11847/Digging Up The Past : The Burden of Gaylord Green

Digging Up The Past : The Burden of Gaylord Green
Date of Scene:	27 July 2020
Location:	Only the Punisher Knows...
Synopsis:	Frank seeks out the accomplice
Cast of Characters:	Phantasm (Drago), Punisher
Tinyplot:	Digging Up The Past

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Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Darkness. Darkness with a thin band of not completely dark. Almost greenish yellow. That's more or less the best way to describe what Gaylord's seeing right now. No. He's not unconscious. No, it wasn't dark in the room. So why praytell is it so dark for him right now? Because of the God damn blindfold over his eyes.

Truth be told there's not much in the room anyways. There's no window. Other than the chair he's tied to, there's one other chair, off to the far end of the room, coincidentally enough that's also where the door is. But he wouldn't know these things.

All he knows is that he had just closed the store. Someone came up from behind and- Well he's here now and the father of one is rather concerned at the moment. He's got a sixteen year old kid at home who better NOT be inviting any girls over. He's too young to become a grandpa.

Punisher has posed:
"Wakey wakey sunshine." Comes a grating voice out of nowhere.

The one thin light (specifically designed to ONLY give a beam of light on the chair) is turned on, and the blindfold is suddenly ripped off. "We have some quality time to spend together." The voice from the darkness says as it begins to walk around the room, just out of sight. The setup is designed to keep his eyes in the bright, so he can't get a good look at his surroundings with adjusted night vision. It's a classic interrogation tactic to keep the subject guessing and afraid.

Can't assess what you can't see, after all.

From the left, the voice begins, "Tell me about Malcom Moretti." The voice in the darkness demands, casually. "Everything."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The voice coming out of nowhere was, not quite expected. Well, for sure he assumed he would have heard footsteps or something but just the vo- HOW LONG WAS HE SITTING THERE?!

When the blindfold is ripped off, the wide black of the dilated pupils retreat back to a tiny pinpoint rapidly in reaction. His eyes closing as he does his damndest not to go blind from the sudden onslaught. "AGH!

He tilts his head downwards, trying to find an angle where he's not getting a direct hit and instead has to resort to closing his eyes back shut.

Malcom Moretti... Oh gosh that's an old name. He stutters, shaking his head, giving a sigh, "Oh come on, the answers the same as the last few times. I still don't know where he is. The light thing's not going to change that."

Punisher has posed:
"I'm not anyone you've met before." The voice answers, "I'm not anyone you WANT to meet, if you've done something to get me on your ass. You're a reformer, I can respect that. To a point." The voice continues from the right as he continues to circle the room, the soft footsteps of his combat boots echoing in the soundproofed room.

"You don't want to give me reason to turn this into an interrogation. Right now, I'm just asking questions." The voice continues from the back... then to the left. "Who else wanted to know?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Gaylord's mouth parts a bit in confusion and he starts to turn towards the voice before thinking twice about it. He faces forwards, closing his eyes tightly. "...You're not with Drago?"

Punisher has posed:
As he moves in front, the man the voice belongs to steps foward a bit. Going into the light, the Punisher's body right up to the skull vest can now be seen clearly.

"No. I'm not. How about you tell me about him, too?" The Punisher grates out.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Feeling the light on his eyelids fading a bit, Gaylord curiously opens one eye slowly, regretting the decision soon after seeing the white on black pattern peering back at him. "...fuck."

He shakes his head, "Listen, I had no idea what Malcom was going to do. I went in thinking it was just going to be a robbery. When I heard the shot I pulled him out before he could get the kid and I sure as hell did not know that was his wife and son!"

Punisher has posed:
"What difference would it have made if it was or not?" The Punisher asks, "You were a piece of shit stealing what didn't belong to you, and you didn't care who got in your way."

The Punisher leans forward, his eyes full of focused fury, "/Why/ did you care?" the Punisher hisses out.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Gaylord winces, glancing downwards, taking a deep breath, "I didn't know until later who they were. Y-yeah. I stole. I may even have threatened. But I. Don't. Kill. He didn't have to do that. It was just- Herd them into a closet, lock them in, register, safe, card info, That's it. That was the plan."

His hands lift, slightly before the ropes remind him that he can't move them. "I don't know why he- I couldn't stop him from killing the housekeeper but I sure as hell wasn't going to let him kill a kid. Who does that?"

Punisher has posed:
"So tell me about him." The Punisher pulls back into the dark again, starting to walk around the chair once more. "I want details. Malcolm is a person of interest."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The man's head twists, trying to look to Frank as he paces, before he just tilts head back, squinting at the ceiling. Not a really good position as it exposes his throat easily but as far as Gaylord's concerned, he's not sure there is even an advantageous position available for a man currently tied to a chair. "Uh. Well, I grew up in the kitchen. Didn't really do well on my own. The other kids kept focusing on the name. And Malcom wasn't like that. He was a few years older, caught on to me having problems and he kind of put a stop to it. No one messed with me when he was around. By the time he was done people were calling me 'G' and..." He pauses, "Well, it was nice. I was grateful. So, if he asked for a favor, I'd help him out. And there were a few. Back him up in a fight. Watch out for trouble...Because, he was my best friend."

A finger taps on the side of the chair. "...You know. When you have a lot of time separated apart to think about it, you start to realize how shitty your friends really are. "

Punisher has posed:
"Time has a way of doin' that to you." The Punisher notes, "So he stood up for you. Helped you out. Then, he asked you to do a favor for him, help him in fights. Makes sense you'd want to repay him. Honor among friends and all that."

He continued pacing, "then, he uses that friendship to coax you into a robbery. Why'd you go along with it?" As he continues to the mans left... "It was minor, but you knew goin' in it was takin' what didn't belong to you. Then, he shot someone. Did you have any reason to suspect he was gonna do that?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"He said he was in trouble and needed more money than a store would get him. A hotel that was nice enough to attract business types but not big enough to have security staff." Gaylord responds shaking his head, "I had no clue he was going to do that. I thought it was just supposed to be a robbery. I-"

He shakes his head, "I don't get it. He was a dad too. He should've kn-" He shakes his head, taking a deep breath, "should've known better."

Punisher has posed:
Silently, the Punisher moves to one side of the room, and whispers into his commlink, "Microchip, take a look at GCPD and FBI protective custody files. See if you can find Malcolm. Everythin' in my gut is tellin' me he cut a deal."

Then, The Punisher starts to circle again, "Sometimes, you think you know a person... but you just really don't. I've been there. I know exactly what you mean." The Punisher continues from his right, "You got any idea who he owed to?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"No." He sighs, "I know, probably should have asked questions but I didn't. I just know that Drago's pissed at him and his son. That family just loves to poke at dragons." He groans, "And I don't know where the hell he went off to either."

Punisher has posed:
"Why is Drago pissed at him?" The Punisher continues from the front.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Because he basically tried to finish what his dad started." Gaylord answers, eyes closing fully again. "Okay, look. Kitchen was never a nice place to grow up in. You form your friendships early. Friendships protect you and those who are different have a hell of a time til they learn to defend themselves but, even then there's- a process. Taking a bat to the back of a 16 year old's head without warning isn't part of it."

Punisher has posed:
"You're gonna have to explain that. Readin' up on Hell's Kitchen culture is not one of my hobbies." Punisher sarcastically replies. "Both what he tried to finish, and about the bat to the head."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Gaylord sighs. "Ok, the basic gist I got from that period was that he tried to kill Drago's son by bludgeoning him with a bat. Sent the kid to the hospital. It was bad enough that the police actually bothered following up on it. But by the time they were looking for Dennis, he was gone too."

Punisher has posed:
"Know anything about the agents who talked to you about the whole thing? I hear it was a circus." Punisher continues from the right.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The man seems confused, "Agents?" He pauses, "I talked with some cops when they were looking for Dennis but... No one else came up about that." He pauses, frowning. "Although, I did talk to a suit about the hotel shooting."

Punisher has posed:
The Punisher takes out a picture of Schwizer, showing it in the light. "Ring a bell?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Damn it. He's going to make him open his eyes. He just HAD to ask something that requires opening his eyes. An eye cautiously opens, trying to allow for himself to adjust to the light before he looks to the picture. His other eye flutters open as he starts to focus on the picture... "Hol-"

Gaylord catches himself, averting his head to cough away from Frank before looking back to the photo. "Twice over...Yeah, if you made him younger, he'd look like how he was when I talked to him but... I think I saw him like that too. I just don't remember where or when."

Punisher has posed:
"Good. I'll probably have questions for you later. For now, I have other business to attend to." Punisher notes. Then, he moves back around behind Green, takes out a rag, puts a bit of chloroform on it... then, he pushes the rag against the mans face from behind.

It will take seconds for him to be knocked out.

"Microchip, I need everything you have on Schwizer ASAP. It's time to see how far up the chain this goes."

Once he's out, the Punisher cuts the wrist bindings, sets the light to room mode, revealing the bed and toilet, and slides a tray of food inside the cell, before he closes and locks it.

Gaylord Green will be safe within the soundproofed apartment...

Schwizer will find his questioning far more violent.