tushanshu | 004 || video

As some of you may know, I was hired to find the person responsible for multiple killings in September, along with an attempted homicide. That person has now killed the Emperor. [ There's a flash of something like remorse, but it only lasts a second before her jaw tightens. There's no time to feel guilty for not catching the person sooner. She has to stop him now, before he kills again. ]

I have a list of suspects. I've narrowed it down significantly. If you were one of the people I talked to about it, please see me immediately.

[ The message is simple, one she can essentially cut-and-paste to each person. It's short, but far from sweet. She doubts they'll appreciate it. If the killer is killing again, then they have to move to catch him, and quickly. So screw pleasantries. ]

Get in touch with me as soon as possible.

[ Sharon looks tired. She doesn't want to have this conversation, but it's part of the job. The horrible thing is, Barry seems like a nice guy. A good guy. But that doesn't mean he can't be a killer. ]

Barry, I hate to ask this, but do you have an alibi for the time when the Emperor was killed, and is there anyone who can verify it?

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[ Again, she's quiet as he speaks. But as opposed to last time, when she'd been listening carefully, this time, she's trying to get thoughts of Thailand out of her head. He's right. She didn't deserve that. And she appreciates that he agrees. Funny how she'd always thought so, though. Perhaps a little vain of her, to think she'd deserved better. It had fed her anger to do things she tries not to remember now. But she still thought she'd deserved better.

She still listens, but it isn't with the same degree of concentration until he's halfway through telling her about Barry. The line about evidence being left behind makes her grin.

When he mentions his parents again, she can't help it. She's already thinking about how easily the number could be cut down from millions to just a couple thousand. Finding ways to account for transient populations, past records, if there were identifying marks or other witnesses, security cameras, even...

But it isn't as if she's going to solve the case while she's here.

When she speaks again, her tone is quiet. ]

That helps, thank you. And I'll talk with the victims and see if they can't clear Allen and Jordan for good. Don't start on the character references until I've talked to them - they might make the need for the references moot.

[ She makes a note on Damian's sheet that he was with Bruce when the spell broke before taking it down and setting it aside. It will go up again when Bruce leaves. A father's bias, after all, but it will be easy enough to verify once she manages to talk to Damian.

Unable to resist any longer, she starts sorting through the food he's brought. She's only got one chair, but she offers it to him before sitting on her bed. She wield the chopsticks like a pro, seemingly not the slightest bit worried that any might fall on the bedspread. Not because she doesn't care, but because she has more pressing concerns. ]

So who do you think did do it?

Edited 2013-12-24 04:01 (UTC)

[He nods, and starts eating - likewise with expert chopstick wielding. After all, he lived for several years in Japan.]

I'd rather not speculate. I'm confident in your ability to discover the criminal, and as I said, I'm not fond of witch-hunts.

[Mildly,]

I was jailed once for a crime I didn't commit. You can imagine my distaste at the idea.

[ And there she'd been, hinting that he might be guilty of yet another murder. Good job, Sharon. ]

I'm sorry.

[ She's quiet for a moment while she eats. ]

It sounds like you've had it bad and then it just kept getting worse. For what it's worth, I hope things get better. With any luck, we'll have the killer off the streets soon.

[ There's another moment before she speaks again. ]

You've been here longer than I have. What do you think will happen if we find the foreigner who killed the Emperor? How might the kedan respond?

[For what it's worth, even some of his own children were concerned he may have done it. So.]

Don't be. I should be flattered, I suppose. I was framed for the crime by a man that had been President of the United States. I hadn't expected to catch his attention.

[Otherwise known as: Fuck you, Lex Luthor. Bruce pauses, chopstick poised to pick up a particularly taste morsel, and then he sets them down.]

It's doubtful the kedan will go on a witch-hunt. They know why we're here, and that we're what's standing between them and destruction. Some of them hate us, of course. We're using their valuable resources and in many instances they're expected to cater to us. Most would find that... distasteful, in the best of circumstances.

[He lifts his water glass, takes a drink and sets it back in its same precise location.]

But there are too many people here that have too much raw power. They wouldn't antagonize us, and I think that most of them can recognize that the actions of one do not represent the feelings or motivations of the whole. It's the killer's fate I'm unsure about. Indefinite confinement, perhaps?

You were framed... by the President.

Wow.

Wow.

The most I ever got from the President was an invitation to leave his office.

[ And a couple bits and bobs in recognition of her tenure as Director of SHIELD and some of her missions. ]

I'm fairly certain that some of the victims would rather kill him themselves.

[ She eats quietly, her eyes fixed on the wall. ]

It can't be easy being one of the kedan right now. Bad enough strangers are constantly coming in, draining resources, and occasionally causing trouble, but then one of them kills the Emperor?

And Evandau is convinced it's one of the kedan because they're the only ones he thinks can break into the Palace.

With that all happening, and the reason all the foreigners are here...

[ She shakes her head. ]

It just can't be a good time for them.

[ Which brings her to another thought... ]

What do we know about the reason we're here, other than how it likes terrible puns?

[Lightly,]

I'd have preferred your version, I think.

[The 'kill him themselves' gets no visible reaction, but he shifts just slightly, muscles going taut beneath the fancy suit he's wearing. Of course they'll want their vengeance, and their vengeance in't his. He needs to speak with Clark.]

The creature, you mean? We know it can possess people, and manipulate them. We know its ultimate goal isn't us at all, or the kedan, but Tu Vishan itself. And likely, the eggs. These turtles apparently have massive amounts of psychic and magical energies, enough to tempt it above all else. Why do you ask?

Edited 2014-01-02 21:33 (UTC)

If we're here to fight it, it can't hurt to know about it. [ She stabs a chopstick in the direction of the wall. ]

And I'll need something to focus on after this. Voldemort takes precedence over the gym.

Well...

[He draws that word out a little, and takes a thoughtful drink of water.]

What we don't know about this creature could fill a library. The Emperor always maintained a very close-lipped policy on it, and I doubt her successor will be any different.

[ Sharon eats quietly for several moments more, her eyes still focused on the wall. ]

That's no reason not to work on it.

[ She turns a small grin toward Bruce. ] I'm really loading up on the grim subjects today. How's business? Your family doing well?

Business is going well. We're constantly expanding, which I think has been good for both Keeliai and myself.

[He rubs a smudge out of the glass he's drinking of. No one would ever suspect him as the deliberate obstruction of his fingerprints, hardly that. He's just fussy.]

And my family is... complicated. [He flashes her a smile.] Raising this many young boys often is, I think. Especially as they're all from different times.