Caspar Costas (née Millen) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fiveofnone) wrote2018-02-08 09:46 pm
fiveofnone) wrote2018-02-08 09:46 pm
An important debriefing. ((for sweetcandygirl))
Not too far from the Plaza there is a coffee shop -- a hole in the wall, really, although the coffee is quite good. This is where Caspar texted Harley to meet him to talk about Josh's cabin in the woods, and what the former Suicide Squad member found out about him.
The café is not entirely his style -- a little too dark, a little too drab. But it means that they're unlikely to be disturbed, and more importantly, it's as far from Josh's usual haunts as possible.
He doesn't want to take any chances.
When Harley heads down a small flight of stairs into the café proper, she'll spot Caspar in the corner, dressed in his charcoal gray suit, nursing a cup of coffee, and waiting patiently.
The café is not entirely his style -- a little too dark, a little too drab. But it means that they're unlikely to be disturbed, and more importantly, it's as far from Josh's usual haunts as possible.
He doesn't want to take any chances.
When Harley heads down a small flight of stairs into the café proper, she'll spot Caspar in the corner, dressed in his charcoal gray suit, nursing a cup of coffee, and waiting patiently.
no subject
"Caspar..."
This needs to be said without Adia around.
"I am going to make sure this 'Josh' character gets what is coming to him. I don't want you to worry about that."
no subject
He had one job.
As tempting as it is to tell Harley that he'll handle it himself, he knows why she's bringing this up without Adia around. "Keep it quiet or catch him in the act," he says gruffly. "Don't risk your fresh start over this loser."
no subject
They reach Harley's apartment. And she takes a breath.
"And remember, let me explain everything." She doesn't want Caspar's anger to get the better of him right now. And hurt their relationship.
no subject
It's one thing to let Harley take point on eliminating Josh, but to not even say anything makes him feel utterly useless. But even he's aware that he's too angry right now to present the facts calmly. The last thing he wants is for Adia to write him off as jealous or over-protective.
Harley needs to be the voice of reason here.
Before they can even step inside, Adia has arrived. He heads towards them with a warm smile -- a smile that quickly falters once she senses the mood. "...what's wrong?" She looks from Caspar to Harley. "Did something happen?"
no subject
But that thought was unspoken when Adia showed up. "We need to talk."
"Come inside." Harley unlocked the apartment and let them inside. "Take a seat."
Harley felt that the best way to handle this situation was to start from the beginning. "Adia... during the Christmas party, I had witnessed the interaction between yourself, Caspar and Josh. And something seemed off to me."
"So I followed him home. And I found out a few things about him... that I felt that you should know."
no subject
He takes Adia's hand as Harley leads them into the apartment and gives it a comforting squeeze, but it doesn't do much to soothe her nerves. What has the two of them so serious? Is someone sick? Did something tragic happen in the Nexus while she was gone? Her imagination runs wild with the possibilities in the time it takes her to sit down on the couch, Caspar at her side.
It takes her a moment to register what Harley is saying. Josh...? She must mean the game show host Josh. "Um... okay?" She has no idea what Harley is about to tell her, but this time, her imagination is blank. Josh is her friend... a little awkward and weird, sure, but that's nothing to be suspicious of.
no subject
"After he had left the conversation with you and Caspar, I had seen 'Josh' throw a Christmas gift he had intended to give you into the fire. Then, I witnessed him basically pick up a drunk woman, and take her home with him."
"I followed them to Josh's world. Since the situation seemed off to me."
"I didn't get a lot of information that first time, since Josh had a Pokemon at his home, that almost discovered me."
"But I kept my eye on the situation, because I was a little concerned about that woman. And she never returned back to the Nexus."
"A few weeks after that... I was in the Nexus asking about pets. I met the Pokemon professor. He gave me Poochyena to take care of." Harley takes out her Pokeball, to bring the Poocyhena out. He immediately perks up at the sight of people. And wanders over to them to smell their shoes.
"During my search for the right Pokemon for me, Caspar took me to the Pokemart to look up different kinds on their terminals. He had remembered that 'Josh' had bought you a keepsake from the PokeMart. And I remembered that Josh had a Pokemon. So we looked it up on the terminal. And learned about his Persian."
"It didn't sit right with me when Caspar told me that Josh told you that he didn't know anything about Pokemon. When he had one at his place."
"And that woman had still not returned to the Nexus. So I went back to his world."
Harley placed a large binder of photos in front of Adia. And pushed it towards the other woman. "Adia. I learned that Josh has been lying about a lot of things to you. And as I investigated further, I found some really creepy stuff. I learned that he was being paid to put people into his little game show."
"When Caspar and I searched his little game show on the terminals... it disturbed us even further. He is hurting people... he is killing people who don't get his little trivia questions right. And I can't prove it, but I know that the woman that disappeared during Christmas became one of his victims."
"And... Adia... I think he wants you to be part of his game."
no subject
The mention of the persian tickles something in the back of her mind, but Poochyena's appearance distracts her. As does Caspar's involvement in the story. She gives her boyfriend a look. "You knew about this?" she says, clearly disappointed.
Caspar doesn't drop his gaze, although he clearly wants to. "I was worried about you. This guy is bad news."
She sighs and shakes her head, opening the binder. It feels intrusive, but she'll look through it if Caspar and Harley think it's important. And at first, she's made uncomfortable, especially because it's now obvious that Josh has a crush on her. And apparently flirted with suicide...
The news of the game makes her raise an eyebrow, a trick she must have picked up from Caspar. "Do you have actual evidence that he hurts people?" she says. One last holdout for the sake of her friend. "Because so far it all sounds circumstantial at best..."
"She needs to see a video of the game." He says this to Harley, which makes Adia frown a little. Hello, she's right here! "Do you have something I can plug the flashdrive into?"
no subject
Harley grabs her laptop and places it on the coffee table, so that Caspar can plug the flashdrive into it.
"I also took a scan of his Persian." Harley holds out the Pokedex with the scan of the cat-creature that she and Poocyhena faced.
no subject
At first, there is a long stretch of silence, the dolls on the screen unmoving, as if patiently waiting for the game to begin.
Then the show's host speaks. And Adia squirms uncomfortably. Because that is Josh's voice. Not his real voice, but the distorted one he used when he first spoke with her. It's ominous, it's... sadistic. This isn't some innocent trivia show she had initially assumed. It'd dark and macabre.
But they're just dolls. Right? Avatars for the real contestants? Except in his journal, Josh had written about what he was attempting to do with those dolls...
She watches the whole thing, clearly disturbed but not quite convinced. Okay, maybe Josh is more off-balance than she assumed. His emotions are clearly coming from a dark place. His feelings for her are borderline obsessed. But... a murderer?
Then Harley shows her the picture of the persian.
She has seen this cat before. And all at once, she remembers where.
Her stalker. The tableau of death he created for her during the Khan invasion. His shadowy outline on the laptop screen, grilling her about her willingness to care for others.
And one smug, cat-like pokémon.
Paling to ghost-white, Adia brings her hands up to her mouth in horror. "No no no, she whimpers, her voice soft and strangled. No, no. He can't be. He can't be.
"Adia." Caspar has his hands on her shoulders, staring at her worriedly. He expected her to be upset, but he's never seen her this terrified. "Adia. Adia, talk to me. What is it?"
Her eyes shut, like she might cry. "It's him. He's..."
Caspar is clueless. Adia never told him about her stalker. His eyes wide and desperate, he looks to Harley for help.
no subject
She remembers Adia telling her about her stalker. About her promise that she would find out who he was. And Adia's reaction tells Harley that she has kept that promise.
"He is the one who was threatening you?" She softly finishes the sentence.
no subject
It's a truth that she doesn't want to face. She keeps her eyes squeezed shut, as if somehow that will keep it away. How can someone she considered a friend turn out to be a sadistic killer? Not only sadistic, but willing to use that sadism to toy with her? Josh has always treated her kindly, doing whatever he can to make her happy...
Harley's question is answered with a subtle nod of her head and a soft groan. All the strange things that Josh said and did come rushing back as huge red flags. She should have known. She especially should have known since Halloween. Why had her own intuition failed her?
Beside her, Caspar stiffens at the news. "Someone was threatening you?" Josh was threatening her? Oh. He is so dead.
no subject
So she will just hold Adia as long as the other woman needs.
Harley knows better than most how it feels to be blind to red flags.
She shakes her head slightly at Caspar. She knows that he is upset too, but that is not what Adia needs right now. She doesn't need a reminder that the person who she thought was her friend was someone who had wanted to hurt her in horrible ways.
"I understand Adia. I truly do."
no subject
Caspar's anger gets snuffed out immediately, replaced with worry and shame. She was trying to protect him from his own fears. "Oh, sweetheart..."
His words, Harley's words, they barely register as she sinks deeper into a spiral of terror. This is so much more than a murderer being obsessed with her. This is about trusting someone who had lied to her about his identity and his intentions.
If she was wrong about him, then how can she know if she's right about anyone else?
"I have to go." She stands abruptly, pushing herself out of Harley's gentle embrace. Her chest is tight, and each breath she takes is shallower than the last. "I can't -- if he's --"
"Hey, hey." Caspar keeps her from going out the door, his hands on her shoulders once more, sliding down to her wrists so she stops worrying at the sleeves of her coat. "Let's go home then. Okay? Let me take you back home."
She nods numbly, tears threatening to fall, her body going slack in Caspar's arms. He wraps an arm around her and pulls out his PINpoint before looking at Harley. "I'll take it from here. Text me if you find out anything else."
no subject
She draws her knees up to her chest, watching how Adia is falling to pieces. And there is nothing she can do to help.
Right now her fury and anger are carefully bottled up, until the next time she meets 'Josh'. He is not going to get away with this.
Harley is only somewhat aware that Caspar has said something to her. She turns her head to him. And nods. "Take care of our girl."
no subject
If he ever sees Josh again, it isn't going to be pretty.
He presses the PINpoint button, and they are gone.