That Wasn't Supposed To Happen

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Kethry

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OOC: So, this is something that I came up with after having a rather.... interesting dream. My sister, dear that she is, agreed to help me out with it. Since we're sisters, the more, ah, touchy-feely stuff will be done with a fade-to-black-use-your-wonderful-imaginations type of style. The characters are pre-made. There will be references to death, torture, sex, shape-shifting, suicide, and loss of a child. The entire end-game idea is for the characters to end up in a relationship. All of them. Together. Also! I will be playing two of the characters. So yeah!
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The sex had been amazing, though he was loath to admit it. Sex with someone else was not supposed to be that good. Especially when you're on the run from someone else. It was one of those wham-bam-thankyousir type of deals. By the time Warrin woke up in the morning, the guy was gone. No note, no good-bye. Nada. Just poof, like he hadn't been real. But he had been real. Very real. As Warrin's ass could attest to.
He stretched and rolled from bed, dragging on last night's jeans as he padded to the bathroom to rinse the taste of come and bourbon from his mouth. In the bathroom, Warrin's nose twitched, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he turned slowly in a circle, drawing in a deep breath as he scented the room.
Interesting.
Backtracking from the bathroom, Warrin made his way to the living room. It was trashed. The lamp he and Annabelle had gotten from the flea market downtown was in pieces. The bulb had miraculously survived, though. Fun. The door had claw marks in it. The coffee table had divots from where his claws had dug in and held. His couch was about a foot over from where it had been, pushed up against the leather recliner in the corner of the room. One shirts that had been shed last night lay in a clumped heap next to the front door. Black, like the one he himself had worn out last night, but this one wasn't his. Warrin crouched, lifted the shirt to his nose, inhaled, and frowned some.
Metal. Gunpowder. Old Spice. Sweat. Jack Daniel's. Warrin himself was there. And, oddly enough, blood.
Those were the scents he could pick up from the shirt. So different. Foreign. He was used to leather, blood, and expensive colognes. This shirt smelled almost... Earthy. Normal. Taking a deep breath, he stood easily and made his way back to the bedroom to tuck the shirt into the bottom drawer of his dresser, where he kept things he didn't want Annabelle's nosy ass finding. Then he turned away from the dresser and put it out of his mind and went to clean himself up. As he stepped from the shower half an hour later, he could hear Annabelle's approaching footsteps coming down the hall, letting herself in, and calling out a horrified "HOLY FUCK, WARRIN! I LOVED THAT LAMP, YOU ASSHOLE!" under her breath, Warrin heard her mutter approvingly "I hope it was good, at least. Jesus." With a smirk, he started drying his hair vigorously.

Six months later, he'd spiraled down, and was attempting to kill himself with aconite. When Annabelle came over and threw plane tickets at him and insisted he go back to Germany, Warrin had packed his bags, and the stranger's shirt had gone home with him, tucked securely into his carryon. And when the news filtered down to the club that the American military was going to start hunting prominent covens, Warrin had insisted that the Master take the others and go, get to somewhere safe. The team that was sent in would get nothing from him, if they could even find him. He was prepared to kill whoever was sent to kill his lover and friends.
 
Vivi didn't often worry herself with other people's business, she had her own life to attend to, thank you very much, and she worked best alone, so it worked to her advantage. Most of the time.
Working with Parker had proved to be one of the hardest things she'd done, to date. He was frustratingly short sometimes, but helpful, always blunt and Vivi could appreciate that, and they'd formed a tentative relationship she sometimes considered a friendship, and sometimes they just existed in the same world, and that was it. At least she wasn't scared to ask for computer help anymore.
However, apparently being able to work with Parker meant that she was going to work with him again, which wasn't a bad thing, not in the least bit, having back up was always helpful, but being alone had less complications for her. It was something she was used to.

But she wasn't dumb enough to turn down an order, and at least she liked Parker. It was why she moved toward his office, heels of her boots clicking on the ground as she went, ponytail held perfectly in place by a a simple black scrunchie. She lifted a hand,knocking lightly on Parker's door.
 
This week had been hell. At this point, he was beginning to question whether or not to retire. He got headaches when he stared at a screen for too long, got sweaty palms at the thought of another job. And he was having nightmares again. Graphic, vivid ones. To the point of waking up, gun in hand, and putting bullets into his walls and shorting out the electrical system in his house. Speaking of, he'd have to go back to the hardware store and pick up more plaster and breakers. Heaving a sigh, Parker sat back in his seat, hands scrubbing over his face as he let his eyes slide closed for a moment. Just a moment...

When the knock came, Parker was in that state between sleep and wakefulness, and his hand dropped automatically to the weapon at his hip as he jerked and zeroed in on the door. Before he could pull the gun, though, he sucked in a deep breath, calmed himself and settled the frantically flickering lights. Damn it. He allowed his hand to fall from his side and back into his lap. Clearing his throat, Parker called out a gruff "What do you want?" and settled himself into what he hoped was a semi-relaxed, at ease position in his desk chair. God, he wished that they had allowed him to rig his hallway with a security system.
 
Vivi waited for his response, knew better than to enter before given an all clear, and she took the verbal response to be that all clear, opening his door and stepping in with a comfortable ease, holding a file out to the male in the chair, arching an eyebrow at him, "You okay, Parker? You look a little... Flustered." she kept her own copy of the file, sitting down in the chair opposite his desk, smoothing out a wrinkle in her leggings, "Looks like you and I get to work together again."

And, yeah, she was a bit nervous about that. Last time had been complicated enough, but she was a professional, and she could do this.
 
"M'fine...." he muttered, grabbing the file from her and thumbing through it. Huh. Wait what? Forehead creasing, he settled the file on his thighs, went through it carefully once. Then twice. And again a third time before he finally lifted his eyes to the woman across from him. Calm, cool, collected, completely in control. That was Vivi. Either she hadn't read what was in here, or she had and it hadn't rattled her the way it was rattling him. But shit, man. Blueish-green eyes dropped back to the folder and he let out a soft huff of breath. "Huh... Have you read this?" A thumb jerked at the papers, and he flipped through again, eyes lingering on the pictures. A club. Through The Looking Glass. Alice In Wonderland, how... fanciful. But, what got him the most was who it was run by. No. Not who. What.

Unable to stay still any longer, he slid smoothly to his feet and moved to the coffee maker in the corner of his office, poured himself a lukewarm cup, and continued to read and scan and make confused, almost distressed noises. Werewolves. Vampires. Witches. Necromancers. Obviously Germany had more issues than the U.S. did. Why was he surprised, though? He existed. Vivi existed. Rhen, Ayla... Everyone of them were real. They could do things that no one else could. They had gifts that no one else had. They existed, so why not these... supernatural creatures? Next question was why were they being sent in? Parker turned to Vivi once more, slightly comforted that she made herself at home in his office, that she was a solid and composed as she was. He needed a rock.

That thought rocked him, send his mind for a spin while he puzzled out just when it was she'd become such a damn fixture in his life. That was for another time. Now was for this job. "Any thoughts?"
 
Vivi let him scan his file, her's clasped tightly in her own hands, brain still working through the implications of this file. It was partially why everything was so meticulous today, everything matched, even her toenail polish, which sometimes stayed the same for weeks. No, today everything about her matched and was perfectly in place. logically, these things existing made sense, but at the same time? Her mind rebelled at the thought of these... Creatures even existing. She nodded curtly at his question, "Yes, I figured I'd get a jump on things, but I'll admit that I haven't gotten much passed the... Surprise." she chose the word carefully.

Vivi let him move around the room, let him get his own bearings like she'd been allowed, giving him a bit of privacy by scanning through the file again, "My honest opinion?" she looked up at him, meeting his eyes, fingers running over the edge of the file, "Yesterday I would have told you that the existence of those things was a ridiculous notion to entertain. I also realize that if they didn't exist, this file would not be in my hands... It's daunting. I still haven't fully grasped all of the methods to kill these creatures, and it's unnerving. I don't like not knowing. People like you and me? We're a bit easy to kill in comparison. I don't like the disadvantage." she frowned, "Your opinion?"
 
Parker shook his head, stopped in the middle of the motion and then dropped back down into his chair. "I agree with you. Especially on being at a disadvantage. But I'm not easy to kill." He shot a smirk at her, lips twisting grimly, but the amusement didn't reach his eyes as he reached over to the small desk lamp that provided a softer light than the bright, clinical overhead. He settled a finger against the cord, and without much effort, the bulb responded, flashing a brilliant light before bursting. "Humans have a slight electrical current that powers the body. Like when you shuffle your stocking feet across the floor and touch something metal. Current. I can use that against someone. All I need is a bare hand on skin. I'm harder to kill close-combat." Or, at least, so far he had been. The thought made him frown, and he carefully scooped the remnants of the bulb into his hand and tossed them into the can beside his desk.

Standing again, he sighed softly as he searched his drawers for a new bulb. As he searched, he let what was in his head tumble out. "I want to know how Germany kept it under wraps that they were giving these... things rights. We've never heard a word about it here. No hint. And now I'm questioning how many of them are here in the States. How many unexplained murders are the fault of these things? How many unsolved crimes? Ah." Stepping back to the desk, new bulb in hand, he settled back into his chair and screwed the bulb in as he continued to speak, "There'll be special methods, you can bet your ass. What do you know about the lore on these? There has to be some. And if Germany has given them rights, they have to know how to kill them. Now, I want to know why we're being sent in to do the killing." Parker tapped a finger against a picture. Vampire, the file read. Controlled a city there, supposedly. "Why are we being brought in to kill them? Is it because the German government is afraid of them? Or because ours is? Why? Do we even have Germany's permission to be there? And if we don't, how are we going to be expected to be able to do this without getting killed ourselves? And why just the two of us? Why not the rest of my team, as well?"

It had all come out in a rush, the words tumbling one other the other, the questions coming rapid-fire. Parker was animated like hadn't been in a long time. As much as this scared the fuck out of him, he was excited at the prospect of something new. A new challenge. By now, he was leaning across the desk, eyes bright and laser-focused on Vivi.
 
Vivi watched the bulb with a bit of fascination, if she was honest. It should have been terrifying, but this was a man she had to trust with her life, if she flinched at every demonstration, she'd start to doubt her own trust. And she spoke the words that she had been a bit scared to, "Yes, but that's a human's body. What if their's don't work like our's do?"

"There are some in the states, but I don't know how many. I was able to dig up some information before I came here, not much because I needed to get out of my quarters, it's a bit scattered right now, but I wanted to talk with you about it, get your ideas." Her sharp eyes followed him across the room before starting to sort through her own file to get to her notes, setting them on Parker's desk, looking back up just in time to see him screw in the light bulb, for him to start talking again, and it was surprising to see this much energy in the man. Surprising, but not unwelcome.

Vivi let him finish speaking, not minding the laser gaze at all, an eyebrow raised almost in questioning amusement, "Well it's nice to know that you won't be terribly bored." her tone was calm and even, "The lore is scattered, and it's difficult to piece together what actually would work, and what wouldn't. Sunlight seems to be effective against vampires, and silver for the weres. those are common themes, and I'd like to be able to dig a little deeper, see if I can't find something more solid, but I have a feeling this isn't going to be easy." which actually sounded nice. Vivi enjoyed things that gave her a challenge. When so many things came easier to her from sight alone, things like this were what she lived for, "I don't think we have Germany's permission, which is why it's just you and me. Two people are easy to sneak in and out. A group of us are going to attract attention. If they were intelligent, both governments would be scared. I don't know how we're going to successfully pull this off quite yet, but I imagine they're hoping we'll be able to cut the head off the snake and let it die from there." she looked at the pictures in the files again, "It's walking into a den of monsters is what it is."
 
Sitting back in his seat, Parker listened intently, fingers tenting under his chin. Monsters. She was right. They were walking into a den of monsters. She was also right about Germany not knowing, hence just the two of them. But she was wrong about one thing. "If we cut that head off, Viv, I'm afraid we'll have a case of the Lernaean Hydra. Get rid of one, two more will crop up in its place. These things aren't human, like you said." Parker's fingers flexed as he remembered her words, realized that she was right, that his gift may very well be useless. "They're not human, they won't work like we work. They won't function how we function, won't think how we think. Christ, Viv...." now his head dropped into his hands and he pushed agitated fingers through his already tousled hair.

"The lore... Our people must have an idea about what will work. They must have something for us to use against them." Already, Parker's mind was whirling ahead to figure out how he could enhance the weapons he already had. "I need to talk to Rhen. He wears a cross on a regular basis--" he paused, thought, and frowned a little. "But I'm not sure if you have to be a true believer for it to work. Or if it has to be blessed. When do we leave?" He didn't bother to look at the file in front of him, he knew damn well that Vivi would have the answer already in her head. What he wanted to know was how much time they had to prepare. How much time they had to live.

Suddenly, Parker didn't want her going. Lifting his eyes to her, Parker's forehead creased, his eyes narrowed some. He didn't want her anywhere near this mess. And that was.... disturbing. It was their job. This was what they did. What they were trained to do. What they lived to do. But he didn't want her close to it. Close to the monsters they were going to be toe-to-toe with. Fuck. Oh fuckfuckfuck. This wasn't supposed to happen.
 
Vivi did not want to think about how right he was about that, because she wasn't entirely sure how to go about this one, because there was a very real possibility that she'd be even more useless than him. She stood, smoothing out her shirt and holding her file close to herself, "I'll look into the cross thing, see if I can find anything useful." she didn't need to look at the file, "We leave at the on Monday." that gave them six days to work.

Vivi's fingers picked at the edge of her file, mind still kind of reeling, "I'm going to focus on finding fact from fiction, and anything useful I find, I will forward to you." she clung a little tighter to the file, "I'm not quite sure where to start. Any ideas?" her voice was calm, and even, but there was a tenseness in the set of her shoulders that wasn't normally present.

This felt like a death sentence.
 
With a nod of his head, Parker let his eyes fall back to the file in front of him, unable to look at her any longer. Afraid that if he did, he'd demand that she pull herself off of this job and stay home. Stay safe. Shit. His hands were shaking. Quickly, he shoved them down into his lap to avoid reaching across the desk and laying hands on her. To avoid touching her. Fuck.

Abruptly, he jerked to his feet, turned his back to her and paced to the window, where he stared out into the rain, watching the newest batch of students struggle through the ropes course as they were drenched. It should have made him smile. Should have been fascinating to see who triumphed and who needed work where. Mentally, he made a note to pull aside the few who were lagging behind. Usually, it was those students who, in the end, made the best team. Worked the best together. Eyes sliding closed, he rested his forehead against the window, shoved his hands into his pockets as he thought about the task at hand.

"First, you do your research, see what you can pull up. I'll go off of that, see if I can't modify the weapons that we have, so that we can have a stash on top of what we're given." Because, damn it, they had to give them something more. Something specialized for this particular job. For the first time in a long time, Parker was panicking, doubting their superiors, wondering if they really weren't just pawns to be disposed of at will. Sucking in a breath, he spun to look at her, eyes round with dawning realization.

That's exactly what this was. This was a way to dispose of them cleanly and without much guilt. "Viv... This is an extermination attempt."
 
Vivi politely pretended to not see the shaking of his hands, looking at the already frayed edges of the files as she waited for his response, giving him the space to think and mull it over in his own space. She let her mind wander to the pictures and the information in the file, gaze snapping up to Parker when he spoke again, nodding sharply, "I can do that." and she could, it was a place to start and a way to not think about just what they were walking into.

She knew the moment it dawned on him, too, and there wasn't a flicker of emotion in her eyes, not an ounce of anything in her calm demeanor, "That had crossed my mind. I'm also aware that I've never just laid down and taken anything in my life, Parker. If I'm going down, I'm going down swinging, and with some dignity." the edge in her tone was sharp enough to cut steel, but she was careful to not show much else, eyes scanning for Parker's reaction, "How about you?" she raised an eyebrow in almost a challenge, an assurance that she wasn't going down alone, either.
 
As she spoke, he couldn't keep the grim, determined smile from twisting his lips again. Of course she wouldn't just lie down and take it. Of course she wouldn't let them toss her out like some useless piece of baggage. And neither would he. He'd worked too hard, come too far, to be used like this. They were going to fight to the last breath left their bodies. And they would do it together.

"Together, then, Viv. We do this together. All of it." Parker moved around the desk now, and over to stand next to her chair. Lightly, he settled a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Go, do your research, I'm going to find Rhen and see if he can come up with any spare crosses. If he has any ideas." Parker knew full well and good that he shouldn't be talking about their assignment with anyone else, but if anyone could research with Vivi, it was Rhen. The kid was good, and Parker needed to be around the calming, steady presence of his team member now. Away from Vivi, out of this office. Shifting, he eased the door open, and cocked his head out into the hall. "You know where to find me when you find something." Before he ducked out, he spared her a small, genuine smile and then disappeared.
 
Vivi gave him her own, determined grin, it was almost vicious in it's determination. She straightened and nodded once again, mind already starting to work through the best ways to start searching, most likely with the stranger weres, there'd be less fictional tales to deal with, because everyone knew about the big bad wolf, but a creature like a wererat? that dipped into simply just urban legends, and somewhere, the truth. She could work up from there.

Her train of thought was derailed, however, at the touch, blinking slightly, finding herself nodding along before she even realized it, because going to someone else for help was a big nono, but really? What else did they have to lose, "If he needs anymore information, send him my way in a few hours." she was further caught off guard by the genuine smile, but it made a smile of her own blossom, scurrying to go start her research before she started thinking about.... Well. That. That whole thing.
 
A few days later, Parker was ragged, the circles beneath his eyes so dark he looked as though he'd been punched. He'd neglected to shave, and he'd grabbed a shower only once. He and Rhen had closeted themselves in his office the entire time, scouring over the books Rhen had on hand (which were many), and through the many internet databases. Most of that seemed just throw away debris, but there were some nuggets that they pulled out and wrote down. While they worked Parker had been adjusting the weapons he owned to suit the assignment. Some experiments were failures, others keepers. In the end, if one of the weapons backfired, he could only hope that it would be the one in his hand and not Vivi's.

Rhen had stayed relatively quiet through most of it, only offering up a word of advise about increasing the intensity of the UV light that Parker had mounted to his standard issue pistol. Parker could only do what he suggested. After all, better to have it too bright and kill a vampire than too weak and wind up dead himself.
 
Vivi had barely slept, had hardly remembered to eat, really, just poured over any and all of the information she could find, but it was infuriating. So much was just.... Garbage! Or it conflicted! Or it was complete and utter bull shit! Her hair was a mess, nails chewed to the point of bleeding, she was pretty sure she had at least one pen mark on her cheek, and she was near her wits' end, curled around her pillow, notes spread around her, laptop in front of her, pen in hand, and it was messy, and it drove her insane, but it was necessary for the moment. As she hit yet another dead end, she let out an annoyed cry, closing her laptop a bit harder than strictly necessary and she stood, gathering up her notes. She needed to converse with someone about this, which was weird, because she normally didn't like people, but this was just too frustrating. Their deadline to leave was approaching far too fast.

So, without a glance in the mirror, she did not have time to primp, she gathered all of her notes, and a pen, or ten, because she wasn't sure which ones even had ink anymore, and she found herself moving to Parker's office, still pouring over the information she had. She lifted a hand, knocking sharply on the door, scowling at the words on the paper.
 
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Parker mumbled, making a face at the screw he was trying to ease into place. Louder, he yelled "What?!" Rhen had left him hours ago, determined to get normal food and sane company. Of course, Parker wasn't entirely certain that there was anyone sane left on the compound. With one last twist of his wrist, he settled the screw into place and slumped down in his seat, eyes on the door. The exhaustion was eating at him, his temper was riding high, and he really didn't have the patience to deal with yet another whiney student who was dead set determined to get an extension on the coding assignment he'd given them at the beginning of the week.
 
Vivi huffed at the tone, but it was the best 'enter' she was going to get, so she let herself in, glancing up at him, "Say one word about my appearance and I will scream. I am well aware that I am a mess, but I can't just.... Sit in isolation and stew over this crap." she pulled a chair up to his desk, folding herself into it, legs crossed neatly as she chewed on the cap of a pen, a habit she'd been doing good to break, "So, I think I've gotten quite a bit of the lore hashed out, it's just a little blurry, still, but I've made a little progress." she laid her notes on his desk, sighing at all of the side notes just strewn about on the paper, some just consisting of 'fuck this' or 'fuck that' or 'what the hell', and it was a testament to how much this was weighing on her, because Vivi was a lady, and she did not swear.
 
"Who said shit about your appearance, Viv?" He muttered, lifting a silver garrote off the desk and running his fingers along the length of wire to check for any weaknesses. Setting that aside, he picked up a bottle of Holy Water and shook it at her. "Rhen picked up a couple dozen bottles of these for me when he went into town yesterday. He also got us some blessed crosses, and the silver chains to go with them." What? Parker just wanted all of his bases covered. That's all. Honest. When he finally settles his gaze on her, gets a real good look at her, though, Parker frowns and leans forward, elbows on his desk, uncaring of whether or not he's fouling up her notes. "You haven't slept, Vivi. You're no good to anyone when you haven't gotten sleep."

Eyes dropping to the notes that littered his desk, one eyebrow lifted and he smirked a little. She never swore. Out loud at least. There had been once, but the word had been said so softly that Parker hadn't been able to be certain that she had actually said it. "Go take four or five hours, sleep, eat... Something."
 
"No one, I can just.... Feel it." Vivi grumbled, scrubbing a hand over her face, could feel that her hair was a mess. She raised an eyebrow at all of the weaponry, but at the same time, it was nice to see that he was at least getting prepared, and she just had... Papers. Notes that may or may not be useless. She picked up one of the bottles of holy water, chuckling softly, "I feel like this is a bad plot line to a horror book." she shook her head. She squawked a little as his elbows landed on her notes, and she opened her mouth to protest, but she cut off at his words.

Vivi flopped back a little, hands scrubbing over her sleep, "I've tried, I've been trying, but every time I close my eyes, my mind flashes to those," she waved a hand at the notes, "And it's not enough, it's all vague conjecture, and as of right now, it's pretty much just pointless because what if it's all wrong, Parker?" she sat up straighter, eyes focusing on Parker, "I don't like this sort of thing." she scraped a hand through her hair, nails digging into her scalp in a nervous tic.

"Just... Talk at me about what you guys have found? Maybe I can cross reference it with the garbage I've found and make some sort of sense out of it."
 
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