Trying to convince Georgie to relax even fractionally was not an easy task. It wasn't like Ryan was asking him to do out and dance the night away, he just wanted the man to come have a chat with Landry and Evans. Unfortunately, his recent injury was making him even more argumentative and paranoid.
And that was saying a lot.
It took him three days to convince Georgie to emerge from his bolt hole and follow him over to DUMBO and once there Ryan almost had to choke back a laugh. This had to be something out of Georgie's nightmares, being in a room with a V, an FBI agent, a priest and a psychotherapist. From the look on the resistance leaders face, Ryan's musings were pretty damn close to the truth.
The five of them sat around the living area, Father Landry, Agent Evans and Val on the couch, while Ryan and Georgie claimed the arm chairs, discussing the limited progress Ryan had managed in gathering support for their movement. He'd managed to get in touch with three members of the Fifth Column, as well as Joshua aboard the V mothership.
This interested Evans, as she was eager for any news of her son. Ryan was happy to provide assurances that the boy was in perfect health, but he left out the medic's less than flattering commentary. Joshua seemed to honestly and vehemently dislike Tyler to an extent that almost amused Ryan.
"So he's okay," Evans breathed, relief clear in her voice and smile broader than any Ryan had seen her wear. Her hand had reached towards Landry, gripping his arm in her happiness. The priest grinned at her and clasped a hand over hers. The FBI agent settled back into the couch, keeping a hold of Landry's hand as they turned to him to hear the rest of his news.
Neither of them seemed to think anything of the gesture and Georgie didn't care, but Ryan noticed and he knew Val did too. She found their relationship…interesting, which Ryan knew meant she was going to be a bit more attentive to their interactions than one normally would be. The night before she had even made a Thornbirds allusion when referencing the pair and Ryan had been grateful neither was in the room.
The three Fifth Column members he had heard back from were now scattered, but, at one point, he had known all of them. Last time he had seen Commander Rebekah Dylan, she had been a mere lieutenant j.g. in the US Navy. Now, she was in intelligence and was understandably among those advising caution to her superiors. As soon as she got an opportunity, she promised to make a trip up from Langley to discuss their situation.
Connor Tucker was a doctor with the World Health Organization, based out of Geneva, Switzerland, so, for now, his participation was going to be restricted to the expertise he could offer from afar. Ryan had sent him some of the sample of the V drug for analysis. Neela Kapoor was also, oddly enough, working in Geneva, at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. She was a physicist working with the LHC and had been in contact with Connor since his posting at WHO HQ.
All three were onboard with the idea of standing up to Anna and her followers when the time came. They did, however, share their fears about the limited number of Fifth Column left alive to help. Apparently, both Rebekah and Connor had maintained contact with some of their old associates and many of them had mysteriously vanished since the arrival of the ships. They had all been saddened to hear that one of their former colleagues had been turning members of the Column in, hoping that Anna would reconnect him to Bliss.
Georgie was the first to ask, "Are you sure we can trust them? I mean, you said one of your old buddies was turning resistance members in. How can you be sure these three aren't doing that too?"
He smiled a little. "Believe me, Georgie, as paranoid as these three are, there's no way they're working for Anna…Seriously, we could all take lessons in discretion from them."
At that statement, he glanced over at Landry, and was amused to see Georgie and Evans do the same. Val followed their gazes, obviously puzzled.
Under the weight of their stares, Landry heaved a sigh. "I know, I know. Leaving a card with one's name and place of employment is not a good idea. I've learned my lesson."
"Also wearing your collar while trying to be subtle…not a good idea," Evans added, jostling the hand she was still holding before she realized she was, in fact, still holding it. They both pulled back at the same time and looked away.
Ryan shook his head. He'd been on Earth long enough to know about the rules priest lived by, but some of them seemed really counterintuitive.
From her seat, Val piped up, "Priest's have business cards?"
Tension broken, Landry let out a huff of a laugh and Erica smirked. Georgie glanced over at Ryan, who shrugged. Okay, so they weren't exactly a commando squad, but they could be trusted. And in this sort of fight, trust meant a lot.
