Log:Bailing

Ruined Memories 2014/10/09 Chen Dark Horse Grimm Kuroko Mr. Hardwick Paragon Porter Vixen

6

Porter has spent the last day, night, and maybe more at Starguard. But they have no coffee, and everyone needs a refill. Whether stocking up or hoping that they allow gifts to voluntary prisoners, Porter heads to the counter to order up a full carrier of coffees.

Grimm practically seated adjacent to Kuroko at the next table is Grimm, pouring over school texts and typing away on her finals paper on law and ethics concerning crimes and meta mentalists. She's busy looking up past case precedents to help fact check something, and is going crazy trying to find the right, relevant case. There's three empty mugs on her table and she is coffee deficient, and a giant carrot raisin muffin sits mostly untouched aside from a few pieces pulled off from the top of it.

Kuroko waves Porter over, once he had coffee. "Mr. Porter, thank you for coming. I'd like to discuss the results of your test with you."

Porter gets just one of the coffees for now, asked to hold the others until he is on the way out. Hopefully, this won't take long, but... you never know. He heads over to Kuroko's table, taking a very long sip of caffeine on the way. After sitting down, he takes another. Then, finally, "You're welcome. So, what are the results? And why a discussion?"

Kuroko flips open the folder, revealing a medical file with a photo of a baby paper clipped to it. "Congratulations, Mr. Porter. You're a the father of a health baby girl."

Aw, what a cute picture. Maybe that's why Porter manages to turn his head before rapidly spraying all of the coffee out of his mouth. At least the cup stays in hand. He coughs once and turns back to Kuroko, eyes wide. "WHAT?" Right. She did warn him that the tests were only 99.999% accurate.

Kuroko smiles faintly. "The test came back positive, Mr. Porter. Now, you do have the right to request a second test, if you still dispute the results, at your personal expense of course."

Sprayed coffee splatters all over Grimm's muffin, Grimm's tablet, and Grimm. She flinches away and gasps in shock at the sudden coffee misting.

Kuroko is seated at a table with porter. A folder is flipped open and oriented towards Porter. Medical information with a picture of a baby on top. Porter has just sprayed coffee in Grimm's direction, at the next table over.

Grimm is seated at the table adjacent to Kuroko and Porter with her barely eaten muffin and tablet. All of which are covered with a fine spray of coffee. As is her table. As is her. She's flinched away from Kuroko and Porter's table, and once the spray is done, she turns her head slowly towards the offending sprayer and stares daggers.

Chen enters the coffee shop in her own form. She quickly scans the interior, her eyes widening as she sees the state of Grimm. But it's to Porter she speaks, Have you seen Third? She hasn't been home all night."

Porter opens his eyes to see where his unintentional coffee evacuation went. Then his eyes open wider. "Sorry! I didn't mean-" He sighs. "I'll buy you new ones." And he intentionally leaves 'ones' vague. Turning away from Grimm, and farther away, he takes another drink. More carefully. Then addresses Kuroko. "So... now what?" And before he can dwell much on that, Chen is here. Another sigh, and a nod. "Yeah, I've seen her. She's... Ok."

Chen nods to Porter. She glances at Grimm, "Coffee and Porter, huh? Usually he spills it on himself." Then she's back to her primary concern, "So... where is she?"

Kuroko waits for Porter to deal with Chen before continuing. She sips her tea.

The door creaks open and a man in a fine suit and briefcase enters, with hair slicked back and a dissatisfied expression on his face. Mr. Hardwick heads for a table to grab some lunch and go over paperwork, when he recognized someone. "Hello again, Mr. Porter."

Grimm grumbles something unintelligible at Porter and starts plucking at napkins from the dispenser at her table to salvage her tablet and wipe it down. The screen is flickering, which leaves Grimm looking dismayed and hoping the cloud backup saved her essay progress. She throws the tablet into her messenger bag and gets up from her table, fuming as she heads to the lady's room to get washed up.

So Koroko pauses, Grimm ...may or may not be ready to eviscerate him. Again. Ok! Porter waves Chen to a chair. "Sit down. Please. I'll be going to see her when I'm done, and I can take you there." He glances sidelong at Grimm, but refrains from adding the 'maybe with broken legs' out loud. "I could use a friend for this..." When Mr. Hardwick greets him, now Porter doesn't even bat an eye. They crossed that line somewhere. He just waves him to another seat, "... and probably a lawyer." now he turns back to Kuroko with a pushed smile. "So... where were we?"

Chen goes and sits but she's obviously on edge. When Porter starts ducking questions, simple questions like 'where is Third' she gets suspicious.

Kuroko nods. "If you choose not to dispute the test results, you will be legally recorded as the child's father. Since you and the mother are not married or cohabiting -- and I assume you have no plans to do so in the immediate future -- then the legal system will move on to the matter of custody, visitation rights, and child support."

It might come as no surprise that Vixen has crept up on Porter's location, somehow getting into the shop that houses coffee and coffee accessories without being noticed until she reaches the main area. She rests hands on his shoulders, gently massaging him. "Tense," she utters observantly. "Hi!" she says cheerfully to Chen, saying nothing more than that, looking nowhere beyond the top of Porter's skull.

Meanwhile in the ladies restroom Grimm sees a young woman in paramilitary uniform carrying a assault carbine in her hands. She's at the far end of the restroom near the last cubicle. A cubicle from which a flickering blue glow is coming. The young woman has CBPA SWAT written on the front of her body armor.

Mr. Hardwick raises a disapproving brow at the mention of needing a lawyer. "Are you in some sort of trouble, Mr. Porter?" he says in a smooth, cultured voice. At the mention of being a father, his brow twitches. And he suddenly looks the part of a furious father. "What have you done?" he manages to say very....very patiently, with a voice edged with potential doom. Then his eyes move to Vixen massaging Porter, not sure what to make of her.

Kuroko nods to Vixen, "It is good that you are here, Nanami-san. This may involve you as well."

Chen is looking at Porter in shocked anger. "A child? You have a child by another woman? How could you?"

Grimm steps into the restroom fuming, trying to flick coffee off her her left arm. As the door closes behind her, she looks up at notices the SWAT member. And the blue glow. Just her luck. o O (No shick.)

"-Another- woman? So, Paragon isn't pregnant?" Mr. Hardwick asks for clarification, and hopefulness. He didn't think it was possible, but...one never knows with magic. Or Porter's reputation. Then the rest of that sinks in and he narrows his eyes at Porter for the 'another woman' part.

The young woman in the restroom nods to Grimm. "No need for concern, Ma'am. This is just a test of the dimensional backup portal from Jefferson's World. We'll be finished soon and shouldn't interfere with you at all."

Often dimensional talk and portals would freak people out. But Grimm is something of a worlds traveller. So it peaks her interest. "Jefferson's World? What's that one?"

Vixen continues the massage, not seeming at all bothered by the situation. She does rest her chin atop Porter's skull. "What?" she asks of Kuroko.

Porter tense? Why would he be tense? Still, Vixen's arrival and shoulder massage is comforting. He sighs. Where to start. "I'm always in trouble." There, at least he's pretty sure that no one will argue that. Anywhere. Ever. "She, though," he points at the picture on the file on the table, "is as much news to me as her mother." He sighs again. Rubs his face. "But I guess it doesn't matter what I did or didn't do. It's what I need to do. So." He looks to Kuroko. "How are they doing? You said before that ...things didn't look good? What do they need?"

The young woman is joined by a second such, an identical twin from all appearances. ""Very similar to your world, Ma'am. Assuming you are native to this world. There's a portal to our world at the TransMat terminal here in this Colonial Bay. This is our backup portal location, and this is just a routine test. I'm Jennie and that's my sister Jessie. We;re members of the CBPA SWAT team."

Kuroko nods, seemingly faintly amused. "Her mother, one Billy January, is currently under limited release on drug charges. She has the child with her at a a halfway house, under CPS supervision. The baby -- her name is Kysmett -- is doing fine, though there may be developmental issues later in life due to the effects of her mother's drug abuse."

"Yeah, I'm native," Grimms replies. She thinks. She's pretty sure. Or else this dimension is so close to hers she can't quite tell the difference. But maybe that last jump was a miss, based on the weirdness outside. "Wait, CB...PA? What's the PA stand for? Police Academy?"

Jennie answers Grimm, "Protective Association. Our America is what you would call extreme libertarian? The city doesn't have a police department. The CBPA is a private company that hires out police services to those who pay for them."

Chen says, "That's Fate, isn't it?" She seems pretty enraged at the revelations coming out.

Mr. Hardwick has managed to maintain some calm, but beneath that stoney mask of disapproval is a great deal of outrage akin to a father finding out someone has been cheating on Daddy's little princess.

Porter rubs his face again. "So... what can I do to help?" He looks from Kuroko to Mr. Hardwick. As SLIGHTLY overwhelming as all of this, is dropped on him like a gross of Questionite safes, he wants to at least do the right thing. Then, afterwards, maybe some real safes can land on him.

Vixen regards Kuroko directly still, as though waiting for some kind of response. She even prompts with, "What...about...mmmme?"

Grimm tilts her head slightly. "So. Privatized law enforcement? That's. Uh. Yeah." Not usually the best thing. But what system ever is? "So how's that working out for your world?" She realizes this could make for an interesting class paper.

Chen says, "You could have not cheated on the three girls you already have, Porter! When I think of the lengths I went to the get you and Paragon together again. What a mistake that was."

"Chen," Porter now looks over and to her. Rather pleadingly. "I didn't." Not that that makes any sense whatsoever with the rest of things... but how is that all that different from... well, pretty much anything else involving Porter?

Mr. Hardwick was not aware of three girls. Paragon either left that out, or...no. No, she wouldn't hide something from her teammates. Which must mean Porter has been going behind her back. Porter may receive a late night visit from Blackhawk, threatening very delicate parts of his anatomy with a vengeance. "-Three- girls?!" Some of the outrage comes through.

Jennie says, "It's under review. The Mediator is considering the future forn of our society. After the invasion everything is unstable in any case."

Grimm's eyes widen slightly. "Whoa, what invaded? Are we in danger with this backup portal open here?"

Kuroko nods, "You, Ms. Vixen, are, I believe, living with or involved with Mr. Porter? As such, your character and the nature of your relationship with Mr. Porter may come under question during a possible custody hearing." She smiles faintly at Chen, "Things like that will also be pertinent." She clears her throat, "As to what next, Mr. Porter, you have a decision to make. Will you accept the test results?" She draws a piece of paper from the folder and passes it to Porter. It's an affidavit of responsibility. "If you do accept, then you will need to decide if you wish to contest custody. As it stands now, if you do not wish a custodial relationship with your daughter, CPS will likely place her in a foster home until a permanent adoption can be arranged. You will, however, still be liable for child support, and as such there will be an inquest into your financial situation to determine how much you will be expected to contribute."

Jennie quickly reassures Grimm, "No, Ma'am. No danger. The invaders were driven off our dimension with help from heroes and soldiers from this world. Well, help is an understatement. Heroes from a half dozen worlds did pretty much all of it." Vixen shrugs. "Witch...hunt." She turns her attention back to Porter, clearly not interested.

Porter eyes the paper. Since it isn't staring harshly at him right now. He hopes. Ok, Kuroko isn't really, either, and he glances back up at her. "And if I fight it? What, a retest? And if that turns out different, then what? Same as if I wasn't interested?" Grimm blinks a few times. "Whoa, that's...that's...EPIC. How have I not heard about the heroes here going off and doing that?" she asks in excitement.

Mr. Hardwick's jaw clenches and a vein starts to become visible on his forehead. Those anger management classes are doing wonders for him, comparatively speaking. He looks over to the young chinese girl. "Chen? You wouldn't happen to be Chen Li, would you?"

Kuroko says, "If you contest the results, and they turn out differently, then the mother may request a third test, at her expense. Since she is indigent, her cost would be covered by CPS. If the majority of tests clear your of parental responsibility, then your involvement in this matter ends. Unless, as an entirely separate matter, you wished to adopt Kysmett." She sips her tea, "Of course, if the majority of tests are positive, then you are declared the father, and the matter proceeds from there."

Jennie says "I believe it was kept fairly quiet to avoid panic. Our doppels led the fight." A sour expression passes across her face. "I you want to know more you could ask her. I was kept out of it."

Chen looks at the man asking her name, "Yes, that's me. Chen Li. And you are?"

Dark Horse steps inside and heads over toward the counter. He looks a little bleary-eyed, clearly needing caffeine. It's been a long night and day for the hero with the stamina of a normal human being.

Grimm blinks and looks to Jessie. "Er. So who else was involved? What were the invaders?" Grimm is in the lady's room, covered in a fine mist of coffee sprayed from Porter's mouth when he was delivered the joyful(?) news. She meant to get washed up, but then came across Jessie and Jennie, off-worlders using a dimensional portal in one of the stalls. So. Typical day for Grimm?

Jennie names a dozen heroes, of which the other names that may be familiar are Jennifer and Jessica Markham. The invaders were from an organisation called Shield. They had conquered several worlds. Ours was one of them."

Mr. Hardwick calms a little. "Brent Hardwick, Attorney at law," he extends a hand to Chen. "I'm an old, dear friend of Paragon's. She is something of a daughter to me. She's spoken a lot about you, Ms. Li," he manages a polite smile and some smooth charm despite the situation.

Porter is seated at a table across from Kuroko, with a file and paperwork sitting between them. Behind him is Vixen, apparently in his corner, occasionally applying shoulder rubs. Opposite him are Chen and Mr. Hardwick, who just recently switched from angry looks and comments at Porter to talking between them. Probably to plot his painful doom.

Porter sighs, now finding himself in a weirder position, still. Just when you think it isn't possible, Porterfication makes it so. Either he spends more time, money, and worry and gambles with things in a potentially lose-lose situation for a girl only a few months old... Or maybe it's just an awkward situation for him. Well, when put that way, it really isn't much of a choice.

Porter grabs a pen that just happened to be convenient, and signs his scribble on the affidavit of doom-er, responsibility.

Porter then frowns, "I don't want her getting stuck in foster care, or on drugs, or any of that."

Chen turns to Mr Hardwick, "Any friend of Paragon's is a friend of mine." She extends a hand. "Are you visiting? If you haven't already seen her I'm sure she'll be delighted to see you." she looks back at Porter, "When this... this... when Porter gets around to telling me where she is."

Dark Horse gets his coffee and adds some sweetener to it. He then raises his mask just enough to take a sip before turning to look at who else is here.

Grimm frowns a bit and rubs her chin, which wipes more coffee around. "Don't know them. Yet. Or Shield. Glad not to in the Shield's place." Or maybe she has under any other name? There's an infinite verse to explore out there. But right now, the coffee on her is getting cold. "Er, well, don't let me bother you. I'm just here to dry off." She moves to the sinks and starts washing up.

Mr. Hardwick pays particular attention to Porter signing the paperwork, and proving his guilt in Hardwick's eyes. He looks back to Chen and says, "A short term visit, hopefully. I've seen her already, and about to head over to Starguard file the finalized paperwork to arrange bail." He gives Porter a scathing look. "After which I will need to have a long talk with her about her poor choice in partners."

The young women nods. "You're finished here. If you're interested, you'd be welcome to visit our world. Ask for us at the TransMat after you come across and we'll give you a tour of our city." Jennie says. Then they step into the last cubicle and after a moment or two the blue glow cuts off.

Chen turns sharply, "Bail? What do you mean, bail?"

Vixen turns her eyes on Hardwick. "Me...too," she says to him. It's less a request for help than a challenge.

Grimm grins. "I'll definitely do that!" She pities whoever's using that stall when the portal reopens.

Mr. Hardwick turns his gaze to Vixen and stares at her, confused by her statement. "Pardon, miss? You too what?"

Vixen draws arms around Porter, leaning her head on his. "Poor...choice," she says quietly.

Mr. Hardwick's brow raises at the mixed signals Vixen is giving. "Underaged girls, and a baby, and apparently several other girlfriends. Mr. Porter, you disappoint me utterly." He turns to Chen completely and says, "Paragon is currently being held at Starguard due to certain allegations. I've arranged for bail and am representing her at this time."

Kuroko takes the form, tucks it back in the folder. "I'm heartened to see you accept responsibility, Mr. Porter. Ms. Jaunary has indicated that she does not intend to contest custody, as long as she retains visitation rights, so I believe the remainder of the process should proceed without unnecessary adversarial actions. I will contact CPS letting them know that you are the father, and you will be allowed to visit your daughter, and her mother."

Chen bursts out with, "That's nonsense. Paragon is the best, most decent, person I know." She looks at Porter, "Why didn't you tell me?" Turning back to Mr Hardwick, "What can I do?" she asks him.

Porter offers Vixen a small smile. Comforted, but frazzled. At least someone is sticking up for him. He thinks. Porter looks to Chen and Hardwick, opens his mouth to explain... then decides to just close it without saying anything. The lawyer can let her know. And she'll be less inclined to hit him. And him her.

And ouch. Porter is just making all kinds of impressions today. And the day barely just started. He nods to Kuroko. "Thanks." Now come more sighs.

Mr. Hardwick flicks his rest out and looks at his expensive watch. "In fact, the wire should have gone through by now, so I should probably head over now to finalize her release."

Chen tells Mr Hardwick, "I'll go with you if I may."

Kuroko reaches out to shake Porter's hand, "Once again, let me offer my sincere congratulations, Mr. Porter. I think you will make an excellent father."

Mr. Hardwick nods and lowers his wrist. "I think she could use someone close when I tell her about this. Shall we, Ms. Li?"

Chen nods to Mr Hardwick and stands to accompany him on the way to Starguard.

Porter shakes the hand, if just out of politeness. After all that, he's still distracted. Just by something different. Like Chen and Hardwick and visiting Para. "Hey! I'm going with you..." He just has to grab up the file. Not spill his coffee. And make it to the door. Without the people he plans to accompany strangling him.

"Idiots," Vixen says in a muttering sort of way. She accompanies Porter, if for no other reason than to stand guard against strangulations that might occur purely by happenstance.

Mr. Hardwick gives Porter a hard stare. "You will do no such thing, Mr. Porter," he says with a voice usually reserved for the worst of the worst of Boston's villains. He straightens his tie, then turns and walks out of the cafe with Chen.

Dark Horse sips his coffee. "Wow...entertaining. It's like that soap opera 'To Save The World'.

As Hardwick opens the door to leave, a gust of wind sends all the pages flying. Some into soups. Some on the floor. Some into Grimm's face as she steps out of the bathroom mostly clean. The clean delays Porter as he gathers it all up and apologizes.

At Starguard...

Upon arriving in the secure area...

Mr. Hardwick is standing in front of Paragon's cell, his arms crossed over his chest as he sternly as a talk to her. She's still locked up. Paperwork has been filed. It's getting the final look over and approval with Upstairs. And Mr. Hardwick is taking the time to have a very serious lecture with Paragon about relationships.

"...aking advantage of you. I thought you had better judgement than that...."

Porter couldn't leave until the file was all back together. Because he was touching it when the door opened. That and security always has to check him multiple times. Just in case. Since the warning klaxon hates him almost as much as the workout room doors. He's at least caught his breath when he round the corner into the cell block. "Para!" And Harwick's here. Not the he expected otherwise. He's her lawyer. among other things.

Hardwick's disapproving gaze steers from Para to Porter. Now that Porter's close enough to see into the cell, Paragon is standing near the door in full armor with her head hanging down from the scolding. At Porter's voice, her head slowly lifts up by about half. "Porter..." she replies softly, sounding a bit sorry for herself.

"Hey," Porter offers warmly, then stops. Ok, so he didn't think it'd be all rainbows and unicorns, but he also didn't expect this. Para's already in a cell, and now she looks like she's standing in a corner. Or wants to be. His head swivels over to Hardwick, and now there's two disapproving gazes in the air. "What'd you say to her?!"

Hardwick isn't one bit disturbed by Porter's pale strong-man attempt. "That it's time for her to come home. This city has been a bad influence on her. To think I gave my approval on this." He looks back to Paragon. "She doesn't know enough to know what's best for her yet. She chose a poor partner."

Paragon's head snaps up fully. She says firmly, like a child standing up to her father but still intimidating, "No, I did not. Captain Amazing always talked about trusting one's heart. I did that. Porter is a hero, and important to me."

Porter blinks, glances to Para with more than a little worry. It disappears when he looks back at Hardwick. Pale or not, strong or not, he's not in the mood for asking nicely. "If she WANTS to go back to Boston, she can do that any and every time she feels like it. But you're not just taking her. You're not going to punish her for me. Or anything I've done. Besides, it's not your choice to make, anyhow."

Paragon is more than surprised as Porter seems to fight for her, which seems a bit unusual in this regard. Hardwick, however, remains unmoved by Porter's passions. He's a lawyer after all. "Paragon has never disobeyed a team order. She's going back to Boston." Yes, very much the angry father grounding his daughter for seeing a boy he disapproves of.

Paragon's eyes dim at Hardwick's command. She takes a deep breath and says softly, "No...I'm not." The look of shock from Hardwick is immediate.

Porter was ready with more, or seemed to be with the big intake of breath. Most of it winds up just let out as light sigh when Hardwick looks like he was zapped in the back with a cattle prod. Maybe some of his annoyance goes with it, too. "See? She can make up her own mind."

Hardwick frowns deeply. "Does she even know about the child yet?"

Paragon speaks up in Porter's defense. "You don't understand, Brent. Weird things just happen to Porter. It's not his fault, it's...kind of how his powers work. It's just a big misunderstanding; it's not actually his."

"She knew about the test, yeah," Porter nods to Hardwick. "Right after I found out about it. I don't care what you think of me, but I don't lie to her, or trick her, or anything like that. She's been in my head most of the time, so I couldn't lie even if I wanted to. And I don't. She probably knows me better than /I/ do."

Hardwick frowns, but he begrudingly says, "Fine. At least you're honest. And not trying to trick her. Not on purpose." He still has an 'I'll get to the bottom of this' tone to his voice.

Paragon's eyes blink off and on in surprise, especialy his last comments. "Porter..." she says softly, then looks to Hardwick and nods firmly. "He's my Partner. And before then, a dear friend. He's risked his life for others. Almost died to protect me. I'm not leaving Colonial Bay."

"And I didn't cheat on her or anything, either," Porter's going to have to try and explain that one to Chen, too. "I never thought Kyesmett was mine, and I'm pretty sure she wasn't." Of course, he also has to add, "Until today."

Paragon does a literal double take at Porter. "...wait. She -is- your kid...?" she asks in shock.

Hardwick nods and folds his arms over his chest. "See what I mean? He sleeps around with so many he loses track. He signed the papers today to take custody of the child."

Paragon takes a few steps back in surprise. But the cell is small. Her back legs bump into her cot, forcing her to stumble into a seated position that's more fall than planned, but it may be for the best as she absorbs that information.

"She is now. She wasn't before." Porter sighs. Of course Hardwick took that wrong. Or Porter said it wrong. "I've never met her mother, and I definitely wasn't hanging out with a prostitute in Harrisburg."

"If that were true and it wasn't yours, you wouldn't have signed the papers without contesting it," Hardwick points out Porter's guilt as he would in the courtroom. Paragon is still stunned into silence.

"No. If it was anybody other than me, the test never would've came up like that in the first place." Porter waves a hand to Paragon for Hardwick's benefit. "Like she said, weird stuff happens around me." Then he stops and rubs his face. "I contest it, they retest. It comes back not me. A newborn with an addict mom gets sent off to foster care. And... who knows what kind of terrible stuff?! Ms. Kurado was worried about them. Especially Kysmett. She seemed scared of the whole system. And she went thought it! One of the lucky ones, she said. How am I supposed to stick a baby, who didn't get to chose where and when she was born, into that?!" Porter exhausts all of his ire, anoyance, angst, and whatever else, ending with a sigh. "So I took the shot I had. Maybe it'll give her a better chance at something better." He shrugs. "Maybe not. But at least I tried."

Paragon recovers from her shock enough to stand up again. She steps up to the transparent cell door and raises a gauntleted hand to press against the surface, looking to Porter with dimmed eyes wishing she could do something right now to console him. "You took responsibility," she says with understanding and respect. She looks to Hardwick. "I chose right," she says solidly. "Now...get me out of here, Brent. Please."

Hardwick is stunned silent this time. There's some respect there. No one's dared to stand up to him like that before. Of course, there's still suspicion and disapproval in there. He's a hard man to please and slow to trust. But the respect is there. "Very well. I'll talk to security and see if I can expedite this." He picks up his briefcase and walks down the hall to the security desk some distance away.

Paragon recovers from her shock enough to stand up again. She steps up to the transparent cell door and raises a gauntleted hand to press against the surface, looking to Porter with dimmed eyes wishing she could do something right now to console him. "You took responsibility," she says with understanding and respect. She looks to Hardwick. "I chose right," she says solidly. "Now...get me out of here, Brent. Please."

Hardwick is stunned silent this time. There's some respect there. No one's dared to stand up to him like that before. Of course, there's still suspicion and disapproval in there. He's a hard man to please and slow to trust. But the respect is there. "Very well. I'll talk to security and see if I can expedite this." He picks up his briefcase and walks down the hall to the security desk some distance away.

"Thank you." Porter offers after Hardwick. He turns to Para, putting his hand on the field opposite hers. "Not mad at me?" Issues of cheating aside, he wasn't sure what she'd think.

Paragon's glowing eyes drift to Porter's. "No. I'm not mad. Just worried for you. How are you holding up?" she asks gently. Behind the faceplate, she smiles softly at him putting his hand up with hers. The smile carries to her eyes, narrowing them slightly. Combined with the vocal tones and knowing Para, Porter can probably tell she's smiling even with that featureless helm in the way.

Porter grins. "More worried about you. After you get out and this cleared up... then I can worry about other stuff."

"And don't mind Brent," Paragon keeps her voice low so it doesn't go beyond them. "He's overprotective. And slow to warm up to people," she sighs.

Porter shrugs. "He seems worried about you. Can't blame him for that. And he probably thinks I'm an idiot..." He sighs. "Can't really bame him for that, either..."

"He thinks...you are not good for me. That the relationship situation is unhealthy," Paragon tries to put it delicately. "He thinks I don't value myself enough."

Porter shrugs. "Maybe I'm not. Probably not. "

Paragon's eyes blink off and on a few times as Porter says that. "Is that what you think?"

Porter smirks. "He doesn't think I'm good enough for you. I don't know if anyone's as good as you deserve, Para. So we agree on something, at least?

Paragon's eyes dim slightly from displeasure at Porter's response. "He's wrong. And that's not true," she sighs quietly. "You shouldn't listen to him."

Hardwick has both hands placed on the security officer's desk and seems to be ripping him a new one about the delays.

"Para..." Now Porter's smirk softens to a warm smile. "It was supposed to be a compliment. For you. And sort of a joke, I guess." Which didn't work out so well.

Paragon's head tilts as she tries to rewind and catch the joke and the compliment. "Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you were actually believing what he said." She lets out a sigh, somewhat forlornly because she did not understand, and also part glad that she was wrong.

"And don't be too hard on him, either," Porter tips his head towards the desk where Hardwick is the one coming down hard on the poor desk officer. "Pretty sure he's just worried for you, and people do lots of rude, surprising, or dumb stuff when they're worried." He's pretty sure she knows that. "And on top of all that, he became a grandpa. Sort of. A little."

Paragon nods slowly. When the rest of it registers, her nod becomes slower. "Grand..pa...?"

"Well, I have a daughter, now," Porter reminds. And seems to surprise himself at saying that. Not really something he's used to. "And Hardwick seems like he thinks of you like one. Sure reminds /me/ think of every scary mad dad nightmare I ever thought of. And the first thing he thought when he heard about me and a kid was that you were pregnant."

Paragon is standing in her cell opposite Porter, her hand pressed against the transparent cell door, also opposite his. Mr. Hardwick is at the security desk trying to expedite the acknowledgement of bail funds received.

Behind the faceplate, Paragon looks a little shy and embarrassed. "He should know I am not biologically capable of that feat," she says with neutral informativeness, even though it's redundant, because Porter knows. Paragon is full of redundancies. Her eyes dim slightly as she suddenly absorbs the rest of the information. "...a daughter..." she tries to process.

Chen came to Starguard with Mr Hardwick. She waits with him briefly but then loses patience and heads in to the cell block. "Sis! I came as soon as I found out." She looks a bit hostilely at Porter but acknowledges. "Porter sent me a text message to be fair. But it got shuffled to the junk folder somehow."

Porter knows that look, even with the helm. "Yeah. I'm still processing that, too..." He flinches when Chen calls out, then sighs. "I KNEW I sent you something as soon as I found out!" He feels a bit vindicated, even if it's also a bit late for that. "She should be out soon."

Paragon's head turns to Chen as she still tries to process that Porter has a daughter. She doesn't yet understand how that in any way makes Mr. Hardwick a grandpa. But invisible gears are slowly turning in her head. "Sis! Hi," she says with some sheepishly. "I...did not want you to see me like this," she glances about her cell. "But I'm glad Porter told you."

Chen says, "Yeah, well if someone was to put money of which of us was most likely to see the inside of a cell it wouldn't be you they'd bet on. There's no shame for you in being in here, Sis. The shame is on the fools who ever thought this might be needed."

After a few silent moments, Paragon's tinny voice replies quietly, "-I-...thought it might be needed. I belong here." The last sentence is delivered with certainty.

Chen says, "Nonsense." Chen's voice and tone admit no doubt of her view. "

"She came here on her own, Chen," Porter agrees, "because others said she was a crook. To try and save their own necks." Does he mention that they are (or were?) just a few cells over? No. Then he might have to ask Hardwick to bail out another sister.

Garrett is down a cell and across from Paragon's, sitting on his cot. "Ohh, she belongs here with the rest of her crew, alright. We go down, SHE goes down," he taunts.

Chen glances down to the cell Garrett is in. "What do you mean?" she asks him in a neutral voice.

Garrett laughs derisively. "What, you not gonna tell your new boyfriend and dear 'sis' the truth, Mads? You can't hide from your past forever."

Paragon remains strangely silent as she turns her head to regards Garrett.

"He means he's a blind idiot who can't tell people apart," Porter helps. "Or he's just trying to drag her name through the mud."

Chen tells Garrett, "Then maybe you should?"

Garrett leans over and looks Porter over. "I can see well enough to recognize her new partner in crime. And I could never forget Maddy. Ohhh, the times we shared," he catcalls.

Chen says, "I'm hearing vague bullshit with nothing to back it up. Facts or shut the f**k up."

Porter eyes Garret and scowls. More. Garret, who may have leaned over a bit more than he should have. About the same time that the non-lethal security field happens to activate on the inside of the cell walls. !!BZZT!! Oh, look. He shut the f**k up. Unconsciousness is handy that way.

Chen is not displeased at what happens in general but is annoyed she can't get any answers from Garrett. "Blast."

Paragon watches as Garrett gets zapped into unconsciousness from Porter's displeasure, her eyes dimming slightly. Still, she's strangely silent. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Hardwick finally straightens up from his hard lean on the security desk and officer beration, straightening his tie and then picking up his briefcase. He and the security officer start to walk down the hall towards Paragon's cell.

"Sorry. Must've shorted or something." Not that Porter sounds sorry for once. At all. He perks up when he spies Hardwick and the officer returning and makes a guess. "It's about time..."

"Red tape," Mr. Hardwick reports with great displeasure. The security guard uses a keycard mixed with an input code, and Paragon's cell opens up.

Chen moves into the cell and hugs Paragon if she allows it. "In here, outside, anywhere, you're my big sis." she says, "Nothing will change that."

Porter starts to step in, himself, but isn't as quick as Chen. And then realizes that Para would probably like to be out of the thing as soon as possible, so he can be a little patient. He just offers her a wide and happy smile in the meantime.

Paragon is slower than usual to hug Chen back, but only by an extra two seconds caused by self-doubt. "Thank you, sis," she says softly at Chen's encouragement. She's in no rush to step out of the cell. She looks up to Porter and opens an arm to include him in the hug.

Porter wasn't THAT patient, and isn't going to turn down the invitation. So he steps in to hug Para, too. Armor and all. "You know," he points out, still smiling, "you wind up in here any more and they might have to redecorate it just for you..."

Paragon chuckles softly and gives the pair of them a big metally hug. "I think brighter colors would be more encouraging for the inmates. If this were a reform facility," she throws in her two cents on redocrating tips.

Mr. Hardwick clears his throat at the touching moment. "If you were planning on staying in there all day, I wouldn't have bothered to expedite your release."

Chen smiles as she turns to Mr Hardwick. "Point taken." Shifting the hug to a arm around Third's waist she says, "We've had our marching orders, sis."

Porter chuckles and even still has the smile when he looks to Hardwick. "Well, I tried to let her come out, first..." He backs out of the cell to give the ladies as much room as they want. "Where to, first?"

Paragon steps out of the cell with Chen as marching orders are delivered. "Maybe some real food and coffee. And, uh. Home?" She has some explaining to do, and Mr. Hardwick will not approve of her talking about the case or potential guilt. Then she looks to Porter. "Actually, what's going on with you. Is there anyway I can help?"

Chen tells Paragon, "I'm going to deal with that, Sis."

"I'm doing Ok. I think," Porter shrugs. "When I figure out what to do, you're welcome to help if you want to. And coffee, food? No problem..." He quirks a brow at Chen. "You buying or cooking?"

Paragon glances at Chen curiously. "What do you mean you're taking care of it..?"

Chen replies rather evasively, "I'm going to find answers to some of the questions that have been raised. I'll let you know what I discover, sis. Let me worry about it. You concentrate of clearing up these nonsensical allegations."

Mr. Hardwick checks his expensive looking watch and sighs irritably. His meeting with Shoro is coming up. "I'm afraid I have a dinner meeting concerning Paragon's case that I must attend to." He looks up to Paragon. "In the meantime, you are not to discuss details concerning this case to anyone. Is that understood?" Paragon nods once in the affirmative as if taking orders from a team leader. It's a good thing she doesn't consider Porter or Chen just anyone. "Good," Mr. Hardwick comments. He extends a hand to shake Chen's hand. "Ms. Li." He casts a scathing look at Porter. "Mr. Porter," he says in displeasure that hints as a reminder to the warning/threats he made earlier about staying away from Paragon. Then he turns away and strides out of the security area.

Chen shakes Mr Hardwick's hand, "Thank you, Sir. Thank you for helping Paragon."

Porter doesn't get the hand. On the bright side, he didn't get a fist, either. Baby steps. "Thanks" is said to Hardwick's back, but earnestly. He then looks to Chen. "If you need any help with any of this stuff with Para, just let me know, Ok?"

Porter follows with a look to Para. "Burgers and coffee?" Since he now knows Chen wasn't talking about food, he can at least do that much.

Paragon looks to Porter and nods with a weak smile behind her faceplate. Some burgers and coffee might calm things down for what she has to say.

Chen stays with Paragon, arm around her waist, "Restaurant, takeout, or should I cook? Or would you like to cook?"

"Maybe takeout. So we can all sit down and...talk," Paragon suggests.

"I could cook, too.." Porter isn't a master chef, but not terrible. Aside from the grease fires. So maybe that's why he goes with Paragon's suggestion. "There. That way nobody has to cook."

Chen says, "Whatever you want, sis. It has to be better than the food in here."

Paragon nods softly. "Okay, let's get out of here," Paragon suggests as she glances at the still unconscious Garrett. She begins walking towards the exit with Porter and Chen, glancing to the cells containing each of her former 'gang'.

"Yeah." Porter doesn't care where they go. Just as long as it's not here, and Para's happy. Which could be anywhere not her, he'd hope. He ignores Garret and company.