Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, and are the sole property of Kim Harrison. All due credit should go to her.

Setting: After Pale Demon

Rating: M (for future chapters)

Paring: Rachel/Ivy

Summary: Rachel and Ivy are once again at a standstill in their relationship, following the events that happened on the west coast. Meanwhile, Ivy has fallen so deep into a case she's working on for the FIB, and might not be able to claw her way back out.

Enjoy

Pixies were flying all around the yard trying to pick up stray twigs and debris the storm had left behind as a going away present. Jenks was in command of his small fleet, looking like a frustrated parent while trying to control his kids at a park. I noticed the little guy didn't seem to glow the way he did during the sun. Though the storm had passed, it left a cloudy day in its wake. And here am I, slumping on my desk with my cheek against the hard wood. I made a silent prayer to whichever God was watching over me today, to please bring me some business. Only time will tell if it was the financial God I was speaking to.

Not too long after my little prayer, the phone rang. I answered it before the first ring completed. "Vampiric Charms, Rachel Morgan speaking," I said, trying not to sound to excited.

"Hi, um..." the caller was a woman, probably early in her twenties if I had to guess, "I was wondering if there was a Miss Tamwood available? You see, there's this were I just broke up with, and I was told Miss Tamwood might-

My lips curved into a smile. Potential business.

"She's actually not in right now," I interrupted my new customer, "Perhaps I can assist you?"

"No!" I had to jerk the phone away from my ear, "Ah, I mean, no, thank you. I'll just call back another time..."

Panic rose into my chest. I had to think of something quick! This is the closest I've come to having a run all week! I would say all month, but I did save a familiar from a tree not too long ago. Most people usually hang up once they hear my name...

"Really? Are you sure you want to do that?" I gave it my best sales pitch, "Those weres can be a handful at times, and I've got the best sleepy time potions this side of the lines-

She interrupted me, "Honestly, it's really not a big deal, I-"

"Is it because of my shunning?" I blurted. If I couldn't win her over by excellent service, then a guilt trip would have to do. I mean come on. What was the point of me getting the damn title rescinded? Well, other than the whole 'move in with Al' thing...

There was a long pause. I could feel my temper rising every second.

Finally, there was a cough on the other end, "N-No, of course not! It's just that I heard you were b-banished...

"Why would you think that?" I snapped, "Did you hear I was a demon, too? Because I'm not." Well, technically I am, but my customers didn't need to know that.

She replied frantically. "M-Miss Morgan I never i-implied-"

"You know, here at Vampiric Charms believe in equal opportunity-"

-click-

I stared blankly at the phone, bewildered at the whole situation. I can't believe I had a potential customer and I blew it. Looks like the financial God is out of town today, replaced by the Crap on Rachel God. When is that guy ever gonna take a vacation? Oh well, I guess I'll have time to spring clean my room now...

"How's the saying go?" Jenks said, suddenly appearing next to me, "That's not how you win friends-"

"That's how you lose them." I gave Jenks a dry look as I propped my head on my hand."I might as well quit the runner business and become a greeter at some department store."

Jenks whistled and pretended to think about my career change. "Bad idea, Rache. You're banded from the top three." He laughed while I rolled my eyes, but he quickly added, "You'd have a kick-ass resumé, though."

I groaned and laid my forehead against the desk. Jenks began to sing "It's a Hard 'Nuff Life'" between his own little cackles. I snatched the papers from the desk and began swatting at him; however, he easily danced around my rolled up papers.

"Ah damn," he sighed. I paused my assault long enough to follow his gaze to the window. Outside were a dozen or so pixie kids throwing twigs at one another as if they were spears. Their laughter sounded like little bells ringing. I smiled at the cute scene. Jenks, however, didn't seem to think it was cute at all. He fluttered his wings to make that high pitch sound his kids seemed to hate so much. "I guess we'll be cleaning that garden longer than what I thought. I'll catch ya later, Rache."

No sooner had Jenks rounded up his kids, the phone rang again.

"Vampiric Charms, Rachel Mor-"

-click-

"Uhg!" It was all I could do to not scream.

I slammed the phone down and stood so abruptly that my chair made a crude sound scrapping against the floor. It was bad enough that I wasn't getting business. Now I'm still having to deal with people who won't have anything to do with me because of the stupid coven of moral and ethical standards. It's official, I've completely given up on today resembling anything productive. I slumped onto the couch and flipped through one of Ivy's fashion magazines.

Sleek and stylish clothes decorated the pages, conveniently hiding the prices in a size 1.5 font. Come to think about it, I believed Ivy owned a few of these outfits. They looked way better on her, rather than on these women who seemed to be on a diet called 'don't eat'. The mental image of a soaked Ivy in her white buttoned up popped into my brain. I pressed one of the pillow cushions against my eyes, trying to suffocate the image away.

"This is ridiculous," I mumbled into the the small pillow. "I'm not even into wet t-shirt contests."

After a few failed attempts of trying to gouge the image from my brain, I came to a conclusion. People think about stuff they shouldn't do all the time. I can't count how many people I know who had sex with their partner while pretending it's some hot movie star they're under. I'm not doing anything wrong, so long as I don't act on my thoughts. Right?

I curled onto the couch, the pillow no longer shoved into my face but behind my head. I closed my eyes and pictured Ivy wringing her hair out into the sink. I wonder how long it will take her hair to grow back to its original length? If vampires can heal faster, can their hair grow faster? The next image that pounced into my mind was Ivy holding the candle between us. I remembered how she reached her arm around me, and for a split second, I thought she might actually hold me. I remembered how beautiful her face looked, illuminated with the candle dancing between us. A sleepy smile crept across my face as realization wafted over me.

"You sly, sly vampire." I whispered.

Vampires didn't need a candle to see in the dark.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It took every fiber of my being not to shove my hands against my ears. The old man's voice was loud as it was without the room echoing everything into my ear canal. We had been interviewing humans from early morning to late afternoon, and to put it frankly, I was damn bored. I tried to distract myself from my surroundings but failed. The F.I.B. certainly wasted no expense on decorating their interrogation rooms. The walls were bleak, and the light on the ceiling was overpowering. Even the tinted, two-way window was a dull yellow. There wasn't even so much as a plant to hide the cob webs in the corners of the room.

Eventually my thoughts turned to yesterday's events with Rachel, when I returned home from helping Glenn. Her strange behavior has been most... puzzling lately. I personally thought we were doing spectacular avoiding each other, but I had a feeling she was going to be hell bent on talking about what happened when we were at Trent's hotel. There was no way in hell I was revisiting that conversation. I said my peace, and it was time to move on. I have to admit though, she's cute when she's frustrated.

Glenn yawned as he rose from his seat after the old geezer was escorted from the room. "I could use a little bit of caffeine. What about you, Ive?"

I managed to stifle my own yawn with a stretch. "I could use a better work schedule. Ten a.m. Glenn? Really?" I had no interest in interrogating the old man across the street, the kid that worked at the arcade, or the school janitor.

He ran his hand over his face, stopping to pinch his brow, "Look, I'm sorry. I know you inderlanders like to sleep during the day, but the point of this is to make you seem more human." I let out a snort, but he continued, "They're more likely to open up to us if we play by their rules."

What he said made plenty of sense. If I am to be working on this case, I'm going to need human cooperation. Sadly that meant me losing a lot of sleep in the process...

I sighed, defeated by his logic, "Wouldn't you rather a human partner than-?"

"Ivy, You're good at what you do. I'd have both you and Rachel on this case but..."

But a witch who deals with demons can't really play with humans. Or the rest of the population it seems. I really hope after word gets out about Rachel's rescinding, things can go back to normal for her. This no business streak is really putting a strain on her.

"Black," I gave in. "Make sure it's not decaf."

Glenn gave me a victorious smile, and unable to help myself, I smiled back.

"Done," but before he exited the room, he turned, "You might want to review the case file. The boy's parents are coming in next."

I gave him a nod.

Rifling through the plain manilla folders that were placed on the table, I finally found the parents' case file. The father's name was Garth Alexander Warren. He was the assistant director of a brokerage firm located in downtown Cincinnati. As a matter of fact, I think we interviewed his co-worker earlier this morning. Garth, here, was considered a wonderful family man, brought his wife to every Christmas party, and was an all around grand asset to the firm. In other words, he was as clean as a whistle.

His wife, Melony Gabriella Schmitt Warren had the luxury of staying home, seeing as her husband was bringing in a six figure salary every year. She cooked, cleaned, helped junior with any school projects and managed to be leader of her personal book club, which had a whopping 12 members, all of which I had the pleasure of interviewing by the way. Still, nothing so much as a shoplifting charge.

I wasn't really looking for charges or possible suspects to be honest. It was the note at the bottom of their profiles that caught my eyes. "No reaction," it stated. I didn't understand at first, but Glenn explained to me that when they were told that their missing son may be part of a hate crime, not even the mother so much as shed a tear. That in itself was strange.

Several people, ranging from teens to young adults, were turning up missing. Sometimes they were found dead with their body's completely drained of blood, while others didn't turn up at all. The F.I.B. figured a serial vampire killer was behind it all. That's when I came in. It didn't take me long to notice that the bodies didn't even have so much as a bite mark on them, but needle markings. That narrowed my guess down to two things: human radicals, framing vampires or a vampire who just really didn't want to get caught. My bet was on the former because it simply wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened.

My thoughts were interrupted by an F.I.B. agent leading in a middle-aged couple. The man was tall, all business. His sandy blond hair was turning white at his temples, showing his age and even years of stress at the firm. The woman, however, was small and petite, also sporting blond hair. She wore a white sundress, which I found rather odd considering the weather outside. Trophy wife screamed in my head, but I pushed it back.

I stood to greet them. "Mr. and Mrs. Warren, I'm-"

"Where's Detective Glenn?" Mr. Warren cut off my introduction rudely.

I gave him the best smile I could muster. "He stepped out temporarily. I'm his partner, Ivy Tamwood."

Recognition crossed over their faces at my name. Why would humans know a vampire's name to begin with? Don't get me wrong, I understand my family name is well known in the vampire community, but I can't imagine why a pair of humans would instantly recognize it. I brushed the thought away. After all Trent is posing to be human, yet any inderlander could spot him a mile away.

"I was told our son's case was being handled by the F.I.B., not the I.S," the man continued coldly.

I met his gaze with my own, concentrating very hard not to let my pupils dilate. "And it is. I have no affiliation with the I.S. Mr. Warren. As I said earlier, I'm Detective Glenn's partner."

However, Mr. Warren wasn't feeling very friendly that day. "I wasn't told anything about talking with some Vamp-

"Sit down, Mr. Warren." I said firmly, letting my eyes dilate just to show how serious I was. My patience was already running thin for today. I've dealt with deaf old men who believed everyone around them were deaf, old ladies who insisted I read the Great Gatsby for about twenty minutes, and a janitor who made me feel pretty damn bad for not stomping my feet before I entered the building this morning.

The man finally shut his mouth and took a seat. His wife followed suit. I sighed, taking a deep breath while focusing to bring my eyes back to normal. Tension was rising high, and I didn't feel like vamping out before dinner.

"I'll give you a moment to gather your thoughts before you speak," I said, trying not to glare at the man. I flipped my notepad open to a clean sheet. Glancing back up at the affronted man I said, "Are you ready to make cohesive statements, Mr. Warren?"

Garth Warren turned red with anger, but otherwise he smiled. "Of course."

I nodded and reached over to turn the recorder on that sat between the couple and me. It was a small, black discrete little thing, but Glenn made sure to tell me of its importance. We needed every sentence, word, and reaction of every person we interviewed. I pitied the person whose job it was to listen to these tapes.

"Garth Alexander Warren and Melony Gabriella Schmitt Warren," I began, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?" I finished. Particularly to Garth Warren.

"Yes," Garth grumbled.

Melony nodded her head. I gave her my best closed lip smile, being sure not to accidentally show fangs. I wanted at least somebody in this room to not hate me.

"Mrs. Warren," I started kindly, "I'll need a verbal agreement for the recorder."

"Oh! Sorry!" She said, seeming to just now notice the recorder, "Yes. Yes, I understand."

I nodded again. The beginning of a formal interview always seemed like going through a checklist. "It is currently 4:42 p.m. Eastern time, 27th of May. As said before, my name is Ivy Tamwood and I'll be interviewing you this afternoon. We're expecting Detective Glenn shortly, and when he arrives I'm sure he'll have a few questions of his own." I grabbed my pen from the desk and dove in. I was never one to beat around the bush. "Now your son, Gabriel, when did you notice him absence?"

It was Garth who spoke up. "Melony noticed that he didn't come home from school at the usual time. She called me immediately, asking if I had picked him up."

"Perhaps you can elaborate on that?" I looked at Melony, all the while scribbling notes.

"Well, it's like my husband said," she started, "Gabe didn't come home. He normally walks to and from school with his friends, a young vampire and two weres I believe. Anyways, I noticed the group of boys passed and my son wasn't with them. The only possibility was that Garth must have picked him up."

"And that's when you called your husband?" I asked, receiving a small yes in reply. "Does your son have any school activities? Sports, clubs..."

"None." Garth said firmly.

"Is it possible that he stopped at a book store or an arcade?"

"No," he practically growled. I could tell he wanted nothing more than to get this interview over with, which puzzled me. Normally on a missing person's case, the parents are more than eager to give any information they can. Sometimes it's even hard to keep them from living at the station. "He's supposed to come straight home. From there, he finishes all homework and chores. I don't really give a damn what he does after that, but he knows to only go out on weekends."

"He's a straight A boy, Miss Tamwood," Melony tried to amend for her husbands statement, "We do our best to keep him on track. College is getting harder to pay for after all..."

I pressed forward, "Are you sure he wasn't involved in any gang activities? What about drugs, alcohol-"

"Absolutely not!" Melony outraged. My eyes shot up from my notes, her outburst catching me by surprise. "His focus is purely on church activities and schoolwork!"

When Melony was finished trying to burst my eardrums, I noticed Garth take his wife's hand and give it a gentle squeeze. What caught my attention was the annoyed look on his face, not at me but as his wife. It seemed like he was trying to coach her rather than calm her down. About what though? They had already mentioned they were Nazi's with the poor kids studies. Was it the church? I made sure to write a note on that. Pushing my suspicions aside, I continued with the interview.

Once again I gave Melony my award winning 'I don't want to eat you' smile. "I apologize. I have to ask. By no means am I accusing your son of doing anything illegal or immoral."

Melony composed herself. She even fluffed her hair. "I-It's fine. I understand why you have to ask."

I pressed forward, "You mentioned church activities. What church does he go to? Do you all go as a family?"

"Yes, we do." Does this man intend to let his wife answer anything? "It's called the Church of Eternal Life. There's a youth program Gabe attended."

What is with these people? Not once have they asked me if we have any leads on their only son's whereabouts. Daddy over here clearly doesn't want me knowing anything about junior, and mom just freaks out if I accusing the kid of taking any drugs. Something is definitely up with these people.

I laid my notepad faced down on the table and couldn't hide my confusion. "It doesn't look like you two are concerned at all about your boy's well-being." I hoped the fact that I even questioned their love for their son would send them into an outrage.

Both of the Warrens just smiled at me, however, giving me a queasy feeling in my stomach. "We are religious people, Miss Tamwood," Garth said, "The good Lord will bring Gabe back to us if not better than how he left. We are working with the F.I.B only out of formality."

Don't get me wrong. I completely understand praying for the best, but there was definitely something this couple knew and wasn't sharing. Before I had a chance to press for more information, Glenn stepped in the room. What took him so long anyways? Did he have to grind the coffee beans by hand?

"Good morning," Glenn said with a bright smile. He placed a mug in front of me as he took the seat beside me. "Sorry for my tardiness. I trust you both have become well acquainted with Miss Tamwood?" Well acquainted? More like they hope I get hit by a bus.

I gave Glenn a grim smile and stood. He looked puzzled by my sudden departure.

"I think I'm done for today, Glenn." I gave a polite nod to Mr. and Mrs. Warren. "It was a pleasure." More like it was a challenge to keep my sanity.

Before I left the room, I made sure to give Glenn a look that screamed 'we definitely need to talk'. As I walked down the hallways I flipped through my notes, putting little bullet marks next to things that stuck out to me. The parent's reaction or lack thereof was very strange. I've worked on missing person's cases and they didn't fit the bill at all. Another thing that stuck out to me was that church. Why would Garth want to hide the fact that his family was so involved with that church?

END CHAPTER 2

AN: Again, I hope you guys really enjoy this chapter. I tried to give the characters more of a personality and lighten things up a bit, while also shedding more light on the case Ivy is working on. I know, I know these first few chapters are a little dry because I have to set the story up, but there WILL be lots of Rachel Ivy goodness soon to come. (hopefully the next chapter)

Preview of Chapter 3: Rachel is going to have to deal with the fact that Ivy is in a relationship and asks Jenks for some advice concerning her feelings for Ivy. Ivy begins to realize that Rachel might just have a thing for her, but refuses to acknowledge it, thinking it might just be a phase Rachel is going through.