Sometimes, I feel like going down I'm so disconnected

[osreborn]

WHO: Norman Osborn and you!
WHERE: NoHoPE
WHEN: Visiting hours (let's say between 1 and 4) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Specify the time and date in your comment.
WARNINGS: Hmm.
SUMMARY: Isn't it obvious?
FORMAT: Whatever is your pleasure.


It wasn't even a week since he'd been incarcerated in his hospital. Norman was far more stable than he had been when he was arrested thanks to the medications he was inundated with -- pills he tried not to swallow, injections that he couldn't avoid. He was calmer thanks to sedation, but the other affects would take longer to kick in fully. His body rebelled, trying to fight them.

He scratched at his neck, chewed his nails, slept poorly. One of the worst things about being here was the inability to have private conversations; Norman was missing them already.

The other things he might miss weren't things he would ever consciously admit to himself.

Comments

[out_of_time]

"I'm not here to get to know you better, Osborn." Jack was linefacing impressively. "Where did you send Cavil?"

[osreborn]

Norman raised his eyebrow, and held open his hands. "Excuse me?"

[out_of_time]

"Don't play games with me," Jack growled. His eyes were narrow. "We know that you had Cavil murder City officials that were in your way, in return for security access to a research facility near Washington DC. What's the address? What's in there that he would want?"

[osreborn]

"Oh, hmm." Norman tilted his head, as if seriously thinking about the question. He leaned forward, looking to the left, then the right, as if he were expecting more company.

"Am I on trial? Is this an interrogation?"

[out_of_time]

"No, I'm just a police officer visiting a patient." Norman Osborn had been legally found to be mentally incapable, and there were serious repercussions to interrogating someone like that the way Jack usually handled these matters. And this situation just wasn't serious enough to merit risking those consequences. After all, it wasn't as though they had reason to believe that Osborn had provided Cavil with weapons of mass destruction or anything. "But that can change. If Cavil kills anyone at the place you sent him to, you will be held responsible and I promise you, you will not like the consequences."

Jack leaned forward with his intense face on. "Mister Osborn, you spent over a year helping to protect this country, building an image. You fought crime, responded to disasters. You claimed to be a hero, a patriot. If it wasn't all lies, if any of it was the truth, then please: give me the information you gave Cavil. Help us stop him from killing more people. Be the person you've claimed to be. Maybe then people will think of you as a hero again, instead of as a lunatic."

[osreborn]

"The people who think of me as a lunatic won't have their minds changed by something so simple as that," Norman said, matter-of-factly. "Despite all I did for this City and country, they were never inclined to trust me. They were more inclined to trespass on my property, threaten my life, kill my son, kill me--"

He paused for a moment, sensing himself getting heated. He exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "--Than engage in any reasonable discussion or comradeship. There is a gross imbalance here; you only want my cooperation now because you don't have the information that you want. Never when it might have benefited me. But nevertheless, I would like to help you, and perhaps I will." He looked straight at Bauer. "Unfortunately, that will have to wait. At the moment, I don't believe I remember the conversation at all."

[out_of_time]

Jack looked straight back. And smiled, hiding the worry that Osborn's behavior stirred in him.

"I can understand that, Mister Osborn. And I want to help you." He paused a moment for effect, and to decide how to put this- the police using Spider-Man's recording could have legal implications that Osborn wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of, regardless of his condition. "What if I provided you with a full transcript of your conversation with Cavil? Every word, except the information I need."

[osreborn]

Norman took a moment before responding, watching Bauer carefully. The corner of his mouth quirked.

"You have the transcripts, but not the information?"

[out_of_time]

"That's right. We know what you had Cavil do and what he got for it, but what we don't have is information on the target. That's what you need to tell me." Jack didn't say anything more than that, and watched Osborn and that quirking mouth of his closely as he was watched in return. This was a dangerous part- the less Osborn knew about how much his enemies knew, the better.

[osreborn]

"I could have a look," Norman said, cooly, expression fairly deadpan. "But I won't make promises. What, may I ask, is in this arrangement for me? A reduced sentence? Better rooming? What?"

[out_of_time]

"I can talk to Doctor Black about your living arrangements. I'm sure cooperating with us would be taken as evidence of progress on your part," Jack said. "And whatever crimes Cavil commits using the information you gave him, helping us find him now could shield you from their legal consequences." Jack was pretty sure that by now, Cavil would already have made his move on whatever his target was, and that Osborn knew it. "If not... facilitating an attack on a Washington facility is serious, Osborn. You could end up someplace a lot more uncomfortable than this."

[osreborn]

Norman didn't take his eyes off Bauer, quiet for several minutes. He wanted to let the silence sink in, aware that every minute not responding was probably making the officer across from him would add to the man's impatience.

"Let me see the transcripts."

[out_of_time]

If Norman's stalling was riling Jack any, he didn't show it. His face was still and stonelike as Norman took his time choosing, and stayed that way as he pulled the transcript of Osborn's conversation with Cavil out of his jacket and passed it to Norman without a word. It was a crossing of the Rubicon. Osborn could easily use the transcript in court to claim an illegal breach of a private conversation, especially if the involvement of a vigilante became known. But to do that would be to publicize the content of that transcript, content which made it clear that America's would-be greatest hero was an assassin with blood on his hands.

The ball was in Osborn's court now. Jack waited and betrayed nothing.

[osreborn]

Norman read over the transcript, taking his time although he did remember this conversation, in full. It was purely for Bauer's benefit; his eyes drifted down the page slowly, jaw clenching into a calculated frown. He rubbed it in contemplation.

He knew his options. Certainly, they had no right to this conversation. But now that it was in their hands and several men were dead, fighting it would be a losing battle. He knew that as well. In a way it was lucky he didn't owe any particular loyalty toward Cavil.

"Do you have a pen?"

[out_of_time]

"Yeah, I have a pen," Jack said as he took one out. "Tell me what you want to write and I'll write it for you." Like hell he was handing a metahuman mental patient anything with a pointy end. Jack knew firsthand that the difference between 'writing utensil' and 'improvised stabbing or suicide implement' was all a matter of perspective.

[osreborn]

His expression soured only slightly, but without missing a beat, Norman gave Bauer the address, enunciating slowly. When he was done, he met Bauer's eyes and smirked.

"Did you get all that?"

[out_of_time]

"I got it." Jack nodded, his face impassive. "Thank you Mister Osborn, you've done the right thing." Although probably for the wrong reasons. He pocketed the pen and held out his hand for the transcript, ready to leave. "I'll come back if I have any more questions."

[osreborn]

"My office is always open," Norman said, smirking at his own humor. His annoyance had mostly passed -- he'd given away the location at no expense to himself, really. Cavil hadn't come to his help, so there was no reason Norman had to protect him. If the job wasn't done yet, then Cavil would just be out of luck.

"Have a lovely evening, officer."