You paged Harriet with 'It this something Zach should worry about?'. Harriet pages: And if Chris and MeiQin didn't mention it, the apartment door has been torn off its hinges again. And ICly. Harriet has gone, in an unofficial fashion, Rogue. :) Long distance to Harriet: Zach 0.o Long distance to Harriet: Zach hasn't spoken with MeiQin and Chris... Long distance to Harriet: Zach does have a cell phone, though. Harriet pages: Well, if he stopped by the apartment, he'd probably notice. :) And Harriet's new cell phone is on the table of her apartment. She took it off before she left. Long distance to Harriet: Zach scream. From afar, Harriet eeps and comforts! You paged Harriet with 'Well, now we know what Zach'll be doing for the next few days...'. Harriet pages: Awww, poor Zach. *snuggles* You paged Harriet with 'He'll search. And search. And ask, bed, threaten and trick.'. You paged Harriet with 'BeG. BEG! You paged Harriet with 'Is there any chance in HEaven or Hell that Zach'll be able to track down Harriet with searching, asking, looking, etc, etc?'. From afar, Harriet hmms. I don't think so. She walked out of the apartment at three a.m, or thereabouts, and has been walking ever since. In the bad parts of town. Anyone who saw her is /probably/ more concerned with minding their own business. Do you have Area Knowledge? You paged Harriet with 'Yes I do.'. From afar, Harriet grins. Roll it. Assuming, that is, that Zach is assuming that Harriet left voluntarily, and wasn't kidnapped or forced out? Long distance to Harriet: Zach grins. "Zach is going to be ever so messed up about this. He was just around the corner at 4 am. Picking up Bazil's car... :) From afar, Harriet hee! Poor Zach! Long distance to Harriet: Zach starts with the searching, and askin neighbours what they've seen and heard. Asking a LOT of people, handing out money, booze, threats... Harriet pages: Well, the neighbors on her floor heard the door break. They've gotten kind of used to that sort of thing from Harriet's apartment, though. Harriet pages: Hmm. One of them believes they saw Harriet a couple of minutes after the door-breakage, slipping out the back into the alleys. Long distance to Harriet: Zach spends Essence to boost TN and CD. Where would Harriet flee? (She should have CALLED ME! *cry*) [Boosting TN +2 and CD +3, it should be noted.] AutoJudge: Zach spends 5 essence. AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 6 + 1 = 7 . Check die: 5 You paged Harriet with 'Yeah baby... CD 8.'. Long distance to Harriet: Zach now buggers off from Swope, as he just spent 5 Essnce.... Harriet pages: Good Heavens. Alright. Then, based on a general knowledge of Harriet, /her/ knowledge of the city, and things she's mentioned in passing, she's either have hit the airport to Leave Town (unlikely, no bags were packed, and Harriet wouldn't leave her art stuff, at the very least), gone to Swope (also unlikely, considering recent events), or is lurking in the worst parts of town she can think of. Considering her Discord, it's probably /not/ the area around the Bluebird and Langell House...too crowded. The KCK industrial/slum area is a possibility, however. Harriet pages: Mind you, that still leaves a fairly formidable area, and Zach knows that Harriet doesn't know this area well enough to have any particular place in mind, if that's where she's lurking. You paged Harriet with '-BUT- KCK is Zach's back yard. That's where he lives. :)'. Along the River - KCK(#266RJn) Buildings fall into a creaking decay for blocks around, rotting wood and crumbling stone untended and long since given over to disrepair. Windows are cracked or, in some places, outright shattered and boarded up. Even the running water of the Kansas River cannot wash away the stench of decay which lingers here, where stray animals, struck by passing cars which are themselves held together by spit and wire, rot in the street, while the jobless and the lost shamble about, preying on each other. To the south are the banks of the Kansas River, along which banks a rusty tugboat rests; eastwards, Kansas Avenue cuts across the rivers twisting banks before running into most of the major inner-city interstates like I-635 and US-169. Contents: Harriet(#104PXcJnOUg) Tugboat Obvious exits: Apartment Complex East along Kansas Ave North along 78th Harriet pages: Indeed it is. :) Harriet waves. :) Zach blinks! Zach says, "Oh my god! The tugboat's still here! :D" Harriet gives Zach a Cherub-cookie. :P Zach muches! Zach turns the log on, to catch the backlog of this. Then I'll start posing. ;P It's a little after noon, on a day that's fairly cold for summer. Somehow, it seems even colder here, in the blight of urban poverty. Old men and younger hang out on street corners, watching newcomers with predatory speculation. If anyone's asking (and paying), a couple of them allow that they might've seen a young, white woman in ill-fitting clothes and bandages wandering around here. One fellow even mentions that he told her to go check into the local flophouse before she got herself dumped in an alleyway somewhere. He doesn't know if he followed his advice, and doesn't really care. Zach walks with the careful, measured pace of a predator on the hunt. There's a focus to him, that is rarely seen. No longer the smiling, cuddly Zachster. This man is deadly, and any streetwise person worth spit can tell that at first glance. However, he is also a predator on one very specific mission, and he does pay for information. That's better than most hunters that these people meet. Zach nods to the fellow, hands over a piece of paper with a suggestive, green colour to it, and heads for the flophouse. -After- checking that it hasn't moved since last he heard. It's been a while since he's been here. The flophouse has not moved. It probably had a name at one time, but the sign's been battered and ravaged so thouroughly that not a speck of paint remains, and it's not like they're advertising, anyway. There's a collection of blitzed-looking characters loitering around the doors, and inside (behind a protective shield of bulletproof glass, the sturdiest structure in the whole place), is a grizzled old woman, looking bored with the world. Zach makes his way calmly towards the glass, offering short nods to the loiterers, not really interested. Seemingly... He taps the glass, and holds up a photo of Harriet to it. The woman looks up at the tap, gives the photo a cursory glance, and says, by rote, "Can't give out names 'r keys, mister. Sorry." Zach nods. "I know her name, so that's not a problem," he says dryly. "Have you seen her around?" Harriet says, "Actually, since Harriet's been found, I might as well clear that. :p" Zach says, "Not necessary, until she's ACTUALLY been found..." Zach hasn't got his loging hands on her yet... Zach says, "Loving." Harriet whimpers? :p Zach says, "Not loging, logging or anything REMOTELY connected to axes." The woman shrugs, sititng back in her creaky chair. "Might have. Don't particularly remember. Get a lot of vagrants passing through here, and I ain't a missin' person's board. You want a room?" Zach raises an eyebrow and quirks something that might be the shadow of a smile. "How much?" "Two hundred a night, or fifty an hour," the woman replies, with a rather unpleasant leer. "And for another fifty, I think I might have a good room for you, eh? Something with a good view?" Zach snorts. "Two hundred a night. Here? Pull the other one, lady." He runs a hand over his stubbles, who are now nearly a day and a half old. "Why don't I just give you a fifty for your troubles, what with taking up your very valuable time, and you tell me where I can find her and I -don't- search this place apart?" he asks her pleasantly. In one had there's a dead president, looking suspiciously like a 100 and not a 50. The other hand is slowly becoming a fist, readying for impact. The woman scowls. "I'm a legitimate businesswoman." She has to sound out the last two words, carefully, due to the lack of teeth. "You can't come in here and act all high and mighty with me, jus' cause your old lady's run off." She sneers. "From the bandages, maybe you need to learn to control that temper of yours, huh?" Zach narrows his eyes. "I don't have to make any confessions to you. My job is to keep this lady safe and unharmed. No-one, legitimate or otherwise, can stop me from it. So why don't you let your business instincts rule the day, and make me happy? In return, I'll make -you- happy and go away." The light in his eyes suggest that neither she, nor her business would not enjoy him hanging around for any length of time. The woman looks like she's about to say something scathing in return, when something in Zach's look gets through to her. She taps the counter, wordlessly. Zach places the bill in the little "bowl" under the plexiglass screen. She takes the money, and holds it up to the light, squinting until she sees the watermark. Then she slips it into the drawer, and says, grudgingly, "2C. Up the stairs, to your left. Checked in about six, that one did." "Alone," she adds after a moment's thought. "If it makes you feel better." Zach nods and the dangerous light in his eyes mellows. "Thank you kindly, ma'am. Good day." He flicks a slight smile at her, and then heads to the stairs and up to the 2nd floor. The second floor is not much better than the first. It's dingy, waterstained, and about one bad storm from being condemned. At the far end of the hall, there's a stain that looks and smells unplesantly like urine. The door to 2C is shut and no sounds can be heard from within. Zach walks quietly up to the door, and pauses to listen real hard... AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 5 + 1 = 6 . Check die: 4 Zach says, "Perception CD 4." From inside, to supernaturally keen senses, Zach can pick up the sound of at least one person inside. From the sound of their breathing, they're probably not asleep, but it's impossible to tell where they are in the room. Or if they are alone. Zach knocks softly on the door. Silence, deeper than before, reigns for a minute. Then the reluctant shuffle of feet coming to the door. "This room is occupied," a muffled Harriet-voice comes through the cheap wood. "Please find another, you know?" Zach lets out a sigh of relief and swallows before answering. "I'm not looking for a room, Harriet. I'm lookig for you. It's Zach, can you let me in, please?" More silence. Then the sound of something heavy settling gently against the door. "No, Zach. Please go away, you know?" You say, "No." Harriet breaths an exasperated sigh, audible even through the door. It /is/ cheap, after all. "Go /away/, Zach. Leave me alone, you know? I don't want you here." Her voice turns hard. "It's not a difficult concept to understand, I should think." Harriet realizes that she should probably roll Emote. AutoJudge: Harriet rolls: 4 + 6 = 10 . Check die: 6 Harriet says, "-6 to any Detect Lies rolls Zach wants to make. :)" Zach sighs quietly, and is secretly happy that Harriet isn't an Elohite and that she can't see his face and his eyes just now. "I suppose it's not. But understand this: I will not leave until you've either a) agreed to speak with me, or b) I have phoned every single special friend I have in town and told them where you are and in what condition. If you don't want /me/ around, you'll get someone else," he tells her through the glitch between the door and its frame. Harriet thumps her side of the door. "Damn it, Zach. Go /away/. I do not want to speak to you, or anyone else! If I did, then I wouldn't be /here/. I don't want to look at you, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to be anywhere around you. Or any of them, either. Leave me be." The current time in Kansas City is 1:30 PM, Fri Sep 19, 2003. Zach swallows again, but isn't going anywhere. He's deserved flogging, and he'll take it like a Malakite. "Okay. I'll just sit right here, outside your door then. If anyone comes through your window, you scream. I'll be there at once." He slides down to sit heavily on the floor, his back leaning onthe door. "I love you. I'll shut up now." Another sigh. In a somewhat gentler voice, Harriet says, "You can't stay there, Zach. You need to go take care of other people, you know?" And on her side of the door, she eyes the window thoughtfully. Harriet ponders Harriet's ability to get down an extremely substandard fire escape with one arm, without provoking the Malakite. Zach isn't saying a word. Just sitting there, and listening very, very carefully. He knows Harriet, and knows that when she starts climbing, he'll have to hurry. Zach snickers. Harriet says, "What's the default on Move Silently? -2 or -3?" Zach says, "Agility -1" Harriet says, "Ooh. TN 4, then." AutoJudge: Harriet rolls: 1 + 2 = 3 . Check die: 6 Harriet says, "O_o" Zach says, "WOOOW!" Zach falls over ded. Harriet is ghostlike. Zach bows in worship. Harriet says, "-6 to Per rolls. :p" Zach CRY! On Harriet's side of the door, there is silence, near total, as the artist eases herself away from the door, and tiptoes across the room to the plastic-covered window. She peeks out, and down. Oh, dear. But there's a loose flap of plastic, and holding her breath, she carefully pulls it away, letting the late summer breeze into the dingy room. Zach broods, and strains his ears. But the brooding makes so much echo in his head, that there isn't much room for sound. Especially when there hardly is any... AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 3 + 5 = 8 . Check die: 5 Zach says, "FAIL, fail, fail.." Harriet pauses, tilting her head towards the door. Since Zach hasn't said anything, she assumes that so far, she's gotten away with it. Or he's sneaking around to meet her at the bottom. She hesitates, giving the door a lingering look, then her expression hardens, and she climbs out of the window to the landing of the fire escape, her every movement achingly slow. There is no sound from the other side of the door. The angel outside is sitting in silence, trying to think of a way to fix this. And all he's able to think of, is blood and death. Harriet rolls acrobatics to get /down/ the fire escape without falling on her butt. TN 7. AutoJudge: Harriet rolls: 4 + 5 = 9 . Check die: 6 Harriet ow. Zach OW! Zach says, "That's like a disasterous failiure..." Harriet says, "Ow, ow ow." Zach says, "Please don't die..." So much for stealth. Harriet's last, lingering look lingered a little two long, and as she steps forward, she misses that suspiciously rusty place on the stairs. All attempt at quiet is flung away with a yelp of surprise as the thin metal gives way. She clutches at the railing, only to have it crumble at her touch, and she tumbles down the rest of the stairs, bringing down half of them with a metallic roar, and coming to rest in a tangled pile of rusted steel at the bottom of the alley. Zach bolts upright and yells, "HARRIET!" He runs to the nearest window and dives out. "/Damn!/" he swears to himself. AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 6 + 4 = 10 . Check die: 3 Crash! Zach exits through glass, and the pane is now an ex-pane. Some of it is stuck in Zach, but he doesn't care. He lands hard and panifully, but is up again at once and sprinting towards the alley where Harriet's window would be facing. The starteled calls and yelps coming from various denizens are ignored. AutoJudge: Zach takes 3 points of corporeal damage. Harriet is lying, unnaturally still and clearly unconcious, in the wreckage of the fire escape. Her clothes and bandages were rather dingy /before/. Now they're filthy. Blood is seeping out from underneath the one on her head, again, and the way her right ankle is bending just can't, can't be good. A wino nearby blinks muzzily at the woman. AutoJudge: Harriet takes 2 points of corporeal damage. Harriet is at negative health and incapacitated! Harriet eyes her +sheet. That's messed up. Techincally correct, but messed up. Zach runs to Harriet and kneels down to check for signs of life! Zach says, "Going for Perception, to find any breathing." AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 5 + 4 = 9 . Check die: 1 Zach o.0 FAIL! Harriet hugs! Zach is really messed up! :) Perhaps it's just because he's panicking, but in his first explorations, Zach cannot find the pulse of the artist, nor does he see her chest rise and fall in breath. Zach concentrates and hums a slow tune, taking just a wee bit of extra time to reach into the healing, soothing themes of the world. Zach says, "Corp. Healing, TN 9 for taking a couple of extra rounds." AutoJudge: Zach spends 1 essence. AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 6 + 3 = 9 . Check die: 6 Zach says, "That's 4 times 8 = 32 hit points, and 8 points of Disturbance..." The Song settles into Harriet's flesh, healing her completely and quickly, until not even faint twinges of pain remain. The artist's eyes flutter open, and she stares in bewilderment at the sky. "I...meant to do that..." Zach sighs and lets his tears drips as they will. "Sure you did. Now let's hightail it outta here. I made a crapload of noise just now." He helps her up, and isn't listening to any more no's. Harriet allows Zach to help her up, at least, then tries to gently shake off his hand. Her expression blank. "You can go that way, I'm going this way, Zach. Thank you for the healing, you know? But I'm not going with you." Zach shrugs. "Fine. But /I/ am going with /you/. Now get moving. This is a bad, bad area with too much possible excitement lurking around." Harriet stands stock still, and glares at him. "No, Zach. Go /home/. Get out of here, you know? I don't want you here!" You say, "I'm not deaf. But if you're going to get away from us all, could you at least go somewhere _safe_?" Harriet shrugs. "You know all the safe places," she mutters. "I didn't want anyone to /find/ me, you know?" She reaches up and starts pulling at the bandage on her head, since it's just in the way, now. "I don't know how you did, anyway." Zach tries to gently urge Harriet to start walking along the alley. He is pretty insistent, and keeps glancing around. "I... I found your door early this morning, when I came to visit. Thought you'd been...killed. Taken away." He speaks with a quiet, subdued voice. For Harriet's sake he tries to keep all those powerful emotions out of it. "I ran around like a madman, woke up all your neighbours, pouded on doors, asked what'd happened. Then Mrs. Swanson told me she'd seen you slip out the back. I was so relieved, I nearly..." Pause. Alert eyes glance around, checking windows, trashcans, drunkards, rooftops... Harriet allows herself to be propelled along for the moment, since she's busy unwrapping her head. She sighs. "I wasn't. I'm fine. Although, as...as a friend, could I ask you to fix the door, you know? I don't want MeiQin and Chris' things stolen, and it's disturbing for them to see such things." When they emerge from the alley, she attempts to bring their progress to a halt. "I'm going that way," she says, pointing in a random Away direction. Zach sighs and shakes his head firmly. "No you're not. That alley down there ends blind. Why don't you let me take you to a safe house out in the burbs. And you can tell me what the hell happened in Swope and what happened to your door. I'll have it fixed later." Harriet scowls. "Zach," she says, her voice dry, "you seem to be missing the point, here. I am /breaking/ my /promise/. I am running away like the coward that I am. Letting people tell me where I'm running to rather defeats the fucking purpose!" By the end, she's shouting and trying to pull away. Harriet muttermutterAngelsmuttermutter. Zach shakes his head and isn't letting her go. He's rather hoping she'll hit him a few times, actually. "Correction: You're /trying/ to break your promise. Even if you do manage to give me the slip and find somewhere to hide, you'll be back eventually. Harriet, you're _you_. You've too much conscience to go away for always." Harriet tugs on whatever he's holding her by, not impressed by his logic. "No. I'm selfish, and I'm endangering everyone and I want to /leave/. Now let me go, or I swear I'll scream. Go look after someone who needs you, you know? Because I d-don't." Her eyes are supiciously bright as she makes one last effort to pull away, putting all her strength into it. Harriet's strength is sadly unsuited to deal with a stubborn Arethas in Overprotective Mode. He adjusts his grip to pull her closer, and shakes his head. "Look around, Harriet. You're in the slums. How many women do you think have screamed around here? And how many of them do you think have been saved? Let us go. Please." Harriet stomps on Zach's foot. This will do no damage, and she's really too tired to work up a good attempt at actual energy, anyway, but she does it anyway. "Let me /go/, Zach. Please, please. If you love me, let me get /away/ from you, you know?" Her voice is weary, and choked with emotion. Zach tries desperately to Emote. AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 4 + 5 = 9 . Check die: 5 Zach fails desperately. Zach's voice is breaking, and his attempt to be calm and bland and...and...cllected is fraying and falling apart fast. "I /will/ let you get away from me, HArriet. Don't you understand? I could never, ever hold on to you against your will! But I _cannot_ let you run into darkness and danger! I _have_to_ know that you're as safe as you can be. I'm sorry I've put you through all this, I'm sorry I failed you. I am so very, very sorry I wasn't THERE all the times you needed me. Let me take you somewhere safe, and arrange for another angel to look after you. And you'll never see or hear from me again, if that is what you wish." Zach .oO( I'll just be watching from the shadows. ) Harriet starts to cry. "Don't you see? That's exactly what I don't w-want, Zach. I don't want any Angels to look after me. I'm tired of being a burden. I'm tired of being a vulnerability to everyone I care about, you know? I just want to go away, and let everyone get on with their /lives/, and be safe!" Zach blinks and tries manfully to fight the oncoming tears. To little avail. "Harriet," he chokes out. "You're not a burden! How can you even THINK that! You're..." He chokes and kneels down in front of her, placing his hands on her waist. "You're our heart, Harriet. If you go, we lose our heart..." Two people, blubbering in the street. A couple of the winos and bums look with interest at the impromptu street theater, as Harriet shakes her head, and tries to back away from him. "No, no, Zach. I'm not. I'm just an idiot who got in over my head, you know? You'll be safer when I'm not around. I can't s-stay. If I do, I'll have to give everything up, and I don't have that much left to give. Please let go." Two green, tearful eyes look up and into Harriet's equally green and wet orbs. The kneeling man is /not/ letting go. "No! First of all, you've lost me completely. I don't understand what you're saying. And second, you aren't alone. You aren't supposed to manage alone. We all look out for each other! You've done more than your share of that! If you need distance from me, I can understand that and I will respect it. But don't you DARE turn your back on yourself! You deserve better." Harriet reaches out and gently touches Zach's hair, her own sticking out in clumps from her scalp, her eyes red from all this sniffling. "No, I don't. I don't deserve better, you know? I've done nothing but get into one scrape after another that people have had to bail me out from, you know? I'm useless, and too much of a coward to do what it takes to /stop/ being useless. Shhh, Zach," she says, stroking his hair. "Go home. Look after MeiQin and Chris. They need it, and /they/ deserve it." Zach shakes his head adamantly. "Not yet. Cosmo will look out for them, and perhaps Baz will send help too. You are my Soldier, and my first duty is to you. To support, protect and guide. I've done a lousy job of it so far, but I am /not/ going to dishonour my Choir and Word by turning away now. Never. Even if I didn't love you like I do, I'd still have a duty to do right by you." One of his hands run down her hip and thigh, then up to her waits again. "I'm not kidding, Harriet. You're our heart. You're the one we all come to, to talk, to hang out, to be with. You're one who brings people together." Harriet's voice is dismissive. "Yeah, in one nice little clump to be spied upon and hurt by demons. It's a War. There's no place for someone who wants to make all nicey-nice, you know?" she says, with a nice, healthy dose of self-loathing. "And I don't want your support, your protection, /or/ your guidance. The best thing that you can do for me is to let me go." She moves her hand from his head to his left hand, and starts trying to gently prize his fingers from their grip. Zach gets up and takes her hands instead, even though they are working against him. "Yes there bloody well /is/ room for peaceful, good people. Do you remember Hachilah?" "She's an Angel. It's /different/. She can protect people," Harriet says, and sets about trying to get her hands free, as patiently as possible under the circumstances. You say, "That wasn't my point. My point is this: There is an Archangel dedicated to peace, love and second, third and fourth chances. Novalis, Archangel of Flowers. She has her place in the War too, as a soother, as a peacemaker and someone who gives hope and somewhere to go. She has many Soldiers, too. Soldiers like you." Zach starts urging Harriet along again, to Get Away from this place before all hell breaks lose. He's paranoid about Noise. Harriet doesn't really have much choice, unless she wants to gnaw her hand off at the wrist. She drags as she allows him to tug her along, however. "It doesn't matter. /I'm/ a liability, you know? I need to /leave/, Zach." Zach herds Harriet along, at a quickening pace. "You are a treasure, Harriet. You're everything we angels dream of in a human. You are a prime example of why we keep fighting, instead of retreating to Heaven and sit on our celestial butts while demons roam freely on Earth." He bites back a sob and forcefully swallows again. "You're not a liability! You're an asset! That's why they're after you, because they fear you, they fear what you can do." You say, "I love you." Harriet rolls Emote again! :) AutoJudge: Harriet rolls: 4 + 6 = 10 . Check die: 1 Harriet muttermutter. -1 to Detect Lies rolls. AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 2 + 6 = 8 . Check die: 4 Zach muttermutterfail. Harriet flinches. Then, as if in surrender, her shoulders droop, and she no longer fights his attempt to carry her along, her hand going limp in his. A watchful eye might notice the alertness with which she checks the surroundings, though, and the way that the giving-in might have been a little...sudden for Harriet the Stubborn. Zach remembers to resonate... +2 CD AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 6 + 2 = 8 . Check die: 5 Zach wanted a CD 2... Harriet says, "Heights and depths still the same. :)" Zach herds, glancing hither and tither to check for enemies. "What happened last night? What happened to you?" Harriet shrugs, listlessly, her eyes also darting here and there, and doesn't answer. She moves a little faster, a little closer to him, hoping that it'll encourage the Malakite to loosen his grip just a little. And mentally curses Celestial non-sweating. You paged (Cosmo, Roger) with 'You two will both have got a message from Zach during this morning. Harriet has disappeared, and Zach is scouring the city for her. She was last seen around 3am, when she slipped out the back door and vanished. _Someone_ had broken down her door again. The message urges you to look out for her, and to let him know if you hear any news.'. To (Zach, Roger), Cosmo pages: So lets' go find a piece of her art. And I'll know where she's at in short order. From afar, to (Cosmo, Zach): Roger grins Zach leads Harriet through alleys and up ratty streets. As they somehow draw nearer to the area where Rosemont lies, the neighbourhoods become cleaner and less dangerous. But still not a place to wander about alone and unfamiliar. He is not letting go of her, rather interpreting her slumping as a chance to put his arm around her for comfort and...something. Long distance to (Cosmo, Roger): Zach left the message on your answering machines. (ICly he's found Harriet already, so.:) Harriet leans against Zach, and sighs as his arm comes around her. Right, Plan A is scuttled. She starts to perk up as the buildings get less dingy, keeping her eyes opened for people who'd be willing to act as Concerned Citizens to a damsel in distress. You paged (Cosmo, Roger) with 'He's been out and about since the wee hours. And Used His Brain with extreme success. :)'. AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 2 + 4 = 6 . Check die: 2 To (Zach, Roger), Cosmo pages: Actually, i have the plushie she made me. I should be able to find her IC rather quickly. Zach glances down at Harriet. "You do realize that Cosmo can find you no matter where you go? And I'll always be able to find your dreams, my love. Please don't shut m--us out. Hard times happens to all of us, you /know/ this. And we help each other through them." Harriet from the sudden look on her face, Harriet had /not/ realized this. And she's not happy to figure it out, now. "Maybe I don't want your help! Maybe I just want to have a chance to be alone, to think about things, to have some /privacy/ for once in my recent life, you know?" Zach says, "Do you mind if Cosmo joins the scene?" Harriet doesn't. :P Zach winces and closes his eyes to stop them from leaking again. "You will have your privacy," he whispers hoarsely. "But you cannot seriously expect us to cut you lose and turn our back on you like this?" You paged Cosmo with 'Right, Sing the Song and you can join the scene here?'. "It's not turning your back, if I send you away," Harriet exclaims, starting to twist in his grip, again. "You say that you won't hold me against my will, but that's what you're /doing/, you know? Right now!" Cosmo pages: Consider it sung. Zach sighs. "Yes, I am trying to reason with you. I am trying my damndes to love you, and to claw my way through that wall of self-hatred you've suddenly set up." Harriet is being cuddledragged through the streets by Zach. Both of them look a little worse for wear, although Harriet's head-bandages are gone and so is the wound they were covering. "Let me go, Zach. Just let me leave, you know? Just for a little while?" Her voice has changed, from demanding to pleading. Holding the plushie Malakite in one hand, Cosmo walks along the river. Letting the stuffed creature lead him toward the water. He spots Harriet and Zach and picks up the pace, running toward them. Zach closes his eyes briefly. "I will. But not here. Here's a very dangerous place." He looks up, and sees Cosmo. A hand is lifted in a tired greeting. Zach says, "We're in the not-so-bad part of the place. Close to the 'hood where Rosemont is, i.e. ready to move over to the next grid room. :)" Cosmo ahhs. Harriet looks up at the wave. Blast it, another of them. She sighs, and sags more in Zach's grip. "I'd be fine, if I didn't have people making fusses over everything all the time," she mutters. Cosmo approaches the pair. It's obvious something is wrong. "What's wrong?" He puts a hand on Zach's shoulder, to offer him some support. Zach instinctively gives Harriet a little squeeze. "You're loved, Harriet. By humans and angels alike. We _care_. And, and.... Dammit! If it was me breaking down and running into hiding, would you sit on your ass and do nothing? Would you accept, even for a second, the demand that you stop loving me? That you stop caring and trying to help?? Would you?" He glances at Cosmo, sadly. "That's /different/." Harriet doesn't know how it's different, but it is, and she sets her jaw stubbornly. She does not acknowledge Cosmo, or the Malakite plushie, and remains rigid in the squeeze. Zach's eyes are red. He's unshaven, and radiating worry, heartbreak, and a zillion other angsy emotions. He is also bleeding, and there are tears in his clothes. Harriet sniffles and cuddles Zach. Zach says, "Tears, as in holes. Rifts. Erm, pieces of window..." Zach just remembered that he never stopped to extract those pieces of broken glass from himself. Ow. Cosmo stands there a moment, listening to Zach. And then to Harriet. He offers to wrap his arms around Harriet an dhold on to her, to give Zach a rest. "No, it isn't Harriet. We care about you, we aren't going to let you run off." Especially if some demon has been mucking with her. Harriet says, "If y'all are transferring custody of Harriet from Zach to Cosmo, she's going to try and run off. :p" Harriet says, "In the switch, I mean." Zach is NOT letting go. He's in full Cherukite mode. Harriet sulks. ;) Zach will let her go when _he_ decides that it's safe. Cosmo chuckles. Harriet SULKS! Zach rolls his left shoulder, and grimaces faintly. "Damn," he mutters. "I am doing what you would have done, Harriet. I am, in fact, doing the exact damn thing you did that time you thought Goldie had been on a drug binge over in Swope! And even if I weren't, Cosmo would. We love you. I'll say it for the third time: You are our heart. You are where a lot of the forces of Good meet." Harriet closes her eyes, and clearly and silently shuts them both out for the moment. She doesn't resist whatever they decide to do, but she refuses to acknowledge either of them while she thinks about some things. Harriet mutters, and has to idle for a few. Harriet has gone into doll mode. She won't talk, but she won't resist, either. Cosmo frowns even deeper. "Let's get her to the car." He says softly. Starting to walk back toward his vehicle. It's not parked very far away. "We need to get her somewhere safe. And find out what's going on, why she's behaving like this." Zach hauls Harriet along, and gets in the back to sit with her while letting Cosmo do the driving for once. "She's having a major freak-out, and she needs a break. But not in the goddamn worst slum in all of KC..." Cosmo pulls away from the crub, smoothly guiding the Jag down the street. He changes the rearview mirror to be able to see him. "Any suggestions? Maybe somewhere out in the country? " Zach nods. "I know of a place west of here, about 5 hours drive. It's a secluded spot where some of my old mates sometimes stop to lay low." Cosmo gives a nod of his head. "Believe it or not, I'm aware of it. I think there's some sort of deal between Wind and Trade on that." He's trying to keep his voice calm, neutral. He starts working his way toward the nearest highway to head west. "What started all this?" Harriet leans against Zach as they drive, her eyes opening again. She listens intently to the conversation, probably more so than is good for them. Her attention also notes the direction of the car, sighing slightly when the reach the traffic-stopless highway. Zach sighs and glances worriedly at Harriet. "I'm not sure. She hasn't answered my questions about what happened yet. But a combo of the attack in Swope Park and whatever happened last night..." Cosmo accelerates, leaving the city behind. The skyline fading into the horizon far behind them. He seems to loosen the frown as he notices Harriet leaning against Zach. "I wasn't able to get to the park as soon as I would have liked. Solu sent a bird to let me know, but by the time I got there, the police were already on scene." Now that they're not giving out tactical information, Harriet turns her face away from both of them, staring out the window. "You can't keep me locked up, you know? I can get away from you, eventually." Zach says quietly, "Can you please tell us that happened last night?" Cosmo continues to drive. He just smiles faintly at them in the mirror. "I am sure you will try. Perhaps we can convince you otherwise before we get there." "I decided to take a walk," Harriet says, tightly. No, apparently she's not going to be co-operative. "I just want to get /away/ for a little while, you know? I don't see why you won't just let me /go/." You say, "Who tore down your door?" Harriet says nothing, her lips thinning into a prim little line. She scoots away from Zach, a little, towards the door of the car. Zach drags his hands over his face. "Please. Harriet. What happened?" Harriet shrugs, and sulks. Sulking is not attractive at the best of times, and certainly not in a woman who's nearly thirty years old. This doesn't stop her, however. Zach sinks lower in the seat and abruptly sits up again. "Ouch." He turns his head to try to get a look at his left shoulder, where there apparantly resides a piece of broken glass. "Drat. Cosmo, I'm bleeding in your car... I need a date with your first aid kit." Harriet twitches. She eyes Zach, sneakily. Then a hand unwraps the bandages that are left on her hand, and hands them over, silently. Okay, they're grubby, but they're offered freely. She eyes his shoulder, trying to be subtle about her attempt to see the wounds. Zach gets up a little and leans over to the front to get the little kit hidden in the glove compartment. This causes a few more pieces of glass to move and a grunt to emit. He sits back down and takes the bandages. "Thanks." Then he removes his shirt, and takes a pair of tweezers out. "Better get those buggers out..." The shoulder wound contains the largest bit of glass. It seems to be deeply lodged. There's a few other cuts and bruises on the rest of him; both arms, his back and chest, and one in his head. Nothing major, but it's a bit messy. Zach says, "The Jag better have leather seats..." Harriet guilts. And sulks. Looking at the blood, though, it's mostly guilt. She holds her hands out for the tweezers. "I can see it better than you can, you know?" she offers, in a barely audible voice. Cosmo has leather seats, yes. So cleaning up the blood won't be much of a problem. He turns to look back at what's going on. "Don't worry about the upholstery. It will clean up." Zach hands Harriet the tweezers. "Cos, could you hand me the ashtray? For the glass..." He shifts in the seat to make it easier for Harriet to get at the shoulder. "You'll need to tug firmly. It's in pretty deep. And then put these on, once it's cleaned up." He hands her a couple of wound clips to stich up the little gash. Zach muttermutter. I need to buy Acrobatics before I dive out a window again... Harriet follows directions, wordlessly. She has to reach up and swipe under her glasses a couple of times before she can see what she's doing, but eventually the evil glass is attacked and firmly tugged out of its hold on Zach's flesh. And the unhappy Soldier doesn't enjoy it at all. Really. She goes about cleaning and clipping the wound. Cosmo slides the ashtray out of the dash and hands it back to Harriet. The first aid kit is rather extensive. "That's the worst, having glass in a wound. Well, not the worst. But it's very unpleasant." "It sucks," Zach agrees with a wince, as Harriet removes the piece. "I can take care of the rest now, hon," he tells her softly and holds out his hand for the tweezer. Harriet hesitates, then hands the tweezers over, again. With a slight frown, she scoots away from him, and returns to sulking. "This is not necessary, you know? I can take care of myself." "Yes. You can. But we're in the mood to spend time with you. Besides.." Cosmo glances back at the road. He smoothly passes a slow moving vehicle. Zach eyes Harriet before he starts removing the other bits of annoyance from his flesh. "Less than an hour ago you said something to the opposite effect. But it doesn't matter. You are loved. By some very stubborn people, you will notice." Harriet sniffs. She's allowed to be nonsensical! "This is kidnapping," she says, darkly. "You're holding me against my will, you know? You're both in on it, and quite frankly, I expected /Cosmo/ at least to have more sense," she mutters. Zach .oO( Hachilah once called me an unreasonably stubborn oaf. She was quite right. ) Cosmo snorts softly. "Harriet, we all three know I'm rather adept at kidnapping. It's very nearly become a hobby with me. Just ask Ellen. You need some time away, we'll provide it. Just relax and watch the scenery go by." Zach mutters wryly. "It'd be easier for me to unglass myself if Someone could stop throwing rocks in glass houses..." Louder he asks Harriet, "If it were Goldie suffering a breakdown and running off blindly, trying to hide and tear herself to shreads, wouldn't you have been like the first to go after her, kidnap her and sit on her until she got better?" Harriet tilts her nose upward. "Of course not. Not to the point of grabbing her and not letting go, you know? For one, she'd knife me if I tried it." She grimaces and looks away. "Can't you just let me go? You guys should be watching MeiQin and Chris." Cosmo shifts in his seat a little at the mention of MeiQin. He sniffs once and continues to drive. "I'll take you and Zach to the safehouse, then return myself. We just want to watch out for you." You say, "I told you, Harriet. All other facts aside, I have a duty to be there for you. As your angel. You come first, it's that simple. Now, is there any reason in particular for MeiQin and Chris to be in danger? If there is, we need you to tell us. Were they there last night, when your door got smashed?" Harriet grits her teeth. "I. Do. Not. Need. Watching." She crosses her arms over her chest. "What do I have to do to get /away/ from you people, you know?" She eyes Cosmo's head balefully. "They were there. Why don't you drop me off here, and go ask /them/, if you're so determined to know." Thus killing two birds with one stone. Yay! Cosmo spots a rest stop and pulls into it. He slows down as he does so. "If I give you the car, will you promise to go to a hotel? Somewhere safe? And then call us and let us know where you are?" He brings the car to a halt and turns around to face them both. "Perhaps I am being overprotective, but I have my reasons. You two do what you want however." He leaves the car open and steps out of the front door. Harriet eyes the car. Mmmm, fast car. Gooood car. Zach is so very, very torn. "I can't just leave you..." he says incredulously. Long distance to Harriet: Zach resonates again. I want a CD 2 result! AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 4 + 6 = 10 . Check die: 5 You paged Harriet with 'I get 5 hours of Don't Touch instead!'. "Yes you can," Harriet replies, immediately. She watches Cosmo step out, her brow furrowing for a moment. "And find out what's up with Cosmo and MeiQin, too, you know?" she says. Then remembers that she's not supposed to be thinking like that, and scowls. "I'll be fine. I'm just going to go...somewhere. Get some rest. Think about some things." Cosmo moves to stand outside the car, waiting on Zach. He pulls out his cellphone, flipping it open and dialing out for a cab. "She'll be alright. She's safer out of the city then in it. And she's obviously having normal stresses. We have to trust her." He speaks as he waits for an answer. Then, 'Hello, yes, I need a cab. Yes. The rest stop..." Zach does one of the hardest thing he's ever had to do. He swallows, pulls his tattered and bloody armless t-shirt on again. With one final look at Harriet, he exits the car. "Harret, if you haven't left a message within 48 hours, we'll come searching. I mean it." Zach emotes. AutoJudge: Zach rolls: 4 + 2 = 6 . Check die: 6 Zach manages to hide his heart, in stead of wearing it on his sleave. Which is good, because it'd be a bit gory right now. And he keeps his face calm, his voice steady and his eyes warm. Harriet sighs, and nods. "I will, Zach. I promise." Her lips twist. "I don't know how much that means, in light of recent events, but it's there, anyway. She slides out of the backseat to take the front seat. Yay for short drivers! "You both...be safe, okay? On your way back, I mean." When she has the keys, and everyone is clear, she starts the car up and prepares to drive off. Cosmo pats Zach on the shoulder after hanging up the phone. "She'll be okay. Won't you Harriet?" He smiles sligthly, and watches her drive off. Just blinking once and remaining utterly calm. Zach lifts his hand in farewell and stands utterly still, watching Harriet leave. Harriet nods, and wooshes away, keeping her eyes firmly on the road. Cosmo waits for her to have driven off. He punches another button on his cellphone and a map with a dot on it shows on the screen. "Relax. I have a GPS tracking unit in the trunk. I can follow exactly where she's going." Zach lets out a long, gutfelt sigh. "So. What /is/ up with you and MeiQin?" he asks Cosmo. Zach peers over at the digital thingummie. Good. Very good. Cosmo closes the unit, after letting Zach see the display clearly. He puts it away. "Nothing. She's a fine young lady. Very smart. Though I think she has some problems, I believe she can overcome them." Zach eyebrows. "What kind of problems?" He glances down at himself. Wonderful. He looks like his been in one helluva fight. Talk about the odd couple... Cosmo gives a lift of his shoulders. His hands go into his slacks and he starts to walk along the greenway. "Personal issues. Something about feeling older men are dangerous for her. I think, in an emotional way. She didn't want to discuss it, however. And I can understand why." Zach follows Cosmo, trundling along. "Oh, right." He is silent for a little while, then asks. "Are you aware of a Calabite who goes by the name Ashley? Student at the University in KCMO? Bit of a punk." AutoJudge: Cosmo rolls: 5 + 3 = 8 . Check die: 2 Cosmo stops in midstride. "Describe her." Zach does so, quite thoroughly. "She outed herself when she tried to fry the my tow wire last night. While I was standing right there. Unfortunately I couldn't smite her, because Ellen was there too." "That's Polly. I've been wondering when she'd show back up. I can't touch Chris, but I can touch -her-." Cosmo's jaw tightens. He gets a deadly look in his eye. "This time, she won't run to Limbo." Zach frowns. "Polly? The Factions Calabite? Right. Well, the Ashley Role is a member of the track team at the University. She should be easy to find." His looks grow dark. Zach says, "I thought it was Sarah who went to Limbo? Or did they both? :)" Cosmo says, "Ack. I got it backwards." Cosmo tenses his shoulders, his fists clenching and unclenching. "Yes. Yes she should be easy to find. It may be a little harder to kill her though. We'll have to think about that." He resumes walking, turning in a circle. Waiting for the cab to arrive. Zach shrugs. "Death by kitten," he says. Cosmo smiles at that. "Now that should have the cops puzzled. Find her in her dorm room, mauled by the attacks of a small kitten." He rocks on his toes. "I want to hit her with Entropy first though, see if we can make her talk." Zach peers at Cosmo. "Talk about what? The plot against you? Well, whatever. If you want to play first, go ahead. I'll ride along in your pocket and take care of the actual slaying. That ought to take care of the investigations." Zach thinks the concept of a fluffy little kitten with supernatural strenght and fighting skills up the wazoo is rather intimidating. :) "About Sean." Cosmo says curtly. The rocking coming to an abrupt halt. His mouth tightens. "SHe has to know what Cris is up to, and what has been done with him. Sean deserves at least that much. If I ever catch Cris, Zach, and I can do it without violating orders, I'm going to make him suffer." Zach gives Cosmo his full and undivided attention. "/Cris/ was behind Sean's disappearance? Have you learned anything more about it? Last I head, Sean had attacked Harriet. And that was weeks ago." Cosmo shakes his head slowly. "It's just a gut instinct. And that wasn't Sean. It was just his body." He gazes off into the distance. "Here's our cab." From his tone, it's clear he doesn't wish to discuss this any further. Zach blinks. Then he blinks again. His intake of breath is like a soft hiss. "....right. Do you know /why/ you're not allowed to touch Cristobal?" he asks quietly. His voice is curiously flat and devoid of emotion. Cosmo turns toward Zach. "Marc is worried Ellen could become biased against Heaven." his jaw tightens again> Subtle little signs of mounting anger. He opens the door and climbs in the cab. Zach enters after Cosmo and settles in for a silent ride back to KC. "From what I could tell, she's not too fond of Cris these days," he remarks before he leans back to rest. Cosmo has the cab take them to his place. He pays, tips well and then leads the way inside. He goes about putting away his things. Then settles into a chair. "That's good. But she still thinks I'm a murderer. Until she can be convinced otherwise, my hands are tied." Zach nods. "I see. Well, if I get a chance at him - I'm taking it. So, any other demons out and about these days? Any sign of Jack lately? Any new ones?" "He's been sighted, yes. He stays well away from me. I don't know who Sarah has returned as. Or if she has." Cosmo just stares straight ahead. "We have two new Stones in town. Bazil and a Kyriotate." Zach nods. "Baz and I have met and spoken. And he mentioned a Domination, yeah. I hope they'll stick around and work with us. Baz certainly seems willing to play ball." Cosmo Stays where he is, just sitting in that chair with his hands along the arms. "Good. And I think so as well." He takes another deep breath. Zach eyes Cosmo. "Talk to me, man," he says quietly. "Don't you too go all stonewall on me. Is it Sean? Harriet? Me? All?" Cosmo tilts his head. "I failed Sean. I couldn't help him. There's not much more to say, really." Zach dips his head in acknowledgement. "I understand," he says simply. He knows exactly how Cosmo is feeling. He places a hand lightly on Cosmo's shoulder to augment his words. Zach is fading fast. "I need to head to bed soon." <:) Cosmo says, "We can wrap up there."