Daniel (danhoffman) wrote in neogenesisrpg, @ 2009-03-29 04:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | dan hoffman, jebidiah jefferies |
Who: Jebidiah Jefferies, Jr. and Dan Hoffman
What: Trying to fix the unfixable.
When: Saturday, March 29.
Where: Phonelines.
Rating: PG
Status: Complete
When he'd heard the knock on the door, he'd hoped against hope that it was Jason. He should've known better, of course, but the disappointment still ate away at him half an hour later, when he finally opened the package only to retrieve a cellphone from within. He'd expected more confidential information and felt ready to set it on fire unless it provided the way to Jason, but this. This was something he could use. Maybe. One number had already been loaded into the memory and he didn't check to see if he recognized it. That wasn't the point. He dialed it and waited. This had better be the real thing.
Jebidiah was at a Starbucks, playing a round of internet pool when he felt the buzz of the dormant cellphone that he kept separate from his other one. Whomever made prepaid phones should receive a medal. "Rustin Peace, I presume?"
Dan sighed. "Not the person I was looking for, but you'll do." It was the first time he came into audio contact with someone from the House of Spades, but the experience was lost on him entirely. Fingers pressed over his eyes to stave off a headache. "Thanks for the drop-off. I appreciate it."
"Needed something faster than a courier, given the last one was infected." Jeb cracked a joke, picking up his laptop and moved to a more private corner of the cafe. "And less one-sided. Did you lose someone?"
No rabbit hole this time. No chase, either. They didn't have time. Dan clutched the phone a little tighter. "Yes. And not to the serum." Although he had, Jae-mi, but that wasn't important. She was safe, he was sure of that. "Something to do with that woman who tried to leave for Canada." Hint, hint.
Proxies up and bouncing him across the east and west coasts, he started to dig and made the right connections on his own. "The woman is caught in deportation limbo, but I'm pretty sure you were aware about that." It wasn't her name that was familiar to him in connection to Dan Hoffman in the first place. "Her intended is being held for questioning at the adjustment center as a potential accessory."
Dan bit back a curse, but another slipped through. "If you have any Aces up your sleeve, now would be the time to say." He'd never tried to get someone out of the SAC. Keep people out, sure. Argue in favors of those inside, yes. But actively try to free someone was an uphill struggle with no happy ending. Just a tiny cell with no windows. "Their accusations are unfounded. We both know that and by now they must've figured it out as well... but there's something else." There always was a something else.
"His ties to your last detention?" Jebidiah asked, knowing that now wasn't the time nor the place to attempt to snoop through the SAC's security system. It's system in many ways were more complex than the pairing office. "If there are angles, they better be damn well believable. They don't seem all that eager on expediting their cases out of there."
"Not only that but his sister. She and I were paired recently." Dan didn't mince his words, didn't spare any details. TJ had helped him before and he might help him again, but secrets weren't going to build trust. "If they put the two together, which they will, it's only a matter of time. Even if they only assume. He'll be held for reeducation."
"As will you, and it's in all our interests to keep that from happening." he sighed as the picture made itself clearer in his head. "Would've saved us all the trouble if you DP'ed yourself before the draw. This is a massive favor, I don't have that many get out of jail free cards."
"I wouldn't ask if I had any other way to get him out of there," Dan hissed, annoyed with himself. TJ was right - if they'd taken steps to legalize their relationship before they were paired, this could have been avoided. It was only in a state of despair that he'd consider jumping into something like marriage to escape marriage. "But I'm married now and he should have been too, if that stupid woman hadn't--" A deep breath. "I'll do anything."
Jebidiah scanned through annulments that have gone through the system. "Even claim ED? Medically unable to conceive through natural means and tests for in virtro fertilization concludes that your sperm count is too low for their treatment. Paperwork could already be in processing." All he had to do was duplicate files then replace names and ID numbers. He glanced at his wife's listed profession. "We might be able to slow her reintroduction into the system. The philharmonic has a tour coming up, she should take it."
"I hadn't but I will. It means I'll be out of the lottery permanently, right?" It was a rhetorical question more than anything else. He didn't need long, just enough to get annulled, get Jason out and get the paperwork complete before the clock struck midnight. "I'll tell her when she gets out of the hospital." He didn't think she'd be hard to convince. She loved her brother, after all.
"That is the plan. Did you want me to expedite the DP registry for you too? Since I'm a full-service damage dealer here. If you're his legal partner, they have no grounds to hold him. You could go sign his release forms yourself."
Dan paused. Could he really work that fast? "The annulment has to be processed first. But." He didn't know if this was what Jason wanted, but right now it was irrelevant. A small sacrifice as far as principles went for a human life. Fair trade. "Do it all. The sooner I can get him out of there, the better."
"It'll take a few days, a week at most. I wouldn't go calling SAC tomorrow." Jeb advised, marking notes on the inside of his forearm with a pen. "Needless to say the 'you owe me' on this will be big."
A week. He could wait. He hoped Jason could too. "My ass is yours. Thanks, man." He shelved the questions about how TJ would make it happen and why he assumed they wouldn't be caught. It was irrelevant information right then and there.
"Watch for the call, and keep up the minutes on the phone. Buy the phonecards in cash, yada yada yada, and set up a junk email account for the foundation. Might find some treats in the spam."
Dan nodded even if the man on the other end couldn't see him. He hadn't had time to think of any of those details. "Keep me posted. As soon as you have anything..." He couldn't be cool and calm and collected about this, not if he tried.
"I will. Just keep doing what you need to do, keep going about your normal business, and let those who need to know what's coming know. I'll handle the rest." Jebidiah reached for his laptop bag and felt for a third cellphone, hidden deep within a compartment stitched into the bottom of the case.
Another sigh, this time of relief. Dan knew he wouldn't be able to rest until this was over, but at least now the ending looked slightly more favorable than before. "Okay. Thank you. I'll pay you back for this."
"Stick tight, man. I'll work my magic, you work yours." Jeb said before ending the call and tucking the cellphone in his pocket. Turning on the one he received from his bag, he pressed the number preprogrammed on it. He had learned from somewhere, even if it was to the source. "Tango, Romeo, India, Papa, Lima, Echo, Juliet, GNIS 1512650, Jefferies. Calling in a 'you owe me."
A pause and then, on the other end of the line, a voice: "The DHS owes no one."
"Right, after this one. Get a pen ready."