Day 062: Allowances
Summary: Arlin gifts Cage Wallace to the Heda. In exchange, Lexa grants one of the medic's requests and promises to consider the other.
Date: 2016 Aug 01
Related: The Mountain Falls (Level 7) and Frustrations of a Warrior
Lexa Arlin Cage 


Level 5 of Mount Weather
In the scene-set.
62 Days After landing

Lexa kom Trikru has said her peace with Chancellor Marcus Kane, and is now organizing the warriors of the Coalition to clear the remaining levels and see to their own wounds with the healers outside. She has shown little care in some of the Skaikru concerns, though she is currently closely examining what appears to be a rather stoic portrait of a man with a red beard and receding hairline that hangs on the wall of one of the residential hallways on Level 5. It has a giant slash through it, and the frame is completely broken, but that does not stop her critical analysis of the painting.

Level 7 has been secured. Part of what that entailed is the capture of one very unconscious Cage Wallace, currently quite bloody but not at risk of bleeding out, suitably restrained, and presently being fireman carried by someone who, possibly more than anyone else, wants the deposed President to suffer a long and excruciating end.

"Heda." Arlin's voice is low and gruff, his expression severe but strangely inscrutable, as though a multitude of intense emotions is creating a kind of white noise. Odds are he'd very much like to drop the literal and figurative weight he is shouldering and, in the case of the former, forcefully and painfully on the hard floor. Perhaps it's only the concern that he might accidentally kill Cage in doing so that keeps his cargo aloft.

Lexa turns, attention fully departing the portrait and instead focusing on Arlin. Her gaze cuts from him to Wallace, but it is a brief look. She is more concerned with the Healer. She looks him over from head to toe, stepping forward just a couple paces to close the gap. "Is this…?" She asks, stepping around him to grab Cage by his hair, lifting his head to stare into his unconscious face with her cool, gray-green stare. She looks over the man's features… the boogey men. That's what the Mountain has been. To see a Mountain Man, outside his suit, and not turning into boiling flesh, has her intrigued.

She drops his head then, turning back to Arlin. "Drop him," she instructs, not caring how it is done.

Physically, the medic seems fine. Sure, he's covered in a lot of blood but none of it is his. Some of it definitely is Cage's, denoted by the field dressings Lexa would notice upon even brief examination. "It is." Arlin sounds foreboding enough that the unspoken for now might be heard, for it is not yet accurate to refer to aforementioned boogey man in the past tense.

One of the perks of being a skilled healer used to hauling around the wounded is knowing how to deposit them to minimize injuries. It also stands to reason that includes knowing other ways to drop the load while causing selective injuries. No concussion for Cage, but he won't die from something being dislocated. At the very least, there will be some nasty bruises. More than already present.

THUD.

Arlin's expression is one of dark pleasure at that sound. "I don't suppose you'll let me have some quality alone time with him before his execution? I promise to return him healthy enough for his grand debut." That smile he smiles isn't the kind of smile any sane person would ever want to see.

Lexa slowly squats down beside the unconscious body of Cage Wallace. Her expression remains cold and unreadable — an oblique look that gives no hint to her thoughts. Her jaw does flex slightly. "And the Skaikru want us to show mercy," she says coldly as she stares down at the President of this fallen Mountain. Her lips curl back over her teeth slightly, the snarl small but fierce. She then looks up to Arlin, head tilting aside slightly. "After the trial," which will be the shortest in Trikru history, "perhaps… it will not be hard to find a thousand Trikru to give this man a cut." She looks down at the President again.

"You might have to hold a lottery." Hazel eyes, blown out to gold-flared green, look down to the man on the floor. "There are plenty of ways to make him wish for death without putting him at-risk." Is it possible that Arlin's medical studies have been leading up to torture? "I promise I'll return him healthy enough for the others." There's heat to his voice, not raging like a wildfire, but tightly contained and scalding enough to blister and melt flesh down to charred bone. Too bad Cage Wallace isn't an actual demon. Injecting him with syringes full of holy water would be such a good time.

Lexa considers the body at her feet, and she rolls one shoulder. Then she looks back up to Arlin. "There are many who have lost to this place," she keeps her tone even, but she relents. "You will be allowed… to visit him before execution." She holds up a finger. "But only once his trial is done." She then starts to roll to her feet, standing over the man with a sense of carefully contained triumph.

Faintly, Arlin nods, his expression intense yet still inscrutable. Who knew someone so hot-tempered could also be so cold-blooded? "Want me to make a list of safe-" ish "-ways to make him suffer?" Hazel gaze lingers on the future corpse, going a bit hazy from daydreaming. Eventually, though, the medic draws his attention back to Lexa, eyes rounding out a little, prompting. He has no shortage of ideas for the Heda to sign-off on — or veto.

Lexa looks at Arlin fully now, one brow slightly lifted. "Allow me to think about it… Wallace deserves judgment…" Her eyes befall the man once more, her expression steady. "But, his death will be slow… as our people's have." Then she looks to Arlin. "I do not want you, Arlin, to fall into his darkness." The words are offered gently, indicating her own concern for the Healer.

In all fairness, it's not unreasonable to be concerned. The want for justice (or is it vengeance?) should come as no surprise. Arlin's lost nearly everything to the Mountain, and what was spared was unquestionably defined by it in terrible ways. At no point anyone could recall, however, did that resentment, pain or rage ever manifest in a manner to suggest that such darkness existed or to such an extent.

Arlin appears unperturbed, though. If anything, that might be a faint flicker of a smile when Lexa requests time to consider his request. In fact, there even is a soft huff of laughter. "As if I could deny you." The mirth fades soon enough, leaving a certain weariness rimmed around his eyes and the corners of his mouth. Perhaps the adrenaline is finally starting to wear off. "I'd appreciate being able to keep an eye on him. He's stabilized, and I'd like to keep him that way." Yes, there are other healers, but this one has a vested interest in ensuring Wallace is hale enough to experience the most horrible demise possible.

"You could… but I have never found you an idiot, Arlin," Lexa returns, and her mouth twitches slightly. Then she clears her throat, tightening her shoulders and arms with a precise posture. Her gaze cuts away to the painting once more, and then down the hall. "Stabilize him." Beat pause. "And keep him under Trikru watch." Is there a hint of distrust there? Perhaps, but she keeps herself well-guarded in the wake of that statement. Then she steps away a stride, glancing back. "I want him in Tondc before there can be any question who is seeing to his crimes. The Chancellor will be sending a delegation to assist." To assist. Then she continues her withdraw. "He is in your keeping, Arlin."

The swallowing of emotion is so slight that it might be missed, but perhaps some of the gratitude seeps through his otherwise impassive countenance. "Just a smartass," Arlin notes with self-deprecation — and enough awareness to show all signs of proper respect as Lexa grants his request. "Thank you, Heda. Your will shall be done."

Then, all business, the medic is enlisting those he knows and trusts from her service to carry out the Commander's wishes.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License