Chapter 4

Tori wasn't sure why the old man kept shooting her weird looks, but she was getting pretty sick of it. After that Parker woman had told them all she was a necromancer and the guy with the anger issues – did Nathan say his name was Eliot? Or was it Eli? – was finished screaming at her, the other woman with the English accent from Nathan's team began to question them all.

"What is going on here?" Her voice was bordering on shrill. Tori vaguely wondered why no one had complained to the landlord yet. "Nate, you had better explain to me what is going on!"

Nathan sighed. Standing up, he went to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid. After putting a couple ice cubes into the small glass he had grabbed he filled it with the drink and took a small sip. He offered the bottle to the other adults but only Kit and Nostril Flaring Guy took him up on it.

"Well Sophie," He sat back down and took another sip of his drink. "I'm not exactly sure where to begin." He stared at the table in front him for a moment considering his words. "I guess I should start by explaining about the different . . . races I guess you could call them. People like Chloe and Parker are called necromancers."

"Like World of Warcraft?" Hardison cut in. He shot the two girls a nervous look. Tori rolled her eyes and watched Chloe suppress a grin.

Parker huffed but Nathan cut in before she could speak. "I don't know about that Hardison, but they can speak to the dead and occasionally raise them. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I guess they just sort of shove the spirits back into their bodies." He looked at Parker and Chloe for confirmation and they both nodded. "Then there are withes like Tori here."

Tori sat up straighter. "How did you know that?" It wasn't her fault she was so suspicious but Nathan just raised a hand for her to wait a moment.

"I'll get to that in a second." He turned back to Sophie and Hardison. "Witches specialize in defense spells while sorcerers specialize in offensive spells. The two races can also sense each other." He looked at Tori. "That's how I knew what you were. But I was a little confused when you didn't say anything."

"What are you talking about Nate?" Eliot was on his second glass of scotch now.

Nate shifted uncomfortably. "I happen to be a sorcerer."

"I knew you made that guys nose bleed with the power of your mind." Parker said looking mighty proud of herself. Tori found it odd that the three necromancers she had met were so different. Chloe was shy and too nice and Margaret was a total bitch and Tori was pretty sure Parker really was a bit crazy.

After an eye roll from Nathan, he moved past her comment and continued to talk. "Kit here is a sorcerer."

"And Simon." Kit said proudly. Simon blushed a little and Tori thought it was funny how uncomfortable he was with the attention. Usually he couldn't get enough of it.

Nathan nodded with a smile thrown over to Simon. "There are also different kinds of half-demons but there are so many and I don't think there are any here," He looked to Kit for confirmation. "So it would be time consuming and useless. And then there are werewolves."

A gasp came from Sophie and Hardison's eyes widened. "No. Way." Was all he said.

"Actually," Kit said with a quick glance at Derek. "Derek here is a werewolf."

Everyone's eyes went to the boy in question. Nate nodded like it explained something. Derek was looking even more uncomfortable then Simon had. Chloe blushed for her boyfriend and Tori rolled her eyes.

"No. Way." Tori raised an eyebrow at Hardison and Sophie. They were taking this extremely well, Eliot even more so.

Speaking of Anger Issues, Eliot looked at Nathan. "You forgot shamans." He said casually.

Nathan nodded. "Right. Thanks. Shamans are healers basically and they can sometimes see 'visions'." He stopped and looked back at Eliot. "How do you know about shamans?"

"Man, really?" Eliot asked with a roll of his eyes. "How often have I been the one to patch you guys up?"

Parker nodded, her blonde hair falling in her face. She pushed it back irritably. "Makes sense." She turned her attention back on Sophie and Hardison. "How are you guys handling all this?"

Sophie sighed. "Well, it's lot to take in, but I can't say I'm really all that surprised. It explains a lot of the things that have happened in the time we've worked together." She glanced at Nathan in what Tori supposed was a significant look. "It explains a lot of the things that happened before we worked together."

The rest of Nathan's team looked affronted. "Yeah! It does!" Hardison yelled. Parker and Eliot nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of," Tori finally spoke up. "What do you all do anyway?" The question had been bothering her since they got to Nathan's apartment building, but after finding out that three of them were supernaturals and the other two had no clue about the world at all, she was wondering what job allowed them to keep so many secrets.

The team all looked at each other and Tori became more suspicious. She could see Derek and Simon along with Lauren were with her on that one. Kit was too trusting and Chloe was probably just excited to finally meet another necromancer who wasn't a hundred years older than her and seemed nice enough.

It was Nate who finally spoke after a minute. "We're thieves."

AN: Longest chapter yet. Kind of the obligatory explaining chapter. So, what did you think. Details: too much/too little/just right? Characters in character? I always try to respond to reviews because I think it's polite so feel free to ask questions or make suggestions! They are welcomed warmly with open arms.

Thanks for reading, Brit