Ex-something (Kincaid; after the dream thread, continued in comments)
Once she'd woken up for the evening from the mess of a dream Saerian invaded, Phaedra immediately called Lindsey to make sure he was okay. She'd gone right for the source, though, and tried to find the man himself. It'd failed.
Two nights later, she was heading over to Lindsey's motel. There was too much going on to let him out of her sight for long. She knew he might be moving location, soon, too, and couldn't blame him. Saerian knew where he was. Might as well make it a little harder for the bastard.
She stopped just short of a block away from the place and turned around. There was someone there. She wasn't an easy woman to find, and not easy to track; she'd been moving faster than a human eye could see for most of her trip over.
A hand touched the hilt of one of her daggers, and she raised an eyebrow. She could feel someone there.
"This should be interesting," she said.
Kincaid had settled himself in York and done his recon. If he didn't know better this place would seem quaint and peaceful. You didn't have to dig very far beneath the surface to know that the appearance was definitely deceiving. There wouldn't be this many powerful muckity mucks hanging around just for the local cuisine and darling bed and breakfasts.
Before he wanted to start making contact with some of the newer flavors, he wanted to establish connections with the people he knew. Karrin was not first on the list, though she was in the top three. He had at least tracked her down and learned that Dresden's looney apprentice was living there. Wonderful.
Even Dresden wasn't first on his list. Kincaid had altered his priorities a little to talk to the wizard's "bodyguard" first. He and she kind of went way back even if that had been the last time he'd physically seen her. Still, for as good as she was in a place like this it wasn't hard for Kincaid to follow her, just not as fast.
He'd followed Phaedra until she had stopped, picking up on his presence and smirked to himself when he saw her fingering a knife. "Trust me. If I wanted to hurt you there had been ample opportunity before now."
He stepped out of the shadows, casually dressed with his hands in easy sight. He was armed, of course, but he wasn't here for trouble. "Hello, Phaedra."
It wasn't an eye roll. But the face clearly said 'oh, please.' He knew better. Kincaid could try to hurt her. She did not think he would get very far.
Her hand moved from the dagger to her hip. Phaedra wasn't physically imposing, and she never had been. But she'd found over the years that there was something about a woman with her hands on her hips that made people pay that little extra bit of attention.
She smiled, very, very slightly. "Sarsan?*"
She'd get to the rest in a minute.
*how are you?
Some people might be distracted by that body language. He wasn't. He looked, but it was followed up with a snort and he remained right where he was keeping a distance between them.
"I'm working." He smiled, but there wasn't much friendly in it. "And no, it's not for the gates."
The smile faded back to his normal stoic neutrality. "You took the job."
Phaedra didn't worry if he was working for the Gates. It was more a worry of him working for Wolfram and Hart, or Saerian. Her face reacted appropriately. There hadn't been a ton of warmth in her expression to begin with, now there was even less. Then again, Phaedra had never been known for her warmth.
You took the job.
She nodded. "He upset my entire office," Phaedra said. Harry'd made the entire place quite nervous just by showing up. Everyone but her. She knew if she hadn't taken the job, Harry'd be in a lot more trouble, although it was unlikely Saerian would have come out here. She'd both helped and hindered the situation. "Someone might've mentioned his tendency to mouth off to demons," Phaedra said, eyebrow arching again.
Her hand slid off her hip. Her arms crossed over her chest instead.
"Did you leave Ivy?"
She was more than a little surprised to see Kincaid anywhere The Archive wasn't, after what she'd heard about the girl from Harry.
Oh he could easily imagine what kind of chaos Dresden kicked up when he went to hire on Phaedra. Kincaid almost wished he could have seen that. This time his smile was smug and amused. "The wizard has a reputation all over the world. Someone should have done their homework before signing on the dotted line."
Asking about Ivy froze the smile on his face and made his eyes get that dangerous gleam to them. He didn't change position, but something about him even a novice could read. It said he could pull your lungs out through your eyeballs in a heartbeat if he needed to. "Nope." Technically, he hadn't. He'd stashed her. She hadn't just renewed his contract, but had added to it. What was happening in York was important to her, therefore it was important to Kincaid.
"He also did not realize... who staffed the firm," Phaedra returned, her eyes shining with a smile. Harry'd been about to crawl out of his skin. He'd called it a 'nest of vipers' in his head.
Phaedra didn't pry. It really wasn't any of her business, except she knew that Kincaid hardly ever left Ivy's side. She had no interest in the girl, or even in Kincaid's relationship with her. If she had anything to contribute to this mess, she would. Otherwise, Ivy was o no concern to Phaedra.
"You were following me," she said. It wasn't a question. There was a hint of surprise in her voice, as though she was impressed.
Kincaid flat out grinned, but it was kind of feral. "I didn't tell him what you were." And he'd done it on purpose. Dresden was supposed to be dead. Kincaid knew about the wizard's dislike for vampires, and he even knew why. It had been a test of sorts. If Dresden hired Phaedra even after knowing what she was then Kincaid knew something was fishy. It was low tide.
"You were following me."
He smirked, his chin lowering. "You made it easy." Not really. He just had been focused on following her, but there was no reason he could see to own up to that. "Babysitting a fledgling making you soft?"
Out of common courtesy, Phaedra was out of the habit of reading the thoughts of anyone who crossed her path without reason. Given the look on Kincaid's face, she was about to waive that courtesy.
And if she'd known what he was thinking, about Harry hiring her, she'd have been insulted. Phaedra was an incredible weapon. Harry could not have done better.
You made it easy.
She smirked. "You're a liar."
... soft?
She got the sense her meaning of the word 'fledgeling' was different than his. To her, it meant 'child.' Child in the Blood. Once she got past that hiccup, Phaedra shook her head. "I'm sure you had a time of following me."
"So who hired you?" she asked, taking two tentative steps toward Kincaid. "Why are you in York, instead of just watching from afar?"
He tsked and shook his head as he took a couple of steps towards her. She moved first. He took that lead. He wasn't here for a fight, but even if he had been he wouldn't have given ground. "It's bad form to ask things like that, and you know it." When he looked back to her his expression still held a hint of a smile, but that deadly seriousness was at the corners of his eyes. "My employer would rather remain anonymous, and I'm here to help keep those gates closed. That's my contract."
Phaedra was not gunning for a fight. At all.
She was doing her job.
"Considering what's been going on here and what my job is, I really don't care about bad form this time. I'm protecting someone. That's come with a lot of baggage."
She considered, momentarily, how much to tip her hand, here.
"If you were hired," Phaedra said, her voice as emotionless as it could possibly be, and quite cold, "by someone that's caused me in particular a great deal of trouble, you and I are going to have a problem."
She actually really did not want that. But if Saerian'd gotten Kincaid here? She really didn't think anyone, including Harry, would blame her for trying to hurt Kincaid. There were a few other names she wouldn't want to hear in connection with Kincaid, but that was the main one.
"And if you weren't, you need to know a little bit about this." So you can help me stop it, she added silently.
"Aw." Kincaid smirked and stopped with a few yards between the two of them. "Phaedra." He placed a hand over his chest mockingly. "Stop it. You're scaring me." He couldn't have said that more flatly if he tried harder. He didn't have anything to worry about anyway. Ivy didn't have anything against anyone, except maybe the Denarians but Phae would have issue with them too. He was here on a contract she actually would approve of, but admitting it would ruin his fun.
He nodded for what she hadn't said out loud. "I'm on your side with this. This town is too small to bullshit you about that." Okay, so his sense of fun only went so far.
Despite the small amount of history Kincaid had with Phaedra, he'd really never seen her scary. He didn't know about her family, he didn't know about Saerian, and he'd never seen her protect anyone she loved.
Because there hadn't been anyone, before.
He might be older than she was, and he might be a scary thing, too, but Phaedra knew damn well that there were few things as terrifying as an enraged vampire trying to protect its own. Lindsey was hers, even if he wasn't a vampire. Period. Same went with the hunters in this town, and Harry. That was something with which you did not fuck.
She nodded. If she ever HAD to, there were ways of getting information out of Kincaid. It wasn't necessary right now, though.
"Good."
"There's a demon," she began, leaving his connection to her out of it for now, "that likes mind and dream control. Wolfram and Hart gave him more power, somehow." She made very sure that Kincaid was listening, made sure to hold his gaze. "He recently finished terrorizing half the goddamn town while everyone was sleeping."
"The lawfirm has an interest here." That wasn't all that surprising. What was that there wasn't anyone else setting up some professional competition. "And they set loose a demon that rides the dream waves." He smirked. Might be interesting for the little shit to come into his dreams, but honestly it would be irresponsible. There was too much in Kincaid's head to let just anyone wander around.
"I take it he's still lurking around."
"They didn't set him loose," Phaedra corrected. She was shaking her head. "They hate him."
If Kincaid was going to go running after Saerian, or anyone, whyever he was here... he needed to know that. It was terrifying that Wolfram and Hart had done Saerian a favor.
I take it he's still lurking around.
"Killed him once," she said. "Hundreds of years ago. It didn't take."
She half-hoped he'd ask why she'd tried it. But then again, showing anything approaching humanity around Kincaid wasn't something Phaedra really cared to do. That wasn't a side of her he'd ever seen. The most human thing he'd ever seen her do came with an NC-17 rating.
Wonderful. So the lawfirm that sets the bar for lawyers being bottom feeders is in some war with a demon, and it's happening in York. It wasn't entirely surprising, but it was irritating. He hated this corporate shit.
"Killed him once," she said. "Hundreds of years ago. It didn't take."
He just shook his head. "They never do." Demons were like cockroaches. Just when you think you've got them crushed under your boot they show back up. A certain wizard was qualifying for that category too.
He didn't really need to ask Phaedra why she tried to kill this guy. Could be for any number of do-gooder reason, but they obviously had a history. That made him eye her with a brow arched. "You the reason he's here, then or are you just the icing on the cake?" The demon could be interested in the gates more than Phae, but if she popped him once Kincaid wouldn't be surprised if the bastard was looking for some payback.
"Honestly not sure," Phaedra said. She sighed. "He followed me out here. But I'm sure I'm not the only reason he's sticking around. This place is like Candyland to things like him."
That was even more than she'd wanted to say. But Phaedra really had had enough of people getting hurt or killed because of Saerian. Thinking about everything that'd happened since she'd been here was very tiring.
He watched her as she explained more than he listened to her. More often than not you found out more about a situation, people or things by watching the person doing the talking than from what they were saying. What Kincaid saw and interpretted told him that Phae was tired. Not a physical tired, but an emotional one. This was something that had been hanging on her for a while now and she was done. Not done enough, in his opinion or she'd put an end to it. Herself. She wanted to, but something was holding her back. It was possible it was that moral code of hers, but Kincaid couldn't tell yet how it played into this what with this guy being a demon. He'd have to dig for more info, but Phae was like him. Be too obvious about it and she'd clam up, slip off and he'd only find her by finding Dresden. Kincaid didn't want to have to resort to that.
"If he's a threat. If he wants those gates. He's my target." Kincaid watched her closely for her reaction to that. It might tell him a lot.
She would've ended it herself... if she knew how.
There was precious little Saerian did not seem to want, really. So Phaedra was sure he wanted something from the Gates, and something from just about anyone in town that was either one of the 'good' guys or otherworldly in some way.
Her reaction was minimal. Phaedra nodded, eyebrow arching. It was more of a numb reaction than anything, though it probably appeared detached.
It was anything but. Saerian had to be put down.
"It's an Arch Demon," she added. It was to caution him, to make sure he didn't immediately get his ass handed to him.
Kincaid smiled, but Phaedra had seen that smile on him before. As had Dresden. And a number of other creatures who hadn't lived to see it again. "I don't care if he's the Skywalker himself." He made the mistake of naming Lucifer exactly once. He wouldn't repeat that again. Ever. "I'm under contract."
He never failed to fulfill a contract but maybe once, and he never let Ivy down. Ever.
Great. That attitude was not going to work.
But Phaedra long ago gave up on trying to change men. They were less changeable than any other thing on the damn planet. She'd had plenty of time to figure that out.
It made her smile, though. She'd forgotten how absurdly dedicated Kincaid was. And she had not seen him in quite some time. The smile was brief and girlish, leaving the vampiress behind once it was gone.
"Did you even consider working for Richard?" she asked.
He must've asked. She couldn't imagine he hadn't. Benning and Son had a reputation, even if Richard had never sought Kincaid out.
That smile of hers was what had turned his attention towards her after that gig in eastern Europe all those years ago. Phaedra was definitely something to look at and while Kincaid was more than human he was a man. He appreciated the sight while it was there, but didn't miss it when it was gone. It was a reminder that her line was drawn a lot sooner than his was.
"Nope." The only people who had ever successfully hired him consecutively had been the Archive. Ivy and her grandmother. He still wasn't certain how they managed it.
Phaedra's lines were a lot different, nowadays. Her humanity was much closer to the surface.
But that didn't mean much around someone who knew her as a killer. She had a very good game face.
Phaedra nodded. She wasn't about to push the subject.
"Like the Cliff Notes on this place?" She asked. It was about the only other thing she could say to him without bringing up their strange past. "Places to avoid, things like that?"
That topic avoided his smile eased as he nodded. "Wouldn't mind some intel if you're in a sharing mood." Because maybe then he could pick her brain a little bit about Dresden.
"Want a beer?" He didn't make offers like that often, and though they didn't have much of a history what they had he respected so the offer was thrown out there. "My treat." A grin spread across his face a little bit. "Stopped in Chicago before I came here and picked up a case of Mac's. You could rub it in the wizardling's face."
It was less that she felt like sharing and more that she felt like making sure Kincaid didn't walk into the woods over by the Gates and end up dead, or any other number of things.
Want a beer?
The smile came back, slowly.
Harry still had some Mac's left. But that didn't much matter. It wasn't the point. This was the most talking that didn't involve 'you take the four on the left, I'll take the ones on the right' that really had ever gone on between the two of them.
She felt with her mind for Lindsey, silently. Making sure he was okay. Nothing abnormal found, she nodded. "Okay." She could have a beer and talk and then go see Lindsey. She'd just have to have half an ear out for his thoughts while she was doing it.
This would be very interesting.
"Lead the way," she said.
There had been a point to offering Phaedra a beer beyond being friendly. It allowed him to let her know where he was staying without coming right out and saying it. It would satisfy her itch to know and he didn't honestly mind her knowing. Besides, if he needed to he could switch locations in less than an hour after she left.
He led her back to the fleabag motel with the Impala gracing the parking lot. Through his periferal he watched Phae to see if she recognized the car. Someone here would know that car. It was too good to miss. He didn't draw attention to his subtle investigation by hesitating in unlocked the door and pushing it open for her.
"Ladies first." He smirked at her.
Since about half the damn town was staying at the Phoenix, Phaedra wasn't surprised that Kincaid was, too. She didn't bat an eye at the Impala. Kincaid could appreciate or fuck with the car at his peril. She'd pay good money to see him deal with a supremely angry Dean Winchester. If Dean had any sense, he'd move the car or hide it somewhere. It was easy to associate with him, and that was dumb.
"Then maybe," Phaedra began, brightly, "you should find a lady."
She stepped inside the open door, slid her coat off and perched herself on the chair, not quite using the space in a human way. A little too still. This room smelled like cleaning supplies, and under that, a fine layer of human sweat and bodily fluids. Phaedra was reminded why she was not a fan of hotels and motels.
Even Lindsey's.
God. Her and Karrin. Seriously. You try to be at least the definition of a gentleman and they throw it back in your face if not shove it down your throat. He couldn't help but wonder if Phae knew Karrin. He figured if Phae was working for Dresden she almost had to know the ex-cop. Now he was itching to know what they made of each other. Patience was a virtue, however and he'd find out in time.
He closed the door but didn't lock it. There was no need with both of them in here. Anyone stupid enough to come in without an invitation would find themselves messy between heart beats. He crossed the room that barely looked like someone was staying here for the mini fridge that didn't work tucked under the sink beside the bathroom. Two of Mac's brown ales were pulled out and he turned to toss one to Phae.