losthunter | Reconnecting with an Estraged Father ((Jim))

There is an Uber taxi waiting for them outside the art gallery. Hunter tilts his head up the sign above the gallery. The Seven Sisters constellation is crafted in metal, right behind the stylized carving of the name of the gallery.

"So she is always watching over me."

Jim doesn't really know what to say, so he just smiles a little, sympathetic. He knows that Kendra meant a lot to Hunter, and it's encouraging that he's found a way to honor her memory, even if most people won't have a clue who the gallery is referring to.

He gets into the car, unsure where exactly they're headed or what's in store for them at their destination, but ready to help Hunter face whatever it is.

The ride to their destination is quiet. Hunter does take Jim's hand in his own, as he stares out the window trying to sort out his thoughts ahead of time.

They soon arrive to a campaign office, located in the bustling streets of New York City, surrounded by other upscale offices and business offices.

After paying for the Uber taxi, Hunter leads Jim inside the campaign office. There are a few volunteers here today, who are working on campaign posters, and making phone calls to secure campaign pledges. A few of them lift their heads when Hunter enters the room, mostly to stare at the unusual sight of the tattoo-covered man.

Hunter heads to a front desk, where a smiling young girl is standing. "I am here to see Rob Kingson please."

"Certainly. Your name and business, please?"

Hunter takes a deep breath. "Hunter. I should be on his schedule."

The receptionist uses the phone to call Rob, who is in a office down the hall, and a few minutes later the man himself comes out to the front counter. Rob Kingson is a well-dressed man, who had expensive taste judging by the tailoring of his clothing. He wears a Bluetooth earphone, chatting away to a campaign supporter, as he moves down the hall.

Glancing up, he gestures for Hunter and Jim to follow him back to the office, not even taking the time to stop chatting on the Bluetooth extension. Hunter seems used to this, and follows quietly behind the older man.

Once they get in the office, Rob closes the door, and ends his call. He takes a seat and gestures for Hunter and Jim to take their own seats. "I was a little surprised that you called."

"It is important." Hunter explains. He pauses, almost afraid to speak for a moment.

Jim sticks close to Hunter, both in support and to watch out for his safety. Austin went after Hunter's father once before, and even without access to his powers, he might still be looking for an opportunity. And having never seen Hunter and his father interact, Jim can't be sure whether he presents a danger as well.

He does wonder if any of the personnel working here are going to recognize him from the previous incident, maybe some of the same guards who found him after Austin's attack, but if they do, it can only help his credibility anyway.

The rudeness of Rob staying on his call doesn't strike Jim as that odd, following Hunter's lead in not interrupting. Though he sits close to Hunter, he doesn't reach out to touch him in support, in case that puts Rob on the defensive even more than he already is. The important thing here is getting the man to listen and take this seriously, after all. But that doesn't stop him from speaking up in support. "It's about the person who tried to get to you several weeks ago."

Rob glanced at Jim, when he spoke up, taking a moment to carefully evaluate the other man. "This is Jim. He was at City Hall during the attack. And helped ensure that the man didn't pull off the attack as intended."

"And what exactly was intended, Kyle?" Rob crossed his arms.

Hunter flinches slightly. "I go by Hunter now. You know that."

"The man who tried to attack you is gifted with special abilities."

"You are talking about magic again?" Rob scoffed.

"Yes! I am." Hunter clenched the arm rests of his chair. "I know you never believed me that it was a girl with magic who changed my appearance... but it was. And there were others who she had visited. Who she had helped."

"You call what she did helping?" Rob interrupted.

"Stop that!" Hunter growled.

Yeah, this is going about as well as Jim's relationship with his mother, before he ran away all those years ago. A shouting match is going to help no one, and as an outsider in their family drama, he can only hope he's seen as objective enough to make a difference. "With all due respect, you're focusing on the wrong thing," he says to Rob, pulling out the captain voice, the one he uses when reporting in to Starfleet Command. Firm and authoritative without being overbearing, confident without being cocky or argumentative. "Your personal beliefs have no bearing on the situation. Austin is a threat, magic or not."

Hunter straightens in his chair when Jim uses his captain voice. And it helps him to calm himself down.

"Austin had managed to hurt someone else during that attack, even though he didn't get to you, as his target." Hunter is careful not to mention that it was Jim himself who got hurt.

"And he still wants to hurt others. He still wants to hurt you." The thought of his dad getting hurt still bothers Hunter enough that his voice breaks.

"I was able to find out where he was hiding."

"How did you do that?" Rob asked, softly.

"I still have contacts on the street." Hunter shrugged. "It wasn't easy, but I just wanted to tell you about this information. So that you could get it to the FBI. So they could go after him."

Rob paused for a long moment. "If what you say about Austin having special abilities is true... what is to stop him from using those abilities on the FBI agents?"

"He is wearing a watch that suppresses his powers. Jim was able to get it on him, when Austin first showed up at City Hall last time."

"It doesn't necessarily make him less dangerous," Jim adds, in the hopes that Rob will take this seriously. While Jim has no love for what Rob stands for, officially or not, it doesn't mean that he should be physically attacked unprovoked. "It just takes away his preferred weapon."

"The FBI will take the necessary precautions. Where is he?" Rob picks up a pad of paper off his desk.

"He is hiding out in Santa Fe, New Mexico." Hunter writes out a set of coordinates, and hands it to Rob. "He is hiding in the Getto section. And from what I heard, is trying to get into Mexico, to lay low for a while."

"Thanks..." Rob takes the information.

He looks up at Hunter. "What about the others?"

"What others?"

"You said there were others who were gifted. The FBI should know about them." Rob pointed out.

"Why? They aren't a danger to anyone."

"Just because they are not a danger to anyone now, doesn't mean they won't be."

"I am not going to tell you! The FBI would just want to hurt them. Or experiment on them..." Hunter argued.

"But they could be a danger..."

"Am I a danger?" Hunter stands up suddenly. "Because you might as well tell them about me then."

It certainly doesn't seem to take much for friction to start between these two. While Jim came along as support, he can't help but get involved, even if some of it isn't his business. He won't sit by and let this play out without trying to make a difference.

He doesn't stand, nor turn his attention away from Rob. Hunter's reaction is a totally reasonable one, and he has a right to be angry. Hell, Jim is angry for him too, this whole interaction bitterly reminiscent of his own childhood. "Magic is only as dangerous as the person using it," he says instead, keeping his gaze firmly on the man sitting on the other side of the desk. "It's a tool that can be used for a hell of a lot more than hurting people. You might as well warn the FBI about people with hammers or kitchen knives, because it's the same thing."

Hunter is very glad that Jim is here. The captain has that presence that calms him down, even after getting upset for a second time.

"I am more than willing to tell them about Austin's powers, so they know what to be prepared for. The most important thing is that Austin is stopped, before he gets the chance to hurt someone else."

"Okay. Let me make a call and see if someone is available to take your statement." Rob stands, then leaves the room so he can make that call.

Hunter frowned. "If he tells them that I have abilities too... we better be prepared for them reacting to that information."

"You mean disbelief," Jim says, frowning. He'd certainly understand the skepticism. It was a hell of a thing to get his head around at first.

Hunter sits back down, since his knees feel a little weak from worrying about what could happen. A few minutes later, Rob returns to the room, accompanied by five men dressed in well-tailored suits. Jim might be able to tell that each one of them are carrying a weapon right now.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. I am Morgan Rogal with the Secret Service. You have information about the City Hall suspect that might be helpful?" The oldest of the men speaks first. The rest take up a position against the wall.

"Yes. About Austin. He is hiding out in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a very dangerous individual." Hunter takes a breath.

Jim doesn't visibly tense, but he does take note of the angular lumps underneath their suit coats that tell him they're packing heat. Projectile weapons are pretty rare in his century, but in some ways, they're more dangerous than phasers. No stun setting, for one. And much harder to heal that kind of trauma. So he makes sure not to make any sudden moves, seeking refuge in his command training, regarding them with the same calm, confident determination that he's cultivated for use in the captain's chair, no matter how wary he actually is.

"We're pretty sure he's intending to try again at some point. Maybe not against Mister Kingson specifically, but he's still a threat."

"And what was your relationship with Austin?" Morgan asked Hunter.

"I didn't have any." Hunter paused for a moment. "I had met him at a hospital a few months back. At the time, I was seeking out associates of a friend of mine, who had recently passed, so I could tell them about her death. The encounter didn't end well, with Austin attacking me."

"I didn't see him again, until I found out that he was trying to attack City Hall. And at that time, Jim was available to help prevent Austin from attacking Mister Kingson at City Hall."

"So you didn't have a romantic involvement with him?" Morgan asked sternly.

Hunter tensed up. He shoots his father a slight angry glare. "No. I have been in a relationship with someone else for the last several months."

"Why would that matter?" It doesn't make any sense to Jim why these agents would care. And if he's letting a little bit of his twenty-third century attitudes peek through, well, he can't really help it.

"Motive. If Austin felt rejected by the younger Mr. Kingson, it would make sense why he would target his father." Morgan explains.

"I don't even use the Kingson name!" Hunter points out. "I only interacted with Austin for minutes. Not long enough for him to know anything about me."

"I don't know why my father was targeted." Hunter explains. "All I know is that Austin is dangerous. And needs to be stopped. Can we concentrate on that?"

"We are just trying to look at all angles of this case."

"I got the impression his problem was more political than personal," Jim adds, unsure if he should mention anything specific about his interactions with Austin. Hunter had left it vague before, and there must be a reason why he doesn't want Rob knowing who exactly had been hurt at the City Hall.

"What do you mean?" The statement makes Morgan's attention go to Jim. Hunter gives Jim a slight nod, a gesture of support behind anything Jim wants to say, or not say to these men.

With the nod from Hunter, Jim feels more confident about giving a few more details. "I spoke to him briefly at the protest. He wasn't a fan of your policies," he adds, looking past the agents at Rob, his expression somewhat chillier than it has been so far. "He said he was tired of protests not changing anything and wanted to make a difference himself."

"He was visiting another associate of my former friend, when Austin saw the news reports on some specific policies that you want to implement. That associate said that Austin basically got angry after hearing the news. And that associate barely survived an attack himself." Hunter adds sternly.

"My policies..." Rob started to say.

"Don't matter." Hunter stops him. "The point is it was why Austin made you his target. And why he might do it again, to someone else."

"He has to be stopped." Hunter adds again.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hunter's interruption almost makes Jim smile a little, approving of him standing up to his dad without getting angry, or letting his dad derail the conversation. It's not an easy thing to do, when you're so emotionally close to a situation.

"He was confident enough in his own ability to get past the guards, and get to Mister Kingson. He didn't act like he was afraid of getting caught."

Morgan takes out his notebook to make some notes. Then he checks something, that he had written on the pad of paper. "Tell us about this magic ability, that you claim that Austin possesses."

Hunter takes a breath, knowing that there is disbelief from the FBI agent. "I know it sounds impossible. But Austin has special abilities, and it is why he was so confident. He felt unstoppable."

"Those abilities allowed Austin to have emotional and mental control of another person's mind." Hunter spoke cautiously. "Right now, those powers are suppressed by a watch that he can't take off his wrist. It was something that Jim was able to get on Austin's wrist to prevent him from attacking last time."

Though he'd known there was only a slim chance, Jim had hoped that Rob wouldn't have said anything about it. But now that it's out in the open, he jumps in with his own testimony. "He started to use his power on me before I got it on him," he says, raising his chin slightly in defiance. If he has to draw their metaphorical fire to help keep Hunter out of their sights, then so be it. And while he is absolutely not going to tell them any details of the aftereffects, two voices making an incredible claim is more credible than one, especially with no solid evidence to present. "Knocked me for a loop pretty badly, so I couldn't stop him from getting away. You can ask the guards who found me to identify me if you want."

Hunter gets this soft look in his eyes, of admiration, when Jim jumps in with his own testimony. In a way, Hunter knows that he is helping to keep the focus off him. And so far... it doesn't sound like Rob told these agents about the fact his own son has special abilities.

"We have the reports of our guards on file." Morgan confirms. "So your mental state was not due to any illegal substances?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject