butdid_youdie (butdid_youdie) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2020-10-16 16:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | noah restic, tasha sloan, ~summer rhoades |
Don't Freak Out
Who: Summer/Tasha/Brief Cameo by Noah/NPC Bates (Written by Jeff)
What: Fact Finding
Where: Las Vegas, Seventh Circle
When: Present
Ratings/Warnings: Violence, Language
Prior to entering Seventh Circle, Tasha had given a brief rundown. ‘Try not to make prolonged eye contact. Don’t stare at any strange appendages that you might see. Stick by my side. And most importantly, even if it looks human, it might not be.’ If Summer was going to stick around, she’d have to learn sooner or later, especially since Tasha was getting back into hunting.
Once inside the club, people and creatures alike milled about and mingled, waiting for the first fight of the evening to commence. The ring was empty, the challengers preparing in the wings for the bout. Bets were being taken openly. It was like a weird mirror version of a traditional Vegas boxing match, except there were no cameras or color commentators.
Summer had so many questions. Strange appendages? Looks human, but isn’t? She very nearly grabbed Tasha by the wrist before they entered Seventh Circle to demand actual, honest-to-goodness answers, but she didn’t. Tasha was, more or less, doing her a favor by bringing her here; Tasha didn’t have to involve herself in Summer’s mess, but she was.
Questions could wait, mostly because Summer had questions that couldn’t. No one had tried to kill her since the night Lola Haskins got the drop on her in front of Denny’s. For most people, that was a good thing. For Summer, it could go either way. In her line of work, quiet usually meant something really bad was coming, and she’d rather not be caught off-guard again.
Her paranoia briefly told Summer this excursion was Tasha’s way of trying to bring her in, either to bag herself or so someone else could do the job. But Summer squashed that thought as quickly as it came; suspicious though she was of, well, everyone, Tasha had proven her trustworthiness already. Summer owed her better than suspicion.
Still, even as they walked in, and Summer made a mental check that she was in fact packing under her leather coat, she couldn’t stop the weight of the dread in the pit of her stomach.
“You really know how to charm a girl,” she whispered, huffing at her own joke in the hopes it would loosen the knot between her shoulders.
“Oh, this isn’t even my best date destination,” Tasha answered, placing a hand on Summer’s shoulder and gently guiding her through the crowd. “But I’m saving that for later.” She grinned at the other woman briefly before sweeping her gaze around the club appraisingly.
There was one person in particular she was looking for, someone who haunted places like these and usually had info. They detested the label snitch, but if the shoe fit…
The hunter almost bumped into a dark-haired man while lost in her train of thought. As he looked up, he caught sight of Summer with a look of recognition, and surprise.
Summer had a retort for Tasha. Really, she did. But the familiar face in front of her stopped her short and derailed her train of thought. The paranoid part of her threatened to pipe up again, screaming that this was a set-up of some sort, but again, present company hadn’t yet given Summer reason not to trust them.
That didn’t mean she wouldn’t be vigilant, though.
“Noah.” Summer pursed her lips, trying to mask the bemused smirk playing on the corners of her mouth. The handgun he had given her weeks ago hung heavy on her right hip, and she appreciated the constant reminder it was there. “Why am I not surprised you’d be in a place like this?”
The pyrokinetic glanced between Summer and the woman next to her. “Are you finally taking my advice?” he asked smoothly. “Looking for a target?” He hoped the assassin wasn’t planning on taking someone out there. Too many witnesses and high-powered individuals. Perhaps it was for recon purposes.
Tasha got an inkling of something off of the man named Noah, even in that crowded place. She wondered how Summer knew him, and she was definitely going to ask later. “We’re looking for information,” she spoke up, her voice authoritative as she met his dark-eyed gaze.
“Things have been quiet lately,” Summer explained, training her eyes not to wander to take in her surroundings. There was entirely too much going on around her, and if nothing else, Noah gave her an anchor of sorts. Something to focus on. “Like to get out in front of my situation before it leaps out at me again.”
She side-eyes Tasha, noting the tone in her voice. Was Tasha staking her territory, so to speak, or was she just weary of the man standing in front of them?
Either way, it was kinda cute. Summer bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
“Things haven’t been as quiet as you think,” Noah answered cryptically. “There’s just a new game plan.” That was all he knew at the moment. He had alienated himself from Hunter Bailey’s circle after turning down the job to kill Summer, but he was still tangentially connected to a lot of his associates. “I heard one of your friends messed up one of his people. Kind of disappointed that he was left alive.”
That clinched it for Tasha. She raised an eyebrow at Summer, as if to say, ‘interesting friend’. She withheld any verbal judgement, though. The other woman had assured her that she had been discerning in her work, choosing to target ‘bad guys’. That still concerned the hunter, though. Where was the line in making that call, when it came to humans?
“Sounds like this person should be grateful he’s alive and it would be wise to skip town before that changes,” Tasha remarked coolly.
Noah chuckled darkly. “I’d give him the message, but Bailey already took care of that.”
“One of my friends,” Summer repeated with an arched brow, trying to ignore something just in her peripheral vision. It looked like a pair of giant antlers, and not the sort attached to the wall. She was so tempted to turn and get a full-on glance, but Noah’s revelation held enough of her attention for the time being that anything else was a distraction.
“Be curious as to who that might be,” she added, “considering the two people I consider friends right now are here with me.”
In a way, Hunter’s change in method wasn’t a surprise. He always freaked out whenever things didn’t go his way, and he had honestly overplayed his hand by sending Summer’s ex after her right off the bat. The only surprise was that Hunter hadn’t tried to tell Summer about it. He was always the sort to shout his plans from the proverbial rooftops, a cry for attention only emotionally stunted, shady billionaires would understand.
“He’s panicking,” Summer said. “He failed on the first try and didn’t have a solid backup plan.”
Tasha glanced at Summer curiously, though her expression remained carefully neutral. Was she simply protecting her identity, not revealing to Noah that it had been her who foiled the would-be assassin’s attempt to get to Summer through the hunter? She wasn’t about to throw her weight around that way, anyway, not in Seventh Circle, so the other woman’s decision was wise if that was the reasoning.
“That makes him more dangerous,” Noah pointed out to Summer. “He isn’t thinking rationally.” The pyrokinetic paused, tilting his head with a smirk. “Well, less rationally, anyway.” The crowd began to still, which meant the first fight was about to start. “Anyway, I have to go, business to attend to. Good to see you’re alive, I guess.” He shrugged and drifted off.
“With any luck,” Summer muttered under her breath, “he won’t be thinking at all before too much longer.”
Turning her back to Noah as he walked off, Summer took in Seventh Circle as best she could without staring. After all, Tasha told her staring was bad, and she knew this scene far better than Summer did, so she did as told. She fought the urge to widen her gaze, because those antlers she thought she saw earlier were at the bar, mounted high atop someone’s head.
To say nothing of the, erm, fashion sense some of the patrons had. For the most part, everyone was well dressed. Blazers and pressed shirts were prominent, as were skin tones Summer was convinced looked out of place in the dim lighting.
A man walked by the empty pit talking on his phone. With his mouth open, Summer could see what appeared to be fangs.
Summer leaned in and whispered in the other woman’s ear. “You didn’t tell me it was Costume Night.”
“They aren’t costumes,” Tasha whispered back. “But I figured you would have to find out sooner or later. There’s more than just gambling in Vegas. And, well, everywhere.” She nodded over to a small row of empty seats. “Come on. We’ll be less noticeable if we sit down.” The hunter led the way over to the chairs, taking the one next to the aisle seat so that Summer wouldn’t feel surrounded.
The fighters entered the ring and Tasha sat up straighter. “Oh, that’s who we have to talk to,” she murmured, nodding with her chin in the direction of a short-statured, bespectacled man with sandy blonde hair. He was facing off against what looked like the strange love child of Andre the Giant and the Hulk.
Summer arched both brows, her eyes dancing over to Tasha. “Assuming he doesn’t get flattened first?”
Sitting was actually the best thing Summer could do at the moment. Because the reality of what Tasha had just said -- they aren’t costumes -- was finally, truly setting in, and if that was the case, then that meant the fangs were real and the antlers were real and the weird skin colors weren’t tricks of the light and Summer wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do with that knowledge.
The world was bad enough. Her job was perfect evidence of that. But the thought that what she was seeing was real, that the things that went bump in the night were something other than simply stories… Summer was tempted to freak out.
But freaking out wasn’t her style. And it would draw attention.
“So, when you said you’re a fighter and it’s life-or-death…” Summer leaned in to keep her voice a whisper, “you didn’t mean assassin, did you?”
Tasha looked around to make sure no one was visibly eavesdropping. Even so, they were surrounded by a lot of things with heightened hearing. “I’ll tell you more about it later, but yes,” she whispered. Hunters weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms at Seventh Circle. Her ilk had probably killed a lot of these creatures’ friends.
The bell rang out, the fight starting. A whoop of excitement went up in the crowd as the giant began circling the smaller man. “Here we go,” the hunter told Summer. “I’ve heard a lot about this guy.”
Her head feeling like it was literally spinning, Summer tried her damnedest to keep her attention on the ring, where the two beings of now unknown species and origin were throwing down. At least, she thought that was what they were doing. It looked like just a mass of bodies at this point.
Summer tossed a glance over her shoulder, in search of a waitress or someone who could give her a drink. She needed the strongest thing the bar had, if there was a bar. It was one thing knowing Hunter Bailey wanted her dead. That was normal; that was an occupational hazard in her line of work.
Being surrounded by… things? Things that may or may not be hostile toward humans?
Suddenly, that gun Noah had given Summer seemed woefully inadequate.
Tasha noticed Summer looking around in her peripheral vision. She leaned in to whisper in the other woman’s ear. “We can leave, if you want,” she said. “I can come back later myself, shake this guy down for info.” She resisted putting a comforting hand on her companion. She didn’t need the crowd around them to pick up on any kind of relationship between them, it was a weak spot that could be taken advantage of.
In the ring, the smaller man let out a primal yell and grabbed the hulking figure raining blows down upon him and threw him like a ragdoll against the metal fencing that encircled them. A cheer and boos rang through the crowd simultaneously, depending on who had bet on whom.
“Nah.” Summer offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Just looking for a dri--”
Summer found the rest of the word stuck in the back of her throat as she watched the fight unfold in front of her. Because there was no way, in all that was good and holy and adherent to the laws of physics, how that should’ve just happened. It didn’t make any sense. She’d seen mismatches before in boxing rings and the octagon, but nothing like this.
Nothing so outlandish and… cartoonish wasn’t quite the right word, but it was the only she could think of that really captured just how nuts this was. She was in an underground fight club, surrounded by her girlfriend and beings that were definitely something other than human, and she was watching… what were these beings, exactly?
On the other hand, Summer wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Did Hunter know about all this? Would he be sending monsters after her now? Her stomach dropped at the thought, because while Summer knew all sorts of ways to dispatch of human enemies, she was the very definition of out of her element when dealing with…
“Holy shit,” she breathed.
“I don’t know if holy is the right word,” Tasha couldn’t help but quip. Her grin fell, though, when she saw how confused and overwhelmed Summer actually was. “You really didn’t know anything about this stuff?” she asked under her breath. “What about Noah?”
“What about Noah?” Summer asked in a hushed tone, shaking her head. All she knew about him was he didn’t want her dead and he helped her out a few weeks ago when she was in a bind.
“I,” she began, pausing to clear her throat and lean in so she could lower her voice even more. “I know how bad humans can be. Greedy, vengeful, angry. My line of work, you see people at their absolute worst, and that’s before you blow their brains out.”
There was that headshake again, and now Summer couldn’t tear her eyes from the cage fight. Even if she wanted to -- and she couldn’t decide if she did.
“Maybe we’re not the worst after all.”
“There are shitty humans, and there are decent vampires, werewolves, whatever,” Tasha shrugged. “But I thought you knew about Noah. There’s something off about him, he’s not like a normal guy. I have a sense about these things, being what I am,” she explained. She knew that would muddy the waters more for Summer, but a full explanation would just have to wait.
She watched as the giant picked himself up off the ring, bleeding from a cut to his head. The blood wasn’t red. He charged at his comparatively diminutive opponent. The hunter was getting swept up in the fight, too, her eyes glued to the proceedings.
Summer chuckled to herself. Maybe she could sic a vampire on Hunter or something. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t know what to do about that.
Then again…
The fight was, all things considered, impressive. Summer still wasn’t quite sure what she was watching -- or even what the two combatants were -- but she realized her pre-bout assessment had been way off. The size advantage meant nothing, and there was clearly something else at play here.
Summer felt the energy shift, not just in the room with every blow, but in the woman seated beside her. Her body language was evident, but more than anything, Summer could feel what could only be described as waves of something akin to adrenaline. Was Tasha doing that? Was it this place? Was it something else entirely?
Whatever it was, it was noticeable. Unless Summer was imagining all this. Some part of her expected to wake up back in her motel room, nothing more than a bed sheet and Tasha’s arm draped over her.
But no dream had ever been this vivid. Summer got caught up in the moment herself, her body shifting in her seat with each blow. She cringed whenever a punch looked like it really hurt, and she cast the occasional sideways glance at her date, for lack of a better word. If this was a date, it was definitely the most unique one she ever had.
But as she took in the fight, old habits resurfaced -- such as wondering how the combatants could be killed. Assuming they could.
With a final blow, the smaller fighter defeated the mighty giant, who fell to the floor of the ring with a spectacular rumble. Some spectators threw up their hands in defeat, and others began seeing dollar signs immediately. “Come on,” Tasha told Summer, getting up from her seat. They would go down by where the fighters cooled off afterward, get this guy one on one.
Summer followed without hesitation. This was Tasha’s world, and she figured it was in her best interest to do what she said and leave it at that. A freakout was likely in Summer’s very near future -- after all, it wasn’t every day one’s entire view of the world changed after seeing a pair of antlers -- but for now, she kept her cool.
Keeping her cool kept the attention off of her. Keeping her cool meant answers were more likely. In theory, anyway. If the tiny guy who just kicked the giant thing’s ass was her key to getting Hunter Bailey out of her life for good, so be it.
Still, Summer couldn’t help her eyes wandering. Some creatures were obvious. Others, less so. Summer wondered how many who looked human were in fact anything but.
Mostly, she wondered how she’d be able to tell before it was too late. Just in case.
Tasha led the way, weaving through the audience as they began getting up from their own seats. There would be a break before the next fight. She caught a flash of light reflected off the winner’s glasses. The hunter approached casually, but confidently. “Are you Bates?”
Of all the names Summer thought this diminutive guy would have, she didn’t expect that one. Then again, this whole night was nothing but shattering her expectations, wasn’t it? She didn’t expect to find herself surrounded by vampires and werewolves and antler things and whatever else, nor did she expect her girlfriend to act like those creatures were a f act to be taken for granted.
Almost like she was in a zoo, pointing out the tigers and the giraffes.
Summer cast another glance over her shoulder, practically rocking on the balls of her feet. Her nerves didn’t manifest the way most people’s did; there was no fight-or-flight here, there was just pent-up energy Summer didn’t know what to do with. She kept her hands firmly in the pockets of her coat for just that reason.
She didn’t want to give this… Bates any reason to think her a threat. Not after what she had just seen him do. Something told Summer emptying a clip into him wouldn’t do much, and she wasn’t keen on finding out how breakable she was.
Bates manages to get his glasses back on, the black circle frames entirely too small for his face, and he gave the two women a once-over before arching a bushy, swollen brow. “If you’re here askin’ for money, no. If yer wantin’ something else... “ He shrugged as much as his shoulders let him; the left one had bothered him since his fight last week. Damn tentacle demon cheating and using all of his limbs.
“Mebbe we can work somethin’ out.”
“Hunter Bailey,” Summer said, ignoring the leering and the orange eyes staring back at her. This part she could do without. “My friend here thinks that name might ring a bell to you.”
Tasha glanced at Summer for a millisecond before turning her attention back to Bates. “We can definitely work something out,” she replied with a bored shrug of her shoulders. “But I was thinking something more valuable than money.” She looked pointedly around them, before leaning in.
“See, I’ve heard what you prefer to eat, and it doesn’t really jive well with certain types around Vegas,” the hunter stated dryly. “But I can make sure you don’t lose your head during one of your meals, if you have some viable info.”
Bates’ eyes widened before he cleared his throat -- a sickening, guttural sound that most certainly was not human -- and sneered at both women. He made sure the one in the leather jacket saw his jagged, yellow-and-black teeth, choosing to focus on her instead of the other woman -- because that one gave him a vibe that said he needed to not mess with her.
A hunter in Seventh Circle… security was piss poor in this place, but Bates knew better than to cause a scene. He was as likely to be turned inside out as the women were to be kicked out, and it was clear he had numerous reasons to be on his best behavior.
But it didn’t mean he had to like it.
“Blackmail’s for cowards,” he hissed, something black slithering down his chin. “I hope you know bullets won’t kill me.”
Summer shrugged. Freaked out though she still was, she took it as a good sign that Tasha was still calm. If she was being her usual cool-as-a-cucumber self, Summer could at least pretend.
“Maybe. But I’m pretty sure they’d still hurt.”
“Don’t think of it as blackmail,” Tasha countered with a smile. “Think of it as protection. Don’t be a pessimist, Bates.” She kept her body language open and calm, casual. From the way he kept his eyes off of her, she knew this weasel got the message and she didn’t need to show off.
“So, again,” the hunter continued. “Hunter Bailey. Is his name known among your...people?”
Beady orange eyes danced between the two women. Bates was used to having women come up to him after a fight, but they were usually not so… human. And they definitely weren’t threatening him, overtly or otherwise. He growled low in his throat before making that god-awful throat-clearing sound again.
“Might know who yer talkin’ about,” he practically growled, eyeing Summer again. “Don’t think I don’t notice how angry you get when you hear his name, either.” He chuckled off Summer’s look of confusion. “I feed off anger, love. And right now, you’re an all-you-can-eat buffet.”
“Ew.” Summer shook her head in an effort to get that out of her head. She considered taking a step toward the… what was Bates, exactly? But, again taking her cue from Tasha, Summer kept still. She painted a dark smile onto her face, cocking her head to the side so her auburn locks spilled over her shoulder.
“Relax,” Bates said with a dismissive wave. “I got no love for the guy, either. Bailey owes me for a job.”
Summer quirked a brow. “Job.”
“Yeah. Said he wanted me to take care of someone for him. Not you.” Another wave. Summer wanted to chop that hand off. “Some girl in the hospital, said he wanted her taken care of. Only I get there… she’s not in her bed no more. I say that’s not my fault, so pay up. He says I keep it up,” Bates’ eyes went to Tasha, “he’ll sic a hunter after me.”
Girl in the hospital. Tasha quirked an eyebrow, but resisted the urge to shoot a meaningful look at Summer. She was sure the gears were turning in the other woman’s head, too. “Not me,” she answered, holding her palms up. “I would never work for a fucking billionaire psycho.”
Even if the pay was probably enough to cover her rent for a year. Sometimes it sucked having a moral compass.
Bates shrugged again. “So hey, you want this Hunter guy dead? Get in line.”
Summer took that step forward she’d been holding back, but she still kept her hands buried in her pockets. It was a fine line between letting Bates know she was serious and threatening him, and she didn’t think showing her hands would go over well. Sure, Tasha was here, but Summer had seen what this thing was capable of. She didn’t fancy a repeat performance.
“Girl in the hospital,” Summer repeated. “Light-skinned, Black? Fucked up knee?”
A knowing smile -- at least, Summer thought it was a smile -- crept onto Bates’ face. “Yep, that’s the one.”
“Any idea where she went?”
Bates shrugged. “Didn’t go lookin’ for her. She wasn’t where I was told she was, so far as I was concerned, job was over.”
“And you’re wondering why you didn’t get paid?” Tasha laughed incredulously. “Dude, that’s like Hitman 101. Even I know that. You don’t get paid unless you kill the target.” She was getting tired of hanging around Seventh Circle. She needed a good drink and a shower, maybe not in that order.
“Where can we find Bailey?” Tasha pressed Bates. “What’s the best way to get to him directly?” She couldn’t wait to deal with the creep. Not only was he threatening to kill Summer, and in the most cowardly way possible, he had sent a wannabe assassin after her. To say it was personal was an understatement.
Summer bit back the laugh threatening to burst through; Hunter really was not having good luck getting people killed lately. First, Summer had refused to kill Hunter’s son -- which had led to this whole predicament in the first place -- and now, he had hired some… thing to apparently kill Lola and struck out there, too.
Sometimes, Summer wondered how Hunter had managed to build his massive wealth.
“You di’t hear this from me,:” Bates whispered, casting a glance over his shoulder. “Fuckwad’s overseas right now. Thailand or some shit, but… way I hear it?” Bates gave Tasha another once-over, deciding if he should try pressing his luck again. The protection she had offered wasn’t enough for this juicy nugget.
Then again, the glare being sent Bates’ way told him how such a request would go.
So he sighed and his entire body seemed to deflate. “He’s gonna be in Vegas in two weeks. Conference for wannabe defense contractors or something like that.”
Summer’s heart skipped a beat. On the one hand, this was way too good to be true. The man she wanted to be free of, once and for all, so she could move on with her life and put the whole killing thing behind her… coming to where she was? That had trap written all over it. Then again, when was Summer going to get this chance again?
Probably never.
With any luck, Hunter Bailey would be the last body Summer would ever have on her hands.