Chapter 10
Tyler
From his suite in the Hollowbrook, Tyler DeFaulte loaded himself up for the assault he was planning on the Downtown Setite base of operations. After leaving Fat Larry, he picked up an Uzi to go with the rounds he got from his man, and as an afterthought he also collected about half a dozen signal flares; the Setites in particular were sensitive to flame and bright light so they might come in handy. Next, he called Nines and Damsel as a group call.
"Yeah?" they answered in unison after the second ring. "What's up?"
"Checking in," Tyler replied. "I think I found a Setite base of operations. The way it looks, I figure it's probably a drug den right here Downtown; most likely heroin."
"Son of a bitch," Damsel shouted. "I'd like to peel the scales off every single one of those mother fucking dope peddling assholes!"
"Good job, Tye," Nines said, keeping his cool. "At least now we know where to start. I take it you're thinking about going down there to take it all down."
"That was the idea." Tyler confirmed.
"Come on back to the Last Round, first." Nines said; it almost sounded like an order, but then his tone often did.
"Fenris just called," Damsel added. "She figures the Assamite she made is gonna hit Nines next. She's on her way here to work out a trap. Bring some hardware. She is gonna be your back up."
Before Tyler could protest, Nines insisted that he was going into a hostile environment and needed someone to watch his back. As little as he liked it, Tyler knew that was the right call. He grabbed a few more flares and a 12-gauge shotgun which he personally sawed down for concealment purposes.
"I'm on my way." Tyler said, hanging up.
Fenris
Much to her surprise, the cab Fenris caught was virtually odorless; as if the driver had recently scrubbed and disinfected it. It was really a relief to her senses.
Just before the cab arrived, Damsel called her back. Apparently, a there was a hot lead on where the Setites were running one of their drug dens; Tyler was gearing up for some kind of assault, and he would need back up for it. Fenris didn't need to guess that she was being picked for the task. She figured that it wasn't so much Tyler that wanted the back up, but he probably had sense enough to see that it was the right play to make.
"What about the Assamite?" she had asked.
"We got that under control." Damsel shot back. "You were right, the best bet is that he'll come out after Nines next, and the best way to take him out is draw him out into the open."
Now in the cab, she took a moment to gather herself. Mentally, she prepared herself; switching her frame of mind from tracking to fighting. Fenris adjusted herself in her seat.
"You seem uncomfortable, child." The driver said; his voice filled with a warm darkness that had an air of authority that Fenris didn't dare challenge. Her apprehension went back to something Skelter once told her in her first few nights. He told her once that the blood would know when the ancients called out to it, and that it would respond accordingly despite what the senses or the will believed.
"It's not your cab, if that's what you're getting at." She replied, not sure what else to say.
"In a concrete jungle such as Los Angeles, those of your Clan often tend get claustrophobic; to feel boxed in." The driver said. For a moment, Fenris was alarmed; not so much because it sounded like he knew of the Kindred, but more because his assessment of her personally both as an individual and as a Gangrel was so accurate. "One can hardly hold you at fault for what you are, young Gangrel." He continued. "As with the kine, when the Kindred are gathered together they tend to weave webs of deceit that make it all but impossible to determine who is worthy to trust. The urge to leave in favor of solitude and open spaces can be very inviting."
Stunned at how precisely He hit the proverbial nail on the head, Fenris instinctively cleared her throat before speaking. "Yeah," she said; hoping she sounded casual. "Out there on my own, then I wouldn't have to worry about getting screwed over at every turn. I would be out of all the politics and bullshit."
"You should be aware that the path of the independent is a difficult and dangerous one, child." He cautioned. "While it is true you have less concern in regards to the political machinations of the cities, you are then on a lonely road and therefore vulnerable."
"I'd be willing to risk that," she said. "I can handle myself. Besides, at least I'd be in the care of someone I can trust."
"Would you be?" He challenged. "A lonely Kindred – especially one of a Clan as naturally close to the Beast as yours - may find themselves taken by the Beast in the Blood very quickly."
He had a good point, Fenris had to admit. She really had no good counter to that. She honestly believed she could handle it, but He was right in His cautionary note.
"Still," He added, "the path you choose is yours alone to choose, child. If you so wish, I can drop you off near the edge of town where you can go where you will."
Fenris gave this offer some serious thought. She could bolt; she could just leave everything behind and start a whole new chapter of her unlife...
No, she decided. She had a habit of running away all her life, and that is what got her into this mess in the first place; she ended up dead pretty much as a result of her habit of running away. Besides, she started something in this city. Now it felt improper to leave that undone. Starting something and not seeing it through seemed like a betrayal in its own right. She may have done a lot of bad things, especially over the last ten years, and she may be a lot of bad things, but nobody would ever be able to say that Fenris Fraust is a hypocrite.
"No," she said finally. "I got something I have to finish here, first."
"Independence and honor is a rare and admirable combination among the Kindred. You may do well on your own after all, child." He said; "Where to?"
"Downtown" Fenris replied.
Marko
...That's true enough...
The Network seemed to believe Cameron's claim to be using the Setite attempt to coerce him into cooperation as an opportunity to infiltrate their operations. He didn't even deny that he was ultimately doing this on behalf of the Camarilla. Marko was not stupid, though. He didn't miss the probability that what Cameron meant was he was doing this on behalf of Hastings brand of Camarilla. The Malkavian decided he would be keeping a close watch on the Ventrue even before they arrived at the Last Round.
As they were entering, a voice on the speakers inside was just short of yelling at them about the real and present danger of the rapidly forming New American Century. From the corner of his eye, Marko spotted Tidy Bear storming towards them; sporting a leather trench coat and looking ready to go about kicking some without taking any names. He was a little less than a block away. In the distance, a cab was approaching.
Both Marko and Cameron deftly weaved through the crowd and got into the Steam Pipe. Inside waiting was Nines, Damsel, Janette, and Smiling Jack; Jack was ogling Janette, not that she seemed to mind.
"Kitten, you're safe!" Janette exclaimed as she dashed towards him. She glanced at Cameron. "Well, I see you've decided to join the party, Duckling," she added as an indifferent afterthought.
Before he could start with any banter with Jack, Marko saw both Fenris and Tyler enter the room. It seemed almost the whole gang was here tonight; X was off on a secret mission, Tabby Cat was hurt and cleaning up a mess with Max, Ajax was on his way. That left VV and Helter-Skelter. That VV was absent was hardly a surprise, but...
"Where's Skelter?" Fenris asked.
"Setting things up," Damsel replied.
...To catch an Ass I might...
Fenris nodded. Clearly she knew what Dam Sail meant. "Right; I get it." She agreed. She paused a second, sniffed.
...Ajax is here...
She wrinkled her nose. "You can come out now, Ajax." She called out. "Come share your new toy."
Ajax
Despite the fact that he got made so quickly, Ajax was pleased to see the look of shock on the faces of Tyler, Nines, and Damsel. That shock probably had more to do with the fact that he was able to breach the joke that passed for security in this dump than anything else. Cameron and Marko knew he was coming, and it was no surprise that Fenris caught him; Gangrel are cagey like that. Jack was older than the hills, so it was unlikely anything caught him off guard anymore. Janette was a Kook, so there was no telling how she would respond to anything; ever.
He came out of obfuscate into the Steam Pipe, the Setite slung over his shoulder. He dropped the Setite onto the table that Jack was sitting in front of like a sack of potatoes. Cameron stood, arms crossed, unimpressed. Janette clapped, giggling quietly.
"What do we have here?" She cooed. "Is this a chew toy for us play with?"
"What took you so long?" Cameron asked. "Your route should have been quicker than ours."
Ajax glared at Cameron. "Listen, Cammie. When you lug what amounts to a dead body through a rat infested tunnel while knee deep in shit – literally – then you can talk about what takes so long." It wasn't exactly a lie; but then again it didn't really answer the Ventrue's question. The reason for his delay was that he made a stop to pick something up. En route to the Last Round, he made a quick detour and had a meet with Mitnick.
"Good see you, Newbie," Mitnick had said. "Bertram said you called; needed a silencer for a .45. What's going on?"
"It's probably best you don't know just yet." Ajax replied, taking the silencer that Mitnick was holding out to him.
Mitnick barked out his slobbering laughter. "Oh, I get it," he had said. "This is some kind James Bond thing, right? Well, at least those morons on topside finally got the right man for the job. Good luck, Newbie."
The reason he wanted the silencer was so he could dust the Setite without making a lot of noise at the Last Round once they were done questioning him. Actually, Ajax doubted asking this religious zealot questions was going to do a bit of good. This was going to take either Cammie with his dominate or Marko with his Auspex; X has better Auspex than either Tabetha or Marko – as far as he knew – but X was out of town and Tabetha was out of commission, which took her out of the running for dominate as well. Cammie was better at using the dominate powers anyway. He attached the silencer to the .45 he took from Cammie, mildly surprised the Ventrue didn't demand it back right away. That was a bit of luck; Ajax figured Cameron might take the snake out before any interrogation.
There in the Steam Pipe, Ajax noticed Cameron was indeed reaching for his piece, apparently moved to do so as Tyler handed Fenris a customized shotgun and a few flares. Without a word, Ajax patted the handle of the .45 sticking out of his waistband. Cameron mouthed some curse at him.
"What we have here, Janette is the piece of crap serpent that butchered Cammie's girl-ghoul and took Tabetha down." Ajax explained. "We figured we should bring him here whole to see if we could find out anything else about his little cult's activities in our city."
"You figured." Cameron interrupted. "I really don't see much point to this. He's not likely to talk willingly, and what do we think we'll get from him through Dominate or Auspex?"
"I can think of a couple of things."
They all turned to face the entrance of the Steam Pipe where Tabetha was standing. As she stepped forward and towards the Setite on the table, the others cleared a path for her; Ajax even took a step back, and even Jack got up and moved away from the table as she approached. Something was different about her; whatever it was, it was nothing Ajax had ever seen before.
"The Wizard King did something to his Tabby-Cat..." Marko noted in a kind of sing-song voice. "Best to let them do their thing."
"Thank you, Marko." She said to him. It was her voice, but she had the exact same dead calm tone of detachment that Max was infamous for. She turned her attention back to the Setite, examining him as if he was a patient. "Let's see what we can find."
Xavier
Something wasn't right. Ezekiel was too quick to have him detained, even without the Malkavian Seneschal's insight; which would have told the Prince that Xavier was telling the truth. He really did try to contact Cassandra the night before. She may well have been missing for a week or more, and the imposter may have only made his or her first mistake. It seemed to Xavier like Prince Ezekiel was deliberately ignoring that possibility; as if he had some reason to make sure this imposter was allowed to operate without interference.
Bruno the Bruja and the Sheriff ushered Xavier back down the elevator; the descent seeming to last forever. For a second, he entertained the idea that he might be being escorted into whatever sort of Nosferatu Warren that San Francisco might have. When the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, the corridor that stretched out in front of them did little to change that idea. It was remarkably clean, but also clearly impossibly old and dark. The Sheriff, still holding his arm, guided him into the corridor. As they stepped into the dark, Xavier had a very distinct sense of being watched; almost as if from within his own mind. His first thought was it was the Seneschal upstairs. He tried to push the feeling out and away, but whatever it was, it was simply too strong.
"Thank you Bruno," the Sheriff hissed through her teeth. "I'll take him the rest of the way."
"Yes, Madame Sheriff." Bruno replied with what seemed to Xavier an exaggerated bow as the elevator doors shut, dividing him from the two of them.
The bones in the Sheriff's hand creaked and cracked as her gripped tightened almost painfully and the Sheriff quite literally dragged Xavier through the corridor, taking turns into passages that Xavier barely had time to register existed. This labyrinth route came to an end in a cul-de-sac type room with a hole in the centre; Xavier thought it was something like a well, and propped up on a far wall was what had to be a lid. If Xavier was going to keep himself out that hole, he had to do something now. He realized quickly that trying to break her grip would prove futile so he waited until she was just about to toss him in. Her grip loosened; he twisted free and got behind her, pushing her into the well. Ignoring her ear-piercing screeches, he darted to the lid which he put on top of the well. Still uncertain if he was in the Warrens or not, he wasn't sure if this would do much good, but it might buy him some time. One thing he had going for him; despite the speed which he was ushered though the labyrinth, he remembered the entire route back to the elevator. Spending some blood to activate Celerity, he weaved and turned back. The elevator opened and a figure was standing behind the doors, waiting for him; Prince Ezekiel.
Tabetha
Buried within her own sense of self, Tabetha Toussaint watched as Master Strauss probed the mind of the Setite on the table in what served as a private room in the Last Round. All this was happening in her body, though her consciousness was temporarily held back as Max had effectively possessed her so he could do the reading through her. For Tabetha, it was like a waking dream; she was perfectly aware of what she was doing, but powerless to stop it as if someone else was really doing it all for her. Then again, she supposed that was exactly what was happening. This was a waking dream come true. She wondered briefly is this was how Marko felt; or Janette, for that matter.
"Most interesting," Strauss said with her voice.
"What do you see, Tabby Cat?" Janette and Marko asked in unison.
"This one is rare among the snake clan," Max replied. "A soldier within their religion; very well trained. Even unconscious he resists. He is of low rank, and therefore is privy only to the minimum of details in both lore and plans. The one thing I do consistently is that the Followers are setting up a trap."
"As if that should come as surprise," Cameron scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Who is the trap being set for?"
Max turned her gaze to set on Cameron with disapproval at his insolence; then quickly let it go, remembering where and 'who' he was.
"That is not information this one was privy to, Cameron." He replied, still with her voice. It was kind of weird for her to hear her mentor speak to Cameron as an equal, even if he was for all intents and purposes her.
Cameron sighed in exasperation. "Well, that's just..."
"It's smart, Cammie." Damsel interrupted him with her signature contempt.
"Good strategy says you only tell your foot soldiers what they absolutely need to know, kiddo," Jack added. "This way they can't blow the whole plan if they get captured."
From her perspective, Tabetha could tell that her mentor was holding something back, but couldn't tell what it was. Jack's comment served well to enlighten her; it made sense. Master Strauss probably did know more about this trap than he was letting on, and was waiting until there were no Anarch ears to hear the details. Using her inner voice, she pleaded with her mentor to take them back to the Chantry; she wanted to know what he knew, and was getting quite unnerved by being a spectator in her own body.
Of course, my apprentice, He acknowledged her telepathically. We have all we need from this Serpent now.
Ajax glanced from 'Tabetha' to Marko and back again. "So we're done with this piece of crap, right?" He said in measured tones.
"Yes," Strauss agreed, again with her voice. "We are done with him."
"Good," Ajax said just as the Setite was starting to stir. He angled himself so that when the Setite opened his eyes the first thing he would see would be the face of the Nosferatu grinning a killer's grin at him, and then he pulled a .45 with a silencer on it from his waist band. He then pointed the gun at the Setites' face and pulled the trigger twice.
The muffled report from the gun was easily drowned out by the music in bar, as were the brief cries of protest from the others in the room – except for Cameron, who seemed pleased – about the mess of ashes left behind on the table.
As Master Strauss turned her around to exit the Last Round with Cameron, Ajax, Marko, and Janette following closely behind, Tabetha could hear Nines make a comment about being lucky the noise was drowned out. Once outside, Janette hopped into a cab, babbling something about having a date with her sister. Marko stayed in close company with Ajax and Cameron.
Tabetha was kind of loathing having to admit it, but she was a little bit impressed with Cameron. It appeared as if he somehow managed to align both the Malkavian and the Nosferatu with the Camarilla. Maybe there was something to be said for the Ventrue after all...
Cameron
Cameron decided that he would let the Nosferatu keep the gun. The fool was trying to piss him off by stealing the satisfaction of killing the serpent, but in the end of it all actually did him a favor. Either way, the one who cost him a rather valuable ghoul was still just as decidedly destroyed; and now his own cover amongst the Setites was completely intact. It was Ajax who had the gun; it was Ajax who did the actual killing. He himself was free of blame. While it was incontinent to have to train a new ghoul to manage the hotel, it wasn't a loss he couldn't cope with; the gun itself was really a small price to pay for what worked out as a win all around.
"I think your Tremere pal is holding out on us." Ajax said.
"I have no doubt she is," Cameron agreed. "We'd do well to find out what."
"The Tabby Cat was hidden in her think-box," Marko corrected. "The Wizard-king is the keeper of the secret lore."
"I thought you might know what was up with the weird way Tabetha was carrying herself back there," Ajax said. "Since you seem to be in good with Warlocks, maybe you can pry what they know out of them."
"That," Cameron said, throwing an approving glance at the Nosferatu, "is an absolutely capital idea. Marko, you go see what you can learn from Max. As for me, I think it's obvious I have some affairs to attend to at my hotel."
"Yeah," Ajax agreed. "And I'm going to go check out what Tyler and Fenris are up to."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be messy with all that hardware the big guy is sporting." Cameron quipped. "They might need you to help cover their tracks."
As Ajax went off to follow the Brujah and the Gangrel, Cameron changed direction and made his way to the Skyline apartments; he had to look into something first. Once he got to his fourth floor apartment, he locked the door behind him and took a B-line for his computer. Hopefully, he had received an update from San Francisco by now and possibly on the matter concerning the Assamite. It appeared that Fenris, who was hell bent on tracking him or her down, was at least temporarily diverted from her personal little quest.
He logged in to check his messages and smiled; he liked the news he saw. It seemed like the things he set in motion weeks ago were serving well to deal with the situations he was dealing with tonight. So far, it all seemed so perfect...
"What a tangled and intricate web it is you weave within the convoluted halls of the ivory tower, young Ventrue."
Cameron spun around; more in surprised frustration than any kind of fear. His lack of security was really proving to be a problem. In a darkened corner of the room, he saw a figure standing, presumably the source of the voice that just spoke to him. The figure was that of a man; tall and darkened from within the shadows, and his voice rich and full of a dark warm intensity that Cameron was sure he recognized, though he couldn't place where from. Cameron couldn't see his face, but somehow he knew that was probably for the best. The presence of this intruder made his legs feel like they were made of water. It was all Cameron could do to keep from falling on his face. Any bravado he may have had was sapped from him like a sponge draws up spilled milk.
"Who are you?" Cameron asked, thankful that he kept the trembling in his legs and not in his voice. "How did you get in here, and why have you come?"
Cameron could feel a cold smile cross the figure's lips. "Be at ease, child." The Dark Man said. "For a long time I believed the Camarilla would keep the Kindred from destroying themselves; and there is yet a chance that belief will prove worthwhile. Take care, Kindred; let not your webs and plans for personal gain exceed that which is for the greater good."
Cameron turned away and gazed out a window overlooking the street below. Though he was doing this because looking at the Dark Man directly was getting to be more than he could bear, he was hoping it would present as confidence. "I know what I'm doing." He replied. "And what is good for me will prove to be the best interest of all, I assure you."
"Is it indeed?" the Dark Man asked. "We shall see, Ventrue. We shall see. Choose your allies carefully, young one. The wrong ally is even worse than the right enemy."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Cameron whirled to face the Dark Man again, only to find an empty space where he once was standing. Whoever he was, he was gone now. All that was left was a final word from the same warm, dark voice speaking to him telepathically:
Remember this: Watch the Gangrel. When they are uneasy, it is time to leave.
