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Title: Black Edelweiss
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 1,435
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full warnings and details in main post.
PREV: Interlude 18 // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Eighteen: Served Cold
Of thirty bare years have I
Twice twenty been enraged,
And of forty been three times fifteen
In durance soundly caged.
—"Tom o'Bedlam"
"Ah, here's the Judas. I wondered where you'd got to. Nice to know at least part of the plan went as hoped."
Konrad had been dozing lightly on the bench in his cell, but the voice broke through and woke him very quickly. Sitting up, he turned and saw Adam Monroe being led into the cell next to his. For several moments Konrad could only stare, astonished. In spite of everything Adam had done, seeing him, Konrad felt something that was treacherously akin to relief.
"Angela told me you were dead," Konrad managed finally, once the guards had left.
"Yes, well," Adam said with a dismissive expression. "Maury Parkman was a rat bastard, but he was useful for a few things, and good at what he did. Not that it was easy—there was a reason he was more afraid of disobeying Arthur than he was of betraying me."
And Konrad knew enough that he could read between the lines. Maury's ability had always been one of the truly frightening ones. Though it had been nearly identical to Charles' telepathy, Maury had wielded his power far more ruthlessly. Maury could make a person see, or believe, or do just about anything he wanted. But, for all that was worth, Arthur had been powerful enough on his own that bending his mind would have proven a challenge...
And Arthur had never had patience for either disobedience or divided loyalties. A display of either one was likely what had wound up getting Maury killed.
"So Arthur really believed you were dead," Konrad stated, voicing his theory.
"Not only that," Adam confirmed with a smug smile, "but he was more than eager to let everyone know it."
Konrad chose to accept that answer and move on. He had too many other questions that were much more important.
"You have every right to hold a grudge against me, Fritz, by why go after Zimmerman? Why kill him?"
"To draw you out, Kunz," Adam stated simply. "I thought that if having the good doctor served up to you dead on your professional doorstep with an edelweiss pinned on his collar didn't catch your attention, you were no detective at all."
And Konrad realized suddenly that Adam didn't know. Of course he didn't know, how could he? From the outside there wouldn't have been anything to indicate that Kevin Ryan had grown to become more than the simple cover from which he began.
"I haven't quite been myself lately," Konrad excused, distantly, managing a weak laugh.
Adam hardly seemed to notice.
"Next I was going to take his daughter—I know you've always felt so protective of those girls. She was supposed to meet me, but she disappeared shortly after Zimmerman's body was discovered."
"That's an awful lot of trouble to go through for revenge," Konrad said suddenly. Something about Adam's plans weren't quite adding up. "Why not just come after me directly?"
"Oh, revenge was part of it," Adam offered a rueful smile. "The recent revelation of our kind's existence was too great an opportunity for me to ignore. Ultimately, I was hoping you would take the blame for the deaths of Zimmerman and his daughter. I figured letting you rot in a cell for a few decades the way I did was only fair compensation for what you did to me."
And of course, to Adam, the deaths needed to buy that revenge meant absolutely nothing.
"At least I've got that much accomplished," Adam continued smugly. "What happened, Kunz? Did your loving brothers in blue take offense when they discovered the viper living in their midst?"
Konrad ignored him. It was far more complicated than Adam could guess, but none of that was information he felt like sharing. Now that he had been proven innocent of Zimmerman's murder, however, there was hope that things could still work out favorably... Somehow.
Hopefully, his trust in Detective Beckett had not been misplaced.
"And the other part?" Konrad prompted, setting the shaky state of his potential freedom aside.
And at this Adam grew quiet, a bitter, contemplative silence that drew Konrad's attention abruptly. The look on Adam's face was...unpleasant, and though he was smiling there was a cruel twist to his lips.
"I'm dying, Kunz," Adam said quietly, after a while. "I may not be dead yet, but Arthur killed me all the same. My only hope was that your blood might restore what he took from me."
When Adam turned to look at him Konrad saw the stained gauze bandage taped to his cheek. And it was funny how Konrad could accept himself having aged almost ten years so easily when something as small as that could feel so absurdly and heinously wrong.
"And you didn't think I'd give it to you," Konrad reasoned, moving past his brief shock.
And though he had no idea if his blood really would have been able to restore Adam's immortality, the sad part was that, even despite Adam's numerous abominable crimes, Konrad probably would have given it if he had simply been asked. Yet with the real motive behind Adam's crimes revealed, things made so much more sense, and from the picture that was forming Konrad knew that the other man had imagined it differently.
"Of course not," Adam said blandly. "That was why I needed a hostage. But when Barbara vanished, I had to rethink. I knew it was too dangerous to go after you directly—I did know that, Kunz. I should have had the patience to wait, but I just don't have the time I used to..."
Adam paused, casting Konrad a sideways glance, a wry, unkind smile pulling at his mouth.
"I should have found a new hostage," Adam continued nastily. "Your partner, maybe, or the little blonde. They both seemed so much your type, I couldn't easily tell which one you were sleeping with."
And it was strange how, though he didn't remember enough of Ryan's life to even know who Adam was talking about, Konrad still felt a stirring of dread and anger at the threat. It was jarring, and a little bit terrifying. Konrad didn't know how to handle those sudden, disembodied emotions for people he didn't even know the names of. For the first time since his strange awakening, the real significance of Kevin Ryan's existence—of another self living inside him—was suddenly all too real.
"Of course, even Barbara was simply making do," Adam said, as if his plans to kidnap the woman were entirely inconsequential. "Originally, I'd meant to take one of your sons. Sam was always your favorite, wasn't he? Still, a dying man makes poor leverage."
Those words forced Konrad's thoughts back in line immediately, brutally commanding his full attention.
"What?"
Adam fell silent at Konrad's stunned question, at the horror and shock in his voice. Adam smiled slowly.
"Samson's dying," Adam said, clearly reveling in being the one to deliver the news. "He's dying of cancer. Didn't you know?"
Konrad closed his eyes, trying to think past the frantic, shapeless dread building in his chest. His stomach felt painfully tight. He tried to keep his breathing under control, but his lungs didn't want to listen. He stood, pacing uselessly as he tried to get a grip on himself. He raised his hands, but whatever his intended gesture it was aborted, made awkward by the weight of the chains that circled his wrists. It was a chilling reminder of his situation—of the fact that he had been a captive long before Noah and Detective Beckett had found him. Oddly, that hadn't bothered him before. He had erased himself from the Company, and thought for sure he'd left nothing behind. When they woke him, there had been no sense of urgency, no other place for him to be.
Now, though...
Now, for the first time since awakening in their custody, Konrad truly felt trapped. He had to get out of there, and soon—out of the cell, away from Adam's gloating—or else he might seriously lose what was left of his mind. The swat officers were alarmed and on guard when they came to investigate the noise—because it was funny how a little screaming and banging of chains against the bars could put people on edge—but it had gotten him the attention he wanted.
"Get me out of here," Konrad begged them breathlessly. "Put me in another cell or...something. Ask Beckett if I can wait in interrogation or—"
He took a shaking breath, one which threatened to turn into a sob.
"Hell, tell her she can put me back where they found me. I don't care..." Konrad said, closing his eyes. "Just get me away from this psychopath."
PREV: Chapter Seventeen // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Nineteen
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 1,435
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full warnings and details in main post.
PREV: Interlude 18 // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Eighteen: Served Cold
Of thirty bare years have I
Twice twenty been enraged,
And of forty been three times fifteen
In durance soundly caged.
—"Tom o'Bedlam"
"Ah, here's the Judas. I wondered where you'd got to. Nice to know at least part of the plan went as hoped."
Konrad had been dozing lightly on the bench in his cell, but the voice broke through and woke him very quickly. Sitting up, he turned and saw Adam Monroe being led into the cell next to his. For several moments Konrad could only stare, astonished. In spite of everything Adam had done, seeing him, Konrad felt something that was treacherously akin to relief.
"Angela told me you were dead," Konrad managed finally, once the guards had left.
"Yes, well," Adam said with a dismissive expression. "Maury Parkman was a rat bastard, but he was useful for a few things, and good at what he did. Not that it was easy—there was a reason he was more afraid of disobeying Arthur than he was of betraying me."
And Konrad knew enough that he could read between the lines. Maury's ability had always been one of the truly frightening ones. Though it had been nearly identical to Charles' telepathy, Maury had wielded his power far more ruthlessly. Maury could make a person see, or believe, or do just about anything he wanted. But, for all that was worth, Arthur had been powerful enough on his own that bending his mind would have proven a challenge...
And Arthur had never had patience for either disobedience or divided loyalties. A display of either one was likely what had wound up getting Maury killed.
"So Arthur really believed you were dead," Konrad stated, voicing his theory.
"Not only that," Adam confirmed with a smug smile, "but he was more than eager to let everyone know it."
Konrad chose to accept that answer and move on. He had too many other questions that were much more important.
"You have every right to hold a grudge against me, Fritz, by why go after Zimmerman? Why kill him?"
"To draw you out, Kunz," Adam stated simply. "I thought that if having the good doctor served up to you dead on your professional doorstep with an edelweiss pinned on his collar didn't catch your attention, you were no detective at all."
And Konrad realized suddenly that Adam didn't know. Of course he didn't know, how could he? From the outside there wouldn't have been anything to indicate that Kevin Ryan had grown to become more than the simple cover from which he began.
"I haven't quite been myself lately," Konrad excused, distantly, managing a weak laugh.
Adam hardly seemed to notice.
"Next I was going to take his daughter—I know you've always felt so protective of those girls. She was supposed to meet me, but she disappeared shortly after Zimmerman's body was discovered."
"That's an awful lot of trouble to go through for revenge," Konrad said suddenly. Something about Adam's plans weren't quite adding up. "Why not just come after me directly?"
"Oh, revenge was part of it," Adam offered a rueful smile. "The recent revelation of our kind's existence was too great an opportunity for me to ignore. Ultimately, I was hoping you would take the blame for the deaths of Zimmerman and his daughter. I figured letting you rot in a cell for a few decades the way I did was only fair compensation for what you did to me."
And of course, to Adam, the deaths needed to buy that revenge meant absolutely nothing.
"At least I've got that much accomplished," Adam continued smugly. "What happened, Kunz? Did your loving brothers in blue take offense when they discovered the viper living in their midst?"
Konrad ignored him. It was far more complicated than Adam could guess, but none of that was information he felt like sharing. Now that he had been proven innocent of Zimmerman's murder, however, there was hope that things could still work out favorably... Somehow.
Hopefully, his trust in Detective Beckett had not been misplaced.
"And the other part?" Konrad prompted, setting the shaky state of his potential freedom aside.
And at this Adam grew quiet, a bitter, contemplative silence that drew Konrad's attention abruptly. The look on Adam's face was...unpleasant, and though he was smiling there was a cruel twist to his lips.
"I'm dying, Kunz," Adam said quietly, after a while. "I may not be dead yet, but Arthur killed me all the same. My only hope was that your blood might restore what he took from me."
When Adam turned to look at him Konrad saw the stained gauze bandage taped to his cheek. And it was funny how Konrad could accept himself having aged almost ten years so easily when something as small as that could feel so absurdly and heinously wrong.
"And you didn't think I'd give it to you," Konrad reasoned, moving past his brief shock.
And though he had no idea if his blood really would have been able to restore Adam's immortality, the sad part was that, even despite Adam's numerous abominable crimes, Konrad probably would have given it if he had simply been asked. Yet with the real motive behind Adam's crimes revealed, things made so much more sense, and from the picture that was forming Konrad knew that the other man had imagined it differently.
"Of course not," Adam said blandly. "That was why I needed a hostage. But when Barbara vanished, I had to rethink. I knew it was too dangerous to go after you directly—I did know that, Kunz. I should have had the patience to wait, but I just don't have the time I used to..."
Adam paused, casting Konrad a sideways glance, a wry, unkind smile pulling at his mouth.
"I should have found a new hostage," Adam continued nastily. "Your partner, maybe, or the little blonde. They both seemed so much your type, I couldn't easily tell which one you were sleeping with."
And it was strange how, though he didn't remember enough of Ryan's life to even know who Adam was talking about, Konrad still felt a stirring of dread and anger at the threat. It was jarring, and a little bit terrifying. Konrad didn't know how to handle those sudden, disembodied emotions for people he didn't even know the names of. For the first time since his strange awakening, the real significance of Kevin Ryan's existence—of another self living inside him—was suddenly all too real.
"Of course, even Barbara was simply making do," Adam said, as if his plans to kidnap the woman were entirely inconsequential. "Originally, I'd meant to take one of your sons. Sam was always your favorite, wasn't he? Still, a dying man makes poor leverage."
Those words forced Konrad's thoughts back in line immediately, brutally commanding his full attention.
"What?"
Adam fell silent at Konrad's stunned question, at the horror and shock in his voice. Adam smiled slowly.
"Samson's dying," Adam said, clearly reveling in being the one to deliver the news. "He's dying of cancer. Didn't you know?"
Konrad closed his eyes, trying to think past the frantic, shapeless dread building in his chest. His stomach felt painfully tight. He tried to keep his breathing under control, but his lungs didn't want to listen. He stood, pacing uselessly as he tried to get a grip on himself. He raised his hands, but whatever his intended gesture it was aborted, made awkward by the weight of the chains that circled his wrists. It was a chilling reminder of his situation—of the fact that he had been a captive long before Noah and Detective Beckett had found him. Oddly, that hadn't bothered him before. He had erased himself from the Company, and thought for sure he'd left nothing behind. When they woke him, there had been no sense of urgency, no other place for him to be.
Now, though...
Now, for the first time since awakening in their custody, Konrad truly felt trapped. He had to get out of there, and soon—out of the cell, away from Adam's gloating—or else he might seriously lose what was left of his mind. The swat officers were alarmed and on guard when they came to investigate the noise—because it was funny how a little screaming and banging of chains against the bars could put people on edge—but it had gotten him the attention he wanted.
"Get me out of here," Konrad begged them breathlessly. "Put me in another cell or...something. Ask Beckett if I can wait in interrogation or—"
He took a shaking breath, one which threatened to turn into a sob.
"Hell, tell her she can put me back where they found me. I don't care..." Konrad said, closing his eyes. "Just get me away from this psychopath."
PREV: Chapter Seventeen // MAIN // NEXT: Chapter Nineteen
