Chapter 12: Into Manhattan's Shadows
Ben Urich: November 3rd 2008
"Ben!" A short white man, with a balding head and a large brown beard, and a set of black glasses sitting low on his nose, walked into the reporter's office, his face apologetic as he did so while his hand held a folder. "I have something that could be right up your alley."
"Oh," Ben replied to his boss with a raised brow, suspicion doing so along with it. "I'd love to see what you think would be up my alley, Ellison."
It was kind of a game that his Editor liked to play with him at times, trying to force soft assignments down his throat.
Ben couldn't really tell if he was trying to keep him safe by stopping him from making too many enemies or if Ellison was just trying to protect the paper from lawsuits resulting from his rather intrusive investigations.
"Well, I remember that you've been in a stint of looking into… the more weird occurrences as of late," Ellison sat down on Urich's desk, close enough to support his weight but far enough from anything that he could rudely be sitting on. "And well, some of our contracts have managed to leak a rather odd series of electrical blackouts near Lower Manhattan. Now normally, this would be nothing… but it seems that the suits are keeping it suppressed."
Urich leaned back, his eyes jumping to the computer monitor where his latest story about how someone was poisoning the water supply. It was an important story, one that he'd feel guilty about just shelving to check out some leads that mightn't pan out.
But he did owe it to the kid to keep checking up on it.
"I'm interested but not super interested," he found himself sighing, slapping his hand against his forehead and rubbing it. "It sounds like there's a story there… but I can't devote any time to it. Anyone free to look into it?"
"Nope, that's why I brought it to you," The other man apologized, shrugging his shoulders.
"I just can't spare anyone, they all got their assignments," Ellison stood up, turning his back and making his way out of the room. But before he managed to open the door once more, Ben's voice interrupted.
"You know, Doyle could go down there and look around," Ben offered, raising his hand from his voice to point out of the window, right at the man pushing around a cart of office supplies. "Afterall, we both know that these sort of cases usually end up being nothing."
"It would be an easy assignment to cut his teeth on," The Editor mused, scratching at his chin. The man had been meaning to give the kid a bigger role at the paper, especially given how much the young man's writing has improved over the last few months. "You think he's up for getting into people's faces? He's pretty shy."
Ben scoffed, his face breaking out into a wide smile.
"You and I both know that it takes all kinds out there," It was a gentle correction, something that was only possible because of how the two respected each other. "Sometimes the polite guy gets more out of people than the one that is all up in their faces."
"You're right, but still… the guy's very passive."
"Well good thing that he'll call in if he feels like he's in over his head."
Ellison chuckled, opening the door just a crack and then leaning outside of the room.
"Hey, Doyle!" he yelled, grabbing the young man's attention in a way that caused Doyle to hop slightly from fright. "Get your butt in here, I've got something to ask."
Doyle walked into the room, leaving the equipment he was carrying down on a nearby empty table.
He was neater than he'd been when Ellison had first met him, where before he had long unkempt hair on his head, so long that in fact, it had reached his shoulders. Now his hair was short, a neatly brushed side style that was nothing if not completely average.
"Yes, sir," Doyle said, closing the door behind him as he stood between the eyelines of both his mentor and his boss. "Did you have something that you needed me to do?"
"Yeah, Ben's just convinced me to hand you an assignment," Ellison watched as Doyle tragically vibrated on the spot, his mouth spreading into a large smile as he heard the news.
Something that both the Editor and Urich knew would happen, the kid had been chomping on the bit to get such a thing. "So there's some blackouts going on in Lower Manhattan, I need you to check them out."
"Lower Manhattan?" Doyle responded, tapping his foot and rubbing his chin with his thumb and finger. "That's a rather large area for blackouts, surprised that I've not heard of it before?"
"Some suits are suppressing the information," Ben supplied, his hands tapping at his keyboard as he returned to writing his story. "Not sure why, we're not even sure whether they work for a company or the government."
"So it could be nothing but an electrical company trying to cover their asses?"
"Yup," Ellison grinned, popping his lips. "Just the kind of story to cut your teeth on."
"I'm on it!" Doyle ran out of the room, nearly running into the closed door as he did so. It wasn't long till the young man was out of the two older men's sight, much to the amusement of the reporter of the two… and the worry of the Editor.
"I hope the kid knows what he's doing," Elisson sighed, having second thoughts about what he'd just allowed to happen.
"Don't worry about it," Ben spoke up once more grabbing his boss's attention before he could leave. "I've taught the kid everything that he knows."
"That's what I'm worried about," Ellison rolled his eyes, leaving the room finally. Something that brought a smile to Urich's face as the man started to work on the Water story once more, because he knew that the kid was going to be just fine.
After all, it wasn't like there was much in the world that could take him out.
x-x-x
Jim O'Reilly
"Where is that girl?" Jim sipped from his coffee, letting the pleasant sensation that it brought to bear ooze through his body. The man had called off smoking a few months ago, something that his wife and little girl were rather happy for, not to mention his wallet was much heavier for it.
The man had only gotten greyer over the last while, his daughter had graduated from high school and very little interest in heading off to college to at least a year.
Instead, she was looking for a job, which only bothered the older man given the increase of violent crimes in the area as the Kitchen Irish began to struggle against the Russians for control over certain aspects.
"Pop!" Louise's voice broke through over a crowd coming out of an office building. Dressed in what could only be described as business casual, with pants rather than any sort of skirt, the girl didn't like the idea of a perv managing to sneak a look up there when the opportunity arose. "It looks like I didn't get it."
"Why not?" he responded, the guff in his voice came from holding back the rage that he could feel building in his heart. "What did you do this time?"
"Me!" she let her pitch go higher and her hands to her mouth in mock outrage. "I think that you'd find that it was him… the world's biggest asshole interviewer… that caused the issue. Wanted me to wear a really short skirt, started to ogle me," With her eyes close, Louise shrugged her shoulders. "I think I'm the victim here."
"Right," The older O'Reilly rolled his eyes. "See, I'd believe you if it wasn't for one rather big issue with this whole story."
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"This is apparently the fourth time that this has happened… today alone."
Louise paused in her steps, waiting for her Pop to catch up to her a few meters from the car that they had arrived in. The sounds of the busy streets, with the speeding cars and the passing people, just added to the embarrassment that she was feeling at the moment.
"Well, I ain't got the best track record is all," At the rather unamused stare that Pop was sending her way caused her to sink in on herself, though that didn't mean Louise wasn't still towering over her father like a basketball player would against a jockey. "Look… Pop, these office jobs just ain't… me."
"And what would be you?" Jim's unamused stare morphed into one that showcased intrigue. "Just as an example, it would make finding a job easier."
"I want to be out there!" Louise waved her arms, spreading out and nearly hitting the people that were walking by, something that went unnoticed by the redhead.. "With people watching and the-"
"No… You ain't going for either wrestling or boxing," Her father told the young girl flatly, his unamused stare returning once more.
"Why not?" Louise said, walking the last few meters from the car, sitting on the hood with all the petulance a small child.
"Because you got banned from both for drop-kicking people at the regionals. You're banned from competing."
Louise opened her mouth, a retort ready on her lips but then froze, thinking about it.
"Fair enough," she said, shrugging once more. "But I still say that all it takes one plastic surgeon and a few of the right people paid off, then I'd make it through all right."
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