Not Until We Are Lost

Talking with Jack had made Evan feel a bit better, and a bit worse at the same time. He couldn't stop wondering how things might have gone if he'd not met Niks first, or if he'd never met Niks at all. Everything was so up in the air with her, that stupid fairy made all of it overly difficult. He knew how he felt about the librarian, and he knew that he didn't want to die. He also knew how Jack felt about her dancer. Evan didn't like complicated.

Which was another reason he liked Jack.

She was so straightforward with everything. She lacked the drama that most people in the world drew to them. She knew what she wanted, and she did what she could to get it. And then there was that whole thing on how the two of them were almost the same person. Two halves of a whole. Genderflipped.

Exploring with her had really cleared his mind. They'd talked only about things related to various hunts. She had been surprised to learn that he wasn't exactly ignorant on ghosts and monsters and how to kill them. Or maybe her surprise wasn't that total.

They'd eaten and talked more, straying away from the Mopey Twins subjects. God. Why did they have to get along so well?

Then they'd broken off and set out to find others. Evan didn't doubt Kai would be the first on Jack's list. Maybe Niks should have been the first on his. First thing Evan wanted, though, was to explore more on his own. To let his senses take over in this place.

He roamed out to the woods to find a good spot, and sat down.

"Well, the hits just keep on coming." Jack laughed as she woke up again in some place new. She would have preferred waking up with a certain dancer, or even alone curled up in a comfy bed. Waking up on a couch that seemed a little too much somehow, fully dressed, in a room that was airy and bright and all too sweet and perfect was not her ideal. It was almost like the resort, yet not.

"Hey." She looked to the side, seeing a very familiar face. The hunter reached out and lightly swatted the werewolf's thigh. Jack didn't think he'd mind, seeing as she'd spoken before touching him. Hitting werewolves without a warning was probably a bad idea. "Wake up, sparky. Stop dreaming about your librarian babe. We got somewhere new to explore." She felt pretty good, and the newness said adventure! She needed a little bit of adventure and maybe a little intrigue. It was time to do something more than feel warm and fuzzy. She might have needed some action, in almost any form she could get it.

"If you don't wake up, I will molest you, and we both know where that ends up." She laughed, moving a little closer to the sleeping fellow, if he was really sleeping.

Jack was concerned about the dancer and Diana - she hadn't seen that woman in a while. Yet, she could handled the concern, seeing as she had an expert finder right beside her. Now to get him up and going.

The big black wolf bounded through the snow, jumped into a snowbank, burst through the other side of it, and shook himself off before taking off running again. Evan didn't know how long he'd been doing this, he'd entirely lost track of time. The snow was glorious amounts of fun as a wolf. He liked it quite a bit when he was a man, but this was so much better. The smell of it was clean and crisp. The cold bit a little at his paws and nose, but the rest of him was quite comfortable due to the fur.

He threw himself onto his back and wiggled around in the white powder, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his tail wagging wildly. He was attempting to make a snow wolf angel, but didn't know how well he was doing with it.

Waking up here had been wonderful. Mostly because it meant they weren't in a place where people might be trying to poach him. And where people weren't visiting to try to get a picture of the strange creatures that could shift their bodies into other things. Though he had to admit that it was nice getting to bond with Sam, and meeting Betsy. That meant two people who understood what he was going through, if in their own way.

Admittedly, he was still curious to see how tiny Betsy became an elephant.

Sam stripped out of the pants that Jack had offered him. He wasn't sure if this was the best idea, but he supposed letting the new wolf run with another...wolf wasn't such a bad thing. It might help the guy find his way in his new world.

"This might take a little bit. I haven't done this in a while." There were many explanations for it. One big one was the way wolves felt the need to create an order. With a slight stretch, he looked around pulling up the memory of being a wolf, being round wolves, knowing what it was like to be that particular animal.

"Would you like to turn first?" He looked around again, as if he half expected the women to come out from the trees. They had all agreed that a little run would be good, and while he felt bad for Betsy, an elephant running with the wolves just didn't seem ideal. Plus, he felt better knowing that the human of the bunch had a shifter along. Or maybe he liked the idea that Betsy had someone who looked like she could look after herself along.

"Or we could do this together." It was certainly not the strangest thing he'd asked in his life.

He woke up naked.

Again.

Evan very carefully assessed his surroundings before he decided to move. There didn't seem to be anyone nearby, and there was no overwhelming smell of blood indicating that he'd slaughtered poor, innocent petting zoo creatures again. He slowly sat up and had a look. His nose filled with the scents of others. Other animals that were just animals, but other animals who were more along the lines of himself. A quick glance informed the new wolf that he'd been left with absolutely nothing.

Slowly, he stood. Slowly, he brushed himself off. He was waiting for some kind of trap to be sprung, if he was completely honest with himself. Or for somebody to come out of the foliage, laughing and holding a video camera. Allowing his senses to do their thing, he eventually realized that he was alone in the immediate vicinity.

The only thing to do, then, was walk. And walk he did. He passed a strange sign in Latin that gave him some information that made him more than a little uneasy. It rolled through his head again and again. Why would anybody do that? What was the point? Was he a zoo animal now? He hoped they got fed regularly.

A breeze lifted up and two peculiar scents. They were mixed up in with human things. Evan guessed that they had to be like him somehow. They were close by. Evan, quite boldly, stepped into the path so that they could see him.

Evan was upset about what had happened with Niks. It shouldn't have gone down that way. He was unnerved by her willingness to jump into the sack. Not because he minded it, or thought that women shouldn't be that way, but because it wasn't her. He felt like if they'd done just that, that she would have regretted it. For one reason or another, she wouldn't have been happy about what had happened.

The one thing he did not want to do while in this current mood was run into Simon. The fairy would suss out that there was something wrong and find a way to figure out what it was. Then he would mock Evan for being an idiot. Possibly while incredibly angry that she would want to do such a thing with such a lowly creature as a werewolf. The fairy had stated that things had changed since Evan had been manipulated, but Evan didn't feel like they had changed enough to get the fairy to like him. In fact, he felt like it might have made things worse. Evan was no longer a pathetic, short lived human.

He was actual competition.

He skulked around in the restaurant for a little while, then found his way to the bar. Happily soused in a short amount of time, Evan decided to wander around the grounds for a little while, get a better feel for what kind of situation everyone was in.

For the most part, it was all pretty peaceful and nice. He wondered if they would get to stay here long.

Evan was looking at the big clear sky while he walked, his nose picking up various scents, most of them lovely - even the gross ones that his human nose wouldn't have enjoyed very much.

There was a soft sigh as she stretched; something in her ached, and she rolled over to a new room, a new environment, and a note. She felt disconnected, and she wasn't ready to find out what new hell she'd woken up to. She ignored the sound of nature coming from a window; she ignored the smell of flora that beckoned further inspection. There was a world out there demanding to be known, and she ignored it all. She needed a bit of comfort before going out into a new and possibly harsh reality.

She settled into sleep, something she'd done many times before. The dream began, as it had many times before. The world felt like it was about to open up, so that she could descend to the space she truly belonged; only there came a large squack outside her window. Or some other noise that would not have happened had her window been closed.

She rolled over, covered her head, and tried again. There was that noise. Now she swore she could hear music. The more she tried to sleep, the harder she tried to find her way to the world of power and comfort, the further away it seemed. Finally she rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling.

"Very well." She grumped and sat up; she wasn't happy, and she'd try again later. Perhaps a sedative? No, she wasn't desperate. She could survive without the other place; she would be just fine. Setting her feet down on the floor as she sat up, she finally looked at the note, guessing it was some sort of welcome bit from whatever place they were staying. They did seem to be staying at a posh resort.

"You've got to be bloody joking!" Stasis! How long had they been in stasis! How could it have kept her out of the dreamworld! Had it before! There were many thoughts bouncing around in her skull, all questions with exclamation points on the end. She balled the note up into a ball, tossed it into the closest rubbish pin - actually making it - and found something that didn't show off more skin than she wanted to show off here in the waking world.

"Now, Niklas Wright, you find your men." She nodded at herself as she pulled her hair back, pausing only a moment at the hint of pointed ear. Simon and Evan had better be somewhere in this place, or there was going to be a very unhappy librarian. She stepped out of her room in a sundress that was probably a little thinner than she'd normally wear, but didn't show off anything it shouldn't and a pair of wedge sandals. She could still dress very nicely even if it wasn't stockings and garters sort of weather.

Evan didn't know what to think about being on the ship, really. It felt somewhat safer on one hand, but on the other, he was still not completely in control of the wolf, and it made him nervous to be enclosed with so many people.

And Simon.
He didn't particularly like being so close to the fairy with no escape.

He hadn't seen Niks since they'd had their encounter with the old one, and he honestly hadn't tried, she'd seemed more than a little put out by the way that they were acting toward each other, and Evan knew that Simon would be hovering near his newly altered charge, and it was just easier to stay away.

There were other people he wanted to check on, anyway. He wanted to find Jack and make sure she was alright. Mary, Max, and all the others that he'd come to know on this strange journey. Though he did discover that once he figured out what rooms they were in, it was easy to know if they were alright. Mary's scent was actually in two places, and one of them held something else that made Evan ill at ease. He also knew immediately where Mikey was staying, the smell of cat triggering a deep impulse to chase. He discovered another dog-like scent on top of that, which made him curious.

All of that was pushed aside for the moment in the name of food. He'd discovered that the aliens could recreate pretty much everything that he asked for, and perfectly. So he'd been experimenting with various things. Trying to trick them. Asking for alcohol and getting it. Cakes. Obscure dishes he didn't really want to eat, like lamb's brain. All of it came forth through the window.

He was finishing up a meal of various protein when he spotted the guy he'd confronted on the island. Evan stood up, abandoning his food. There was no bruise on his face from the impact of the punch, he'd - somewhat miraculously, he thought - healed that quickly. Somehow, he'd not ended up with the broken jaw that he was sure he should have.

Evan stood in front of the guy, the memory of the fight triggered by the smell of him.

It wasn't hard for Evan to find where the tea was, once he decided that he needed to find it. And he did. He felt bad for the way things had gone with Niks. It seemed as if every time they talked, something about Simon would get in the way of everything. Now, to top that off and/or make it all worse, now she smelled like a fairy herself. It might be a thing that he was able to get used to, but right at that moment, all it did was make him think of a certain man he didn't like. Doubly didn't like, given what he'd done without permission.

The tea wouldn't really be much of an apology, Evan knew. There were things in this world that even tea wouldn't take care of. Perhaps it would soothe Niks some, and maybe make her a little happy, and that was enough for the time being.

There was an elevator that took him down to the second floor, which opened up into a sitting room. Or a common area. Or a cafeteria. Or maybe it was all three? He could see a couple people sitting around with food, and a spot that had more comfortable chairs. Social Round Up? No, that just made it sound like a rodeo, which brought unpleasant memory flashes of cattle prods and hog tying.

Niks might like it down here, with all the watching she could do. Not particularly people. More like alien watching. But were aliens people too? It was hard to see their captors in the same league as anybody else.

( People are strange... )

Evan felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Though his body didn't look like he'd sustained that much damage. He figured that it was his brain going with the old standbys. Get in a fight, hurt after. Get hit by a guy who can hit that hard, feel like you've met a train head on.

He went to bed aching and sore, and woke up still a little battered, but more shocking was the fact that he wasn't in the lean-to, or laying on leaves, or hearing the ocean outside, waves in perpetual motion. He was in a room. Alone. Weirder still, it smelled like him.

There was a check of the bed, first, to make sure that he wasn't sleeping next to any new strangers, and then Evan got out of the bed and started to inspect things. He discovered all of his stuff. All of it. Even the pig medallion. Everything that he'd had in Electric City, all the stuff from the strange Easterfucked planet, and what little he'd obtained in Blackandwhiteworld. All of it was here.

Quickly, Evan pulled on some clothes and went for the door, sure that it wouldn't open for him. When he did, he paused for a moment, trying to check for a force field or something else that would burn him up on contact. He even used his nose. All he smelled was the strangeness that Evan could only attribute to the metal walls and the fact that he was now sure he was aboard alien craft.

He spent a little time stepping into and out of the room, anxious to leave it, but worried that it was some kind of trap. Evan's head snapped up and he became as still as a rock when he smelled something familiar headed his way.

Fairy.

Evan was doing a damned good job of staying the hell away from everybody, he thought. Even when the night came and the wolf popped out while he was sleeping, it went nowhere near the camp that they'd made. A camp he'd found quite by accident one day, thinking they'd stay in the cave. He'd been seeking firewood, and unfortunately for the campers, they had it.

He watched for a little while from the trees, trying to see if everyone was still alright. Satisfied, he'd returned to his corner of the lonely island, making a note to himself that he shouldn't go back that direction.

Another thing that was happening was that Evan was finding more control over himself. He learned that it wasn't the night that made the wolf appear, or the moon. It was how relaxed he got when he slept. And if he managed to meditate himself into a similar state while awake, he could make the wolf spring forth. It worked the other way, too. If he didn't particularly feel like roaming around the forest after the sun was gone, he just calmed himself and used his willpower to end the fur and teeth.

Hunting was easier while he was a wolf, fishing was not. Climbing tress to get to fruit was easier when he was a man, digging up tubers was not. Evan also found he was much more willing to play when he was canine. Like actually play. Chasing leaves and rolling in mud, barking at birds and squirrels as they chittered at him and threw nuts. That one was two fold. It was fun to bark at them, plus he got a little treat.

He was coming into his own as a wolf, getting used to the things that he could do, settling into the idea of it all. There were still times when he had urges he couldn't escape. When the bloodlust overwhelmed him and he had to hunt or he would go insane. But for the most part, Evan was finding it was easy to control the wolf, and was mostly easing away from making a line between himself and it. He thought mostly in I when he considered the matters. There were times when he was human, too, that it wasn't easy. When all the new sights and sounds were too much, and he had to crawl into the little shack he'd constructed just to get away from it all and be alone, to try to shield himself from some of it. The thing that made Evan all the more at ease with this problem was that he retained most of himself in the fur. The only things he lost, that he could tell, were physical. Using his hands, because he didn't have hands, and speaking were the big ones.

But, there were things the wolf could do that the man could not. Maybe a fair trade off. He wasn't sure what Niks would say. Or Simon. Though, Evan wasn't convinced that Simon was ignorant of this. How often had the fairy called him a dog? He'd taken it then to mean that he was a mongrel. A beast. Something not worth touching. Maybe a slight to how he always seemed to be following Niks around. But now? Now Evan wondered if the fairy hadn't known the whole time.

He knew the fairy was here, but wasn't in the mood to face him. Evan carefully avoided all places that smelled of fae. It was easy to do. It wasn't just that he could smell Simon, he could also smell Simon's magic. And he'd known what it was from the first sniff. He wasn't sure if he should be disturbed or intrigued by that.

As the dusk fell, Evan decided it was time to go check on the camp. He needed to know that they were alright, getting along well, safe, whole. He didn't know if they could be happy, but maybe. He wanted to see other people and watch them. He'd stay back, in the shadows, so they wouldn't know that he was there. He'd stay away and quiet so that they wouldn't be scared, and he could get a little bit of pseudo socializing. It was hard to be away from others, to be alone. Was that something that cropped up because of the wolf? Or was it Evan all along? He didn't know.

His paws met the earth quietly, dodging between fallen leaves and dry twigs like they'd been doing it since the start of time. Evan ran low, hunched a little, to blend more with the underbrush and the shadows there. He knew that he'd never fully hide while he was moving, he was too big for that. But he'd learned to make himself a flicker, a thought, a trick of the eye. He was black like darkness, and he'd picked up very quickly how to take advantage of it.

He was close to the camp, he could smell them. Evan stood completely still, head raised, ears lifted, listening.

After the rescue, everything was a blur. Mary remembered begging Cas to make sure Johnny made it back to the apartment. Begging them all not to give up on him just yet. It raised questions. Questions that nobody pushed too hard because she was in rough shape as it was. Someone suggested taking her to the hospital and someone else shot that down. It would raise too many questions. She didn’t have much chance to fight as she was brought back to the tiny apartment and someone gave her medical care. Later, she wouldn’t remember who. Castiel had done as asked and Johnny was placed in the bed. Maybe Mary looked worse than she had guessed because no one argued all that much when she climbed into bed with him. It wasn’t like there were many other places to sleep and she wasn’t ready to let go just yet. He had to come back from this. Didn’t he? If he could heal from that fight with the dragon… He just had to.

She didn’t know how long it took, just that it took too damn long. She checked him every time she woke over long enough to do so, and each time he was still, clammy, not breathing, no heartbeat. Then suddenly… she woke up to the sound of heavy breathing. Her fingers found the pulse in his neck. She almost laughed with relief. Almost. If he was breathing again, he would heal from this. She was sure of that.

Mary started to get better a little bit over the next few days. She wasn’t well, but she was there for the few times that Johnny regained consciousness long enough to choke down a snack or take some water. She was glad that she was able to be there for it, and she hated the idea that he’d gone through this on his own after the dragon attack.

She wasn’t sleeping all that well and she had no desire to talk to anyone about what had actually happened. It was simply easier to focus on healing her own physical wounds and making sure Johnny was taken care of as he healed too. The questions would come soon. Oh, she was sure of that. She was preparing for it and she didn’t honestly know how it was going to look when the other shoe came down on them.

She certainly wasn’t prepared for that period of resting and healing to be cut short. Instead of in bed, she awoke to the sensation of gritty sand beneath her. Her cuts itched and the skin was extra tender as though it had been burned. It was only once she opened her eyes and sat up that she realized that all skin that wasn't covered in bandages was lobster red in the face of a sun that was beating down on her. But then again, red… things were in color again. She looked around further, trying to get a feel for where the hell she was. A beach stretched out before her, waves rolling in and rolling out with a rhythmic sound. As she turned, she saw lush greenery behind her. She was also wearing jeans and a white button-down shirt that she'd never seen before.

"What the hell?" she said out loud.

The great black wolf tumbled through the pile of leaves, snapping at the flying strays as they tried to get away. The thing was massive. Five feet all at the shoulder, nearly two hundred pounds of muscle. It had already eaten. There was a roast chicken missing from a kitchen. Stolen and devoured, bones and all. The greasy meal had warmed the beast's belly. The hunt had been... well. Lackluster, but with such an easy prey, the wolf couldn't really complain.

Plus, now the leaves.

Evan hadn't played in leaves since he was a kid. He'd forgotten just how fun they could be. It wasn't why he'd come out here, but now that it was happening, he was loathe to stop. The thing that was going to halt this good time was going to be that the pile was scattered across the park again, as if the maintenance guys hadn't spent all day raking them up in the first place.

He'd come out here because he'd woken up in Max's apartment, in bed next to Jack, and he'd been furry. It hadn't taken him long at all to realize the problem. It had taken him a little while to get the door open and let himself out into the world. Thankfully it had already been night at that point. He didn't have to worry too much about people seeing him.

Of course, by the time he'd eaten the chicken and gotten to the leaves, Evan didn't so much care anymore who might see what. What were they going to do? Scream and run away? So be it. Let them. And if the police came, he'd either run himself, or rip them all to bits. Something inside of him told Evan that he would be more than capable of dong that. The thought of it sent a shiver of pleasure through him.

He paused in his playing to throw back his head in a delighted howl.

Finding Max's place was as easy for Evan as just thinking that it needed to be found. He didn't even have to pay attention to where they were going. Evan just continued the conversation that they were having, the same type of banter they always had. It felt like they were faking it just a little bit, not wanting to talk about whatever it was that Jack had in mind.

Evan could only imagine what she was planning to put him through. He'd read things in all kinds of books, ancient texts, ways to test for vampirism and voodoo curses. Archaic things that were painful. To find out if somebody was a witch, you had to essentially drown them. He could only hope that she had some more modern tests. Some things that weren't invasive and horrifying to his flesh.

He let Jack in, got her a drink, let her have a look around the place. He took off the tie and the suit coat, tossing them onto a chair, had his own drink, and waited for her to start her explanations and experiments.

Jack stood quietly to the side, feeling out of her element. She hadn't felt that way in a very long time, and yet it wasn't going to stop her from doing what she thought she had to do. It had taken some doing to get Kai to agree to letting her go on her own. The other woman knew Jack had been doing hunting on her own of and on her whole life. It simply was the way of things. Of course, this was a totally different time, completely crazy.

"Is that really real? All that blood?" Her voice took on the tone of a very curious and ridiculously clueless person all with the hint of fear, or what some thought of women in general. "I would have thought things like that only happened in horrible tales in those awful comic books." She had put on a simple dress, simplest she could find, and sensible shoes to look a part.

She had looked over the scene as much as she could before she got caught, saying she'd come out here to see the living animals that were now unfortunately dead. She'd even brought a small bag to show she had made a trip of it, so she hadn't heard the bad news. Not even a little. Whatever the reason, she got lucky in that they believed her enough not to send her on her pretty little way or keep her locked up out of the way.

In her bag, the hunter had a few tricks of the trade. It didn't matter how quiet things were, she would always have a few things prepared: holy water, rock salt, and quick made charms.

Evan woke covered in grime so thick that he wasn't really sure how to identify it. He knew that he smelled rank, though. It smelled like death and blood and animals. And the forest. Trees and other plants. He was also completely naked when he woke up, and his eyes weren't working right. He could see no colors in the world. So he figured he must have hit his head pretty good. Wandered away from the meeting and hit his head. That was the last thing he remembered, the meeting.

If he could smell himself, he must smell worse to anyone else. The first thing he did was find a stream to wash himself in. It was extremely cold, but woke him right up and made him feel really good.

That was a weird thing, too, how good he felt. He felt alive and free. He felt... whole and vital. Evan figured if he'd had enough to drink that he'd wandered away from people and if he'd hit his head, passed out and spent a few nights in the forest, he should feel like complete shit. More than shit. Especially given that he'd hit his head hard enough to alter his vision.

The next thing he did was steal clothes. That was easy. Evan found his way to a farm and a clothesline. The pants were a little small and he was fairly sure that the shirt he'd pulled down didn't belong to a man, and there were no shoes outside, but at least he wasn't running around naked anymore

Lest the people of the farm recognize what he'd stolen as theirs, Evan decided to not ask to use their phone, and studied the sky to see which way the sun was going. He picked a direction and walked, hoping that there would be something for him. Eventually he did find a road, and that was awesome. Roads eventually led somewhere.

Barefooted, Evan walked slowly, though it didn't hurt his feet. The dirt between his toes actually felt right, and that was a very strange thought to have. Thinking back, even as dirty as he'd been, he hadn't felt gross. He'd smelled gross. But he'd felt fine.

And speaking of smells, wherever he was now smelled completely amazing.

Eventually, Piotr decided that enough socializing had gone on. People knew that their friends and loved ones were here with them, and that was a good thing. They could catch up further later, however. If he didn't interrupt, the meeting would go on far longer than anybody wanted it to. He'd provided some snacks, but no actual food. There would be a need for actual food at some point.

He cleared his throat to get the attention of everybody present.

"We are all here right now for the same purpose." Piotr's voice wasn't loud, but it was demanding. His accent cut through everything else easily. The edges of it were sharp, the middles heavy. He wouldn't, couldn't be ignored. "All of us were brought to this place, world or dimension, and we have all been seeking answers since we woke up. It is time to share what we have found."

He smiled a little at Mary, at Cas, then at Rob, still not giving up his position.

"I will do this in the most orderly manner that I can, so we can get the information and compare notes as needed."

Piotr turned to Castiel, who had spoken up first.

Piotr was anxious to get everything rolling. While putting the meeting off had given extra time to round up others who might need to be in on it, it meant a delay of information that he wasn't truly comfortable with. He'd managed to play it off with everybody that he'd encountered, making as if this wasn't as big a deal as it really was to him. Inside, Piotr had been twitchy. Anything could happen at any time. They were all dealing with the unknown. There were too many variables, the risk was far too high. Lingering only swayed things away from their favor.

It was very domestic, the way he readied for the guests. He didn't let Max lift a finger. It was the only way he could keep himself from stewing, really. To move, work. Put plates together. Ready beverages. Create a spread that Martha Stewart would have been proud of.

He even dressed up.

Black suit, crisp white shirt, black tie, shiny black shoes, hair combed impeccably, guns tucked away in their holsters under his arms and hidden carefully by the jacket of his expensive outfit. Not a lick of metal showing anywhere to give him away, and that was more a throwback to the long nights of watching a mark than anything else. Piotr didn't have any good reason for it now, but it felt right.

When there was nothing left to do, he leaned against the arm of the couch and worried his lip between his teeth. There wasn't a watch to check on his wrist, so he glanced every few minutes at the clock on the wall, ticking away in its hideous orange and purple motif, strange detached bunny ears the hands, a mangled face grinning behind them. It was disturbing at best, though Piotr didn't really see the image, just the minutes.

The doorbell rang and he opened it, taking up the entire doorway. He smiled at the first guests and stood aside to allow them in. He made motions toward the table of snacks and directed them toward the kitchen for drinks. Every single newcomer got the same treatment. Max still not allowed to do anything that might have taken even an iota of the control out of the Russian's hands. They weren't military people, those who were showing up, they weren't highly trained like he was, but he would be damned if he wasn't in command of everything.

There were so many faces that he didn't recognize, and still no sign of the one that he was still seeking. Rayne was not with any of the others that showed up. Piotr couldn't help the worry he felt for his charge. The strange woman who he'd met in Malden, what felt like a hundred years ago now. He didn't ask after her, knowing that if any of these people knew her, she would have been here. He'd been careful to set the time of the meeting right after sunset to accommodate her and any others that might be like her. If she was here, by some strange chance, and had not been informed of the meeting, and hadn't come looking for him, if she had, in fact, decided to keep herself secret, then she had a reason for it, and it wasn't Piotr's place to draw attention to her. The hope of that was beyond slim, however, and he knew it. She wasn't here, he just had to admit it.

He let everybody mingle for almost an hour, to make sure that all the people that had been told had a change to show up. That and it was obvious that some of them had been looking for each other for a while, and they were just now discovering one another. He couldn't bring himself to break that up. He knew how he would have felt if he'd found his friend. He wouldn't have been able to focus on anything else but making sure that she was alright.

Finally, he stood in the center of the living room, his eyes skating over the seating, knowing that there wasn't enough for everybody and regretting it, and cleared his throat to get the attention of the assembled.

"We are all here right now for the same purpose." Piotr's voice wasn't loud, but it was demanding. His accent cut through everything else easily. The edges of it were sharp, the middles heavy. He wouldn't, couldn't be ignored. "All of us were brought to this place, world or dimension, and we have all been seeking answers since we woke up. It is time to share what we have found."

He smiled a little at Mary, at Cas, then at Rob, still not giving up his position.

It was not an easy thing to keep from touching the man she'd wanted to touch the moment she met him, even if that very thought would have made her scream at how ridiculously cliche it was. Evan Vang had irritated her when she first met him, and Niklas Wright had want so very much to hit him square in the jaw. She'd also wanted to kiss him because he was very attractive in an annoying way. There was something animal about him, which was not a slight on his lack of formal education. In fact, she found his education rather well rounded for someone who'd done it all on his own.

Yet, Niks wanted to touch him in less violent ways as they headed back to her house. Or the house she had woken up in. She wanted to hold his hand, even if that seemed a little too clingy. Plus, she knew how dangerous that could be for him, which admittedly made her want to touch him even more. The librarian was almost disgusted with herself, meaning she didn't say much as they made their way back to her place.

She let him in, staying well out of his way to make sure she didn't accidentally touch him. She even moved directly to the kitchen to start a pot of water for tea. Her brow furrowed as she thought about whether or not they had tea; she knew they didn't have anything to go in it.

"I don't think she's here." Niks spoke as she filled the kettle with water. "We should probably go look for her." She didn't want to. She wanted to get to know Evan a little better, but Sabev could be in trouble in a world that was all too new to her. There had to be a better way to handle all of this, surely.

Niks was a little out of her depth, or maybe she was more in her depth than normal. It'd been some time since she'd had to deal with anything beyond the normal out of the ordinary. The phoenix was something completely different. Very different in fact. Sabev was one of the most unique creatures/people she'd ever met.

So, with a promise that she would return with food, more knowledge, and more learning experiences - including clothes and kitchen appliances - to share, Niks slipped out to get a little information from her neighborhood library. The library had the basics, the very basics, and that wasn't enough for the woman who needed to know.

The librarian sighed as she started down the walk. She knew there was a place close by that had a few sugary treats, and while thankfully she hadn't started gaining from her increase in sugary intake, she wasn't happy that she found herself wanting sugar more often than not. Then again, she couldn't exactly blame Simon, not exactly, but she heavily considered it. Although at the moment, Niks would not have minded having his knowledge to beg questions of.

She wouldn't have minded Evan either. Actually she would have felt comfort in the "puppy's" close proximity. It wasn't fair of her, but she did like having the artifact hunter around even if she had made the rules. Rules she was now hating.