Bait and Hook

[Jerry]

Not only did she bring her fucking partner. She yelled at him like he was just some other flunky. And then she completely ignored his questions. Jer reached across the women and grabbed the latch on the van door and shoved it open. "Get out."

There was motion out of the corner of his eye on one of the monitors and and Jer looked back at it through the red of fury in his eyes. The little girl was on the move. He watched as she tried to sneak past the front windows crouched down below them so no one on the inside would see. And then when she was past them she sprinted past the next few houses and darted around a corner. Jer clicked a button and changed the flight path of the hovering drone nearby to a wider path so he could keep a tail on her.

"Jerry?" A voice from outside the van said his name and his face turned towards her with worry. "What are you doing here?" The woman smirked, she knew something. Why was she here? Why was she interested in Durante.

"Kali. These ladies were just leaving."

Kali's smile widened, "They don't have to on my account. Looks like a good party you have going on here. Too bad Sergei isn't here." Jer growled at the last time he'd seen the woman standing outside of the van. Her hand touched both women with seduction. She'd done the same to the men at the tattoo shop as well. A causal touch no one would think twice about. It tickled something in the back of Jer's mind. Something he should remember.

[[ I'll post Kali next round, but you can feel whatever you want. She's looking for Jer ]]

[Jacinda]

The guy's eyes hardened and she couldn't help the grin. Yeah, she was being a bitch. And she didn't fucking care. She didn't like people glaring at her like that, as if she was his to command. She had bent enough for Regus and that was hard. This guy, though, pfft. Inquisitors always acted like they were the shit. At least the ones she had seen over the last year here.

Bah, maybe it was just projecting and was about Barovsky. Probably. He was just glaring, after all. But Barovsky, god, the guy was such a dick. Took issue with every little thing she did. News flash! Teams worked best if people knew the objective rather than simply given orders to follow. Situations changed. Strategies and tactics needed to be adapted from the ground level instantly. Teams that were fluid and knew each other and their goals could respond properly to anything. Those that required the team leader to make the decision were rigid and brittle.

She didn't miss the Archangels. Not really. A few of her teammates, sure. But that had turned out to be not for her. The other night, on the other hand, had been much better, even if she hadn't really known them. It had felt more...familiar. Comfortable. She chuckled at her thought from the other day. Not one that she shared even with Ten. The Spice Girls. Her love, of course. Cheesy girl pop. Katy. Taylor. Svetlana. Nomo Donna. Behind the bubbly fun, there was strength. The iron underneath the silk. Not that she had any particular veneer of silk. She was far too aggressive for that. But she loved it all the same.

Anyway, the inquisitor was pissed. Yeah, she hadn't even answered his question, she realized, at just about the same time she had realized that her animosity toward him might have been because of Barovsky. She actually opened her mouth to calm things down when he told them to get out as he opened the van door. She shrugged, amused at the tantrum but turned to the door to leave.

She was startled to see a woman standing there. But before Jacinda could even react to someone just popping up out of nowhere, the woman touched both of them.

Muscle memory, you know? Wasn't like she had any conscious thought. Truth was, there was no time for thought.

Jacinda popped her in the face.

[Tenzin]

She was still watching the screens when the inquisitor rescinded his invitation, his anger molten. Tenzin did not enjoy the fractious atmosphere, like adolescent cubs taking swipes while the adults were busy, and made some disgruntled sound in her throat. Hunting a channeler alone was foolish, particularly if this inquisitor didn’t even know for sure whether Durante had a pack around him. Rākṣasa hatyārā did not always have cause to work together, and like any normal grouping of men and women, when the quarry demanded cooperation amongst disparate souls there were grievances. But they were rarely do disrespectful in public.

Tenzin stood smoothly, frowning, dismayed with the pair of them. She had seen the slip of a girl sneaking out of the house the inquisitor watched so avidly, and noted his reaction. That didn’t much please her either, but in the presence of a brother’s anger she only formally inclined her head, acknowledging the rough dismissal. The Athari’s hierarchy was not her own, and she witnessed much she considered wrong this side of the world, but nonetheless she erred towards formality.

The scent of another warned her only a moment before the voice. She caught Jacinda’s arm, too late to save the stranger’s face, but enough to pin her partner’s arm from a second strike. Or to take it, if Jacinda was not finished punching civilians. They could argue that one later. Tenzin understood the instinct; her expression made that plain. And the woman had touched first. “Trouble,” she grumbled a reminder. Jacinda had shrugged off her words earlier, all charm and bluff, and it had been somewhat of a joke. She wasn’t surprised either, though.

Her dark eyes glanced behind at the stranger, cautious of retaliation, poised to intervene further if she found it necessary. Her nostrils flared, unsure of the heat within, and ignoring it for now. Control was a pillar of her life, though this was not usually one of the more base instincts she struggled with.

[Nox]

She'd been in Moscow for weeks and hadn't found a suitable man yet. There had been a challenge in the club interrupted by the fool boy with a sweet smile and he served his own challenge. He was resistant to her power, but still succumbed to it with ease. Nox had proven to be a joy to handle, but elusive to find again. Kali imagined it would have been like that if her lovers had survived their tragic and sudden deaths. She mourned them even now. They couldn't find her at least that was her intention. No one could know.

Running into Jerry in the tattoo shop had been fortuitous. She started following the man in hopes he'd lead her to Nox, but the man was failing as much as she had. He parked himself in in the same neigbhbor hood for days always in a different vehchile, always hiding in plain sight. What was he looking for here. This didn't look like something Nox would hide. He was of humble means, though he had refused to tell Kali where he'd been living. Some things were harder to pull from him than others.

She was growing weary of the hunt for the boy, there was an equally suitable man who she just had to approach, though he'd shown little interest in her. More interest in the boy than anyone else except the tattoo artist. But with her power it didn't matter preference. She'd taken up her wandering and was about to knock on the door when it pulled open with a sudden violence she was sure was misplaced and then after she'd opened her mouth and touched the two inside barely sending enough anything at all through the touch she was smacked in the face.

Kali recoiled in pain holding her nose and catching the blood that fell. Jerry rushed through between the two women, she could feel the anger radiating off of him as he touched her and forced her to stand up while he attended her dripping nose. He touched her and she soothed those fried nerves. She'd be his hope, his light, he'd want nothing more than to touch her.

[Jerry]

Everything happened so quickly there was barely any time to react. Kali's face was red with blood from the injury caused by cross. Jer pushed passed the two women to attend the wound growling as he went past. Cross was pissing him off. From what Martin's reports had been like that was par for course, but Jer didn't have to put up with it. Durante was his now. He was a traitor, he didn't give a flying fuck about his status as a god. He betrayed the Atharim. He swore his loyalty then at the first sign of danger he turned to the govenment for help. Like they could keep them safe.

Jer's whole body shook with fury as he tended Kali's nose. But with each tender dab the fire broke. Doused with a bucked of ice cold water in the middle of winter. But he looked at Kali with a renewed smile. It was overwhelming how beautiful she was.

The drone squawked on his intercom. An alert to say the target had gone out of it's range. "Fuck!" The anger returned as he pressed a cloth to stem the rest of Kali's bleeding. He had a choice to make. "You can either all get the fuck in the van or you can stay here and look like idiots. Durante is at Moscow University Hospital." Jer didn't give them much option has he slammed the door on the van shut and helped Kali into the passenger-side seat. He walked around to the front he hoped he could pick up the girls trail. Not that it mattered really he could just go to Moscow University. Was the girl even needed right now?

[Tenzin]

The stench of blood wrinkled her nose. The inquisitor stepped into the breach, anger spilling over, but since he tended to the injured woman Tenzin did not intervene further. Dark eyes appraised the woman with something approaching interest, and certainly curious, but it curtailed the moment fury popped like a bubble in the man beside her. Her brows rose a fraction. Emotions did not sway so quickly without intervention, not when they smelled so strongly. And suddenly Tenzin recognised a seed of uninvited lust in herself, and understood.

By then the van door shoved rudely closed.

Tenzin flexed the arm the woman’s touch had caressed like it suddenly felt dirty, watching as she was pressed into the passenger seat. Athari here hunted such creatures, but the idea turned Tenzin’s stomach. And she was the inquisitor’s problem now.

Her gaze bounced to Jacinda, brushing against knuckles probably stinging. She had trusted the woman more times than she could count, and would again, but trust in a pack -- even a pack of two -- worked both ways. Therein lie the problem, of course, when Tenzin’s morals diverged on the matter of prey. Jacinda had fought with Nox once, and cretin or not the inquisitor would need their help against a channeler, even if he was too foolish to accept it. That was where duty was.

She still had hold of that arm. Now she used it to pull Jacinda away.

“Following a girl,” she murmured, indicating the house the inquisitor had been watching. She’d seen her on the screen; knew who to look for. “Don’t hunt children, Jacinda. Won’t let him use her. We go. But we go to protect her.”

It was what it meant: Atharim. Too long and too often forgotten.

[Jacinda]

Jacinda's knuckles were a bit bruised but nothing she couldn't deal with. Strangers who pop up out of nowhere shouldn't reach out and touch people. Not if they didn't wanna get hurt, anyway. It was reflex, really. She felt a bit odd, though. Despite the blood dripping from her nose and the pain on her face, Jacinda couldn't help feeling a residual attraction to her. She was gorgeous, after all, so maybe that was it. Was kind of sudden, though. Jacinda didn't exactly have that happen all that often. At least not to this extent and so quickly.

And then Jacinda reeled, as if struck by blows. Two of them, actually. Nox was alive?!?! She had been sure the kid had died in their attack. He was at the hospital. Hmm...it had been weeks ago. Maybe he had been hurt really badly. Strangely, she felt no pleasure at the thought. Didn't even feel all that bad that he was still alive. That they had failed their mission. It was very odd.

She looked over at Ten, who was touching her arm, face turning to stone. Tenzin was pretty easy to get on with and was usually up for anything. Which was to say, she had only see her dig in a few times. Like when Jacinda had been injured and had wanted to hunt. She had been a no nonsense mom, then, and Jacinda had backed down. Yeah, she had been right. But Jacinda had just been so bored stuck in that house.

Her words were the other blow. She saw the feed of the girl replaying. Damn! She was young. She pursed her lips, thinking on Ten's words. In the past she had taken down channelers. And had helped eliminate their families. At the time, it had felt...right. Necessary. The war and all, right? Humanity against everything else.

But she felt a sliver of...discomfort now. She looked at Tenzin, into her nearly black eyes that were full of determination that said she would not budge on this. After a moment, she nodded. This was a partnership. And she wasn't completely sure how she felt anymore. She'd follow Ten's lead on this. God knew, Ten had done the same for her. She whispered, "Yeah. Ok." And gave her a small conspiratorial smile as she looked at the back of Jerry and the woman's head.

She spoke louder. "We're in!" and sat down and strapped in. So....she definitely wasn't an Archangel anymore. She wasn't sure what she was, really. Not anymore. So much had changed in the last month. She had changed. She was becoming something new. A bit scary, after so many years- decades, actually. But she had embraced a new life once before and survived. Thrived even. Mostly, anyway. And that was far harder. She had been alone.

Now, she had Ten with her. She could do this. She kind of liked how things were working out. Redefining herself yet again. She smiled, thinking on how they would have to handle the inquisitor and this woman. He didn't look soft, but most inquisitors had desk jobs. And their quarry were people within the atharim. Usually. She wouldn't assume anything, though. He was an unknown quantity to her.

[Jerry]

Jer tethered the drone to the girl. It would follow at max height hopefully out of sight. But the news of Durante was something he couldn't let slip by. She was the child of a god who slipped through the cracks, but that wasn't Jer's job. She'd be executed at a later date, Durante was first. "I suspect the girl is going to Durante. Their conversation dropped off into private mode and he's got a good hacker on his side our team can't get through." He said without thinking about the woman sitting next to him. She smiled smuggly as she sat there. He could only wonder why he was bringing her.

She needed medical care, and they were going to the hospital he rationalized as he veered away from the girl's path. "The drone will follow her. We will see if Durante is still there." He couldn't imagine why he'd be a ghost and resurface now - something happened.

"Now will you tell me about your encounter with Durante? Did he have allies? Should we expect more than just him? Anything useful that you didn't put in your report. Obviously he's alive, so your tactics didn't work. He was one of us, he knows how we work. And we aren't going in guns blazing, cornering him won't work. Alone or not, he's a reborn god, he's not a sick kid in an alley dying." Jer drove the three woman in the direction of Moscow University the girl all but forgotten.

[Nox]

Kali sat in the passenger seat being a fly on the wall. Her hand on Jerry's leg encouraged him to forget she was even there. It wouldn't work with the other two behind her, but she hoped that it wouldn't matter, he was being leader, he should lead. Even if she was let out now, a destination was already given and Kali could find the boy. Though this man might prove to be more interesting. Time would tell - which of the two would serve her needs better.

[[ have nothing to contribute sorry it's short ]]

[Tenzin]

Jacinda did not seem to question the presence of a civilian in the van, but Tenzin said nothing. She did watch her though, with her paw latched firmly onto the inquisitor’s leg, fuzzing up his scent with a strange mix of smells. Exposing the woman put her at risk, and if her practise was unreasonable she did not deserve to die for it. A complication though, certainly. Depending on what it was she wanted. She would not allow herself to be touched again.

“Injured?” she interrupted. “Why in hospital? If known. Advantage maybe.”

She had never met him, of course, but Tenzin did not relish that Nox Durante had once been considered pack. Fractures and splits had been all she’d seen since crossing the ocean, a society in turmoil and without identity since the loss of their Regus. Wolves rarely turned on their own. Jacinda acquiesced easily to protecting the child, and Tenzin suspected her own past might have influenced the judgement. What she wasn’t sure of was whether the woman had considered it the whole way through in those short seconds -- that the kid might be spirit-touched herself, and enemy by default. The thought of that budding confrontation did not gladden her, but it was bound to come up sooner or later. She did not want to lose the family she had gained, but she would not betray her own integrity to keep it. Silver called her stubborn, but even he would stand behind her in this.

As for Durante, she was not sure what could be done, but at least he was grown. Her own senses would tell her what she needed to know; she trusted those primal instincts more than she trusted Athari laws. Whatever they said he was, Tenzin would protect those that needed protecting, whoever that may be, and she would kill those that needed killing. But she would do it without judgement. The inquisitor had far too much anger for her liking.

As the van rumbled on, her mind unfurled to reach the wolves she knew dwelt on the outskirts of the city, seeking the comfort of a familiar touch. They were too distant to really feel clearly, and they did not understand the mournful conflict she projected, but a nuzzle of warmth returned -- too faint for her to even really get a sense of who it was.