Perspective Shifts

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Marshall nodded once at Matt's acceptance of the challenge, and knew that Joe couldn't stop this. Not if she wanted to keep her faith in Matt. She knew this too, and all she could do right then was watch them start the fight.

If one thought Marshall was a big man... it was nothing compared to his wolf form. It was much bigger than Joe's for sure. She was reminded of this as he had shifted and stood ready for Matt, as these kinds of challenges were done as wolves. It made sure that the fighters would have access to their best abilities, and the extra fur and thick skin meant less injuries afterwards.

Marshall's amber eyes were aglow as he then snarled at Matt, both to signal that he was ready, and for intimidation. Many times before this had send his challengers running even before they'd start, but he was hoping that Matt would at least make this fight worth it.
"We fight until either one gives up, or is pinned for the count of ten, agreed?" he said, clear enough for Matt to understand.
 
Matt took one look at Marshall in wolf form and knew this fight was headed south. The guy could probably pin him with one paw and there was no way he was going to be able to do the same – even with all Matt's weight on top of him he'd probably have no trouble standing up and carrying on. He shook his head. "No. We fight until one of us loses." In this context he meant until they could no longer get up to continue. Without Joe, it wouldn't be worth getting up anyway.

He knew he wasn't going to be able to speak when he got into wolf form, so he shifted quickly, to cut off any chance of further negotiation. By comparison, he was a much smaller wolf – smaller even than Joe, if it came to it. Marshall wasn't lying about being able to protect her. And his pack would be like a family. Quietly, inside, Matt resigned himself to the fact that this was better for Joe anyway. It was best that see him lose and move on with her life.

As he stood there, waiting for Marshall to make the first move, the scene might even have looked comical to an onlooker. He growled, staring Marshall down. If he had one thing on his side, it was determination. He wasn't going to go down easy.
 
"No. We fight until one of us loses."

Marshall had no problem with this, it would make things easier for later... The guy was hard-headed it seemed, and that suited him just fine.
It didn't do much for Joe's faith in Matt's judgement, and she couldn't call the shots on this, not under the circumstances. Marshall wanted to test Matt, in his own way. That was considered fair. She decided that after this was over, she'd first give Matt a good hit to the head and then train him in the many ways of fighting... in fact, she though, why hadn't she done this before?

Once Matt looked ready, Marshall gave a warning growl and charged at Matt with lightning speed. He might not be as fast as Matt, but at close range his strong hind legs made for excellent 'launchers' and his body weight would build momentum. He would aim to either topple Matt over or grab him with his mouth to throw him to the ground just to start things. Really all Marshall had to do to win this fight was counter any attack Matt made, and make that counter-attack count.

His big paws could shove Matt to the ground, his body to easily push him about and his teeth could have him in a vice grip and choking up until the point of Matt losing consciousness. He'd give Matt a fighting chance first, to see what the new wolf could do, and to find out whether he'd learned anything from Joe...
 
Matt was surprised by how quickly Marshall could move, and almost didn't get going quickly enough to dodge. He'd very much expected this initial charge and he was pleased to see that his judgment had been spot on, but the satisfaction only lasted a second. Then he had to dive out of the way and only just evaded Marshall's paws. The initial attack hadn't held much back and that much momentum was going to be difficult to turn around, so Matt made use of the time he gained and, ducking round behind Marshall, jumped up to land on his back.

Sure, the big wolf was very unlikely to go down under this assault, but Matt clawed his way to Marshall's neck, lowered his head and bit at the side of it. He got mostly a mouthful of fur, but some flesh that was even more heavily muscled than he'd expected. His thinking mind registered that this fight was futile, but the pain of knowing he was going to lose Joe to this hulking giant had made him angry. He would do what damage he could, and Marshall would have to completely incapacitate him if he wanted to win.
 
Oh, a bite at the neck, is it? Marshall thought as he smirked with his teeth showing. He was big, and he knew it... big things squashed small things, and Matt was small. With a violent and quick shove he turned to roll onto the side where Matt was. The result would be that Matt could land in under him nd his weight, and very likely either stunned or disorientated... maybe both.

Then he'd show him what a real neck bite felt like. He'd bite down just hard enough for his teeth to touch Matt's flesh and then hold him and let him sweat. Then, a good lift and body throw-down on the ground would be on the list. Only then would he let go...
 
Matt tried to let go and jump away as Marshall rolled, but for once he couldn't move quite fast enough, and the initial jerk of the roll threw him off onto the ground. The bigger wolf was every bit as heavy as he looked, and unfortunately for Matt his front left leg was at an odd angle as that weight landed on him. There was a crunch, followed by a short whine. He didn't try to get up when the weight was removed but just lay there, stunned.

Then Marshall's teeth closed round his neck, and he twisted, trying to push him off with his hind legs. It was no use, and struggling was only going to increase the likelihood of having his throat ripped out. He felt himself lifted bodily into the air and then flung down again, and he landed on his injured front leg and buckled immediately to the ground, where he lay motionless, whimpering quietly.
 
This was just too easy, Marshall thought as he circled Matt and contemplated his next move.

Joe had heard the bone break and her eyes clenched shut when she heard it. She didn't need to hear the whine from Matt's throat to know that he was in pain... then as Matt was lifted and slammed on the ground again, she watched in slow-motion how his injury was worsened. To think the fight had only started...

She didn't care. She had to stop this!

At least, she would... if only her body would listen to her. She had been so engrossed with Matt's pain that she never felt the tiny pinch on the back of her upper arm. The effects of the small injection, that looked nothing more than a small round skin blemish, was immediate. Everything became slow, and her mind was shot with confusion. What resulted was that Joe just stood there, watching and slowly lowered her head to touch her hand to her brow. She almost looked ashamed...

"Shall we carry on?" Marshall asked casually, noting the change in Joe. Of course he knew why...
 
"Shall we carry on?"
Matt tried to struggle to his feet, avoiding putting any weight on the injured leg, but as he did so he raised his head and caught sight of Joe… standing with her hand on her brow, her eyes averted in shame. In that one moment, he knew he had already lost this fight. Even if he kept going, what was the use? Marshall would just batter him more, inflict more pain, and she'd be even more humiliated at having ever chosen him.

His left paw touched the ground and a stab of pain shot through him, making him fall again. This time he didn't whine, and made no attempt to get back up. He curled up reflexively, pain shooting through his body but especially his mind. He had lost the fight. He had lost Joe. There was nothing left worth getting up for.
 
Marshall smiled brilliantly. He had won the fight, and soon, he would have Joe as well.
He shifted back to his human form and knelt down next to Matt. "Good call." he said with his deep smooth voice. Then while Matt was down, he took out the vial and syringe, and injected Matt with it. He didn't know how much would be necessary, so he used the lot of it. He wasn't going to take any chances.

Not sparing Matt another second of his time he then got up and walked towards Joe. "Mind if we talk?" he asked with the same voice. "I know a nice place just outside of town."
If her senses were about her she would have protested, she would hit that smug look off his face and get Matt out of there. Sadly, she couldn't. All the could do was walk with Marshall as he ushered her away from where Matt lay and not even look back. All noise she could make was a "Hmm." that sounded more like her agreeing to him.

Matt... I'm sorry... she thought desperately.

Still in slow motion, she saw as they walked away from the house, away from Matt... where was Marshall taking her? Her vision started dulling and her eyes fell shut. The last thing she heard was the sound of a car engine. The last thing she saw was a grin on Marshall's face.

Matt.
 
Matt felt the little pinprick and for one brief moment he was relieved, that it wasn't something worse. Only a tiny little spot of pain. Maybe it would put him out of his misery. It took a few seconds before the venom got going, and in that time he opened his eyes again and searched for Joe. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe she had just been hiding her eyes so she wouldn't have to watch him get hurt, because she really did care. What he saw dispelled all doubt: she was docile and calm, and leaving with Marshall. She didn't even glance back to see if he was all right.

In the next instant the venom hit his system full force and he cringed into a little ball, howling in pain. His arm had barely even twinged in comparison to this. What had Marshall done to him? His thoughts scattered and broke down in the face of the pain, until the only thing he could cling onto was the hope that this was some sort of poison. That he wouldn't have to endure this for much longer, only to find himself in a world where he had lost Joe. He barely even noticed as his body shifted back to human, contorting still further as the venom burned away everything that was werewolf about him.

A cool hand settled on his forehead and he flinched away, but a second later it was back, this time firmer. Two hands pushed him onto his back and wrestled with his left arm, setting the bone straight as the transformation fused the break back into one piece. Sally couldn't hold him still, but she could at least make sure he didn't become a vampire with a right-angled bend in his forearm. It was a long time before he eventually went still.
 
It would be a few hours before Joe came back to her senses...

When she finally did, it felt like a couple more before her eyes would finally open. She was aware of a heartbeat... from the feel of it, it was her own, and it was loud in her ears. From her blurred vision she made out pretty much nothing, but there was a distinct smell of earth, and water. Then there was the sound of mumbling...

A hand touched her face, and turned it forward. Another patted her cheek lightly. patpatpat... pat.
One eye opened again, and there was a shape in front of her. Opening her other eye didn't do much for focus.

Then there was a rush of cold over her and she gasped as he mind jumped awake. She sat back against what felt like a wall, and she saw the shape form Marshall's face. He was smiling, and set down an empty bucket. Joe looked at him and immediately at her surroundings. It seemed that they were in a cement-walled room with no windows, and one door. She was sitting on a now-soaked mattress on the floor. Joe again focused on Marshall, and he had a look in his eye that she didn't like.

She tried to get up, but her body was still slow in accepting general commands. Then she saw the restraints around her feet. A feeling around both her wrists told her that they were in the same situation.

"Hello, Joe." Marshall greeted her with that strong deep voice of his, "Sorry about those, but I don't want you trying to get away." he then glanced at the trinket around her neck, "Not this time."
 
Joe.

Matt awoke slowly, becoming aware of parts of his body mostly as new regions of pain. His head was especially sore, and there was a strange feeling in his left arm. As more senses came back he took note of a familiar smell, from a time that seemed too long ago. Sally. Why was Sally here, and where was Joe?

The events right before he had passed out came back to him in a blur. Most of it was pain. He remembered the sight of her with her hand over her face and felt sick. She had left him. She had left him for another werewolf, just as he'd always known she would do. He had managed to delude himself that she cared, but at the first hint of something better she had turned her back on him. And she had said she thought this was forever.

He opened his eyes, and the expression in them should have told Sally that he was not at all pleased to see her. Something about her bugged him, though - or was it something about himself? He tried to focus. She looked the same as always. She smelled the same as always. Maybe she just naturally bugged him by being the last person on earth he'd want to open his eyes and see... Wait. She smelled the same as always. How could that be?

He sat up abruptly and the mattress under him shifted with his weight. She had moved him; where to, he couldn't know. For a second he thought about asking, but the words wouldn't come. It was pointless anyway. Why should he care where he was when Joe had gone for good? Why should he care that he was a vampire again? He folded his arms across his knees and buried his head in them.

"I did try to warn you, Matt." Sally's voice was soft and his head came up slowly in response. It was true, she had tried. "At least she's had the decency to return you to your original state, rather than leaving you as a lone wolf." He blinked. This didn't seem like much decency at all, when you considered the other things she'd done to him. Told him she cared, convinced him to risk his life protecting her, even forced him through hell to become a werewolf - and for what? As a challenge to entice other, better males to try to win her? All those lies, for so long, couldn't all have been leading to this. It had to have been some kind of sick game, to see how the vampire would dance. He hissed quietly, and then his eyes found Sally's. She had always known where to find people who would want to hurt Joe. All of a sudden he was very glad that he'd woken up to find her sitting next to his bed.
 
From the moment Joe was fully awake, she was on defense. At first Marshall had looked past this, but now he was beginning to get angry.

"There's no need for you to fight me, Joe. I just want what is best for you... and you know that is me." he said levelly.
Her response was a growl, but she knew by now that trying to grab him was futile. The setup was so that if she pulled her arms forward, they would only go so far and her legs were pulled down and away from her in te process. The chains around her wrists and ankles were connected trough the ground and wall and she could only move so much before hurting herself. The most she could do was to spit at him, which she did.

He responded violently by grabbing her throat hard and pinned her head against the wall. This sent her choking but still she growled her defiance at him.
"I've been very patient with you Joe... but my patience has run out a long time ago." he said as his gaze darkened. She felt his grip slacken and then as she was gasping for air he beat her multiple times. She wasn't going to give in easily, and he knew it. The time seemed to pass slowly, and after what seemed hours, she was left lying on the mattress, bleeding from multiple bruises over her face and upper body.

Marshall was grinning at her. "Feels bad not being the one in control, doesn't it, Joe?" he then leaned in close and grabbed her chin to turn her face to his. She could hardly see him through swollen eyes and her breathing was laboured. "I own you now." he said menacingly. "That means you will give me what I want."

As he let go of her, she lay on her side. You made your point. Now leave. she thought angrily. They real meaning of his words only came to her though, as she felt him take the necklace and slip it off over her head. She grabbed at his hand with hers, the chains clattering wildly. He was too strong for her though, and hit her across the face, and she lost her grip.

The look on his face flashed back in her mind as she was left alone in the room and the lights were turned off. It chilled her to the core.
 
The next time Matt woke up, it was to a hammering sound that seemed to be shaking the whole world. Sally was gone, and he had no idea how much time had passed – a lot, by the feel of it. The smells of the room danced around him like light, and he tried to blink, only to find his eyes already closed. When he opened them, it was to find himself in darkness, and he started upright with a groan. His night vision was playing up, apparently, but he seemed to be able to see with his nose. The banging sounds that had woken him were still continuing, and he heard a voice over the noise: "Let me in, you little bitch." Mel? Well, she would know what had happened by now, he realised. He was still surprised she'd come. She'd always given him the impression of thinking that Joe was too good for him. "If you make me break this door down, you'll regret it."

He staggered unsteadily to his feet and across the room – which even his limited dark vision could tell was painted in unholy shades of pink. Definitely Sally's place. It didn't take him long to find his way to the front door of what was actually quite a small apartment, and as he opened it, Mel's fist caught him full in the throat. He let out a guttural sound and collapsed onto the ground.

"Sorry," she said as she stepped over him, not sounding it. "I was expecting that little weasel." He just nodded, fighting for breath. When he looked up, she was staring down at him and he couldn't begin to read the expression on her face.

"Frankly, I thought you'd be chasing after her by now," she said after a few seconds had passed. He frowned. Sally's movements were her own business, and besides, he'd been unconscious. It took her only an instant to read him, and then her face changed very suddenly. She looked almost frightened. "You don't know." He didn't know how to answer that. Suddenly she bent down, seized him under his arms and hauled him with her to the sitting room, where she dumped him on the sofa and sat down opposite. He stared at her, uncomprehending. She was avoiding his eyes.

"You look like hell, Matthew." He felt it, too, almost as though he'd had the stuffing kicked out of him by a gigantic werewolf and then gone through an agonising change of species to boot. He just shrugged. After a pause that was too long, she finally turned back to look at him. "Matt… what do you think happened?"

He had to swallow hard before he could answer that. "There was… another wolf. Marshall." He couldn't look her in the eyes. "I tried to fight, but… She left me for him. She's gone."

Mel didn't reply. He sat, shoulders hunched, staring at the floor until her silence started to bother him, and then he raised his head. What he saw sent a chill down his spine: she was sitting motionless, and the look on her face was something bordering on pity. The bottom dropped out of his stomach. So he had been wrong about Joe leaving him, after all… "What's happened to her? Where's he taken her?"

It was a very long time before she answered, and when she did, her voice was so quiet that he could barely hear the words. "I don't know."
 
"Where the hell are you?" Addie asked with agitation as he again heard Matt's voicemail. He'd phoned more times than he could remember. Joe wasn't answering her phone either, but it was off, judging from the direct-to-voicemail.

He'd come over to the house to see how they were getting along, and a worried Faolan had told him that neither could be found since the day before. After a long search there were no scents of Joe to be found, but there had been a foreign scent of a car. Addie had also picked up a hint of Sally and her perfume, so he knew that something was up. He tightened his jaw as he tried to figure out what to do next... Faolan had already gone to find Rami to help but sitting around and waiting wasn't exactly Addie's style. It was already late afternoon.

They would try to find a lead on Joe's whereabouts, so the least Addie could to was try and find Matt. Had both been kidnapped? With Sally involved, that might just be true... although the other males' scents had him worried as to the bigger picture.

Right, Sally's perfume trail was his best bet - so he shifted into his wolf form and started off in the direction he could follow. The smell had him sneezing every minute or two, but maybe this was a good thing, despite the protest of his sinuses. It made her just a tad easier to find.

-----

The door to Joe's cell opened and the lights flickered to life. There was the sound of someone entering and then the door was closed again and locked. Someone approached her and knelt down beside the mattress, and carefully started cleaning her bruises with warm water and a soft cloth. Another person injected her with an unknown substance and checked her pulse.
Joe only waked a few minutes after, and her eyes strained against the light. There was only one person now, a female by the smell of it. A werewolf.

"Oh, you're awake! Are you hungry?" she asked pleasantly.
Joe's response was a confused frown as she tried to get a look at the newcomer. Her eyes slowly focused, but her mind felt muffled and her muscles sluggish. Then a wave of nausea hit and she swallowed against a gag reflex, as she groaned with distaste.
"Sorry about that, but he insisted. He wants to be sure that you will have the best chances, see? " the gentle voice informed Joe.
Best chances? ... what? The confusion played out on Joe's face.

The cloth was taken away and then there was a smell of meat. It reminded her stomach that it hadn't had any food for a while now, so much so that it was cramping. As Joe lay on her back she felt the female propping pillows behind her. She was positioned to sit up slightly. She then saw a hand come into focus and it held a spoon. "Open up." she was kindly instructed.
Joe didn't want to - she didn't want to listen to any strange voice... but a hand gently took her chin and opened her mouth to give her the soup, and then she automatically swallowed. "There we go." the female praised her. "You'll be feeling better soon, but please don't bother to try an escape. I've given you something to keep you calm while you wait."
Wait for what? ...

By the time the soup was finished there was a sound at the door and the female looked around excitedly. Joe knew it was Marshall by his smell, and her heart started racing. He'd taken her necklace off...
"You're just in time! She's ready." the girl got up and took the empty dishes with her, "By now the contraceptive effects of the trinket should have worn off, but I did give her the injection just in case, like you asked."
Marshall looked pleased as he turned his eyes to Joe, "Good." he replied. The girl took her leave and closed the door.

It was like a gush of Arctic wind hit Joe suddenly, as she stared at Marshall with wide eyes. Her chest felt like it had collapsed in on itself and her heart was threatening to break her ribs open. She tried again to move, but her muscles barely twitched. As he approached her, Joe started growling from deep inside her throat. Her primal mind woke and it was on full alert, sending her skin prickling and her fingertips and toes tingling, willing her nails to grow longer. She wanted to shift into her wolf form, but something prevented her from doing so.

Marshall noticed this, but it didn't phase him. Joe was defenceless, she was his.

((... yeah, I'll let Matt have something left of Marshall to torture, don't you worry... I hope Mel can give him some good advice.))
 
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Rita was sitting with Boris on one of her short breaks when the call came through the front desk. The girl from reception who came to find her was a nervous little thing. "You need to go to Islington." She couldn't be more than seventeen by the looks of her and she was very definitely human. Rita just gave her a polite look and waited for some more detail, but all she got was "Like, now. Management say so."

---------

When Matt woke for the third time, it was already light. There were low voices coming from the front room, and after a moment he recognised both of them: Mel and Rita. Well, that was an unexpected combination. He sat up, and a throbbing pain struck at the base of his skull.

Ah, yes. She had hit him.

She'd spent around an hour trying to convince him to just stay put, whilst she made more and more phone calls, both from her mobile and from Sally's landline. She spoke to Etherion four times, tense little conversations that didn't give much away. He was pulling strings on the highest levels, both sides of the fence - it came to something when you were so old and apathetic that even the wolves respected you - and she was yanking them right at the bottom of the food chain. They were closing in, but they still hadn't found Joe.

After an hour of this he'd finally snapped and made a genuine attempt to break out of the apartment, fuelled by rage and desperation. She had, of course, intervened to stop him and he'd... thrown her bodily against the wall, hard enough to crack the plaster. That memory blurred in his head even as he recalled it. She'd had to jump down the middle of the stairwell to catch up to him, and then everything had gone black.

---------

Rita heard Matt's phone ringing in his jacket, which Sally had helpfully hung up on the coat stand, and went rummaging through his pockets looking for it. She found biscuits, a folded envelope with his name on it, and then finally the mobile just as the dial tone cut out. The screen was showing nothing but missed calls, all of them from Addie, but she couldn't get past the lock screen so she had to call him back on her own phone. Sally was surprisingly good at covering her tracks, as Rita herself had learned when she got into Islington and had to call the clinic to ask what she was doing there. There had been no trace of Matt. She'd had to wait for Mel to call and give her directions before she could find the flat.

When Addie picked up, she gave him a very brief account of the situation, the same directions Mel had offered her, and then cut the line. She was too tense for small talk. If there was one thing she knew about werewolves, it was what a male could do to a female who tried to refuse him. When she turned, Matt was standing in the doorway to the bedroom, and for a moment the only sound was a single irregular heartbeat. In spite of the situation, she almost smiled. If the boy had one thing going for him, it was a very stubborn heart. At least this time, it was unlikely to kill him... except perhaps by breaking.
 
Addie let out a sigh of great relief as he hung up his phone. He was surprised that it had been Rita who finally phoned him back. At least he knew where to go now, as his nose could only lead him so far. He looked at his surroundings and found out that he hadn't been too far off, though he had passed the apartment block some time ago. He probably would have been searching forever if Rita hadn't phoned. With a determined look on his face he headed in the right direction, careful to watch for any beady eyes that might be watching. Sally's perfume still had him sneezing again too... damn he hated that stuff.

-----

It was an hour or so after Marshall had left Joe alone again, and again she was in the dark. Her expression was placid, but her hands were shaking violently as her body made every effort to fight whatever thought or memory tried to reach her human mind. A tremor ran through her as she lay.
Her human mind was also alone in the dark of her deeper mind, curled up and shivering. It had never felt the way it was feeling now... completely helpless, scared, violated and very, very small. A wall of apathy had surrounded that part of her mind as protection against any conscious recollections of what had happened. It was too much for her now fragile mind to cope with.

Marshall had said that he would be back again, but didn't specify a time. It could be hours, it could be days - she didn't know. Her primal wolf side however, wasted no time in trying to win back control of her muscles. It wanted to make sure that the next time anyone came through the door, they would not be leaving again alive. Rage was slowly building up, giving her some energy and resilience.

When she heard the door being unlocked, she stopped moving completely. Her wild eyes darted to the sound and she prepared herself... testing her muscles though, they still didn't want to respond and Marshall was back again. Her hands balled into fists, and her knuckles whitened from the strain. She growled at him again, her teeth bared.
He only looked somehow intrigued by this as he approached her. The other female was there too.

"There's still plenty of time before she'll get back her muscle control." she informed him before closing the door again.
Joe's growl intensified by way of defiance, and Marshall beat her again. She didn't stop, and neither did he. He was determined to break her while having his way with her.
Still sheltered behind the defensive wall, her human mind closed its eyes shut and sang itself a merry little tune in a wavering tiny voice. It wasn't going to focus on any of this, or on anything that would follow. It only wished that this would all be over soon. It tried to remember a happier time... and a happier time eventually arrived. It was that time at the river, with her looking at her friend, Matt. He'd never do these kinds of things to her, never.

She wished he was here.

-----

As Addie knocked on the door of Sally's apartment, his phone rang. It was a quick conversation, but the contents of it lit his face up a little. Rami had found something...
 
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Matt flung the door open, grabbed Addie, yanked him inside and slammed the door again all in one fluid movement. Only when he'd let go of the front of Addie's shirt did it become apparent that he was shaking. Rita had tried to give him something to calm him down, but he'd absolutely refused to swallow it. He'd also fought off her attempts to break and re-set the bone in his forearm, which despite Sally's best efforts had twisted before fusing back together. In the end she'd had to concede that she couldn't guarantee it would heal again by the time they'd finally found Joe, and let him be.

"Tell me you know where she is," he growled in Addie's face. "Tell me you've found her." He'd been holed up in this apartment for too long, and Mel's obvious worry was beginning to get to him. Marshall had taken Joe as an asset, which meant she was alive, but... if it were that simple, Mel would be confident. As things stood, he was struggling against the impulse to imagine what could be going on wherever she was. That wouldn't help her - it would only drive him mad, and then he would be no use to anyone...
 
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"Oh, hi-iiiaahwoa!"Addie stammered his greeting as he was pulled in by what looked to be a wild Matt.
He tilted his head back and even raised his hands in surrender as Matt threw him with questions, and then gave a nervous "hi" nod to Rita before glancing back at Matt again.

"No, but Faolan and Rami had found a lead..." he quickly answered. Then he noticed Matt's hand and pointed with his still-raised hand, "What happened to you?" then looked at Rita and became aware of Mel's presence but she didn't look like she wanted to be bothered.
"I'm guessing Sally's not here and there's not been much progress on this side..." he said, lowering his hands and straightened his shirt.

He saw the worried look on Matt's face and could smell the stress on him as well.
"Look, they've found the car that was used to take Joe and they're working from there. They didn't give me all the details, but it sounds like she's being kept in a cave or something. They're trying to find it, but apparently getting information out of the lead they found is sounding problematic. Plus there's other pack members to deal with, apparently." then he remembered a message from Rami for Mel...
"Uh, Mellissande?" he called to her, "Rami asks if you're up for some... persuasive interrogation?" he had an idea what that could mean, but rather didn't think about it. They could sort all that out once Addie had shown them where to meet with the others.
 
Addie's news caused a little fight to break out in Matt's head. A part of him was convinced that they'd never find her, and hearing about the 'lead' didn't help matters. Another was just immensely grateful to have had this narrowed down, and for someone who would actually tell him what was going on. Mel had been more or less silent since she'd knocked him out. Neither of them had mentioned the state of the wall next to the front door that he'd thrown her at.
Without really thinking about it he yanked Addie forward into a bear hug and then, ignoring everything else he'd said, turned for the door. Rita already had it open.

"Never mind what happened to him let's get Joe," she said without pausing for breath, and then she was galloping off up the corridor. "I'll drive you can talk on the way," she called back as she reached the stairwell. Matt didn't have to be told twice and was already running up the corridor after her. Only Mel hesitated slightly, nodding to Addie as she ushered him out the door and slammed it behind her. A part of her knew Matt wasn't going to like what he found at the end of this little manhunt, and she almost wanted to stop him, but she wasn't even sure she could. She had been lucky to catch him from behind before.

As for the question of interrogation, she had reached the stairwell and jumped over the banisters before she bothered to respond. "When am I not?" She was interested to note that this time Matthew had made the jump, four storeys straight down, and even more so that Rita had followed suit. She had called the nurse for someone to ask about Matt's condition, and Rita had offered some small amount of insight. She hadn't expected her to engage so readily with the urgency of finding Joe.
 
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