infomodder | IC contact [Mask or Menace]

[...]

Have you heard of a man known as Solf Kimblee? He's an ImPort. He's very dangerous.

[Wait, about psychiatry? Or...oh. Oh. He hesitates for a moment. He should have questions. He should get details. He shouldn't take what was said at face value, he reminds himself. But he didn't plan for a revelation like this. And without a plan... well, that's where Edgeworth tends to flounder.]

About Baltimore. [Breathes in] How many people know already?

[It seems like the best question to ask to set some boundaries, and see what the scope of the situation is]

It was one of the first things Freddie said about me when she got here.

[There is a lack of anything negative in that statement. No disgust, no bitterness, nothing at all that makes it seem like he has ever had any issue with Freddie Lounds.]

She's gone now, by the way.

[If anything, Will sounds sad, like he misses her. He does. He really, really does.]

[Oh no.]

Not that I can recall. [Said slowly, mentally running through names he's put on watch in his mind.] Has he done something to you?

All right.

[Access to that address is particularly pleasing. Chilton'll save it in a few places.]

Do we have a shortlist of suspects? Or a long list, in Freddie's case.

I guess you didn't see Ed's post about him. [More to herself than to Will.]

He's from my world, another alchemist. He specializes in explosions - those 'bombs' that went off recently? He made them.

He can create explosions with his hands. Back home, he nearly killed my...boyfriend. [That's still really new to her, the boyfriend part.] They've been in a fight here, too, but Mr. Kimblee didn't hurt him too badly.

[...]

Someone did, though. He - Mr. Kimblee - was in another fight, pretty beaten up. Broken ribs, his face all bloodied.

[Please don't ask her how she knows, Will.]

It gets trimmed every hour or so. [The past few days have seen the coffee maker being used much more than usual, go figure.] I had thought it best not to make any announcements about this considering how long the list was at first. Did anyone come to mind as soon as you heard the news?

[Can he weed out who may or may not have murdered Freddie, study for his tests, take his tests, and look at the past three or so months of the Network all over again at the same time? Goddamn right he can.]

And the law here hasn't done anything about him?

The police force here - I'd be afraid to send them after Mr. Kimblee. He'd kill them without getting close. Unless they had a sniper...

[She shudders, because killing Mr. Kimblee is awful, too. She doesn't want anyone to die.]

If you talk to Mr. Mustang, he's with the police, I think? Roy Mustang. And Riza Hawkeye. They both served with Mr. Kimblee in the war. Or you could talk to Ed, if you want; he's fought Mr. Kimblee a few times.

Those who have shown public and aggressive disdain towards Freddie are the self-proclaimed heroic types. Billy Kaplan and his acquaintances.

[There's a significant pause on Will's end, not quite certain where this is headed, and not quite certain of how to phrase anything that won't sound either insulting or extremely callous. He has to taste the words before he just spits them out. Better to go silent for a few moments than come across as arrogant or unfeeling or rude.]

Is this just a warning, then? From you to me.

This is a warning, Will. Mr. Kimblee likes using people as bait. I've been his hostage in the past, when the military wanted Ed to fall in line with their plans. When he couldn't make either of us...cooperate [Here, Winry smiles, but it's not a pleasant one] he tried to kill Ed.

If you do go against him, don't go alone.

Your patient? The Billy Kaplan who contacted me, concerned, when you told him I mentioned giving you sodium amytal. [Were they pretending it never happened? Whoopsie daisy, but Will is not about to play Battle Royale with former/current patients, once is more than enough.] Why him and his out of everyone?

Wait, you mean she was ported back?

[He's not sure why Will's so sad about that pain in the neck being ported back. She's just being sent home, right? That doesn't sound too bad]

Excuse me?

He came to you because of that? Why? Because of [my situation with a temporary if literal and delusional god complex] extraneous events?

Edited 2015-03-15 02:55 (UTC)

It's possible.

[It's probable, in some minds. Will has gone back to Baltimore. But Abigail has gone away for a week and come back without returning to that bloody mess. Just vanished, gone nowhere but not been here. And that is, Will knows, probably not unique to her.]

She was murdered first, though. She's very much gone.

I don't have any reason to go against him. [That, at least, he sounds absolutely certain of. He is stating an absolute. It would be nice if it could stay that way.] Thank you for telling me. This is good information to have.

[And, fortunately, he can't return the favor. Not exactly.]

You're welcome.

...oh, one more thing - he's...honorable, in his own way. And he can be charming. I think...he sees all of this as a game. Other people's lives don't really matter to him, except in how they can be used.

And he's very powerful, with his alchemy.

He...likes teasing me. I think he'll be hunting Ed, because Ed made that post. I don't want him hunting other people.

[Winry sighs. There's probably more she could tell Will about Mr. Kimblee, but surely that's enough to start off with? And Mr. Mustang and Riza - and Ed - knew more about him than she did.]

[After a few minutes' delay, Will sends the conversation with Billy and nothing else. He's typed it up exactly as it happened, not a period or comma lost in translation, using K and G to represent Billy and himself instead of full names or initials.]

That's all of it.

Wait, she was what?!

[His shock is loud and immediate. He can't be hearing this right. He was no fan of Freddie Lounds, but that didn't mean he wanted her dead!]

[It was highly embarrassing. Chilton took a few minutes to soak in the conversation, the potential implications -- and then a few more minutes with his hand over the bridge of his nose.]

It was highly inappropriate of him to contact you.

[Not to say that he wasn't grateful; Will's intention was not forgotten.]

Murdered.

[There is no shock on Will's end. He's had enough time to digest it, and has known all along that the only way to take Freddie Lounds out of the picture is to do so with something lethal. It's a sad fact that must be dealt with at this point, and where Miles is loud and quick, Will is quiet, slowly repeating that single word. Not that he does so in the mocking way someone might with a person who was being obtuse. More that he's calm, waters flat instead of turbulent, still awash with blood.]

[Something about how it was an abnormal situation and an abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal buzzes at the back of his mind, that Billy might not have been "inappropriate" if not for what was going on, but like hell if he'll put it out there. That little nugget of "wisdom" come straight from Hannibal Lecter, who he doesn't quite enjoy thinking about in the first place, and Chilton has had enough exposure to Hannibal Lecter that Will risks him picking up on just where he got it from. Better to push it all aside, just like he would have done with certain memories if Freddie and Will had gotten back to Heropa on time and that serum actually got used.]

I'll tell him that if he ever asks me about you again. [Right from the horse's mouth, badum tish.] You still want to point in his direction?

[Welp. That sure sounds familiar. It also sounds like the person Will is going to avoid at all costs, because fuck that noise and fuck going through it again. Unless something comes up to prove Freddie had a run in with alchemy, this isn't currently his business.]

I know just the type. [Unfortunately for the world (worlds) at large, that sort isn't very uncommon. People.] I'll keep an eye out, and let you know when things settle so we can see about this dog. Sound good?

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