TITLE: Human Position
AUTHOR: Brittany "Thespis" Frederick
E-MAIL: baltimorelt@yahoo.com
RATING: PG for language
CATEGORY: Drama, Missing Scene
SUMMARY: Ever wonder what happens during that "lost time" between commercials? Well, Liz and Mason were having a discussion behind closed doors.
ORIGINAL CHARACTER BIO: Liz Rycoff is CTU's Chief of Technology. She is close friends with Jack and with George Mason, and has a political alliance with Mason, who wants her to go to work for him at District, but Liz's loyalty to Jack holds her back.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: "Waiting" by The Devlins
He walked her into the room, holding open the door as she strode past him. It was the same room off the main floor where he had interrogated Nina and Jamey during the lockdown, and the significance was not lost on her. She stared at him a moment as he shut the door behind himself.
"Are you going to interrogate me now, George?"
"Please. I didn't even call you in the first time."
"Then why are we here?" Liz kept her voice calm and even. No sense in breaking protocol, breaking stride, without the demand to do so.
Mason didn't answer immediately, instead crossed to a vacant chair and gestured for her to sit as he did. Liz noted he had a copy of her CTU section syllabus. The breakdown of her staff, organization, resources and plans, filed with Nina, approved by Jack and revised with the both of them at the beginning of the year. He looked at the document in his hands, then at her.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do with Technology after today?" he asked her point-blank.
"No, I've been on assignment." She thought that was obvious, which made her wonder what game he was playing now.
"Jamey's gone."
The two words stung, and the reminder she didn't want hit her in the stomach, though she never let him see it. Jamey Farrell had been her friend, her lieutenant, her confidante. Liz didn't take many friends in her line of work, mostly just allies and acquaintances, but she had always seen Jamey as trustworthy, the kind to take over her position when she retired. And…
"And you want to reprimand me, as I was her boss, for her betrayal," she said with an edge to her tone, thinking these were more the accusations Chappelle was inclined to make, rather than her ally.
He took this in stride. "I'm saying you're shorthanded."
"Milo could stay on and I've got contacts at ECB," she said, naming her former Agency assignment. Certainly the Electronic Crimes Branch, which was basically the major pool of general technology specialists, could be trusted to provide some fresh blood. And Milo had quickly made himself indispensible. He was, after all, the only other specialist around.
The two of them stared at each other for a minute.
"This isn't about my section," Liz made it a statement.
"Liz, at the end of the day Jack and Nina could both be gone…" Mason started warningly.
"I don't want their jobs and I'm not qualified for either one." Liz made sure in her tone that there was no room for discussion.
Both statements were true. Jack was her best friend and Nina a strong ally and she respected both. She had no desire to move up in the Agency and she was a computer specialist, not a chief of staff, not a unit leader. Jack could attest to that; she'd made an able chief during the Hotel Los Angeles, but she didn't have the field experience necessary and it showed.
"Ryan Sealey doesn't see it that way," he told her.
"I do."
"I wish you didn't."
"Can't grant you that one, George." She exhaled. "Things are happening today, and you want me to talk about my organizational plan and you want to warn me that my friends could be fired."
"You always tell me that you want to know what happens," he said. "Well, this is what's happening, Elisabeth. CTU is collapsing, and you're at ground zero."
-To Be Continued-
AUTHOR: Brittany "Thespis" Frederick
E-MAIL: baltimorelt@yahoo.com
RATING: PG for language
CATEGORY: Drama, Missing Scene
SUMMARY: Ever wonder what happens during that "lost time" between commercials? Well, Liz and Mason were having a discussion behind closed doors.
ORIGINAL CHARACTER BIO: Liz Rycoff is CTU's Chief of Technology. She is close friends with Jack and with George Mason, and has a political alliance with Mason, who wants her to go to work for him at District, but Liz's loyalty to Jack holds her back.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: "Waiting" by The Devlins
He walked her into the room, holding open the door as she strode past him. It was the same room off the main floor where he had interrogated Nina and Jamey during the lockdown, and the significance was not lost on her. She stared at him a moment as he shut the door behind himself.
"Are you going to interrogate me now, George?"
"Please. I didn't even call you in the first time."
"Then why are we here?" Liz kept her voice calm and even. No sense in breaking protocol, breaking stride, without the demand to do so.
Mason didn't answer immediately, instead crossed to a vacant chair and gestured for her to sit as he did. Liz noted he had a copy of her CTU section syllabus. The breakdown of her staff, organization, resources and plans, filed with Nina, approved by Jack and revised with the both of them at the beginning of the year. He looked at the document in his hands, then at her.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do with Technology after today?" he asked her point-blank.
"No, I've been on assignment." She thought that was obvious, which made her wonder what game he was playing now.
"Jamey's gone."
The two words stung, and the reminder she didn't want hit her in the stomach, though she never let him see it. Jamey Farrell had been her friend, her lieutenant, her confidante. Liz didn't take many friends in her line of work, mostly just allies and acquaintances, but she had always seen Jamey as trustworthy, the kind to take over her position when she retired. And…
"And you want to reprimand me, as I was her boss, for her betrayal," she said with an edge to her tone, thinking these were more the accusations Chappelle was inclined to make, rather than her ally.
He took this in stride. "I'm saying you're shorthanded."
"Milo could stay on and I've got contacts at ECB," she said, naming her former Agency assignment. Certainly the Electronic Crimes Branch, which was basically the major pool of general technology specialists, could be trusted to provide some fresh blood. And Milo had quickly made himself indispensible. He was, after all, the only other specialist around.
The two of them stared at each other for a minute.
"This isn't about my section," Liz made it a statement.
"Liz, at the end of the day Jack and Nina could both be gone…" Mason started warningly.
"I don't want their jobs and I'm not qualified for either one." Liz made sure in her tone that there was no room for discussion.
Both statements were true. Jack was her best friend and Nina a strong ally and she respected both. She had no desire to move up in the Agency and she was a computer specialist, not a chief of staff, not a unit leader. Jack could attest to that; she'd made an able chief during the Hotel Los Angeles, but she didn't have the field experience necessary and it showed.
"Ryan Sealey doesn't see it that way," he told her.
"I do."
"I wish you didn't."
"Can't grant you that one, George." She exhaled. "Things are happening today, and you want me to talk about my organizational plan and you want to warn me that my friends could be fired."
"You always tell me that you want to know what happens," he said. "Well, this is what's happening, Elisabeth. CTU is collapsing, and you're at ground zero."
-To Be Continued-