Chapter Twenty Eight
...
For the most part, Rafe understood the need for the hood, gag, and cuffs, but that didn't mean he had to like them. It was difficult to swallow, the metal bit into his skin, and the most annoying part was that the thick fabric of the hood made it difficult to hear what was going on around him. He was planning on using this opportunity to learn as much about the Calaveras as possible so that he would finally have something solid and concrete to bring them and their cartel down. If not on their operations, then at least on the fact that they were - quite stupidly - kidnapping an FBI agent. He finally had a chance to bring justice to the lives of the people the Calaveras had destroyed: both with their cartel and their hunting.
There was a loud screech of tyres, the bright light from a car's headlights filtering through the gaps in the hood's thread, and in the next moment, a snarling sound reverberated, so loud that even Rafe could hear through hood's thick material. He frowned around his gag, trying to determine what creature had made the sound; he recognised werewolves, werecougars, werecoyotes, and even kitsunes, but this noise was nothing like them. This noise sounded feral, wet, and hungry.
Gunfire surrounded him an instant, the bright flashes from guns providing strobe-like effects behind the hood. Rafe desperately tried to figure out what the hell was going on, and then the screams started.
The screams were desperate, terrified, completely and utterly petrified sounds that he'd never heard the likes of before, nor ever wanted to again. In that moment, Rafe was glad he couldn't see what was happening.
The screams all ended with a gurgle or whisper that, unfortunately, Rafe was more familiar with: someone - or several someones, by the sound of the screams - had died. It was confirmed by the screams of two banshees, names echoing and bouncing off the walls around him.
When silence fell once more, Rafe realised that all of the Calaveras and their crew were dead, and they would never come to justice.
Fuck.
...
"The only reason we've survived this long is because we disappeared. We fled the country, changed our names, and we're not going to do that again just because the Calaveras are in town," Sophie Clarkson said, her jaw set and voice firm.
Behind the Clarksons', Satomi shook her head, ensuring that both Lydia and Tomika stayed silent and didn't voice their arguments.
"We could fight..." her husband Nathan said, trailing off abruptly when Sophie glared at him.
"We can't. I can't," she added, her voice breaking slightly.
"If it means getting one up on the Calaveras, then I can."
Sophie was silent for a long moment. "If anything happens..."
"Satomi will look after Pat, we've discussed that," Nathan said, pressing a kiss to the back of his wife's hand. "We can't keep hiding, Doc," he said, making her smile briefly at the nickname.
"Why can't we? It's worked for the past eighteen years," Sophie murmured, though she didn't meet her husband's gaze, and both Lydia and Tomika could tell that her resolve was starting to waver.
"It's been a long eighteen years. I'd like to stop looking over my shoulder any time we leave town, wouldn't you?"
Sophie looked defeated at that, and nodded slightly. "I won't go to prison for this - or Eichen - I won't let that happen."
"Pat..."
"Pat is in Eichen for his own safety until he learns control. He's being helped in there; we wouldn't be, we'd be treated like criminals," Sophie snapped, fear and anger making her words sharp.
"All right, Doc. I'll make sure of it," Nathan promised, hugging her close and kissing her forehead gently.
Sophie pulled out of his embrace a moment later and turned to the two banshees. "We'll come and fight. But you have to promise me that if anything happens to either of us, that you'll tell our son what happened, okay?"
"Of course, Dr. Clarkson," Tomika said immediately, nodding.
"You said he's in Eichen House?" Lydia prompted gently.
Sophie nodded. "Patrick Clark."
"He escaped last year," Lydia blurted out in surprise.
Both Sophie and Nathan looked upset at the reminder, but it was Sophie who spoke. "It was my fiftieth birthday; Pat wanted to give me my present in person."
Lydia didn't dare ask if Patrick's present was a person. Instead, she simply nodded. "If anything happens, we'll make sure he knows," Lydia promised.
"Thank you," Nathan said. Then he stood and brushed his hands on his shirt. "I suppose we'd best get to the hospital if we're going to make it in time?"
Sophie and Nathan headed out to their car, Lydia and Tomika standing to go to their car as well. Satomi closed and locked the house behind them, Lydia lingering for a moment.
"Why were you here tonight, Satomi?" Lydia asked curiously.
Satomi looked her in the eye and smiled briefly. "Sophie Clarkson works in the morgue and usually finds food that way, but even the morgue can have slow months. I provide sustenance to the Clarksons' so that they do not ravage the townspeople instead."
Lydia swallowed, her eyes wide. She wanted to check Satomi over for wounds, missing limbs, something, but before she could even try, Satomi nodded and headed over to the Clarksons' car.
"Lydia, you coming?" Tomika called from their car.
Tomika was sitting in the driver's seat this time, and she didn't plan on swapping seats any time soon.
They arrived at the back of the hospital in time to see the Calaveras retreating, two hostages with them. Pulling up with a screech of tyres, Tomika kept the headlights pointed towards the group as Sophie and Nathan stepped out of their vehicle, hungry and ready to eat.
...
Sara figured she'd distracted Deaton long enough and started on the final steps of her spell. It was far more obvious than the first steps of the spell, which could be administered without the other person's knowledge; the final steps involved bright lights and excruciating pain.
Deaton flinched when the light appeared in front of his eyes, knowing at a glance just what it was and what it meant. "You... you can't."
Sara raised an eyebrow, looking at Deaton with an 'obviously, I can' expression. Returning her full concentration to the spell, Sara closed her eyes and ignored Deaton; she couldn't risk being distracted now.
"Please. Please, don't. I'll... I'll do anything. I'll leave town. I'll leave the country. Please, don't do this! I have too many enemies. I won't survive a night unprotected. This will leave me defenceless and - "
Deaton's words cut off abruptly, giving way to a scream of pure and agonising pain.
Kuhle shuddered, stepping back without really realising it. Staring at the lights that wove a pattern around Deaton, Kuhle was both terrified and mesmerised when the lights began to dive into, through, Deaton's body. They seemed to come out of Deaton that little bit bigger and brighter than they had been going in.
Sean put a hand on Kuhle's shoulder, getting his attention. "You can leave if you want."
Looking to Sara, Kuhle shook his head briefly. "I'll stay, thank you, sir."
They were silent for the moment - Deaton was being loud enough for both of them, and then some - and watched the lights as they continued to make a detailed and complex pattern around and throughout Deaton's body.
"Do you know what Sara's doing, sir?" Kuhle asked, his voice soft so he didn't disturb her.
"No idea; we can ask her after she's finished whatever it is she's doing."
Not entirely pleased with the response, but figuring that he didn't any other choice, Kuhle settled back and continued to watch and wait.
...
Ethan ran out of the hospital doors expecting a fight. He stumbled to a stop when he saw Lydia taking the hood off Isaac's head with no sign of the Calaveras or their crew anywhere. Frowning, he sniffed and tried to determine what had happened by scent alone. It was mostly fear, anger, blood, and... hunger?
"What the fuck is going on here?" Ethan asked, tempted to knock Lydia aside so he could check Isaac for himself.
"The Calaveras are dead and the cause for their deaths - and subsequent disappearances - are... unknown," Rafe said. He had already counted to ten twice to control his anger, and was starting towards thirty.
Ethan felt a little conflicted over hearing this; on the one hand, he was trying to honour Aiden's wish to be better, but on the other, the Calaveras had tortured him and locked Isaac in the morgue's fridge. He couldn't say he was upset that the Calaveras were dead.
"It all happened so quickly; we didn't see what happened," Lydia lied.
Ethan was surprised that he could only just hear a telltale tick of her heart; either Lydia was telling more truth than lie, or she'd figured a way to tell a lie without her heart betraying her. He wasn't sure which he preferred.
"Ethan, you're okay! Is Jackson all right?" Isaac asked, pulling him in for a tight hug.
"He's healing. What about you? They practically put you in a metal coffin," Ethan said, his snarl muffled against Isaac's shoulder.
"I'll probably have a few nightmares, but I'm alive," Isaac said, clinging Ethan a little tighter. "Why's Jackson healing?"
"Malia put a hole in his stomach to save him? I guess?"
"What?"
Ethan just shook his head and shrugged. Isaac didn't seem appeased at his response and practically pulled Ethan back into the hospital to check on Jackson himself.
"Miss Jones? I want to know what happened here tonight, and I think you know more than you're telling," Rafe said, his words tight through a clenched jaw.
Tomika looked Agent McCall in the eye. "Officially, sir: it was dark, everything happened too fast, and I didn't see a thing."
"And unofficially?"
"You don't want to know, sir. The truth is not worth the trauma."
Rafe counted to fifty, then looked from Tomika to Lydia. They were both pale and Lydia was trembling, and now that he was thinking about someone other than himself, Rafe knew that it had nothing to do with the cold weather. He forced himself to nod in response to Tomika's words, though some part of him wondered if the security feed was available. With that thought in mind, Rafe turned and went back into the hospital.
Tomika let out a shuddering breath of pure relief; she'd worried that Agent McCall would threaten her recruitment if she hadn't told him the truth. To be honest, it was still a likelihood, but it wasn't her main concern. She looked at Lydia, saw that she was trembling, and jogged up to the car to retrieve a blanket from the backseat. Wrapping it around Lydia's shoulders, she tilted Lydia's chin up so she could look at her eyes and see if she was going into shock. Lydia's lips parted and her eyes widened slightly.
"Hey, you two coming? The fight's over, everyone's alive... Mostly," Grant amended, thinking of the hole still healing in Jackson's stomach; he'd left the morgue just so he wouldn't faint again.
Tomika sighed and glared over her shoulder. "We'll meet you at the front, Grant."
"Okay, cool. Uh... Did I interrupt something?" Grant asked, realising that they were both glaring at him. "Right, never mind. Sorry!" he called, the door closing as he left as fast as his feet would allow.
Lydia laughed incredulously and shook her head. "So... Did he interrupt something?"
Tomika grinned. "I was checking to see if you were going into shock... Mostly," she added, lighting up when Lydia laughed again.
Her laughter fading after a moment, Lydia looked at Tomika, licking her lips briefly. Noticing Tomika's gaze fall to her mouth, Lydia felt something she hadn't felt in years: powerful and in control again. It was a heady feeling, but it was nothing compared to what Lydia felt when she surged up on her toes to kiss Tomika. Tomika's arms wrapped around her, her lips curving into a smile, and she deepened the kiss eagerly, sweet and warm and hot and wet all at the same time.
"Hey, whoa. Sorry, never mind us!" Derek called.
"Whoa what? Oh, go Lyds! And Tom, woo!"
Tomika unwrapped an arm from Lydia to give Stiles the finger.
...
End of the twenty-eighth chapter.
Author's note: yes, Sophie and Nathan are named after the Leverage characters.
No, you don't want to know what they did to the Calaveras.