Log:Carpenter's Double Life

2021/01/12 Night Marshal|Carpenter Grimm 1

After the incident at the port with the Mech-01-N unit and the Fist of God fanatics, Gabrielle arrives at Jack's doorstep in the evening.

Carpenter smiles and lets Grimm inside. "I'm wondering if I should just give you a key at this rate. But you wouldn't need one to get inside anyway."

Once she was more together, Grimm did teleport away to get healed, along with the dis-armed criminal once he was in custody. It took some time to be seen, since thanks to the NURRS round, Grimm wasn't in as critical condition as others that were at the clinic. The time it took to get healed and go home to shower gave Carpenter plenty of time to store his gear.

Gabrielle breaks int a smile at his comment, stepping in to give him a hug. "Well...if you think we're at that point in our relationship, Handsome. But you don't have to. And I won't just walk through the door or teleport inside without your permission."

Carpenter hugs her and smiles. "I figured. But if it's an emergency, feel free to do so. I give you permission now if that's the case."

Gabrielle is dressed in very casual clothes for her. A white boyfriend tee with a black cat illustration on it, a black zip up hoodie worn open, and black leggings with Doc Marten boots. She winces a bit at the motion of hugging him, but still clings. "Okay. In emergencies, then. I...had a pretty close call. I was pretty out of it. Could've sworn I heard you comforting me."

Carpenter pauses, looking at her with some worry. "You okay? I guess I was there with you in spirit."

"I'm okay now. Just sore and drained," Gabrielle smiles weakly as she reaches up to cup his cheek. "Night Marshal saved me. -Again-. Then Quiet shot me with some sort of needle dart thing, which sucked...but somehow it took away some of the pain. The mages at the clinic took care of the rest."

Carpenter smiles and leans down to kiss her, "Maybe try to not get hurt? Especially if you'll be taking on alien overlords in the near future?"

Gabrielle kisses him back, physically relaxing a bit more. Well, at least until the alien overlord is mentioned. She tenses up again. "Hah. People keep giving me that advice. Don't get hurt. Don't get hit. I'll try and make it stick. I wasn't trying to get hit. I just wasn't moving fast enough."

Carpenter smiles and nods. "Cover is your friend, you know. I know you metas like to stand out in the open to look all impressive. You need to break your habits." He chuckles, clearly kidding.

Gabrielle laughs a little, then winces a bit and quiets down, but still grins. "Guilty. But I actually was trying to be smart and stay behind cover, but they just sliced through it with their crazy high tech lasers. It sliced through my cover and the wall behind me."

Carpenter winces sympathetically. "Well, that sucks. That means any cover becomes soft cover. Do you know what I mean by that?"

Gabrielle shakes her head slowly at him. "I've never even heard of that," she says, looking keen to learn from him.

Carpenter nods. "Hard cover can stop bullets. It's a wall that you can hide behind. Soft cover is...like bushes. It doesn't stop bullets. But...it obscures where you are. It still makes you harder to shoot, but only due to making it harder to see you."

Gabrielle nods in understanding. "Ohh...that totally makes sense. And yeah...that makes sense. Everything was soft cover to those lasers. Even..." she trails off and looks a bit haunted as she recalls how it severed that one criminal's arm. "I think I did a bad thing..." she says, swallowing hard.

Carpenter waits a moment...and then says, "What did you do?"

Gabrielle chews on her lower lip, looking guilty. "I...I tricked one into seeing friends as enemies to try and turn the tide in our favor. When he attacked one of his own, he used the laser beam to...to...slice his arm off," she pales more than she already is.

Carpenter winces. "This is the cult thing that happened? The terrorists? You know...you didn't know he would do that. You might have been able to guess it, but you didn't know. And the target survived?"

Gabrielle nods. "Yeah. Bunch of religious zealots. He even called me a spawn of Satan once he snapped out of it." She takes a breath and nods. "The target survived. And I altered that guy's perceptions before I saw first hand how deadly their weapons were."

Carpenter gives her a hug again, "It's okay. Something to keep in mind for the future. But at least the person survived."

Gabrielle hugs back, sighing and relaxing in relief as he holds her and advises her. "I'll try to do better in the future, Handsome," she says quietly, worried she'll disappoint him.

Carpenter smiles. "You'll do fine. I know it."

Gabrielle smiles at his encouragement. "Thanks, Handsome. Do you mind if we take it easy tonight? Maybe...tea, or hot cocoa, and a movie? Or TV binge?"

Carpenter nods. "I'm good with that. I...don't really have any tea. But I do have some hot cocoa. Or decaf coffee?"

Gabrielle smiles. "I'll take cocoa over decaf to relax."

Carpenter nods. "I'll put a pot on for me, at least." He chuckles quietly and heads into the kitchen to start the coffee and the water for the cocoa.

"Okay," Gabrielle chuckles softly, feeling better just being with him. "And thank you, Handsome. Is there anything I can do to help out?" Nearly died, and she wants to be helpful. It's also clear she's trying to hide how much the incident affected her.

Carpenter gives her a sidelong look as the water starts to heat up. "You're still bothered. Is it the injury?"

Gabrielle's soft smile loses some of its light as he mentions it. "You're too good at reading me. I...yeah. I guess...disturbed...? When I thought I heard your voice, it made me wonder if I was hallucinating because I was dying. And that freaks me out," she takes a breath. "I'll be okay with some time to process it. Especially if I get to just be with you. You...you mean a lot to me, Jack." Some of her smile returns.

Carpenter thinks about it. Now it's him who is the one who looks like he's holding back. "You mean a lot to me too." He takes a deep breath, as he considers telling her the truth.

Gabrielle smiles more at that, feeling relieved that he feels the same. "Want me to get the blanket and TV set up so we can just be cozy tonight?" she offers, feeling ligther now that she managed to get some of the words out that she cares for him. She's still afraid of using the L word, though.

Carpenter takes another deep breath. "Wait. I have something to tell you." He clears his throat, and says, "You weren't hallucinating."

Gabrielle stays put and looks confused for a moment. "Oh? Well...maybe it was wishful thinking?"

Carpenter shakes his head, "You should be able to put two and two together. You heard my voice."

Gabrielle stares at him a moment, truly clueless until she tries to do the math. It just seems completely improbable. "What, so you're saying...? Wait. No. Noooo. What?" It's inconceivable!

Carpenter notices the water is boiling...and pours it for the cocoa, mixing it up for Grimm. He sets the mug on the counter next to her, so she can wait to let it cool if she wants to. He chuckles at her reaction. "I guess you not believing me is a good thing."

Gabrielle struggles to reconcile this. "That...that can't be. You? That...nooo. Seriously?" She still can't believe it, then gasps. "Wait, is that why Night Marshal was petting me?? Why were you using his gear?!" So maybe she still can't fully believe it.

Carpenter laughs. "Yeah, that's the logical conclusion. I was wearing his gear." He rolls his eyes and grabs a mug for himself with a grin on his face.

Gabrielle has forgotten her mug exists. She gasps and claps a hand over her mouth in shock. "Wait, so...oh my god. Oh my god, so...the...the whole time? The -whole- time? The whole time!"

Carpenter waits patiently as she goes through the series of emotions. After a moment, he says, "I needed to tell you after you mentioned how much it bothered you that you heard my voice...that you thought you were hallucinating. I broke character today. I was worried about you when you got hurt, and hurried over to make sure you were okay. Yeah, that was me."

"But-but-but...you're a detective. Like the best detective on the force!" Gabrielle lowers her voice, "And you've been a vigilante this whole time?" She doesn't sound angry. Just shocked. "I'd have a better time believing you if you said you were the pope!" She takes a breath and calms down from the shock a little. "You...you were with me. Those other times. You were the one who saved me," she suddenly realizes with an awed tone. The time the Judge almost killed her and Night Marshal came to her rescue. When he was by her side in the failed quest in the Tatterdemalion. And earlier today. It all sinks in.

Carpenter nods. "Well, I haven't been a vigilante the entire time I've been a detective. Just the last couple of years. I got a bit sick of dealing with metas like say...the Godflora...messing up my cases. So I thought perhaps I could help to guide them a bit more by being on 'the inside' so to speak. It hasn't really turned out that way, but I feel like I've managed to do some good."

That makes total sense somehow. At least once he mentions the Godflora. But still, a couple years? Gabrielle's still shocked. She has so many questions. But instead, she comes to terms with the facts for the moment and gives him a sultry smile. "I have a lot to thank you for. C'mere, Cowboy," she purrs as she leans in for an impassioned kiss.

Carpenter smiles and kisses back passionately. "Mmmm."