NOTES: "Well, I asked the guys downstairs..." At the end of Weight of the World, Marco gets to play the ripple-theory guy, but during the episode, he and the other TRGs were a part of the solution to the crisis, even if we didn't see it.
SPOILERS: through Weight of the World
DISCLAIMER: The 4400 and all things associated with it belong to other people.
TWELVE STEPS
STEP 3: UNDERSTANDING
Sometimes, she just wanted to smack Tom. No matter how seasoned a field agent, no matter how central he was to the whole 4400 situation, he could be infuriatingly inflexible and unabashedly hypocritical. She had risked her career to help him and his son, but forget about his being remotely sympathetic to her family's problems. Self-centered jackass.
As infuriating as Tom could be, it was even more vexing how this most recent case had transformed from a legal curiosity to a medical emergency in a matter of days, all because of vanity, impatience and greed. Empathy had never been one of her strong suits, but she couldn't help empathizing with Mr. Appelbaum. He was a single parent trying to do what was best for his daughter in a life that had been knocked sideways by the 4400 experience. Now, because of what had been done to him, his child's life was in jeopardy, along with the lives of a hundred others.
The scientist in her refused to accept that there was no solution. If Appelbaum's protein was creating a deadly chemical reaction, there had to be a way of undoing it. After all, how was it he, himself, was not affected? But time was of the essence. While she was confident her germ of an idea could come to fruition, she needed more fertile grounds than her mind alone could produce, at least if she wanted an answer before all those people died. So she headed to the basement, to the only place she was certain sharing her ideas would cause them to flourish.
She opened the door to the Theory Room and was greeted by the scent of coffee and Chinese food. "Hey, guys. I need your help with something."
All heads turned, and Marco rose to his feet in a smooth, unhurried motion. Pulling out a chair from the the room's central table, he gestured to it. "Have a seat."
"This about Appelbaum?" asked Brady from his half-hidden desk. The sound of typing was followed by the bald salesman's file popping onto the projection monitor that other departments envied.
"Yeah, I have an idea."
Lee pulled up his chair to the table to listen more closely, absently tossing an empty food carton into the nearest trashcan. Marco leaned against his desk, gripping the edge. One curled finger was the only sign he felt any tension about this particular issue.
"We've been looking at this like some sort of cascade, biochemical change, a process that, once begun, can't be undone." Without having to ask, the image on the screen changed to Appelbaum's lab results. "But what if we look at his protein like an invading virus?"
"...and create an antigen," concluded Marco with a nod.
P.J. stepped from his desk to take the extra seat at the table. "But how do you create an antigen for a protein that kills every organism it inhabits?"
"Except Appelbaum," added Lee.
"Except Appelbaum," she agreed. "My thinking is we create the antigen in an artificial setting, without using any animals. Besides, animal testing would take too long. If we skip that, the focus can be on the immediate reaction to individual organic components, not the overall effect. It's only natural that something has to be able to fight this off. By seeing how it works in a controlled environment, we can isolate and encourage it." She looked around at the thoughtful faces of the others. "What do you think?"
Lee laughed. "You're top dog for a reason, Skouris."
"There's only one problem." Brady electronically flipped to a particular page of Appelbaum's file. "The protein comes from his liver."
Marco grimaced. "So that means..."
"We'd have to harvest some." Diana rubbed her palms on her knees to wipe the sweat off.
"More than some." P.J. twiddled a pen absently between his fingers. "Less than a day, enough for a hundred people...I'm thinking all of it."
"He'll need a replacement." Marco pushed himself off his desk to hover behind Brady, pointing at something on his colleague's monitor that only they could see. "We already have his stats. Get NTAC medical on this. Make sure they know it has top priority."
"First you have to get him to agree," P.J. pointed out.
Marco gave the larger man a look. Although mild, coming from Marco it was practically a glare. "His daughter's life is at stake. I don't think it'll be a tough sell."
"There's always Jarvis," observed Lee.
"If this could save a hundred people, she'll do whatever it takes." Diana stood up from her chair, eager to pass the idea by her superior and partner. "Thanks, guys."
She left to a chorus of "good luck"s but was only a few feet from their door when she heard footsteps behind her. There was no need to turn to know who it was.
"Diana."
"Yes?"
"You seem...a little stressed."
Glancing at Marco, she saw a subtle concern in his eyes. "Perhaps because a hundred people's lives hang in the balance of my ideas?"
"Not that." It was a statement, but there was a question to it.
The insightful observation caused her to pause, thumb poised over the elevator's security scanner. How could he tell there was more? She lowered her hand and turned to him.
"I told Tom about Maia."
"Oh." He stuck his hands in his pockets with a sympathetic smile. "Didn't go as planned, huh?"
"You could put it that way." Absently shifting from foot to foot, she glanced away from him as she tried to control the bile the recollection inspired. "He thought I should tell Nina. Worse, he had the gall to be self-righteous about it, saying we're even for the time he didn't tell me about Shawn."
"Well...he does have a point." Marco shrugged.
"You agree with him?" The incredulity in her voice was obvious.
"I think Maia's diary is your business and no one else's." He pulled out a hand to gesture with. "I also think he has no right to cop an attitude, especially not after all you've done for him and Kyle. But you did keep this from him, and...it sounds like he's taken it personally. I'd guess he feels the same way you did when he told you about his nephew."
She almost gaped at him. He made it sound so simple. How is it he could see things so clearly? How could he be so nice about the guy, given how poorly Tom usually treated him?
"He's not going to tell Nina, right?"
"Of course not."
He gave her another shrug. "Tom is Tom." Then he smiled. "You're the one who wanted him back in the field, and it's better that he is. I know; I researched the recommendation. Can you imagine doing this with Vic?"
And just like that, she let go of her vexation and smiled.
With a nod, he reached past her to thumb the sensor. "Good luck with Appelbaum. Let us know how it goes."
"Yeah." She stepped into the elevator and turned to see Marco wave goodbye. He'd come through for her, again, and she wondered, not for the first time, how it was she'd grown to rely on him so much. After all, she'd confided in him about Maia's diary months before her own partner. But she had a plan to implement and lives to save. Such contemplation could wait for another day.
