Through this doorway what's on the other side

[ctu_savior]

WHO: Jack Bauer and John Raimi
WHERE: Police training facility
WHEN: The following takes place between 1 PM and 2 PM. Events occur in real time.
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: John's looking for a job, and Jack thinks he'd be perfect for STARS. But before one can get recruited to the police's tactical unit, one has to get recruited to the police.

Comments

[spirit_hunted]

Most of John Raimi's time with the military, and most of his missions, for that matter, had taken place overseas. It would be interesting to do his job in a more localized setting.

He arrived for his interview precisely on time, an art form he'd perfected over years of working with the military. It wasn't that Raimi was worried, exactly, but it had been a long time since he'd been in this position. The fact that his last job had come from Norman Osborn felt like a terrible stain on his work history, even though the work itself had been completely above board and legal.

His own brief and completely illegal investigation of Norman didn't make him feel any better about it.

"Mr. Bauer," John greeted when he arrived.

[ctu_savior]

"Thanks for coming, John, have a seat. And call me Jack," he said, smiling a little. John's past with Osborn was a major question mark on his future with STARS. Jack intended to make completely sure that Raimi hadn't known anything about Osborn's criminal activities before he gave him a shot.

"Before we start, do you have any questions? About the team, the force?"

[spirit_hunted]

"No questions right now, Jack," John answered. It was a little odd to be called by his first name again.

This seemed like a fairly straightforward interview. He doubted it would be nearly as rigorous as the polygraphs, drug tests, and other hoops he had jumped through before he was cleared to work in his job at home.

[ctu_savior]

"All right." And then Jack reached under the desk and placed a portable polygraph kit in front of John. "I'm hoping this won't be necessary, John, so it's important that you answer all my questions truthfully. Please believe me when I say that I've been trained enough to make this thing-" he nodded at the kit- "redundant. If I don't think you're being straight with me, the polygraph will come into play, and if it agrees with me, you're gone. You understand?"

No one else on the team had gotten this kind of heat, but each of them had already been a police officer and not an Osborn employee. Jack had to be sure; he'd had far too many bad experiences with moles to take any risks.

[spirit_hunted]

John was surprised, but didn't express that much. Either Jack was more careful than any other cop John had known, and what he said about training indicated as much, or Raimi was getting special treatment due to his brief association with Osborn.

It was poor timing, arriving just as Osborn was outed and needing a new job, but if he'd not mentioned it, it could have come back to bite him later. Rather than voicing any of his thoughts, he nodded.

"I will answer all your questions truthfully to the extent that I'm able. I've already informed you of the areas I'm unwilling to discuss." The chances that anything Raimi said or did here would effect his home were slim, and he was being flexible with the agreements just by admitting what he once did, but he refused to give anything more than a vague outline.

[ctu_savior]

Jack nodded. "Fine. Let's get started." He opened up Raimi's file, not looking away from his eyes. "Tell me about the work you did for Osborn."

[spirit_hunted]

Right to that, then. Raimi couldn't help but wince slightly. He wondered for a moment if his previous involvement with Osborn was what Jack was really interested in, and this job interview was an excuse to speak to him about it.

"I worked in one of his labs, and was a member of his Avengers team during my previous stay in the city. I was allowed to pursue my own projects and catch up with the advances that exist here in terms of lab equipment manufacturing. The specific project I was pursuing was a spray-on liquid glass."

John suspected he knew where this line of questioning was going, but didn't want to get ahead of himself.

[ctu_savior]

Spray-on liquid glass? It sounded like Raimi's science might be useful to STARS even outside of field work. Jack made a mental note to find out what he could do for the helicopter- if he got the job, but didn't let his interest show on his face. "Were you aware of any suspicious or illegal activity that Osborn or his associates could have been involved in?"

[spirit_hunted]

"I was not. I spent most of my time in lab areas and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. If there had been anything going on in the labs, I would have seen it. I was trained, and have experience in locating evidence of illegal weapons manufacturing. I've dealt with companies similar to Osborn's before," Raimi answered. That still bothered him, that he worked for the man and hadn't had any idea. But even when he'd gone back through the place looking for anything suspicious he hadn't been able to find anything.

Osborn was very good at hiding his illegal activities. Knowing what he knew now did give the tense, almost hostile relationship between the two Avenger teams a new light. It was horrible to think that the other team had known what kind of person Osborn was, but had been unable to act.

John wasn't going to volunteer information about his own investigation, but he was sure that if there was something there to find, he would have found it. Hiding something from a ghost was nearly impossible.

[ctu_savior]

Jack added 'illegal weapons manufacturing' to his mental list of things Raimi could help with. According to his instincts, which he trusted, Raimi was telling the truth. "What do you know about a man called 'Cavil?'"

[spirit_hunted]

He thought it over for a moment, but shook his head, "I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with anyone by that name."

Given the line of questioning so far, it was a fair bet that 'Cavil' was related to Osborn's current incarceration.

[ctu_savior]

"He's a fugitive that Osborn's been in contact with, responsible for as series of political assassinations that Osborn ordered," Jack said grimly. "I need to know if you ever heard his name mentioned, or if you know about any kind of secret communications passing between Osborn and another party." It was a long shot, but if there was a chance that Raimi knew something that could help with Cavil Jack had to take it. By now Jack was convinced that John was another innocent who'd been deceived into being part of Osborn's agenda: his gut said so, and he was showing no suggestions at all that he wasn't being truthful. After this they would be able to move on to more practical questions.

[spirit_hunted]

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about that beyond what's been officially released," Raimi answered, he paused for a moment before adding, "If there had been anything in the lab or other areas of his business, I would have found out about it."

[ctu_savior]

That sounded interesting. John had said he was trained to locate illegal activity by company's like Osborn's, which spoke highly of Osborn's ability to hide what he'd been up to. If there was anything that hadn't come to light yet, it was buried deep.

"All right." Jack switched to the next set of questions without showing any visible satisfaction or dissatisfaction with John's answers so far, although the polygraph kit remained untouched on the desk. "Tell me everything you can about your experience with your previous unit- training, combat deployments, situations where you used your expertise in the field." In other words, how much ass had John kicked and how much ass was he qualified to kick?

[spirit_hunted]

Moving on to this subject was a bit of a relief, even if Raimi had to be careful about what he mentioned in regards to his training and the activity he had conducted

[ctu_savior]

Jack noted John's tension as he jotted down a few notes on his story. That mission must have gone seriously wrong, judging by Raimi's body language. Jack would have to make sure that his experiences wouldn't affect his future work. At any rate, John's experiences and training definitely qualified him for the kind of functions Jack had in mind.

"Thank you John," he said quietly. "Now I'd like to ask you about your powers. Everyone brought here by the Porter either has some superhuman ability already, or is modified to have one. STARS members use their powers as much as they do any form of equipment. I need to know what you're bringing to the table here."