Holy moley! Thank you Celeste (trotzdem machst du mir Angst :]), Shikangae (French people are scary. Peroid.), sister-b (need moar stories from you!), Zaekka (man, bist du grausam D:), Maellowyn (the huuuge feedback to my updates is some kind of drug which motivates to write), rednightmare (Malcom is quite the odd doctor. Still he has a lot potentil to exploit I guess) and dropletsoflight (isn't it fun? I mean LaCroix is the perfect politician. Preach rules to the masses, don't follow them yourself, ha!) for the awesome reviews!
Really. I wish there'd be more than 24 hours a day...
"And you really think we'll make it in time? It is two hours still sunset?" Barabus sounded worried and Katherine needed a lot of good arguments convincing him to come along. One of them was that he could stay in her haven. Not that she was exactly thrilled to have a Nosferatu walking around in there but it wasn't exactly the Skyline Apartments, so who cares? There needed to be some good will towards the other Kindred who did not even ask for payment. 'Guess he's still glad that I saved his ass.' The Sewer Rats may be not the best company in Kindred society but they were the only company she had. 'Tells me where I stand in the ladder...'
"I know where the sample is, security cams and a guard," dirty sewer water crawled up the cloth of her trouser legs as both vampires walked in a fast pace through the light dimmed sewer system. "And I trust your skills to handle my little...accident with the security cam fast." Barabus smiled.
"My Kung-Fu is not as good as Mitnick's but yeah. No wrong modesty, ha! The system I can't hack has to be invented first!" They climbed up a ladder, pushing back the manhole cover and Katherine took time to wring out the trouser legs. Puddles of sewer water were clues she didn't want to leave behind on the hospital's white tiled floor.
"I don't know if there's stuff to hack, but the guard needs a good hit to the head. No killing, though." Even if that guy made everything unnecessary complicated.
"Yes ma'am!" Barabus saluted with a wide smile. "I'll break the cameras stuff in some medicaments, so they'll think some junkie broke in." Hey, that was something she didn't think of.
"Good idea." It was still a bit much for her to adapt the extreme situations in L.A. In Germany there weren't junkies who broke into hospitals to steal drugs, pr at last such crimes were an exception. Maybe it was a good idea to ask Valerie about her job for once.
Barabus shrugged "Standard plan when we're on some lifting job and a nice second income. People pay a lot for certain stuff if you know what the market demands at the moment." Then he vanished. "Go, lead the way G.I. Jane."
"I didn't like the movie." The shadows snickered amused. This time Katherine chose to pick the backdoor again. "I hope you can pick locks."
"I can kick them but not pick them. Don't tell me you don't have a key or can pick locks yourself." Barabus appeared back in sight after entering the deserted staircase of the hospital again. Katherine's grumpy face was answer enough. "Uh, man you have really a lot to learn until you can call yourself Catwoman. Ever seen a junkie who had enough patience to pick locks? No offense, you're good at shooting your way through-"
"And sneaking if there are not locked doors," she interrupted him. "In other cases I was lucky enough to have a key or being able to shot it open."
"So you don't have a crowbar, I guess." Katherine shook her head, Barabus sighted.
"I used to be on the other side, catching bad guys." At last before she went to Afghanistan, furthermore the military police wasn't responsible for minor civilian crimes.
"Fine, change of plans: I'll kick the door open, you hide and the guard will have sweet little dreams after storming to the door. For the rest we'll work it out somehow." Hey, wasn't she the Ventrue and the leader? When it came down to crimes probably not and on the other hand Barabus was not a bad teacher at all; involved less finger cutting and subliminal messages.
"Fine, I'll wait, Batman." Barabus gave her a thumb up and vanished again. Only a few seconds later the sound of a breaking door echoed through the staircase and fast paced footsteps followed.
"Who's there?" It was the voice of the guard and the last, what Katherine heard of him, was a pain filled "Ughhh" and the noise of a body which fell to the ground.
"The coast is clear, Robin." Katherine walked up the stairs, rolling her eyes about the Nosferatu's comic references, but the fact, that Barabus was already taking care of the unconscious guard, dragging him into what seemed like a common room for the hospital staff, calmed her nerves a bit. He was useful, he had his quirk and she had to bear with it. Period. Maybe after some time she'd become accustomed to those Nosferatu traits. It's like Imalia's Twani Session obsession; Gary had a strange dinner for dead people and Mitnick? She didn't know him but Barabus mentioned that he was even better with that computer stuff. If that wasn't a quirk, what else?
"I am impressed," Katherine smiled. "I feared you'd tear out his lungs like you did it with the Mandarin's thugs." Just in case she gave him a wink and smile, so Barabus wouldn't think those words were some kind of sarcasm. Number one rule when dealing with Nosferatus: Never let them think you're looking down on them and it paid off, obviously.
"Only they treat me like a lab rat. I tell you; sometimes I still have bad dreams." A valid Argument. Katherine had participated in one of the Mandarin's experiments too and it wasn't exactly a nice experience. "Okay, let's see where we find, oh there." Unlike during their first adventure together, it appeared that Barabus was taking the lead for now and being 'Robin' was actually quite refreshing. Katherine was able to observe and to learn from the Nosferatu who had the computers hacked in a few minutes. "Doors open, now for the security cams."
"Back and then to the left, straight ahead should be the security room." At last her first venture wasn't completely in vain and a failure. Again the computers were no obstacle for Barabus.
"Okay, you get the sample. Give me a sign when I can switch the camera back on. Then we'll snatch some pills." Katherine saluted with a grin and headed off to the controlled substance room and it was child's play this time, ripping the sticker from the werewolf blood pack and putting it on the stolen bag from Vandal. The rest was simply to switch them like she intended to do the first time and then walking back to Barabus.
"Fine, all done, let's get the pills but don't forget to delete my little accident." Barabus smiled.
"All done." So far so good. Katherine was satisfied with her idea to ask for help. The door for the medicaments was locked but thanks to the Nosferatu who simply broke them open, it wasn't a very long obstacle and both vampires stuffed their pockets full. "We'll give the guard some, so everyone will suspect him."
"You're doing such stuff often?" Katherine asked. "Or you're damn creative."
"Routine. I'm the one who gets the stuff people want, usually in pair with Imalia who is responsible for the door stuff." Well that was interesting. A former model that was able to pick locks?
"I thought Imalia was a model, not a burglar." As they walked back, Barabus paid the guard another visit and stuffed some pills into his mouth and a bottle into his hand.
"Before being the supermodel she came a lot around so to say." Katherine raised an eyebrow. So beneath Imalia's super star attitude were more layers hidden than expected. Silence fell upon both, as they stepped out of the alley, into the more busy streets. The Nosferatu vanished again and Katherine didn't want to look like she was talking to herself like a bum or beggar. L.A. was already crazy enough for her taste.
Reaching the floor of the tiny and shabby apartment complex, the Ventrue put the sample into her mailbox. The name plate was still unlabeled and Katherine thought about to change that. Was it a good idea at all? She didn't know for sure and decided to leave it like it was.
"Into the mailbox?" Barabus popped out of the shadows, standing next to her.
"Don't ask me. Princely order." Theatrically, she waved around with her hands and Barabus scratched his head.
"Odd order, seriously." And Katherine shrugged.
"I hope I don't receive some heavy mail..." This time she tried her best to ignore the newspaper on the ground but it was no use, as she could feel the vitae again, crawling up her throat, creating a heavy lump of nausea and walking a bit wobbly to her havens door.
"Hey, you're all right?" For Katherine it was a rather odd question to ask and very rare on top. It felt unfamiliar and strange that someone was actually interested in her well being. If it was genuine of course.
"I'm a bit tired after all that walking around," she lied, taking off her coat and throwing it over the only chair in the sporadic room. "Feel yourself comfortable but hands off from the laptop."
"As long as I can raid your fridge," he grinned. "I heard you Ventrue always have a lot of good stuff in it." Katherine slumped into the chair while Barabus opened the fridge and dived with his head into it.
"I'm pretty much not like any other Ventrue obviously." Bitter words and bitter feelings replaced the sickly feeling.
"True. You're the first Ventrue to ever show up in the Warrens and even staying there for a whole week. Can't say I don't like it. Hey!" Barabus dived out of the cold box. "You said you were catching the bad guys before, right?" She nodded. "We're the bad guys of some sorts and it really would make our job safer when we finally get someone into the police, you know?" Katherine had a blank expression on her face, still struggling a bit with her stomach. "Listen," closing the fridge and with a blood bag in his hand, Barabus sat down on the improvised bed. "I know the Camarilla has a certain grip into the media."
"Yes, I know. The story with the Sabbat raid on the Prince's tower was covered by them of some sorts." LaCroix mentioned it after she stumbled into all that mess, the Prince still furious about the ridiculous attempt to steal from him in his own building. "But you really don't suggest that I should gain influence at the LAPD."
"Sure, why not? You Ventrue are pretty good in such stuff and I have no clue why nobody tried to." Barabus opened the bag and took a sip out of it.
"I think there's a good reason for it..." However, she had to admit: it sounded like an interesting venture and to have her own domain of some sorts was a very tempting idea.
"We could really need our own Commissioner Gordon." Thinking about it, it really sounded interesting. Kindred would come to her if they messed up something and then they were in her debt. Why none of her clanmates tip-toed into it could possibly the fact, that there wasn't much profit to make and on top of that: most of them hailed from the business section. What did they know about police work?
"I'll think about it, but I have to wonder why you are so friendly towards me. Sure I helped you out of an ugly mess but I have to admit: your friendliness is going a bit far. Any other Kindred are trying to use me for their own agenda." Paranoia and mistrust was nurtured by friendly behaviour towards her.
Barabus sighed. "Sure it's not all selfless; I'm not going to deny it, Robin. See, if we mess up you can cover our beautiful asses. In return, we can help you." So this is how things rolled.
"Ah, I see and since I'm not like any other Ventrue it's more pleasant to deal with me, correct?" Who else would bother to meet the Nosferatu directly in their hideout rather than contacting them and calling them up into the higher spheres?
"Spot on, Robin!" His laugh reminded more of a growl. However before taking any actions in such a direction, Katherine had to ask the Prince first and while Barabus had fun with the blood pack, Katherine began to cover the windows with cardboards which lay around so that they won't get roasted at sunrise. And the blanket would get a cleansing the next night. One week sleeping in Nosferatu stench was enough and she didn't want to repeat that if not direly necessary.
The next night Barabus went back to the Warrens and Katherine turned on her computer to wait for mail from the Prince. That she was thirsty didn't make things easier, not wanting to decimate her stock further. Gladly, after two hours of distracting herself by washing the blankets, the female announcer released her from the boredom. With a towel in her hand, she hastily clicked on the new message.
From: Sebastian LaCroix
Subject: Tommy Flayton's review
I recently read Mr. Flayton's scathing review of the Cavoletti Cafe in the Sun, and I must tell you that I am extremely happy with his conclusions. You have done well, as well as your assistance in regards to the werewolf blood. Please come to the Venture tower in thirty minutes. –SL
While reading the first lines, Katherine's muscles went tense but then they slowly relaxed and after all the praise, smiling satisfied only to get it wiped away by the last sentence. Half an hour? There wasn't even enough time to feed. She never wanted to meet the Prince again while being hungry but it was foiled by the tight schedule. Fine, then it was better to decimate the storage.
Katherine was sure that LaCroix wanted to talk about the meeting with Tobias but all pondering couldn't suppress her nervousness. Was it even nervousness? It was more mix between fear – horrible fear to meet the Prince again, possible impending punishment again – and joy. Yes joy in a perverted and sick way. Was she developing some kind of strange fetish? 'Never. It wasn't exactly a fun ride being to have my fingers cut every night.' Said fingers itched horribly. The last possible option could be the blood bond Strauss mentioned, however she still didn't bet a penny on it but on the other hand, regarding the ghouls, well it may be true. She had Heather now to experiment on that, right? But did it work the same way for Kindred as it worked for Kine? Travelling minds weren't as fast as travelling bodies and before she came to terms, the taxi reached already Downtown, parking in front of the Venture Tower. Dark stones radiated an eerie aura Katherine never noticed before. Something dark and sinister, reaching into the sky like a pitch black obelisk made of obsidian and the few lights only adding to the menacing atmosphere. 'Ivory Tower...Damsel really needs some glasses.' Fingers nervously flexing, imaginary sweat running down the spine she finally stood in front of the Prince, feeling his cold scrutiny while he sat behind is desk. In time? Check. Not thirsty anymore? Check.
"You summoned me my Prince and I obey." Sneaky like a snake the itching arouse to tingling pain while paper rustled. Gladly it wasn't the sound of a newspaper.
"Every grain of sand you're keeping from me, the less of a desert I inherit." Charity was admittedly a virtue Sebastian LaCroix inherited something one should work for and Katherine could still choke herself for being so dumb, turning it down because of her stubbornness. "Continue on the course you're on now and you may regain my favour." Considering how long vampires could exist, Katherine feared it was nothing too soon even if it was LaCroix who was quick in certain decisions. "About the meeting with your former fiancée I hope you reacted accordingly." His voice went from pleased into sharp and Katherine wanted to spill out that it was his dear little Princess who contacted Tobias but would he believe her sole words without facts?
"Yes Prince LaCroix. Despite being a stubborn man, he was able to track me because someone gave him a tip. I seek permission from you to visit the Nosferatu and acquire information who could have contacted him." Not planned because she didn't consider it before, a blind shot and trying to make use of an opportunity. If she was able to find evidence that Cecilia risked a Masquerade violation – the possibilities! Ambition tickled through her mind while LaCroix seemingly looked sceptical.
"Do you even have any clue where to start, Miss Falkner?" Never missing openings in a fast shot plan, LaCroix had the scary ability to talk down requests. No doubt that it was an important skill to possess as Prince.
"According to Tobias himself he received a call from someone and regarding the fact that such information is stored for a certain amount of time, I can trace the caller back. It must be someone from the states which limits the possibilities significantly. Furthermore the persons who even know about this piece of my mortal life are countable." Los Angeles' Prince rose from his desk, walking to one of the huge windows, his scrutiny now looming above the city like the sword of Damokles.
"Permit issued under a single condition, " everything else would have been too easy. "Inform me about every step you make, every progression there is."
"Yes, Prince LaCroix." Obstacles here, there and everywhere you were looking around.
"Making your own enemies was bound to happen, Miss Falkner." Heels on parquet turned around as LaCroix walked towards her, not stepping down from his little pedestal, forcing the young Ventrue to look up. "In fact I'm surprised that your establishment is still running without major interference, regarding its physical state and labourers." All things holy! LaCroix had a knack to mention the right – or wrong – topics.
"I have to admit that one of my labourers is not being well," words juggled in Katherine's mind, making it even more complicated to pick the right ones. "She was attacked and severely wounded. I found her in the Santa Monica clinic and I suspect also that it was indeed some sort of revenge," a blond eyebrow rose slowly up like the blade of a guillotine. "There was only one possibility. I never thought the health system in this country wou-," Sentence cut off by an annoyed Prince.
"Keep it short, Miss Falkner. My time is valuable and you're not the only person I have to meet tonight." Words hissed through sharp fangs, sending a bolt of fear through her body.
"I fed her my blood." Silence, deadly silence and Katherine awaited the storm, fingers aching as if sharp burning needles penetrated the flesh.
"Very interesting behaviour of yours. You don't regard them as cattle anymore?" During one night he asked about what Hargreaves taught her, giving a thankful pause from all the cutting.
"Some of them are valuable." Sentence spoken without a second thought and Katherine regretted it immediately a half second later.
"Valuable? It doesn't appear to me as if you made a ghoul because it is a valuable Kine." Disapproval oozed out of every princely word. "Clemency is a virtue to spend best rarely; however in regards of your recent good behaviour I grant you one chance. Don't waste it. A violation of the Masquerade or any incidents which bring me into embarrassments will force you to neutralize your ghoul and for you a fitting punishment." For more she couldn't ask. It was a chance, he didn't trust her and anything beyond a chance was ludicrous.
"Of course, Prince LaCroix. I'm very grateful for your generosity." Heather didn't know what happened and until she did, there was no violation of the Masquerade she could make and after inducting her, Katherine would make sure – very sure – Heather won't become a ghoul like Patty, Mercurio's influence bound to occur.
"You may go now. I have no further assignments to entrust at given moment. Good evening." More than the back of his midnight blue suit didn't see the bow she made, before walking out of the office, relieved that all of her fingers were still attached.
AN: I've cut off a part at the end of the chapter (what's with all the cutting anyway?), because it got too long and too late here and we want to give Katherine a short break for some seconds, don't we? And I'm pondering to go back to the Vampire section.