about how this time of the year is bad. Other things too. Not details or specifics, but enough for me to get a sense of what happened. And…" She trailed off. And who was responsible for it. She had a name, there. "You found more." It wasn't a question and Alison wasn't, in truth, sure she wanted to hear from Madelyn about what was in the print-out she was holding.
Madelyn nodded. "Back when I finished training, they put me onto cold case files, data entry, that sort of thing, for Project Megiddo. The cult investigations," she elaborated. "There was... an incident, up in Massachussets, at a school..." But before she could go on, Alison held up a hand and stopped her.
"Okay." Lowering her hand, Alison chewed on her lower lip pensively. It hadn't been a cult but it made sense Pierce would have made it look that way. Or someone had - bribery was hardly something to be surprised about in things like these. She reeled in her thoughts before they could spin out, search for possibilities and patterns as to the why - right now, it was entirely irrelevant. "I know the bare bones. Enough to have known he was going to head out there sooner or later, to not be surprised." To set a time limit on how long I'd wait before going after him. "He's had a few days. I'm flying up there tomorrow." She gestured at the portable. "Just sorted out where and all. And… I think I'd rather you not tell me what you found." She nodded tiredly to herself at that. "it's for him to tell me, one day, if he ever can. The whole story."
Madelyn nodded. "That makes sense..." she said, feeling awkward again. "I just... I wanted to make sure." Shrugging a little, she indicated the printouts unhappily. "I suppose I just wanted to be doing something, to help. And since he didn't want to talk to me about it... It's... I'm glad you're going after him. Not that you wouldn't, it makes sense..." Madelyn cut off the stream of babble. "Take care?"
"Making sure is okay, Madelyn," Alison replied softly, remaining where she was. "And I appreciate it. But this is something that has to come from him." She paused, tilting her head to the side while searching for a better way to say it - and came up blank. Finally, she shrugged, hands twitching a bit in a palms upward gesture of helplessness. "We'll be back soon, depending on the flights."
Madelyn nodded. "I know," she said softly, perhaps a bit sadly, before taking a deep breath. She'd done what she'd come to do, and she couldn't fix everything. "I'll see you both when you get back," she finished lamely.
"Yes. And thank you, Madelyn." She thought the other woman would understand if Alison was perhaps not feeling like talking at great lengths, just now. "My flight is early tomorrow morning. I should probably turn in now," she sighed, shaking her head a bit. "I'll see you when we get back, mm?"
Madelyn could indeed take a hint. "You probably should get as much rest as you can," she agreed, moving towards the door. "When you get back, if you need anything, either of you..." She left the offer open, knowing it didn't need to be made. But sometimes people relied too much on understandings that weren't there - the mess on the journals was an indication of that. "Night, hon."
"G'night." Alison waited until the door was closed to look at her portable pensively for a long moment. And then shook her head gently, leaving it where it was as she rose to her feet to go about the business of turning in for the night, now that everything was ready for the next day's departure.
Hank would probably be unhappy that she wasn't getting that sleep she'd said she'd get, but she'd finally had the breakthrough she'd been looking for. Padding down to Alison and Haroun's door in her sweat pants and an Xavier's t-shirt, the relevant print-out from the FBI database in her hand, she tapped softly on the door. She hadn't seen Haroun for a day or so, but she could talk to Alison. It was probable she already knew, but at least there wouldn't be assumptions.
"Come in." Alison's voice drifted through the door from the common room. Once Madelyn stepped in, a breeze greeted her, slipping through the window and ruffling the curtains, causing a few of the decorative beads in the fabric to clink lightly together merrily. "Evening, Madelyn," Alison said a touch absently, clicking a few more times as she watched something unfurl on the monitor of her portable, then nodded to herself and flipped the top closed. "Huh," she said, looking up at the red head. "No giggling this time. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I come bearing news again, but I figure it's something you already know. I just wanted to... I don't know. Touch base? Make sure I wasn't making assumptions?" Madelyn began a bit awkwardly. "Haroun came down for a check up the other day, and he was behaving really... oddly. I mean, he's not always in the best mood when he's in medlab, but this was... more than usual. He said some things..." She was hedging, Madelyn realized, and made herself come out with it. "I remembered something from his file, about this time of year, and I did some digging. In the Bureau's cold case files."
"It's been coming for weeks now," Alison said after a moment's silence, having followed the path of information offered by Madelyn with meticulous care. Closing her portable's screen entirely, she lifted it so as so not scratch the top of the table and moved it a bit to the side. "He'd told me about how this time of the year is bad. Other things too. Not details or specifics, but enough for me to get a sense of what happened. And…" She trailed off. And who was responsible for it. She had a name, there. "You found more." It wasn't a question and Alison wasn't, in truth, sure she wanted to hear from Madelyn about what was in the print-out she was holding.
Madelyn nodded. "Back when I finished training, they put me onto cold case files, data entry, that sort of thing, for Project Megiddo. The cult investigations," she elaborated. "There was... an incident, up in Massachussets, at a school..." But before she could go on, Alison held up a hand and stopped her.
"Okay." Lowering her hand, Alison chewed on her lower lip pensively. It hadn't been a cult but it made sense Pierce would have made it look that way. Or someone had - bribery was hardly something to be surprised about in things like these. She reeled in her thoughts before they could spin out, search for possibilities and patterns as to the why - right now, it was entirely irrelevant. "I know the bare bones. Enough to have known he was going to head out there sooner or later, to not be surprised." To set a time limit on how long I'd wait before going after him. "He's had a few days. I'm flying up there tomorrow." She gestured at the portable. "Just sorted out where and all. And… I think I'd rather you not tell me what you found." She nodded tiredly to herself at that. "it's for him to tell me, one day, if he ever can. The whole story."
Madelyn nodded. "That makes sense..." she said, feeling awkward again. "I just... I wanted to make sure." Shrugging a little, she indicated the printouts unhappily. "I suppose I just wanted to be doing something, to help. And since he didn't want to talk to me about it... It's... I'm glad you're going after him. Not that you wouldn't, it makes sense..." Madelyn cut off the stream of babble. "Take care?"
"Making sure is okay, Madelyn," Alison replied softly, remaining where she was. "And I appreciate it. But this is something that has to come from him." She paused, tilting her head to the side while searching for a better way to say it - and came up blank. Finally, she shrugged, hands twitching a bit in a palms upward gesture of helplessness. "We'll be back soon, depending on the flights."
Madelyn nodded. "I know," she said softly, perhaps a bit sadly, before taking a deep breath. She'd done what she'd come to do, and she couldn't fix everything. "I'll see you both when you get back," she finished lamely.
"Yes. And thank you, Madelyn." She thought the other woman would understand if Alison was perhaps not feeling like talking at great lengths, just now. "My flight is early tomorrow morning. I should probably turn in now," she sighed, shaking her head a bit. "I'll see you when we get back, mm?"
Madelyn could indeed take a hint. "You probably should get as much rest as you can," she agreed, moving towards the door. "When you get back, if you need anything, either of you..." She left the offer open, knowing it didn't need to be made. But sometimes people relied too much on understandings that weren't there - the mess on the journals was an indication of that. "Night, hon."
"G'night." Alison waited until the door was closed to look at her portable pensively for a long moment. And then shook her head gently, leaving it where it was as she rose to her feet to go about the business of turning in for the night, now that everything was ready for the next day's departure.
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