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Henry Townshend ([info]my_private_life) wrote in [info]chaosunraveled,
@ 2009-08-23 20:04:00

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Entry tags:henry, l, rating: pg-13, setting: asgard

Who: Henry and L
When: Noon
Where: Room 305 in Asgard
Ratings: PG-13
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Henry finally gets around to trying to get L caught up on what, exactly, is going on.



Henry honestly didn't know what to think about anything anymore. It was like some big, familiar carpet had just been ripped out from under his feet and he still hadn't quite gotten his balance back.

But...well, time didn't stop or anything, just because of change. So once he'd gotten a grip on himself, he went over his List of Things to Do. And Ryuzaki had wanted that 'report'. Well, Henry didn't have anything written, but he could at least talk to the guy. They hadn't gotten off on the best foot - again, in a sense, but at least this time there had been no threats f torture - and he was determined to make that up.

Armed with a 'welcome' basket he'd tossed together himself and what photos he'd managed from a height, he headed down the hall to room 305. Henry paused for a moment before knocking, but not long. He didn't know what to expect, really, from a personal meeting, but....

There was enough candy and cookies in the damn welcome basket to hopefully make a good impression on anybody.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-24 08:22 pm UTC (link)
L was surprised when he saw Henry’s request to speak with him. Considering the change in command and all of the other events that seemed to be occurring lately, the detective didn’t think his request for information on the situation would still be on the man’s ‘To Do List’. Being left mostly in the dark by his team, he had been forced to go out to collect formation in a reportedly hostile area on his own. This was something that put him in danger and therefore was entirely unacceptable.

He wasn’t going to let his irritation over the matter show. This would be his first in-person conversation with one of his ‘teammates’ since he had been sticking mainly to himself the past few days and he had planned to keep things strictly business.

When the knock came at the door, he closed all of the communication threads he had been watching on his computer screen and swiveled around in his chair. “The door is open.” He said, resting his hands on his knees. Hopefully now he’d learn what information Asgard has collected.

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-24 08:31 pm UTC (link)
Henry shouldered open the door, determined to be pleasant. Which he hadn't managed their 'first' conversation. He wanted to make up for that, especially now.

"Hi," he said. "I, uh, brought you a little welcome basket. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, but...well, things have been crazy." As the other man surely knew. But hopefully that would help Henry's apology and lateness. "It's uh...just some cookies and brownies and stuff like that. I...I didn't make them myself or anything, though."

Cooking was beyond Henry's skills.

"Wow," he went on, upon entering. He hadn't been in 305 before, and he had to take a moment to look around. "Nice room!"

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-24 10:40 pm UTC (link)
L’s expression remained neutral when he saw the welcome basket, but he had certainly been surprised.

As for Henry’s interest in the room L simply shrugged it off. “It serves its purpose.” It was indeed a nice room but the detective was not going to admit it, nor was he going to allow himself to have any attachment to it. Like everything else, he had to be willing to give it up at any time. It was part of what made him so adaptable to his constant changes in environment.

“Room, raise table; small.” He commanded the room. With a chime, a small square table rose from the floor just a few feet away from them. “You may place your basket there, Henry.” He’d check it’s contents later, particularly for anything suspicious.

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-25 02:08 am UTC (link)
"Wow! It's like...living on the Enterprise!" Henry set down the basket and stuck his hands in his pockets. The rooms in this place really were amazing.

"Uh, so...I brought those pictures I had. There...aren't many, but it's hard to get up high for some places. And...look, I don't have a report written out, but...I can try and answer any questions you have."

And that was the meat of the matter. He didn't know everything, but what he did know, he'd share.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-25 03:51 am UTC (link)
“You mentioned reconnaissance missions when I first spoke with you. I would like to know what information you were able to obtain from them. I also have an interest in a number of people on the other team that I am hoping you can provide information on.” The key word here was ‘hoping’. Henry didn’t seem very confident in how much information he could provide. Still, some information was better than none.

L looked at the pictures in Henry’s hand, “Where were they taken and how long ago?”

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-25 04:16 am UTC (link)
"Nothing really useful," Henry admitted. "Just...confirming things we already suspected. They really do have a...a dragon over there. Sleeps on a pile of gold and everything. I've, uh, seen some of the inside of Niflheim myself, but... they're pretty good at keeping things a secret over there."

He laid the photographs out on the table, on much more comfortable ground here.

"These were taken of Emptiness. Uh, from the roof of a building. There are some good shots of major cross streets. Uh, this here is the Twilight Meadow. I climbed a tree to get this one. This here's the Looking Glass Lake. Taken from the lifeguard tower. I know these really aren't great aerials, but I don't have anything to fly in to get the right scope." When it came to photography, Henry wasn't at all worried about the wrong words or saying the wrong thing. Photography he knew.

"And they were taken about...uh...three months ago, maybe? I have some winter shots, too, but I didn't think those would be helpful or anything. There's no detail since everything's covered in snow." And L probably didn't care about wildlife or nature shots.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-25 06:19 pm UTC (link)
L noticed that the pauses in Henry’s speech occurred less when he started talking about his photographs and slid out of his chair to get a better view to see why. He stood there for a long moment, looking at them with great interest. L could identify that the pictures were taken with a professional quality camera and could see that man knew what he was doing with it. Despite the limited view due to height restrictions, they were actually impressive shots.

“You seem to have quite a talent for photography, Henry.” L said picking one of the photographs up by the edges of his fingers and holding them at eyelevel. He was going to have to remember each of these for reference. He hadn’t visited some of the places the pictures were taken from as his efforts had recently been heavily focused on the town, but he was sure remembering them would come in handy for later.

Once satisfied that he committed everything he saw at to memory, L placed the picture back onto the table and looked at Henry with a studying gaze. He would still have to ask the man to draw him a map in order to get oriented, but there was one more thing he needed to know before making this request. The last thing L expected to hear was that the man had viewed the inside Niflheim, and if Henry remembered the inside with enough detail, a map of that area would come in handy as well. “How exactly did you manage getting into their headquarters?”

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-25 06:34 pm UTC (link)
"Oh, uh, I am a photographer," Henry admitted. "I mean, professionally. Or...I was." He really didn't think he even had a profession anymore. Other than...well, whatever it was he was here.

At L's question, he ran a hand through his hair.

"I, uh, wasn't there of my own free will. I was almost...unconscious when I was taken there, and I really didn't see much. I mean...you get shot twice and knocked around in the head..." He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with going into any detail. He tried joking it off, but the things that had happened there....

He still hadn't fully recovered from Walter's little 'visit' to him while Sal had him captured.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-25 08:07 pm UTC (link)
Henry had been captured then. That could mean that the information Henry had regarding the enemy’s headquarters could be inaccurate due to the circumstances and physical trauma caused by the event. “hn… then how did this event occur and who was involved?” L asked thinking to the list of people in Niflheim that Raziel had provided. The names of those who were considered to be the most dangerous had been provided to him, but there had been nothing on why and how or to what degree.

“Also, how much do you know about Jazz, Schroedinger, Rufus, and Walter and Lucifer?” L asked running his thumb against his lip in thought. A small list seemed best to start with in order not to overwhelm Henry. Save for Lucifer who was listed among the most dangerous on Raziel’s list and was the team’s leader, the others had been the first people from the opposing team to speak to him.

He was most interested in Rufus and Schroedinger, however. Rufus seemed highly guarded in his conversations with him, providing as little information about himself as possible and replying with sarcasm. Questioning him was like questioning a professional criminal. The man seemed to know what he was doing.

Schroedinger was the exact opposite and suspiciously so. He seemed more than willing to offer him information about himself and didn’t seem to give any indication that he had anything to hide from him. Infact he even went as far as to share personal information privately with him.

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-25 08:55 pm UTC (link)
"It was Sal," Henry said, with a small sigh. "He, uh...grabbed me outside of Asgard. This was...a long time before Kain trained me, so...I couldn't really defend myself against him. And...he had a gun. He basically took me as a hostage, to try and get at someone else. It...didn't work the way he wanted it to, though. I got out, and...well, Sal's plan was foiled. I was completely out of it at that point. I...just remember waking up back in Asgard, with Blythe and Eileen pulling bullets out of me. Nobody else got hurt or anything."

And Sal was gone now, something which was a very large bright spot in everything that had been going on.

L's other question caused a tightening across Henry's features. He hunched forward, steeling himself once more to talk about things he'd rather not.

"I can tell you...a lot about Walter. I...I knew him before I came here. I...killed him before I came here. He's an unstable and very, very dangerous guy. He was a serial killer, before...performing this messed up ritual to become something else. Some kind of...ghost demon, I guess. Well...no, that's not really right. The ritual started when he started killing. Transcending like he did was just...just a part of it. The flesh...had to die for the spirit to gain power, something like that. There were...sacrifices he had to make. 21. I...was supposed to be the last. But I stopped him first."

He didn't mention Eileen, because it wasn't his place to tell her part in it.

"He's more unstable now than he used to be, and...he still has those powers. He can seem friendly and...and nice. But he can't be trusted." No matter what he did. And then Henry let out a deep sigh and moved on.

"I don't know much abut Rufus at all, just whatever he's said publicly. The same with Schroedinger. Jazz...he seems pretty non-involved in the stuff that goes on between sides. He's...well, he seems pretty friendly with everybody, and he's never done anybody here any harm. Even though he's had a chance to." He shrugged. He didn't exactly like saying anyone over there was okay, but...Jazz really hadn't done anything to prove otherwise.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-25 09:45 pm UTC (link)
L saw the tension in Henry’s expression as he told him about Walter. Considering how traumatizing the event seemed to have been for him, he could give Henry credit for telling him as much as he did about the individual. “Walter had not been listed among the most dangerous according to Raziel” Which could have meant that Raziel didn’t consider him a threat, or didn’t know about Henry’s history with Walter. Maybe it was a case of both. “Other than Walter, who would you say is the most dangerous?”

Henry seemed to have limited information on Rufus, Schrodinger, and Jazz. However, it seemed as though Jazz had not caused any problems for their team at this point and time. That didn’t mean he was to be trusted.

There was another individual L wished to learn more about which Henry had not mentioned, “And what do you know about the other team’s leader?”

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-26 06:51 pm UTC (link)
"Now? I don't know." Henry shook his head. "I...I don't even know exactly who's still over there. Not much information's coming out. Uh...we might have a way to get information on the other side, but...." Henry didn't know if they could trust Vader's connection to the dragon woman.

"And I really don't know much about Lucifer. As far as I can tell...he's like Metatron. Or, well, the new one, I guess. Technically in charge but not actually part of this whole thing. He...mostly just runs his mouth every so often at people. His and ours." A shrug followed. Lucifer had never been high on Henry's priority list, after all.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-26 09:28 pm UTC (link)
L gave the command, and two chairs rose up at the table for the two of them to sit at. He sat down in one and drew his legs up so he was sitting with his knees in front of him.

“…but?” L asked, waiting for Henry to finish. Save for Walter who he knew from before arriving here, the man seemed to know next to nothing reliable about the other team. L had to wonder if this was the case with everyone in Asgard and made note to look into the matter when he got a chance.

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-27 12:38 am UTC (link)
"It's...I don't know." Henry sat down gratefully and ran a hand through his hair.

"Vader has...some kind of connection with one of their people. He says it's for that exact reason...to get information and use her against Niflheim. I don't know the details - when he announced it, it kind of...um...descended into chaos." With everyone yelling at everyone else and that had pretty much been the end of the meeting.

"He can tell you more, obviously." If he wanted. Vader was a strange one, and Henry still didn't know what to think of him.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-27 07:37 pm UTC (link)
“Exactly who stood where on this issue, and what were their reasons?” L asked, making note to talk to Vader later. He already knew what kind of issues might have arose regarding this kind of revelation, but if he knew who was on which side of the matter he could determine a lot about Asgards current state.

Not that he haven’t already formulated some idea. Asgard’s team seemed in poor shape as far as unity and trust went, there appeared to be little to no organization among them, and information he needed was likely spread among them as well as difficult to obtain. His first entry in the communication system had indicated that.

And he was quick to find that internal issues were only half of the problem as there seemed to be a problem with the opposing team entering the establishment as well. Alessa had informed him that someone by the name of Sal had come into Asgard as a spy, and Schroedinger had admitted to passing through a barrier Metatron had established on occasion. Security breeches were a serious matter and L hoped that Henry would not be ignorant of them.

“Has there been any instances in which members from Niflheim have entered Asgard?” L finally asked. He had to first confirm that the man knew about them. Although Alessa had mentioned Sal publicly, Schroedinger had admitted it to him in private.

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-28 06:52 pm UTC (link)
"Uh..." Henry let out a sigh, and decided to just be honest. "Nobody who was vocal agreed with it, and...mostly because Vader's apparently training her. And...nobody really thinks training one of our enemies is a good idea."

He didn't blame them. He could accept that Vader had what he felt were good reasons, but it was still an idea that could backfire. While the dragon hadn't actually physically attacked anyone in Asgard, plenty of verbal threats had been made.

"And yeah, there have. We...had a pretty big problem with it, a few months ago. Sal again. He...was able to masquerade as one of us. Some of us...we knew something was off, but not what. It's a mistake we're not gonna make again, though."

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-29 04:45 am UTC (link)
If Henry knew about Schroedinger’s entry, then he hadn’t brought it up. L could only assume that as it was a private message, it might be something the man only made him privy to. L had yet to establish why, though. It could have been something related to his time here before, but it could also be an attempt to trick him. L could see how the other team might be engaging in psychological warfare through the communication systems. “How did Sal get through the barrier?”

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-29 04:56 am UTC (link)
"Metatron was weakened," Henry said, a bit more confidently. "Sick...in a way. The barrier was in flux, but we didn't know. It was fixed, once Metatron was better, but..." Sal had already gotten in. And the damage had already been done.

Hell, they were still recovering from it.

"It was...a weird set of circumstances that let it happen. And...we're not going to be unprepared like that again. Even if they tried it again...when we get new people here, it's announced. Metatron would tell us first, so Jophiel should do the same thing. Anyone shows up without being announced..."

Investigations would be made, or something like that.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-29 06:00 am UTC (link)
It seemed as though even the teams ‘resident advisors’ weren’t entirely immune to everything then, which could be both a good and bad news. On the one hand, it meant that the opposing team’s leader could be weakened in some way as well but on the other… L couldn’t say he was entirely comfortable with the idea if his security and safety potentially being compromised. However, he wasn’t exactly known for relying on others for protection.

L still had a few more questions for Henry. “What are Asgard’s weaknesses?” From what he had been hearing, it seemed as though there were plenty, but the detective wanted to hear them from the other man simply to see how aware of them Henry was himself. “How do you think this team can improve?”

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-29 06:13 am UTC (link)
Where to start?

"Uh...people don't trust each other, people don't tell each other things, we don't work together very well...." Henry sighed. Those were, as far as he was concerned, their biggest problem.

"And I guess how little we really know about what goes on over in Niflheim. But...most of us, we've never done anything like this. We're just...normal people. I don't know how to make it better. We've...we've tried. And things keep happening...."

And Henry certainly didn't know how to work around that. He knew both Blythe and Kain had told him that they trusted him to sort of 'oversee' things, but he really didn't know why. It wasn't like any of his attempts had done anything, so he had just gone back to offering to listen to anybody who had a problem. That, at least, he knew he could do.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-29 06:48 pm UTC (link)
L could certainly understand lack of trust among his teammates. He didn’t trust them either, but he could see that the matter bothered Henry based on the sigh and the fact that the matter had been first on his list.

He sat thinking to himself for a moment, trying to weigh out whether or not he should keep his thoughts on the matter to himself or not. The detective did not know what Henry’s place was among the residents here, but he had pegged him as a quiet, well meaning individual who was probably took the matter of trust to be that of great importance as the man had come to him to answer L’s questions, yet so far had not asked any questions in return. This was a quality that he could appreciate and use if he needed to.

He soon reached a decision. “People generally have their own reasons for not trusting others and it is either due to the fact that they have been betrayed in the past, or they wish to avoid it from happening.” L said flatly while looking thoughtfully at the table where the basket of sweets still sat untouched. He didn’t give any indication of it, but he found it amusing that he was talking to this man about trust when he had every intention to check for poison after he left.

“Since this is a problem that you feel needs to be remedied, try looking at things from their perspective. Considering the history you described to me, would you trust Walter if he asked you to? Imagine if every one of your teammates could potentially be Walter. What would you need to know or see happen in order for you to trust him?

“As for gathering information on the other team, I think it would be best not to fully discourage interaction if Niflheim’s members are seeking to communicate. This can potentially lead to insight into their workings as well as produce useful relations. However, it would be important for each individual to be aware that Niflheim could be trying to establish friendship for the very same reason and should avoid compromising the safety of themselves, Asgard, and its members at all costs. This means being cautious in everything that is said and done, and closely monitoring interactions”

L rubbed the back of his head, “What have you tried so far?”

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[info]my_private_life
2009-08-31 12:45 am UTC (link)
Henry was well aware people had their reasons for not trusting others, but he liked to think that most of them had been in close quarters and through enough together to be able trust and rely on each other. Obviously this wasn't the case, but it frustrated him to no end. How many times had things been made worse because people weren't willing to trust their own teammates?

At Ryuzaki's example, Henry balked.

“That's...that's insane. It's not the same thing at all,” he pointed out. He had a history with Walter, after all. He knew who the man was, what he was capable of. Besides, it wasn't like everyone was brand new to Asgard. In some cases, they'd known each other for well over a year. Maybe...maybe not closely, but....still.

“...Anyway I've...given up even caring what people are doing in regards to Niflheim. We can't cut off all contact, we can't...we can't be friendly, and...nobody's doing anything stupid.” Anymore. With Niflheim, anyway. That he knew of.

Which went back to the trust issue.

“Look, we...really haven't been focusing on Niflheim. If they do something to us...we retaliate. If they don't, we...leave them alone. We're not here to...to decide this whole mess in a...a fist fight. We have the trials, and they're monitored and there's safeguards to make sure no one...no one gets badly hurt or anything. And now that Sal's gone...well, Niflheim's been pretty quiet anyway. And the attempts we have made to find things out...well, I'm pretty sure you've already figured out they haven't gone too well.”

Not that that meant Henry had any plans to dismiss the other team or assume they wouldn't be a problem, but he was a lot less worried about them now.

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[info]readsyournotes
2009-08-31 09:26 pm UTC (link)
L had Henry pegged as a very caring individual. The man had prompted this conversation when he could have easily just blown L off leaving the detective entirely in the dark, he seemed to have tried to answer all his questions, he cared about people trusting one another and even identified that as the first major problem in Asgard. He even brought a welcome basket! For all of that caring, to simply stop in regards to what was going on with others in the relationships between the teams seemed like quite a leap for him.

L filed that away to think over later. Henry had stated that he’d met Walter prior to this, and had informed him that the man only seemed like a nice person. L kept his gaze firmly on Henry when he spoke, “I fail to see the difference. Explain your logic.”

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