Punk (glaring)

Me: *winces*

Punk: Take it back. Now bitch.

Me: Fuck you asshole, you're a damn creep and you know it.

Punk: Goddamnit I know that! I've done some shitty things in this made up life you imagined, but I will not be called a pedophile! Its not right! After all the shit I went through at Asylum-

Me: Alright alright, quit your bitching. People, what I said in the warnings was inaccurate. There IS pedophilia, but PHIL has nothing to do with it.

Punk: Better.

Me (thinking): But there is sex with a minor. Probably going to be a lot of it, so brace yourself.

Punk: *nosebleeds*

Me: Told you you were a pervert, you lying fuck.

"..."

Trish rolled her eyes and shared a look with Bobby. Evan had taken the news of his lockdown with the expected level of enthusiasm. The small man sat in one of the metal folding chairs that furnished the office, looking too petulant for his 23 years.

He said nothing in complaint though and his companions new why -and would undoubtably tease him later for it later. His mother or not, Evan was deathly afraid of Natalia Hart (like the rest of the people who knew her). She loved him, that much was obvious, just as she loved Paul, but the small blond had a tendacy to be a fire breathing dragon hag when she got angry.

So Evan sat, listening to Paul explain about his predicament, though Bobby found it interesting that Paul said nothing of Evan being Eliabeth's son or Nero. He simply said that they had reason to believe someone wanted Evan dead, so he was under protection for a while.

Not that a person like Evan -one who lived in both the Human world and the Otherworld- being a target was anything new. Technically, he was a Guardian, and as the watchers of the protals they tended to piss Otherworlders off. Hunters, Keepers, Guardians and the like were targetted all the time. But something told Storm, Bobby and Trish that there was a lot more to this story than they had been told. Which was both alarming and unusual. It was dangerous for them not to have all the information, which was why Randal, Kenzo, Hiroko, Rob, Paul and Natalia usually told them everything up front.

"So, where am I staying?" Evan asked quietly after Paul had finished omitting huge parts of his life story.

Natalia looked at the door and as if summoned, Randal came in still looking moody from earlier. The member of the infamous Hart clan completely egnored his grouchy demeanor and beamed at her son, "To the safe house for you!"

Evan groaned internally. 'Safe house' was just another way of saying roach motel, as they had learned long ago that there was nothing actuallly safe about a safe house. Motels were safer and better, mostly because Otherworlders looked down upon them and refused to set foot in them. Ergo, if an otherworlder was chasing you, go to the one place he doesn't want to go.

"I've got your shit in the car. Move it," Randal growled, his temper flaring at his teams reluctance to leave the office.

His tone got them moving, though Evan caught Natalia glaring at Randal as they scampered for the door.

"Rob told me what you said to Jonathan. You say shit like that again and I'll murder you motherfucker," she hissed to his retreating back.

Randal bravely flipped her off, then yanked the door shut so he didn't have to dodge flaying objects. He took off for the back exit, his rapid pace making the other scramble to catch up, keeping Evan bettween them to shield him form any threats, should one arise.

It was Bobby's turn to groan internally as they approached the parking lot. As a group, they owned three cars; Rob's station wagon, Storm's truck and Randal's van. Trish also had a mustang, but it was parked in a garage somewhere in Rhode Island because even Rob agreed she was too tempermental to drive.

But this clown car was none of their cars, and while Bobby understood the need to rent a car, it didn't mean he had to like it. All piling in the battered cadilac (that smelled suspiocously like cigarets and dead things) Trish and Bobby sat on either side of Evan in the back as Storm settled in the passenger seat.

Bobby shared a look with James and Trish. Besides the weeks of Yeti rutting -which required monitoring so that they didn't alert the Human authorities- they hadn't had anything too dangerous go down. Sure, a few dead Otherworders and Humans, a mass Vampire attack and witches thinking they could make it rain frogs for their own amusment among other things, but nothing that required this much caution or manpower. Hell, Storm had taken care of the Vampires single handedly.

But looking at his companions, he could see that they were asking the same question he was;

What on earth really had there teamates on edge this much?

"Oh please tell me you're joking," hissed Trish, staring at the building infront of them.

Storm understood her disgust, but he had another consern, "This is a really bad idea. Even disregarding the fact that Adam owns this place, there are too many people. If Evan's stalker shows up a lot of people could die-"

"Don't question me. Get the fuck out of the car and into the lobby." snarled Randal, opening the door and storming out into the drizzling rain that had started.

Startled by the outburst, the others wasted no time vacating the rust bucket car and hurrying after the unreasonably angry man. They followed him through the faded blue doors up to the information desk.

"We're here to see Alec Patterson," said Randal, not bothering to sound friendly. The woman nodded warily, tapping at her keyboard.

"Ah, thats room 301 sir. Can I-?" But Randal was already headed for the evevator, his deamenor making people stop and stare.

Getting a bad feeling about the attension they were reiciving, Storm pressed the close button on the number pad and shot Randal a warning look. Not suprizingly, the older man egnored him, hitting the third floor button and stepping off the elavator before the doors had even finished opening when they got there.

The others quickly followed him through the 'Employees Only' door, wisely falling silent. They walked along an eerily hospital like corridor, then down a long twisting flight of stairs to a stone walled hallway that looked suspicously like it lead to the basement. Turning a corner and through another door, they arrived at what was apparently their destination, which was less than stellar, but definatly better than a roach motel bed.

Before them were large laundry carts full of sheets and towles, at least two dozen of them spread throughout the spacious room. Evan and the others could guess what price Adam had extracted for them putting his hotel in danger and they were proved right when they caught sight of a furiously twitching white tipped tail.

Bobby closed the door behind them and they moved into the room, Trish and Storm watching their irritated young friend with mild amusement. Morrison was loading black sheets into an industrial sized washer, open disgust pinching his usually stoic face. He paused, looking down at the sheet in his arms with shock, his nose scruching up adorably and a look of indignat horror overcomming his features. Hissing in a way true to his hybrid genes, he shoved the sheets in the washer and slammed the door shut with a low growl. Jabbing his thumb against the start button, he stood there, staring at the machine with his ears layed back, glaring like the appliance owed him money.

Trish let out a giggle, earning a snarl from the moody teen before she slapped him on the back and grabbed an armload of towels, "Aw, did the Kitty Kat find bodily fuids on the roach montel sheets?"

She dodged the towel he threw at her and walked up to the nearest available washer as another head poped up in the sea of dirty linen. Storm felt his worry ease slightly, seeing the big, goofy grin back on Rob's face. Jo's mood was considerably lighter as well, despite what had happened earlier.

"Hey guys and gals!" Rob chirped, smiling like an idiot as he worked his way toward them, "The gal being Evan of course," he assured Trish, who had stopped her towel war with Morrison to give him a warning look.

Storm galnced down at Evan who had been quiet since they'd left the bar. It worried him as well, but he knew Evan well enough to see how upset he was. It was a confusing situation and to make it worse, given the look on Evan face, the raven haired man knew he was being lied to. He could tell that the bullshit story Paul told him was only the half truth and though he trusted his adopted father enough to go along anyway, that didn't top it from bothering him.

There was nothing to be done though. The calmest of the younger members of the group, James Storm was something like Randal's protoge, meaning he was being groomed to take over Randal's duties when he died. But be that as it may, Storm had no say in some decisions, despite how much it annoyed him to be shut out. Their group worked because they were all honest with each other and all took part in deciding what they needed to do. All these secrets their leaders were keeping from them could lead nowhere good.

But Rob was tight lipped and Randal had started shutting them out and if they weren't careful it would lead to Trish, Bobby and Evan not trusting them, which would make protecting the hard headed Evan impossible.

Rob walked over and threw an arm around Evan, chattering away about miscellaneous things, Storm watching them fondly until a flying object had him ducking. Eyeing the black sheet now lying on the floor, he raised an eyebrow at Bobby, who was standing between the washers Tish and Jo were loading. The big man had a devilish look on his face as he twirled a towel in his powerful hands, an unmistakable challenge in his eyes.

"Don't just stand there asshole, come help us play house keeper like a good little maid."

He may be the calmest of the bunch, but Storm had never claimed to act his 26 years. Egnoring the suspicious white stains standing out against the black fabric, he grabed the sheet off the floor and headed toward his friends, contentment spreading through him. Maybe this crisis wasn't as dramatic as he had first assumed. The incident between Jo and Randal seemed to be behind them, despite Randal's lingering dark mood.

"You okay?" Bobby asked, swatting at Storm with the towel, a knowing look in his eyes as they squared off, circling each other.

Storm easily sidestepped the testing shot, twisting one end of the sheet and winding it around his wrist, "Yeah, I am now. I think we're good as long as-"

Randal cut him off, heading toward the door as he pulled out his cell, "Rob I'm gonna go take care of some shit while you all do the bitch work. I'm taking the credit card, but I heard there was a group of Enforcers staked out at the dock. If you need money you can send prissy kitty down there to make some quick cash sucking-"

This time, there was no time for a stunned silence. Storm practically heard the Werekat's last nerve break, sending the 13 year old over the edge. Before anyone could say anything, Jo had dropped the sheets he was folding and launched himself across the room, his ears layed back and hands already morphing into paws, claws fully extended, tail lashing furiously as he crashed onto the older man.

Rob let go of Evan, a thunderous expression on his face as he stalked accross the room to calm down his son, who had his sharp teeth and claws sunk into a furiously cursing Randal.

Storm sighed in defeat, looking at Evan, who had a stunned expression on his face. Bobby reached out, restraining Trish who had started for the fight with her eyes set on Randal. Shaking his head, Storm dropped the sheet, all desire for play gone now, the contentment he'd felt earlier slipping into dread for the future.

"- as long as that doesn't happen," he finshed, watching Rob pull a livid Morrison off Randal, tears of fury streaming down the Werekat's cheeks as he hissed loudly.

This was not going well at all.