It's been years since she's seen Harper in person. They've only met twice, once when she was a child and again when she'd been at the Naval Academy. Despite that, he hasn't changed overly much. He's still hawk-faced and impossibly tall, blonde hair sheered close in the same military buzz cut. He's still handsome too, though his face carries several new scars, one of them quite severe. It looks like his face was stapled back together, though with a good amount of skill. He's dressed in a suit, though one that he's treated carelessly. The shoulder holster is ruining the line of the jacket.
He looks like her mother. That's the worse part.
Maketh shivers and doesn't sit up. Harper doesn't approach the car, only nods to someone at his side - a man Maketh doesn't recognize, but who carries a medic's quick-kit on his belt.
Harper eyes Rita up and down, then removes something in a biohazard bag. This he throws to Rita. "Who are you?"
There's a part of her that wants to follow the medic and make sure he isn't going to kill Maketh, but that part goes silent quickly when the bag is tossed her way. Even if she didn't know what's in it, she'd know from the weight of it. Rita opens the bag and peers inside and almost dives head first into it.
But she has been asked a question, and she needs to keep this from going badly.
"Maketh's cellmate. My name is Rita Du Clark." Now twll her she's free to go eat.
Harper watches Rita for a long moment, eyes narrowed. The extraction details were clear. Two packages, one civilian and one badly injured, to be secured and moved. His niece had guarded his sister's favors jealously, and only called them in when she had no other choice.
But there was something interesting underfoot. This woman. The civilian.
Not harmless, Harper thought. Very far from harmless. He had a sixth sense about that sort of thing.
He whistles to the medic. "Sedate her. I want to move as soon as she's stabilized."
The medic, a quiet man named Bask, nods just once.
He gives Rita a thin smile. "What are you waiting for? Eat."
He's seen stranger.
"Oh, and Rita? It is Rita, isn't it? You and I are going to have a conversation when this is done. Try to be candid. I have a distaste for corporate jargon."
He's someone who has no time for bullshit, and for all that Rita is well versed in the slow dance that is dealing with businespeople, she likes Harper's style.
"It's rude to eat before your guests do, but if you insist."
It's not pretty. The brain is very much just a brain, flavorless to her, squishy. She eats it like it's a meat bun or something, using the bag for a wrapper to keep her hands clean. She hates it, but god is it satisfying. Just one bite takes the edge off, leaves her feeling more like herself, less tired, more willing to talk to a stranger who may as well be pure military.
"Fine by me. I have nothing to hide from you now that you've seen this." She gestures to him with the brain, shooting him a smirk that's less pretty than it would be without the blood on her lips.
While the medic treats Maketh, Rita eats half the brain and looks for a container to store the rest in. Now that she's something like a fugitive, she needs at least a small supply with her.
Harper's expression doesn't change. He's careful about that these days, controlling what people see. That had been his sister's mistake back in the day. Letting people get too close, see inside her. An awful mistake and even worse, one that could have been avoided. A true shame if ever there were. Now Maize is dead and he's left with his niece, who is, in Harper's mind, a poor replacement for the original.
No matter. He's been bored lately. This venture might prove to be interesting in the long run.
He watches Rita eat and hands her another biohazard bag when she's done. It will have to do for now. "Bask?"
The medic gives him a thumbs-up. Maketh hasn't died yet, and she's stable enough to move. Good.
Harper hums under his breath. "Get in the truck. We have a secure location. My niece bought you a ticket there and some supplies."
His smile is just the wrong side of mean.
"But, Maketh failed to mention the bounty on your head. I'm sure she simply forgot. Shock. That sort of thing."
Harper's eyes are pale and cold. "You must be important to her. Ah. That explains it. I'd hate to find I don't need you, Ms. Du Clark. That would be a true shame."
The extra he gives her, she puts in the container. Stock up, be safe. She's never had to do this before, prepare for the worst.
Then again, she never pictured her life going quite like this. Scratched, kidnapped, shot at, her only ally a soldier who has been sedated, leaving Rita with strangers.
Great.
Rita is ready to follow Harper to the truck when he mentions a bounty. Her slow-beating heart skips a beat, and her blood goes cold. A bounty. Someone wants her dead.
"I--" Don't lie. Rita is not going to lie. She takes a deep breath and tries again, her voice steadier where her eyes still betray that she had no idea about the extent of this. "I thought they'd be asking for a ransom, not a bounty."
"You are troublesome to people who don't like that sort of thing." As for Harper himself, he doesn't rightly care. If it weren't for Maketh, he wouldn't be here at all. "But you seem like a smart woman."
Harper tips his head to the side.
"I think you'll be useful to me. I think you'll make up for the money I'm losing not cutting your head off right here. A smart woman knows where her enemies live, doesn't she?"
And enough dirty little secrets to be used as blackmail.
Her hands tighten on thr container. Who put out a bounty on her? Fillmore Graves? Imperial Solutions? Max Rager? Probably not Max Rager, if only because inevitably that would lead to bad publicity, and they've dealt with enough of that in the past year.
Rita is a smart woman. Her father made sure of that. She might still look spooked, but she holds Harper's gaze as she nods.
"You don't succeed in business by being a good person."
Not all the time, anyway, and the richest ones are always the worst. Vaughn Du Clark is the perfect example.
Harper laughs at that, eyes flashing bright. He could come to like this one. "Right you are, Ms. Du Clark."
She'll do. If she finds a way to screw him over, then that means she'll be clever enough to keep track of a little longer. Harper has been bored lately. He could use a distraction.
"I've arranged some housing for you," he continued, conversationally. No more talk of beheading. "Something more to your standards, I should think. I'm feeling generous. I haven't seen my niece in several years."
For all that this has gotten a lot more dangerous than expected, Rita can at least fall back into her more usual dealings. Coversation, schmoozing -- easy things. Now that she's fed, she'll be okay.
"I have more respect for people who don't bullshit." She follows him to the truck, glancing back at Maketh once or twice. "She'll stay with me, won't she? We've gotten close. I promised to buy her a drink."
Harper made a point to keep tabs on people who were connected to him. As such, he'd compiled an extensive file on the career and personal life of Maketh Tua. They hadn't spoken in years, but he knew his niece's preferred hobbies and a few rather specific personality traits.
It paid to be thorough in this business. Besides, it wasn't stalking if you hired someone else to do it for you.
He settled into the driver's seat, checking to make sure Bask and his niece were secure in the back. "For now. I intend to leave the country in a few days. But you will have plenty of time for that drink."
Rita has spirit. She holds her ground when others would have crumpled and begged for mercy. It's an admirable trait in their world.
Still, her statement gives Harper pause. He hums thoughtfully, backing out of the garage. "Do you? I wouldn't. That would make it rather easy for them."
He grins at her suddenly.
"But if you do, please let me drive you to the front door. I get the finder's fee that way."
Who was he to refuse a bounty when the target walked straight back home?
"Max Rager wants you back," he continues. "They aren't paying for your head. That would be another party. But your dear father isn't particularly concerned about what condition you come back in."
Being likeable is part of her job. Good to know the virus hasn't taken that from her too.
"I might take you up on that. You want the money, which pretty much guarantees me safe passage." She shoots Harper a smirk, relaxing into her seat. They're safe for now.
The news about her father doesn't faze her, as her flat response of "I'm not surprised" gives away. He's the reason she's a zombie now. He left his only child to die at the hands and teeth of a monster rather than take the slight risk that the Romero would fight its way into the elevator if he waited just a few seconds longer. Rita tries to tell herself it doesn't hurt -- she expected this, after the incident in the basement -- but it's a lie. It still stings. She figured he cared, in his own way, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that he doesn't.
(Some part of her refuses to fully believe that. Some part of her is still a little girl who wants to be loved.
A small part of her, but a part of her nonetheless.)
"He'll have me locked up, but at least I'll be fed." She'll be angry but not paranoid. It's something.
Harper shrugs, keeping his eyes on the road. The hotel he's taking them to isn't far. It's also one of the most expensive in the city, the kind of place where buying out an entire floor doesn't raise eyebrows. The rich are eccentric. They like their privacy.
The fact that it makes securing the area much easier is besides the point. And if he bribed a few employees to help his men smuggle in medical equipment and an off duty ER doctor, that's no one's business.
"Pragmatic." He pauses. "I can't move you for at least twenty four hours. Do I need to find another cadaver?"
Brain tissue is, actually, a bit harder to find than your average street drug.
The rich are more than just eccentric, but Harper is not wrong. Some are also careless, mainly the ones born into this life and who live off the interest their bank accounts generate. Rita is pragmatic by virtue of watching her dad grow his company and learning how to maintain it herself. You don't succeed in business if you're nothing but a dreamer.
"I'll be fine for a few days on one meal." A week maybe, but that's pushing it. "I saved the extra. I should be fine for longer."
That should give her more than enough time to prepare to walk back into Max Rager, to figure out what she's going to say to her dad. She won't kill him -- now is not the time for a change in CEO at the company, not with Max Rager in need of strong leadership to get them through the bad publicity from the leaked memo -- but she can't just let him off scott-free.
She mutters a curse under her breath, though at what, even she's not sure.
"I'm sure it will be."
There's not much else to say beyond that. No bullshit, no small talk. Unless Harper has more to discuss, Rita will stay quiet until she and Maketh are as safe as they'll be.
The accomodations are nice, at least, but she doesn't comment on that.
Harper's eyes flick to the rearview mirror. There hasn't been much noise in the back seat. "That would depend on how bad her internal injuries are. Give it a few hours. My men are competent."
Otherwise there'd be no point in paying them at all.
He can think up whatever reason he wants as to why.
"If we're still far from the hotel, I'm going to get some sleep." She doesn't need the sleep, but she wants to stop thinking for a while. It's a stupid move in this situation, though, and she's very much aware Harper knows that. It's a show of trust or recklessness or both. "Unless you want to grill me for information?"
Information can wait. If she's going to be useful, then she ought to be as fresh as possible. Harper fully intends to grill Rita for all the information he could possibly make use of, but there is still some time.
Besides, he prefers driving in silence.
All and all, it's not a long drive. There's an underground parking facility and Harper pulls into the employee entrance by the loading dock. Easy access. It cost him a few hundred dollars in bribes, but that's nothing.
It's not long, but she does sleep, a dreamless slumber that recharges her somewhat. She wakes like he flipped a switch, conscious within seconds and not groggy despite the shit these past past few days.
Harper chuckles darkly, waving at the door guards. Two of his men are standing there, dressed in suits and their weapons carefully concealed. "It makes things easier in the long run."
He could appreciate nice things from time to time, so long as they didn't become a distraction, but in this case, spending money allowed him to prevent accidents and other such unfortunate moments further down the line.
"It sure does. You won't have to deal with me staging a jailbreak out of a dump."
She doesn't say more than that, just follows along as Harper and his men take Maketh and Rita up to the room he's booked for them.
"Room" is something of an understatement, she finds out soon enough It'll be more than enough to keep her comfortable until things quiet down and arrangements can be made for her to get back to Max Rager, where she'll once again be forced to endure the so-called comforts of a lab prison.
Harper grins at her, a touch too cheerful for the situation. It puts people on edge. "Don't spend too much money, Ms. Du Clark. Under five hundred. That's as much as I like you right now."
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2017-01-25 05:28 pm (UTC)He looks like her mother. That's the worse part.
Maketh shivers and doesn't sit up. Harper doesn't approach the car, only nods to someone at his side - a man Maketh doesn't recognize, but who carries a medic's quick-kit on his belt.
Harper eyes Rita up and down, then removes something in a biohazard bag. This he throws to Rita. "Who are you?"
no subject
Date: 2017-01-25 06:12 pm (UTC)But she has been asked a question, and she needs to keep this from going badly.
"Maketh's cellmate. My name is Rita Du Clark." Now twll her she's free to go eat.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-25 07:47 pm (UTC)But there was something interesting underfoot. This woman. The civilian.
Not harmless, Harper thought. Very far from harmless. He had a sixth sense about that sort of thing.
He whistles to the medic. "Sedate her. I want to move as soon as she's stabilized."
The medic, a quiet man named Bask, nods just once.
He gives Rita a thin smile. "What are you waiting for? Eat."
He's seen stranger.
"Oh, and Rita? It is Rita, isn't it? You and I are going to have a conversation when this is done. Try to be candid. I have a distaste for corporate jargon."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-25 09:14 pm (UTC)"It's rude to eat before your guests do, but if you insist."
It's not pretty. The brain is very much just a brain, flavorless to her, squishy. She eats it like it's a meat bun or something, using the bag for a wrapper to keep her hands clean. She hates it, but god is it satisfying. Just one bite takes the edge off, leaves her feeling more like herself, less tired, more willing to talk to a stranger who may as well be pure military.
"Fine by me. I have nothing to hide from you now that you've seen this." She gestures to him with the brain, shooting him a smirk that's less pretty than it would be without the blood on her lips.
While the medic treats Maketh, Rita eats half the brain and looks for a container to store the rest in. Now that she's something like a fugitive, she needs at least a small supply with her.
"Ready whenever you are, Harper."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-25 10:10 pm (UTC)No matter. He's been bored lately. This venture might prove to be interesting in the long run.
He watches Rita eat and hands her another biohazard bag when she's done. It will have to do for now. "Bask?"
The medic gives him a thumbs-up. Maketh hasn't died yet, and she's stable enough to move. Good.
Harper hums under his breath. "Get in the truck. We have a secure location. My niece bought you a ticket there and some supplies."
His smile is just the wrong side of mean.
"But, Maketh failed to mention the bounty on your head. I'm sure she simply forgot. Shock. That sort of thing."
Harper's eyes are pale and cold. "You must be important to her. Ah. That explains it. I'd hate to find I don't need you, Ms. Du Clark. That would be a true shame."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-26 12:43 am (UTC)Then again, she never pictured her life going quite like this. Scratched, kidnapped, shot at, her only ally a soldier who has been sedated, leaving Rita with strangers.
Great.
Rita is ready to follow Harper to the truck when he mentions a bounty. Her slow-beating heart skips a beat, and her blood goes cold. A bounty. Someone wants her dead.
"I--" Don't lie. Rita is not going to lie. She takes a deep breath and tries again, her voice steadier where her eyes still betray that she had no idea about the extent of this. "I thought they'd be asking for a ransom, not a bounty."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-26 02:28 am (UTC)"You are troublesome to people who don't like that sort of thing." As for Harper himself, he doesn't rightly care. If it weren't for Maketh, he wouldn't be here at all. "But you seem like a smart woman."
Harper tips his head to the side.
"I think you'll be useful to me. I think you'll make up for the money I'm losing not cutting your head off right here. A smart woman knows where her enemies live, doesn't she?"
And enough dirty little secrets to be used as blackmail.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-26 03:12 am (UTC)Rita is a smart woman. Her father made sure of that. She might still look spooked, but she holds Harper's gaze as she nods.
"You don't succeed in business by being a good person."
Not all the time, anyway, and the richest ones are always the worst. Vaughn Du Clark is the perfect example.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-26 03:40 am (UTC)She'll do. If she finds a way to screw him over, then that means she'll be clever enough to keep track of a little longer. Harper has been bored lately. He could use a distraction.
"I've arranged some housing for you," he continued, conversationally. No more talk of beheading. "Something more to your standards, I should think. I'm feeling generous. I haven't seen my niece in several years."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-26 02:37 pm (UTC)For all that this has gotten a lot more dangerous than expected, Rita can at least fall back into her more usual dealings. Coversation, schmoozing -- easy things. Now that she's fed, she'll be okay.
"I have more respect for people who don't bullshit." She follows him to the truck, glancing back at Maketh once or twice. "She'll stay with me, won't she? We've gotten close. I promised to buy her a drink."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-26 09:49 pm (UTC)Harper made a point to keep tabs on people who were connected to him. As such, he'd compiled an extensive file on the career and personal life of Maketh Tua. They hadn't spoken in years, but he knew his niece's preferred hobbies and a few rather specific personality traits.
It paid to be thorough in this business. Besides, it wasn't stalking if you hired someone else to do it for you.
He settled into the driver's seat, checking to make sure Bask and his niece were secure in the back. "For now. I intend to leave the country in a few days. But you will have plenty of time for that drink."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-26 11:45 pm (UTC)Honesty, right, Maketh?
(And really, Rita can't blame Harper for being thorough. She has moved in with someone to keep an eye on them for the company, after all.)
"Good." A brief pause, and then she adds, "I need to get back to my dad eventually." Back to Max Rager, back to her life.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-27 06:59 pm (UTC)Rita has spirit. She holds her ground when others would have crumpled and begged for mercy. It's an admirable trait in their world.
Still, her statement gives Harper pause. He hums thoughtfully, backing out of the garage. "Do you? I wouldn't. That would make it rather easy for them."
He grins at her suddenly.
"But if you do, please let me drive you to the front door. I get the finder's fee that way."
Who was he to refuse a bounty when the target walked straight back home?
"Max Rager wants you back," he continues. "They aren't paying for your head. That would be another party. But your dear father isn't particularly concerned about what condition you come back in."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-27 07:52 pm (UTC)"I might take you up on that. You want the money, which pretty much guarantees me safe passage." She shoots Harper a smirk, relaxing into her seat. They're safe for now.
The news about her father doesn't faze her, as her flat response of "I'm not surprised" gives away. He's the reason she's a zombie now. He left his only child to die at the hands and teeth of a monster rather than take the slight risk that the Romero would fight its way into the elevator if he waited just a few seconds longer. Rita tries to tell herself it doesn't hurt -- she expected this, after the incident in the basement -- but it's a lie. It still stings. She figured he cared, in his own way, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that he doesn't.
(Some part of her refuses to fully believe that. Some part of her is still a little girl who wants to be loved.
A small part of her, but a part of her nonetheless.)
"He'll have me locked up, but at least I'll be fed." She'll be angry but not paranoid. It's something.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 04:13 am (UTC)The fact that it makes securing the area much easier is besides the point. And if he bribed a few employees to help his men smuggle in medical equipment and an off duty ER doctor, that's no one's business.
"Pragmatic." He pauses. "I can't move you for at least twenty four hours. Do I need to find another cadaver?"
Brain tissue is, actually, a bit harder to find than your average street drug.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 07:34 pm (UTC)"I'll be fine for a few days on one meal." A week maybe, but that's pushing it. "I saved the extra. I should be fine for longer."
That should give her more than enough time to prepare to walk back into Max Rager, to figure out what she's going to say to her dad. She won't kill him -- now is not the time for a change in CEO at the company, not with Max Rager in need of strong leadership to get them through the bad publicity from the leaked memo -- but she can't just let him off scott-free.
"Who wants me dead?"
no subject
Date: 2017-01-31 03:41 pm (UTC)Just underreported. There's always someone watching.
"I will share the report my men complied with you. It ought to be...enlightening."
no subject
Date: 2017-01-31 04:14 pm (UTC)"I'm sure it will be."
There's not much else to say beyond that. No bullshit, no small talk. Unless Harper has more to discuss, Rita will stay quiet until she and Maketh are as safe as they'll be.
The accomodations are nice, at least, but she doesn't comment on that.
"So when will she be okay for that drink?"
no subject
Date: 2017-02-01 01:14 am (UTC)Otherwise there'd be no point in paying them at all.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-01 02:34 am (UTC)He can think up whatever reason he wants as to why.
"If we're still far from the hotel, I'm going to get some sleep." She doesn't need the sleep, but she wants to stop thinking for a while. It's a stupid move in this situation, though, and she's very much aware Harper knows that. It's a show of trust or recklessness or both. "Unless you want to grill me for information?"
no subject
Date: 2017-02-02 01:49 pm (UTC)Information can wait. If she's going to be useful, then she ought to be as fresh as possible. Harper fully intends to grill Rita for all the information he could possibly make use of, but there is still some time.
Besides, he prefers driving in silence.
All and all, it's not a long drive. There's an underground parking facility and Harper pulls into the employee entrance by the loading dock. Easy access. It cost him a few hundred dollars in bribes, but that's nothing.
"Ms. Du Clark. Wake up."
no subject
Date: 2017-02-02 05:12 pm (UTC)"VIP parking. Nice. I wouldn't settle for less."
no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 05:19 pm (UTC)He could appreciate nice things from time to time, so long as they didn't become a distraction, but in this case, spending money allowed him to prevent accidents and other such unfortunate moments further down the line.
Money well spent, in Harper's mind.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 11:16 pm (UTC)She doesn't say more than that, just follows along as Harper and his men take Maketh and Rita up to the room he's booked for them.
"Room" is something of an understatement, she finds out soon enough It'll be more than enough to keep her comfortable until things quiet down and arrangements can be made for her to get back to Max Rager, where she'll once again be forced to endure the so-called comforts of a lab prison.
"I'm guessing room services goes on your tab?"
no subject
Date: 2017-02-06 09:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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