Freya Mikaelson is Tired™ (frelsi) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-05-16 06:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, freya mikaelson, percy blakeney |
Who: Freya and Percy
What: Freya has an idea for Pimpernel Outreach
When: Today
Where: Pimpernel Outreach
Warnings: Talk of domestic abuse, murder
Status: Log | Complete
Freya was tired. It had nothing to do with Dreams. Nothing to do with family drama. It was all to do with her work. And it wasn’t like it was something she would give up on. Oh hell no. But some days were just exhausting. The constant battles, the constant losing. Legal hurdles. A horrible system. Abusers getting away with it….
This time, it tied into her two main focuses. Women and refugees. Well, in this instance asylum seekers. However, given her connections with the UN and said work with women and refugees, it wasn’t uncommon for her to be called to help with asylum cases as well. She had done it in Europe and she was doing so here as well. The proximity to the Southern border certainly helped. But the US asylum system was fucked up. Okay, most asylum seeking systems were fucked up because they were strictly for politically based fear of persecution so domestic violence? Who cared. Then the language barriers, where often there weren’t words to describe what was happening, or there was a culture of shame.
So needless to say, Freya had already known there was a chance that the latest asylum seeker case she’d been helping with would end up like so many others - denied. But then she got the call. The woman she’d been trying to help had been denied and had been sent back to her home country where the man she’d been trying to escape killed her. It was a tragic but predictable end. And she was tired because it was the same story over and over, in asylum seeking cases but also just in the domestic abuse cases that never got covered here. The murder of women. Gun violence was such a loud topic right now yet the correlation between gun violence and domestic violence? Near silent.
Having finished up at work, the witch made her way to Pimpernel Outreach. They were doing good work there. But it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. So after doing her initial rounds, Freya made a detour to see if Percy was in before she set about her own paperwork. And good. He was. So letting herself into his office, she closed the door and walked to his desk, placing her hands on it as she leaned down.
“We need to do more.”
That was the sad truth, no matter how much help was available or offered, it would never be enough. It was something that Percy hated, but he knew it was just a fact of the world at large. There would always be people suffering, people being abused and killed for no reason, and there would never be enough help to stop it. Humans really could be cruel to each other. That was something that he’d realized about the world when he’d been young. He hadn’t grown up poor or even lived anywhere that could be considered being in the middle of this sort of domestic violence that people were desperately trying to escape. But after his parents had died, Percy had opened his eyes to the world.
Unlike some people who had privilege and money, Percy actually put his money where his mouth was. He always had. Aside from getting a good education, Percy didn’t flaunt his wealth. He didn’t like living in mansions or buying the most expensive things. He preferred a simpler, less extravagant life. And his wish to help people, amplified even more by his dreams, is what moved him to open Pimpernel Outreach. He did hope to one day open such places in other countries as well, but this was a start.
Percy was going through some paperwork when he heard the door open. He looked up to see Freya. He had been about to greet her with a cheerful quip, but the way she looked and her words took that right out. He set his papers aside and looked at her.
“Yes we do,” because it was true. More always needed to be done. “Do you have an idea on how to accomplish that?”
That was one of the things that Freya appreciated about Percy and one of the reasons they had gotten along so well at university. They both had grown up privileged and yet they wanted to use said privilege to help others as opposed to living in it. They had similar aims in that regard no matter what one might assume at first glance.
As for ideas?
“Nothing concrete. Just…. A way to get those who are being abused out from their abusers. Help them disappear.”
It clearly would have to be a smaller operation with only those they could truly trust as it would push the bounds of legality. There were logistics which needed to be figured out. And yet…. There had to be more they could do.
They definitely worked well together, having similar goals in helping people. Percy did feel that if more people put their money and position to good use, the world would be a far better place than it was currently. But as long as Percy did what he could to make the world a better place, that would have to suffice.
“Hmm,” he hummed as he sat back in his chair, elbows resting on the armrests and he steepled his fingers, lightly tapping them against his chin in thought. He was turning over Freya’s words in his head, and he started to wonder.
“In my dreams as the Scarlet Pimpernel, I was able to secret people out of Paris and back to England, saving them from the guillotine, what about doing something like that? Or like, what was it called, that railroad for helping slaves escape the south?” Sometimes Percy’s handle on American history wasn’t the best, but it also wasn’t his fault. He was English, he hadn’t studied American history beyond the areas that had been brought up in his schooling in England and any other areas he found interesting.
As Percy leaned back in his chair to think, Freya finally sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk. But this was why she had gone to him. Because she knew that he’d at least consider it and maybe agree instead of shooting the idea down completely. She knew that there would be complications. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy. But it was something that needed to be done.
“The Underground Railroad.” Freya didn’t hold it against Percy, she didn’t know the intricacies of English history. “But yes, something like that.”
Also why didn’t it surprise her about his own Dreams? It was a very Percy type thing to do.
He nodded a bit, taking some moments to think things through. Percy knew it could work. After all, he’d done it in his dreams. But even then he’d had a network and gotten his friends involved to help. He had information at hand with the many eyes and ears he employed both in Paris and London to keep him apprised of everyone’s movements in the revolution and who could be saved and so on so forth.
“It could work, but we would need a network of people. I assume that you have some contacts that may be willing to help in such an endeavor?” He asked, looking at Freya.
Percy was a businessman, so he would consider all angles of a situation before making a decision. First step, he needed to ensure they could have a trusted network of people to help them with this. Then they had to consider how to get the women and children they helped legal papers to keep them safe from being sent back to where they came from. Name changes, dodging law enforcement, everything needed to be considered and then put in place before they started this.
“I have some.” Freya didn’t know all the contacts that Percy knew, or Marguerite since the blonde had a feeling the actress would be part of this network. But Freya had her own contacts as well. Because even if they weren’t Dreamers, Freya knew that there were those she worked with who hated the way things currently were and wanted to do more. And more importantly, willing to do more even if they had to break the law at times.
“And I’m sure you have your own contacts as well.”
It was a statement of fact. But Freya knew that this wasn’t something they could just start doing. There were a lot of different pieces that needed to be put into play, skills that were required. But even knowing it was possible was a good thing.
“Yes, I do,” Percy nodded. He had some friends, as well as Marguerite, that would most likely be more than happy to help. Given the fact that abuse was an international problem, it was probably a very good thing that Percy wasn’t born an American citizen. He was familiar with immigration laws and what sort of papers non-citizens needed.
Of course, helping those from other countries get here and stay here would take a lot of planning, but it opened their scope of people they could help. Refugees, scared women, no matter who they were or where they were from. Americans or otherwise, they could help them get to safety.
“So. We have a goal and some help to attain it. Now we need logistics.” And it went without saying to only tell people they trusted about this. After all, no need to have anyone on the inside rat them out to the authorities and such.
There were a lot of things that needed to be figured out. A lot of logistics. Her magic could protect people from magical detection but she had yet to see if it would work in a way that would help people evade law enforcement as they disappeared. But she knew plenty of people so she wasn’t worried about that.
Well, she was always worried and there were a lot of ways this could go horribly wrong as well. But knowing who to trust? That she was sure they would figure out.
Freya hadn’t gotten to the logistics of the plan yet.
“Identification, safe houses…” While she could send notes magically that would burst into flame once read, only Dreamers would be able to receive those ones, so they’d need secure communication as well.
Knowing who they could trust was probably the easiest part. Everything else is where things got complicated and more difficult to figure out. But he had little doubt that they would figure it out.
“Safe houses is probably the easiest part of that. Places can be easily bought after ensuring it’s in an area with little to no prying eyes or people who ask too many questions.” It would take a lot of searching and research for the perfect places to set up safe houses. But money did go a long way when used correctly.
And where he and Freya were concerned? Money would be far more than well spent to help the people who needed it the most. Especially when the law, or law enforcement, couldn’t help them. Or wouldn’t help them given some people didn’t want to help anyone other than themselves.
Well, money wasn’t a hard thing to come by and while Freya had done her all to make her own way and not rely on her parents’ money… well, she wasn’t as worried about that between her and Percy as someone else might be.
“Most likely….” And like Percy, she knew that it would take time for them to research where to set up said safe house, but that was going to be time well spent. Yes everything they did here was time well spent, nothing wasted, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t more they could do and would not be doing now that the idea was in the air.
“So perhaps we should start with looking at areas of the country that would be the best areas for setting up the safe houses.” Obviously the areas that had lower crime rates would be one factor, but also possibly sanctuary cities might be good as well for those women that would be coming from other countries.
“We should also probably keep any paper details of this stored at either of our homes. And nothing on the computers we use here.” Not that Percy expected to be raided, but best to keep this sort of thing far, far away from the non-profit and from his own business.
Freya nodded. Maps, they would need maps for that. And statistics. But it was a good plan. And people to man the safe house or set up safe houses with people they could trust. There were a lot of different options available on that at least.
“Obviously.” Like Percy, while she didn’t think that they would be raided… well, no need to have a paper trail. Especially since Elijah’s money was also tied into this. While she had a feeling her brother wouldn’t blame her for her actions, it was still his money. “Luckily I have spells for that.” And Evie had her invisible writing as well.
“Excellent. Then perhaps we should make up a list of the people we trust to bring in on this endeavor. We can branch out from there.” Start with the core network of people that would be doing this with them, give each of them a specific job. Then it would be looking into places for the safehouses. But of course at first, the fewer people they had, the easier it would be until the got the hang of how to do this efficiently.
“This is a most excellent idea, I’m glad you came to me about it.” He smiled at Freya. It obviously wouldn’t be nearly enough for what was actually needed, but it would be something more than what was already being done. They could help some people in need get to safety, and that was the important thing.
“Lists. Places to look. We have our first steps.” And that was the important thing. Freya knew that it wouldn’t be enough. But she also knew that they had to do more than they were, even if the actions might not be as legal as what the nonprofit did. But there were enough people she felt that would want to help. A small list, yes. But a network all of their own.
“I’m glad you didn’t laugh me out the door, but I thought so.” Returning the smile, Freya felt herself lose some of the tension she’d been carrying since that morning.
“I would never laugh you out the door for wanting to help people. Besides, someone has to face the valley,” Percy smirked a bit. Yes he quoting one of the songs from the musical about his life, what of it? It was a good song and seemed oddly appropriate for this moment. “We have a starting point, now let’s make it more than that.” He said with a nod.