lifetothefullest | [IC Inbox]

Yes, but I'd also like to speak to anyone who was present and is willing to talk to me.

[He can learn a lot more from individuals than from potentially biased paperwork. And, considering what's been happening lately at the FBI, he doesn't trust reports not to have been altered.

What Maketh tells him is indeed useful, and it's another piece of the puzzle to consider even if it's not enough on its own.]

Again, that speaks to his confidence, although it shows he does have limits he doesn't want to cross. It's definitely worth knowing, and means you might have some effective options in dealing with him in the future.

Of course. I'll provide you with a list.

[She's a little annoyed he doesn't trust the reports - her files are immaculate - but that's hardly the point. Any information he can provide could help in the future.]

I'm not certain it was a limit. He wasn't afraid of getting hurt when he attacked my men. Perhaps it was simply pragmatism. Avoiding unnecessary pain. It wouldn't have gotten him anything.

[Maketh lifts her chin, meeting Lance's gaze head on.]

I rigged a device to keep him still, you see. A small explosive with a pressure sensitive trigger. Plenty of shrapnel. It wouldn't have killed him. But it would have hurt.

[Well, at least she agreed. He nods a little at her clarification although he isn't so sure about her conclusions, but he's not going to write them off just yet.

Also, wow. Things he definitely didn't want to know, and it's kind of last straw just how matter-of-factly she tells him this. He stares back at her evenly.]

You sound almost proud of that.

I designed a temporary solution. [Maketh narrows her eyes a little. He ought to be pleased. It means Sato can be contained.] What I did was entirely logical.

I'm sure that what this person you're talking about did was perfectly logical to him, too.

[Just pointing that out there.]

I am nothing like him!

[How dare he. Maketh twitches. Forces herself to smile.]

I--I do not cause harm to others for the sake of it.

For the sake of it, probably not.

[He'll give her that much, but there's a fine tipping point there.]

But it doesn't seem to bother you either, and you have no trouble justifying your actions. He can surely do the same, and believes in those justifications just as strongly.

I am an officer of the Imperial Court!

[She doesn't mean to yell. It just comes out that way, rage boiling so close under the surface. Maketh shivers, clenching her fists.]

I am not weak like him. I will perform my duty with the u--utmost dedication and honor!

[This is the point where, in the FBI office and with Booth five feet away, he would normally keep needling; outbursts mean he's hitting upon some sort of nerve, and therefore important information.

But he's alone here, even if there might be someone somewhere else in the building, and he has zero interest in getting into a fight or being shot. And, considering the subject matter, he thinks those are distinct possibilities if she gets angry.

So he changes strategies for the moment, his point made, and tries a different approach.]

What is your definition of honor?

What? [Maketh shivers all over. She doesn't know why she said that, why she always says that. It just happens sometimes. But she can't look weak in front of him, he'll take advantage. Can't let that happen, have to do something about it before he gets ideas.] That I will do what is necessary. For these people. And not for myself. Why are you asking that?

It means different things to different people, sometimes drastically so.

[And her answer doesn't reassure him much.]

It only means you have rules. [Of course those rules change, but you must follow them. Otherwise you're nothing. Maketh lifts her chin, daring him to comment.] And that you will do what is required. I will always perform my duty.

[He stares back at her evenly, but wary as he responds.]

At its most basic level, yes, it means you have rules. But integrity and moral ideals are also part of honor, and those are what vary so wildly.

Morality is a useless gesture. [Maketh snorts. How naive can he possibly be?] An inconvenience your enemies will not share. If you cannot counter them with every possible means, then the people under your command will suffer for your abject failure to do what is necessary. You would have made a weak officer, Doctor Sweets. Your men would have killed you themselves.

[Lance can't even be insulted by that.]

Morality is what separates us from being the people whose crimes we're investigating.

[He could say more, but that's what it comes down to. They go into their jobs knowing they're adhering to a stricter code than the people they're dealing with and that puts them at a disadvantage, sometimes to a great extent. But that risk is necessary and worth it to not become the monsters they deal with.]

Then you are destined to fail.

[She says it quite simply.]

If your enemies have been gentle enough to allow this, then--then perhaps your world is---kinder than mine. You will not find it so in Hadriel. And if you intend to protect anyone, then you will step aside when the time comes and allow me to do what needs to be done. Someone must.

You're drawing a lot of conclusions with very little evidence.

[It's a mild way of saying 'you're wrong' without bothering to actually challenge her outright. He doesn't need--or want--to; the more she talks the more he learns.]

Nothing you've done has proven me wrong. [Maketh eyes him up and down, mouth set in a thin line.] I expected more from your FBI.

I'm not trying to prove you wrong. We're not in competition.

[And he's not going to bother with the FBI part; he's just one person and the FBI's been... Strange lately anyway, so he doesn't feel a great need to defend its integrity.]

But you disagree with my methods.

[That's been made perfectly clear. Maketh frowns at him.]

I do not display the proper conduct. Is that correct?

There are lines I don't think should be crossed for any reason, and we're in disagreement on where those lines are.

[So yes, he disagrees with her methods and thinks she doesn't display proper conduct. But he's also aware that this isn't the FBI--it probably isn't even Earth--and so 'proper conduct' is a more grey area. The morality, though, he finds universal.]

I see.

[Maketh tips her head to the side, watching him.]

Do you intend to challenge my position in the Guard?

Is that what you're concerned about?

[He doesn't answer the question, though not because he doesn't have an answer; no, he doesn't plan to challenge her for leadership, at least not to take the position. He hasn't learned enough about the situation to decide what--if anything--to do just yet.

Besides, he's a lot more interested in why that's the question she asked.]

You are fond of answers questions with questions, Doctor Sweets.

[The look she gives him is not especially gentle.]

But it is the reality of our situation. If you believe my conduct is unbecoming, therefore I am unfit to lead. In which case I would remind you that the guard operates under joint leadership. Henry Percy also holds command.

[It's a subtle warning as well. Challenge Maketh and in doing so, challenge Henry as well.]

[He ignores her first comment entirely, but at the second he raises his eyebrows slightly and sits back in his chair a bit.]

Good to know.

[It's mild but genuine, as the information is something he wasn't aware of and therefore useful. He'll have to find an opportunity to speak with Henry and see what he's like; if he tempers Maketh a bit then perhaps the situation is a little better than Lance thinks it might be.]

What was his opinion on how to handle the individual that attacked your headquarters?

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