247/Pocket Change

Pocket Change
Date of Scene:	03 May 2017
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Karrin Murphy, 148, Harry Dresden

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Karrin Murphy has posed:
Halfway into Harry driving to get Karrin last night, she called him and told him to turn around, the hospital *apparently* likes to keep people over night if they've been shot, so she said she'd figure her own way home tomorrow. Apparently, she talked her way into going back to work, because she's back on the job and has had an interesting night already. Interesting enough that Karrin's called Harry as soon as she's gotten back to the station.

Of course, that puts the time at about 1 am. Not a time Michael and Harry SHOULD be together, but for some reason, fate conspired tonight that the men are sitting together just as the phone rings. Karrin's voice is clear across the receiver as she begins, "Uh...Harry? Hey. I need to hire you for a consult. Usual rate. Picked up another shifter charm off a scene tonight. Some woman went... completely nuts. But this one is a coin. Looks real old, too..."

Michael Carpenter (148) has posed:
"Something's wrong."

That would be Michael Carpenter. The man returns from Harry's little kitchen with some hot coffee for each of them, and has a grave expression upon his bearded face. No, he is not talking about the truck (his truck) that just //happened// to have broken down on Harry's street.

He is talking about the phone call.

Which he hasn't even heard yet.

Michael does not look surprised. Setting down the coffee he takes a breath and nods his head. "Where do we need to be, Harry?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
"Sure, Michael. I'll give you a ride home in the Beetle. It's only fair since you tend to be giving me rides..." It is about this time that the phone rings at Harry's apartment. 1am isn't unusual for the wizard to be awake, but having Michael there is somewhat unusual. "Oh, Hey Murph. A consult, this late? Yeah...sure, but I have Michael here with me. His car broke down, and I was just about to give him a ride home. Can it wait till I drop him off?" He look over to Michael and shrugs a shoulder before speaking back into the phone, "You think that this old coin had something to do with her transformation? How do you know it was a shifter coin?"

Karrin Murphy has posed:
"Uh...I suppose I don't. The Batman fought her down. He said she was shape shifted and she was holding this coin. I've got it double baggied and she hasn't lost her head again, so..." Karrin responds, casual as can be. Being that they made it to the hospital without incident, she's feeling fairly confident about all of this.

Michael Carpenter (148) has posed:
"Coin?"

Michael's face turns steely. "What coin?" There's something in his demeanour that might suggest he already knows. Murmuring the words, "Christ Preserve," the Knight of the Cross starts walking toward the door ahead of Dresden, snagging his coat on the way.

At the door, he pauses, then looks over his shoulder at his wizardly friend. "We need to go there now, Harry. If it is what I think it is..." And he briefly closes his eyes. "Come prepared. My sword is in the car -- I'll explain when we get there..."

And he disappears outside.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Blinking as Michael up and heads out, he mutters into the phone, "Um...I think Michael is coming with me. We should be there in 15."

20 minutes and a ticket later, Harry strolls into the GCPD SPECTRE division headquarters and gets buzzed in, making his way to Karrin's office.

"Heyya Murph." he says with a scowl, "Sorry we're late. I got a damned ticket for going through a red light... It was yellow! I swear it was yellow."

Karrin Murphy has posed:
A slight sigh, but Murphy did instruct them both over the phone that she'd meet them back at the station. She left the woman sedated at the hospital, with instructions to keep her that way until Murphy could confirm if the shifter is out of the woman or not. So, they are back at GCPD, in the small back corner of the bullpent that is reserved for SPECTRE alone, complete with Murphy's laughable office and two desks outside for the teams that get switched through on a weekly basis.

Murphy nods them both inside her office and, sure enough, there is a double bagged Denarius coin sitting on the top of her desk. It's hard to tell exactly what the figure is through the two layers of ziploc bags, but Michael could probably feel the weight, the power of the coin, if nothing else. Karrin doesn't seem bothered or changed, and the coin is still remaining in bags, so that's probably a good sign she somehow avoided touching it. "You...didn't have to rush, boys. I mean, the emergency seems over. She's sedated in the hospital. I mainly just need to know if she's going to shift on the hospital staff again when she wakes up or not. So... I need the experts." She nods towards the coin.

Michael Carpenter (148) has posed:
"It was yellow..." is Michael's distracted reply to Harry's protestations about the traffic light. "...until you crossed the line." Despite commenting on the traffic fine, the knight's attention is fixated upon the Denarius. Whatever the significance of the coin, its presence appears to have turned Michael's face gray. Gaunt.

"Hello, Detective Murphy," he tells Karrin absently. "Who else... has touched the coin? Anyone? Although..." and his gaze tracks toward the side, perhaps envisioning the woman sedated in the hospital. "You were right to call us... Have I... mentioned anything about the Order of the Blackened Denarius before? Harry?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
Pursing his lips slightly when Karrin mentions not having to rush, Harry grumbles. "You called me at 1am... I thought it was urgent. I can't afford a ticket, Murph. Well, maybe I can after this job...but."

He pauses as Michael starts talking, looking over to the Fist of God. Seeing the Knight's face go grey, Harry's eyes widen ever so slightly, "I don't think so, Michael. Who are they?"

Karrin Murphy has posed:
"The Batman didn't want to leave me with that coin. He was... very nervous about it. And a GOOD woman is being kept in an artificial coma, who man ALREADY have brain damage, because we can't risk letting her wake back up and slaughter an ICU full of people. So, the sooner I know if that is what was controlling her and if it can do it long distance or not, the sooner we can try to let her wake up and lessen her chances of that damage, Harry. She was a nurse. She worked for Doctors without Borders. Is that enough of an emergency for you?" Murphy, her own right arm still bandaged beneath her uniform shirt, seems less than happy with the man across from her. But that's not a rare sight, and she's probably less than happy with the world right now.

She then takes a slow breath, looking back over to Michael as she tries to calm her pulse and consider his words, "...Blackened.. Denarius? You certainly haven't told me. So, share with the classroom. No one else has touched the coin. Batman was wearing gloves and I certainly didn't feel like getting crazy shifter in my head, so I picked it up with the evidence baggie. Seemed safer that way."

Michael Carpenter (148) has posed:
Michael nods his head a few times, then calmly turns to look at Murphy as he stands to his full height. "It will be alright, Karrin. Have faith."

'THRUMM...'

Taking a breath -- partly to process news of the damage that has already been done to innocents thanks to the coin, and partly to pray for the souls of those afflicted.... which he will be doing again, throughout the night -- Michael releases it in a sigh, and lifts his chin.

Watching the coin.

"When our Lord was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the Pharisees paid Judas in thirty pieces of silver -- Denarii." The knight motions toward the coin with his head. "//That// is one of them. Each coin became a vessel for one of the Fallen -- angels, turned to evil -- and whenever a man, woman... or child picks up the coin with one's bare hand..."

He pauses to take another breath, and shakes his head a bit. "He or she falls under the sway of the spirit within. The woman you have in an induced coma... is now the vessel for what the Church calls 'a Denarian'."

Another pause.

"Sworn enemies of the Knights of the Cross." Looking from Karrin to Harry, Michael adds gravely: "No one is to touch that coin with their bare hands -- even gloves are... unreliable. For now, I'll wrap it in my tabard and return it to the Church. God be with us all if there are more of these surfacing..."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"Hell's bells! You're telling me that that is one of /those/ damned coins?" Harry says as he looks over at the double bagged coin, moving over to take a closer look at it by picking up the bag by one of the edges to get a better look.

"But we have the coin now, right? So the woman is going to be alright now, yes?" He turns the bag over to see the other side, examining it with the utmost curiosity.

He looks back to Michael as he talks about taking the coin to the church, looking between him and Murphy, "I'm not sure she is going to let you do that, Michael. It being evidence in a crime and all."

Karrin Murphy has posed:
The short blonde listens to both of them, her expression wary, and clearly weary. It's been a long few nights, she's still sporting stitches over that glancing gunshot from yesterday, and seeing someone in the state she did earlier weighs on anyone. Even an experienced cop. Where as most other cops, however, would be screaming bullshit about Michael's words, Karrin just frowns a bit deeper. She looks over to Harry, searching for any hint that Michael is full of it, some starry eyed, religious nut case. She knows it's not true, but a girl can dream. "...He's serious, isn't he?" She asks Harry, her tired voice flat, deadpan.

"...You're serious, aren't you?" Karrin echoes herself a heartbeat later, looking back to Michael. The question is rhetorical at this point. She finally sinks down into the chair at her desk, head in the hand of her good arm as she breathes out a low curse word she should not be saying in front of a man of god, but sometimes a girl forgets after midnight. "...No. I... I'll take the flack for losing evidence. Only Batman and myself really know about it anyway. He just wanted to be sure it'd be secure. If you're serious about it's origins... the church is probably the best place for it. But yes, about Harry's question -- if she's free of the coin, now, will she go back to normal?"

Michael Carpenter (148) has posed:
"Thank you, Detective."

Michael takes a breath, and retrieves his tabard from under his coat. Using a corner of it, he wraps up the Denarius very, very carefully, and tucks the bundle under his jacket once more.

Then he shakes his head.

"Things are going to get worse," he murmurs bleakly. That should serve as an answer to the question regarding just how serious he is. "Much worse -- and it will depend on her strength of will." He refers to the woman in the induced coma. "When she's awake -- and she will awaken -- she may appear normal, if only to fool you. Then the personality of the Fallen will start to emerge. I...imagine a serial killer with thousands of years to perfect the art of manipulation, deception... and death."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"I'm afraid he probably is, Murph. I don't think Michael isn't capable of lying." He looks to the Fist of God, "I think he might burst into flame if he tried."

Harry frowns and turns his attention back to Murphy as says she will take the flack for the missing coin. "Stars and stones, Murphy! IA has already been down your throat more times in the last two years than I have had sex in the same timeframe. They are just looking for an excuse to remove you and you know it. Rudolph gets wind of this and they will be all over your ass."

He turns as he watches Michael take the coin, frowning deeper as the Knight continues to explain. "Wait, so you're telling me just getting rid of the coin isn't going to do shit for her? How in hell do we help her then?"

Karrin Murphy has posed:
Karrin watches Michael and the coins like someone watching a professional handle a bomb. She trusts him not to accidentally detonate it, he knows what he's doing, but there is always that risk of a live wire you didn't expect, or a wrong breeze, or just dumb bad luck. Always the slight holding of your breath until everything is away. Even when the coins are well and out of reach, in a holy tabard, the exhaustion in her gaze is mostly replaced by a wary adrenaline and nerves. She won't exactly sleep easy tonight. She breathes out slowly, pushing her good hand back through her short blodne bob as she considers all of this.

"...Harry's got the right of it, the most important question -- How DO we help her? Because I'm not about to release a serial killer on the streets of Chicago. IA is my last concern... that woman, and what she could do to this town, are my primary worry." That was always Karrin, putting everything, and everyone, before herself. Much like everyone else in this room. They all had the same bad habits, hence their mutual respect for each other.

Michael Carpenter (148) has posed:
"Prayer," says the Man of God quite simply, with that telltale pulse of energy that Dresden will no doubt sense. Then he adds: "Watchfulness; keep a protective detail on her -- I've no idea when she'll break out of the coma. And for the rest, we prepare for a f..."

Michael pauses, and lifts a hand to rub the side of his jaw. When he goes to speak again, his cellphone rings, and -- upon seeing the name on it -- he answers.

"Hello, Hon," he murmurs. "I'm sorry... I'm at the station with Detective Murphy. ..." He glances at Harry, and lifts his eyebrows a bit. "Yes... Harry's here too -- no, it's not his fault. Charity..."

Another pause.

"One of the Coins has surfaced. ...Yes. I'm sure. I have it now -- we'll get it to Father Forthill tonight." Then the man listens for a moment and suddenly looks stricken with sorrow. "...Yes. She's in an induced coma -- a nurse. There have already been some injuries..." Michael listens again and turns toward Murphy.

"What's the woman's name?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry Dresden purses his lips into a tight line. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it again. "Damnit Murph..." He sighs, knowing deep down that she is right and that he would do the same thing in her shoes. Harry reaches up and combs his fingers through his hair. "I swear, if Rudolph gives you any grief, I am going to send Toot over there to put icy hot in his underwear drawer or something.

He looks to Michael, What about a exorcism? I can go grab some gear and..."

He pauses as Michael's phone rings, wincing when his name is mentioned in a conversation with Charity. He shrugs, gives a sly smile and says, "Tell he I say hi."