(Lya)
The culvert appears to be gated off, and signs bear Serious Warnings about trespassing, but trying to keep people out is a losing battle. There are too many entrance points to keep an effective watch over all of them.
There's a heavy-duty magnet at the base of the gate - enough to maintain the illusion that the gate is closed and locked, easy enough for someone to remove and replace.
You hear some natural but - to your ears and affinity for Chaos - out of place sounds. Sentries, perhaps?
Why not? Arky admitted he'd had similar visions, and Loki's Snow Fort had blasted a chunk out of Arky's old turf. Caution wasn't entirely uncalled for.
"Lya?" calls a voice from the shadows. Arky's girlfriend, Tawny. "This way. Arky's waiting."
You note several camouflaged wireless cameras, all placed near tableaus that would draw a casual visitor's interest.
"Been having problems?"
"District Attorney's Anti-Gang Task Force has been nosing around. We just go dark, kind of like London during the Blitz," she says. "But Arky seems more edgy than usual. Something's bothering him, and I can't make it go away."
"Yeah... it's the end of the world and we're all feeling a bit less than fine these days," Lya replies as Klepto ushers a figure dressed in a raised hoodie and sweatpants forward and the other Furies turn to tensely watch the area in a half circle around them. "This is our friend Rikke that I personally vouch for; she's needing a place to stay hidden away from her controlling family, Tawny. We figured if anyone would understand it would be you guys."
"Greetings," Rikke says tentatively. "I am grateful for you letting me into your home."
She gnaws on her bottom lip. "Is Arky available to talk? There's some shit going down out there that he's right to be concerned about, and I want to give him the heads up."
"Right here," Arky says, coming out of the darkness. "Sorry. I haven't been sleeping well ... funky dreams."
"Ah. I understand," Rikke says. "You are another seer."
Arky nods, smiling. "It's a gift and a joy most of the time. You're not one of us. Aesir?"
Rikke smiles. "I am. Lya and the others freed my father from his prison as the All-Father's oracle, and feared that I might be held captive in his place."
"Do you read the runes?" Tawny asked. "I'd love to learn them."
"Wait. Is this a community of seers?" Rikke asked.
"It's a community of social outcasts, actually," Arky says. "Folks who don't do well under all the rules and such imposed by the powerful. We're not into tearing things up or pulling things down - just for being left alone."
"Such is the way of things across the Nine Worlds."
"Be welcome," Arky says. "Tawny will find you a spot to crash and let you know about food and other essentials."
He turns to Lya. "Let's walk. Most of the people down here know I'm a bit of an oracle, but they think I read horoscopes and tarot cards. If you want to talk business, we can go for a stroll."
Lya smiles at Rikke. "You're in good hands here, and Arky has the way to contact me if you ever need anything, OK?"
Rikke nods and raises a hand to her heart. "I cannot thank you all enough for what you've done for me and my father. I only hope that you can get them to listen before it's too late." She nods in respect to everyone and turns with a wave from Tawny as they make their way down the tunnel to her new home.
Lya turns to the Furies. "You guys act casual while Arky and I have a talk, OK? I won't leave your sight, I swear," she chuckles as Toxic points to her eye and then back to Lya.
She then turns to Arky and runs a hand over her scalp as she lets out a sigh. "We've definitely got to talk... there's some heavy Aesir shit going down and I might've put my foot in it when I discovered that Odin's as purposely bad as the church when it comes to vision interpretations."
Arky gives a weak smile. "It's not the Oracle's fault if the querent doesn't want to listen. But that hasn't stopped politicians and leaders throughout history from blaming it on them."
"Let's compare notes," he says. "I've had dreams about tidal waves, flood waters roiling just ahead. But it's always outside a window. The wave never breaks, the waters never crash down upon me. Slot machines, dials whirling, and whoever is working the handle is doing so as fast as they can. But the line shows grapes, a Viking helmet, a star, a Japanese crest, and a pirate. The grapes, that's got to be you. The star could be me, I guess, but I don't know who or what the other symbols represent."
"Long story short," Lya replies, "The disaster outside the window is Ragnarok. The Aesir believe it's inevitable (even though it isn't) and Loki and Fenris have their hand on the slot machine trying to piece together a new reality where Ragnarok happens their way. The grapes are me, the Japanese crest is Hitoshi, the helmet is Alex, the star is Evie ... but I don't know about the pirate, honestly, as it wasn't in my visions." she scratches her head. "Maybe Odin? He's got the eyepatch and all."
She shrugs. "What I did see however was Hitoshi pulling the lever on a nuclear slot machine using coins labeled all the major countries. He 'won' and was rewarded with a false family before joining Soleil Hunter from the DA office (probably why that task force is cracking down honestly) as well as others. And unfortunately, from what Evie has told me, he's on his way to doing exactly that in another reality similar to ours."
She pulls out a flask and takes a drink before offering it to Arky. "After that we started dancing and you told me it probably wouldn't end well before I turned around and shot Jason Lyman aka Loki, but then he turned into Fenris, who is currently impersonating Senator Justin Holliwell in an attempt to bring about World War III."
She shakes the flask at him. "Go on... have a drink and then I'll tell you about how I found out Ragnarok is a lie thanks to the Chinese gods," Lya chuckles wryly.
Arky frowns. "That's disturbing. It suggests Fenris and Loki are looking for the right combination of people rather than exact events. In my experience, however - you don't mess around with those kinds of things. It's your wish, but it's the Fates pulling the strings."
"Fate... what a crock," Lya mutters as she takes the flask back for another drink. "The Fates are keeping humanity in check by making us believe in pre-ordained futures... when really all they are showing us is one future that tells us what they want us to hear. They don't tell us that we have options... that we have the power to choose our fate."
"If everyone would just take a step back and realize that Ragnarok is just one possible future instead of the only future, this whole mess would be moot," Lya groans. "Guan Yin herself showed me the truth of it: Odin interpreted the visions of the Mimir to suit his own purposes and convince his people that Ragnarok was inevitable... so now his people are stuck in some sick End of the World play because they don't think they have any choice."
She gestures wildly with her hands as she groans in frustration. "Loki is soclose to realizing the truth of it... but I think he's afraid! Honestly... who isn't a little bit afraid when they realize that their whole life is open to them if they'd just make a choice? They'd rather have the comfort of knowing that their path is laid out for them instead of knowing that we're personally responsible for everything that happens to ourselves."
She chuckles and smiles apologetically. "Sorry about dumping all this on you... but I needed to share with someone who understands what it's like, you know?"
Arky gives a short laugh. "Ironic, isn't it? We live in a City where people bet it all on the long shot of having money and the freedom it brings. Instead, what they really want is the opposite - a world where things are safe and predictable. They don't come to us to learn the future, they come to us to have someone validate their choices."
Lya lets out a dry laugh. "Tell me about it. What really sucks though is whether it's Ragnarok or not, that Doomsday Clock is still going to reach midnight if we personally don't do something about it."
She sighs and gestures back down the tunnel with her thumb. "Anyway... we need to get going to see if we can do our part to save the world and all that. Thanks again for Rikke, Arky. Keep your people safe and out of the way of the DA, and I'll do my best to make sure you've all got a world outside your door. Oh... and let me know if your visions change, would you? You've got my number."
"Stay safe, Cousin," he says. Something more like his usual indefatigable ebullience comes through in his smile.
Though they are in different parts of the city, at the moment, both Alex and Lya's phones tweet at them. A text has arrived. When they check, they see that it is a simple message from Evie. The words "bitches" and "Fenris/Loki/Holliwell" each followed by a set of coordinates.
It's only a couple of minutes after the text arrives that Lya's phone rings. It's exactly who she expected.
"Hey, what's up?" Lya asks, figuring that Evie has more details to share.
"Okay, I checked on the sisters for you. They are busy summoning einjehar. The coordinates I sent are where I saw them doing the summoning. It's the site of a swanky hotel, I think. Both sisters were there when I checked," Evie says. "I saw Soleil summon a Nazi soldier...one Hauptmann Krieger. I don't know if he's significant or just another body to add to their army, but I figured I'd best pass the name along, just in case."
"It also looks like Fenris and Loki are close to being ready to move with Hollliwell. Holliwell looked like he was under some spell or drug...all glassy-eyed and not-there. Loki was asking him questions about 'the China situation.' Holliwell told Loki that he'd had discussions with the President and Secretary of State and that China has serious choices to make," Evie continues.
"Fenris asked if 'it' was ready and Loki assured him that it is almost done. I think Loki was speaking of the enchantment that he'll put on Fenris. He said that 'the deep illusion' will do most of the work for Fenris, so others won't know that it's not Holliwell. And, it sounds like they are going to imprison Holliwell when they are done with him. Fenris talked about throwing him in an oubliette rather than killing him."
Alex calls up his navigation app and pastes in the coordinates Evie provided. They resolve to a very nice condominium complex that Alex recognizes - it's where Chris Clemens and Soleil Hunter both live. Gated, private security in the lobby.
At the same time, they should both be away at their day jobs - in the office, or in court.
Hell. Meet up with Lya and the Furies, first. Storm the castle, second.
"The clock is obviously ticking then," Lya replies as she walks back to the van with the Furies. "They actually summoned a single Einherjar with a name, eh?" The phone is muffled for a moment but you can hear the faint muttering of "Hey Phoebe... you've got your phone on you... see if you can look up anything special about a Nazi soldier named Hauptmann Krieger."
"Sorry about that. Anyway... yeah... it sounds like Fenris and Loki are getting ready for their endgame. We're going to meet Alex and then it's a quick stop at the Grandview to try and keep Selene Chase and Douglas Maxwell distracted before we try our rescue mission. You going to make it back anytime soon? As useful as your view is, we wouldn't want to do this without you, Evie."
"I'll be back, soon," Evie says. "I don't know that there's much more I can glean from here without waiting for a long time. Besides, I...uhh...don't think I want to hang out too long."
"I have some more news for Hitoshi, too. Apparently, Shadow Alex is about to drop a bomb on half of Vegas...I think it has something to do with the Shadow Lya. Hitoshi mentioned that you're an eco-terrorist, there. Apparently, Shadow Lya and her maenads are spreading some sort of disease..."
"Oh, but...!" Evie's voice changes, filled with delight, "I also saw what I think was Hitoshi's father reforging his sword. In Shadow World, Hitoshi's sword is broken so...if it's being remade...that has to be good, right?"
"Wow...I'm an eco-terrorist with a bunch of crazy bitches trying to start a war, huh?" Lya replies in wonderment before there's a thud and the exclamation of "Ow! I'm just repeating what she said, dammit!"
"Alex is going to drop a bomb on Las Vegas and Hitoshi is on the verge of becoming the Secretary of Defense. Damn... that's not good at all, Evie. I mean... I take small comfort in knowing that if I started a war it would take nuclear weapons to stop me... (quit it, Toxic!)... but if Fenris is President over there and he's got Alex under his thumb and ready to drop the bomb, then I'm betting that leaves Hitoshi to take the blame for it... or worse. All they'd need to do is anchor that reality to this one and BAM! No more Las Vegas."
She sighs as Klepto starts the van and they drive toward the Soul Food Cafe to meet with their reality's Alex. "You told the bit about Alex and the bomb to Hitoshi, right? I don't know if he can stop the bomb or not... but if he can't, it's up to him to find and stop them before they try and anchor it here. I certainly hope the sword being reforged means Hitoshi's finally figured himself out... for all our sakes."
Despite the gravity of the situation, Evie can't help but stifle a giggle at the sound of one of the band mates obviously taking offense at what was said. However, her merriment dies a swift death as conversation flows back to the problem at hand.
"No, I haven't told him, yet. I was going to call him as soon as I hung up with you. After that, I need to make my decision about where to go: do I come back to you or do I try to help Hitoshi?" she runs a hand through her hair and paces a bit as she talks. "I just don't know how much use I'll be to Hitoshi in that reality. I'm a cab driver, there. I might have some resources but...not nearly what I have as a police detective."
"Besides, I had a conversation about Hitoshi with Heimdall. I think a lot of what is happening to him in Shadow World is a test from his own family. I probably don't want to place myself in the middle of that."
"So, I'm leaning heavily towards coming back to you and Alex once I've talked to Hitoshi."
"I'm starting to think that Hitoshi is the only one who can save himself right now," Lya agrees worriedly. "Besides... if we're going to do this rescue, we're going to need all the help we can get. Not only is there Fenris and Loki to worry about... but the Fenris bitches and Douglas Maxwell, as well as anybody else who might be scions and a whole slew of einherjar they could have at the ready."
"Captain Nazi?" Phoebe mutters as she looks up Krieger on the Internet. "Well that can't be right, unless the Nazis created a genetic Super Soldier like Captain America..."
"Told you we were super heroes," Lya chuckles from the passenger seat as she covers up the receiver of her phone for a moment.
"Alright. Let me give Hitoshi a call and, as soon as I am done, I'll join you. It shouldn't take me long. I'll pop by home, real quick, to change clothes and then meet you at Soul Food. Sound good?"
"We'll make sure to save you some pie," Lya replies. "Be safe, and we'll see you there."
(Lya)
You pull up to the parking lot at the Soul Food Diner. There's a car with a rental company license plate frame, which must belong to Alex, and an ambulance. You run into TJ as he comes out of the diner, responding to his radio. "EMT-Five copies," he says. "ETA ten minutes." He flashes a quick smile. "Oh, hi, Lya. Gotta jet," he says. "Alex and Val are still rockin' the goodbye kiss thing."
He jogs off towards the ambulance. A moment later, Val comes out of the diner. She's not running, but she's moving with a purposeful stride that you've seen often enough from the Furies. "Hello, Lya," she says in passing. Alex is standing just inside. He's smiling, for obvious reasons. He's also sporting a new polo shirt and jeans ... but also an incongruous black neck scarf.
"There you are. I got a te-"
"- xt from Evie?" you finish. "I know. She may join us in a bit. I hate to sound all dah-dah-dummmmmmm!, but there's some serious shit going down, and pretty much all of it is bad," you say.
The Furies have already glommed onto one of the corner booths. "And it's past the cats and dogs sleeping together part," Klepto smirks.
"Oh and don't think I'm not going to ask about your new ascot there dude," Lya chuckles before smiling at Maggie who quickly walks up to their table.
"I was wondering if we'd see you all again... another round of the usual?"
Lya looks around at the nods from the Furies and replies with "Extra strong pot of coffee and pie all around, Maggs."
She motions for Alex to pull up a chair as she begins to recite what Evie shared from the Vantage. "It sounds like Loki might've gotten to the Alex in Hitoshi's world...and if Fenris is already President there and Hitoshi's on his way to becoming SecDef, I'm starting to wonder if we can even stop the destruction there, much as I hate to say it."
She sighs. "A part of me still wants to go back to Castle World so I understand... but we have to remember where we're from... and that our world needs help just as much as theirs does. I can only hope that Hitoshi remembers that and comes home to where he belongs before it's too late."
Maggie comes by with the pot of coffee and sets down multiple mugs along with a bowl of creamers. "Pie'll be just a minute, hon."
"Sweet mana... come to me, my pretty," Orithia mutters as she begins pouring cups and passing them around.
"Anyway," Lya continues. "On the plus side, I think Rikke will be OK with Arky... which means now we can focus on the Fenris bitches and saving Holliwell before Fenris has his way with him."
"Don't forget Captain Nazi," Phoebe adds as she reaches for some creamers.
"Captain who now?" Alex asks with a laugh.
"Evie saw the Fenris girls summoning an einherjar... but just a single one this time named Hauptman Krieger," Lya replies. "When she looked him up all she could find was a Nazi super-villain from the comics, though." She takes a sip of her coffee. "Still... if they went to the trouble of summoning just one, there's a good chance he's there for a singular purpose."
"The assassination you saw," says Toxic grimly.
"That's my guess," Lya replies. "Which means they're getting ready for their endgame, so we need to make our move."
"Holliwell?" asks Alex.
Lya nods. "I think it'll be worth our time to throw a wrench in the works to distract them first, though." She brings up the photos on her phone that she took of Senator Malcolm and friends back in Castle World and slides it over to Alex. "And I am thinking these will do the trick nicely."
"Hauptmann Krieger," Alex says. He fiddles with his smartphone. "Did you get a first name? Alaric?"
"That's it," you say. "How did ...? Wait. I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"One of the top snipers in World War II," Alex says. "Arguably one of the best German snipers. There are better ones, but they're mostly Russians."
"So Fenris replaces Holliwell. You don't need a sniper for that," Phoebe says. "Hit the current president, and the fake Senator takes his place."
"It'd be more convoluted than that. Chain of command is POTUS, Veep, Speaker of the House," Alex says.
"And that's Loki, who smiles and steps down in favor of his buddy Senator Holliwell," Orithia frowns. "And I thought politics were twisted back in ancient Greece."
"And what's these ... photos ... oh. Oh," says Alex. "There's nothing technically wrong with having sex, though the ranking-officer-who-likes-to-watch runs afoul of the UCMJ. I'm missing something. This is one of Fenris' daughters?"
He slaps his forehead. "Of course. Two of them. Soleil Hunter and ...?"
"Selene Chase," Lya replies with a grin like the cat who ate the canary. "She and Douglas Maxwell are both on the board at the Grandview... so if these photos were to say... end up in emails sent to every news reporter we can find before being prominently displayed along with my letter from Hitoshi in my prospectus to the company as the new CEO of the Grandview... Selene Chase, Bob Malcolm, Douglas Maxwell and the Colonel there might find themselves too busy answering questions as to why a Senator close to the President and two members of the board are having clandestine sex parties while attempting to set up someone to impersonate a Colonel with access to military secrets. With any luck a scandal around Malcolm will flourish in D.C."
She sits back and cradles her coffee with a smile. "Throw in the attempt to assassinate you in front of the hotel and I'm sure it wouldn't take much to convince the rest of the board that the letter Hitoshi left would be an excellent opportunity to get rid of everyone involved (aka Selene and Douglas) and try to save the hotel's reputation with a fresh new CEO who has a reputation as a good Samaritan and philanthropist in Las Vegas."
She grins and takes a drink as Orithia whistles in appreciation.
"Oh, I like the tie-in to the shooting," Alex said. "When were you thinking of doing this? Is the board local? I'm not a corporate lawyer, but I can stand in your corner and look all legal eagle-ish."
Evie arrives back in her apartment. It is just as she left it. The sofa is still a giant mess, there are conspicuous gaps between knick-knacks where things were broken and there are still bloodstains in her bedroom.
She sighs and goes to her closet. Quickly shucking out of her Asgardian clothes, she pulls on jeans and one of her old, plain green T-shirts.
This sucks. I didn't find what we needed. Nothing. There was nothing there, she thinks bitterly as she folds up her Asgardian clothes and stashes them on the top shelf of the closet, among stacks of junk that she's forgotten she even had.
She had been so confident that she could find that cat-less reality. Part of her feels like she has failed the team. She couldn't help Hitoshi and she couldn't find the proof to show Odin or Loki the error in their thinking.
Evie stomps out into the hallway that separates her bathroom and bedroom. There is a loose baseboard, there, where she keeps a bit of emergency cash. She kicks the board a bit harder than is actually necessary, causing it to pop off the wall. She takes the money and stuffs it into her pocket, figuring that she may need it, at some point.
No, you didn't fail, she thinks as she detours to the kitchen to grab a Coke.You warned Hitoshi. You saw valuable information that will help the team. You just didn't find exactly what you were looking for. It's not like this is the first time that has happened to you. You've had plenty of cases where the exact same thing has happened.
True, she answers herself. But the stakes were never so high, either.
She still doesn't feel any better about it.
Done at home, Evie heads out and climbs into her car. She makes the drive over to Soul Food and spots Lya's van. Not quite ready, yet, to be discovered back in town by her fellow officers, she looks around the small lot and spots two large SUVs with a space between them.
Perfect, she slips in between them, her old Camry practically hidden between them. Not that anyone who wasn't looking would take notice, anyway. Her car is the epitome of boring. If it was one of those cars from that Dreamworks movie, it would be sitting in the corner doing a crossword puzzle while the rest were racing or partying or whatever.
Evie walks into Soul Food and immediately spots the crew sitting at a corner booth. Looking tired, she slips in beside them, "Hey. I take it Lya has filled you in, Alex?"
"I have a bad feeling about this," Alex says. "First, Loki tries to amass an army of summoned warriors and filch a nuclear weapon, but to get them to Asgard, he needs to bridge the realities with some kind of mystical anchor. So wherever Hitoshi is, Loki is basically doing the same thing. It's not thewar we have to stop. We have to make sure he doesn't bridge it or tie it toour world and Asgard."
"The war, the crisis, whatever it is - is a ... well, it's not quite a sham, but it's a distraction, a set-up."
"And that brings us back to the question of 'how does one even do that?" Evie asks as she reaches for a cup to pour herself some coffee.
"We know that Loki did it using you, before," she gestures to Alex. "But, why you? What is it about you that makes you a good anchor? Are there other people that could fill that need? Does it need to a child of Tyr? And, will Loki even be silly enough to try it again...from this reality?"
She takes the coffee and holds it close to her chest, thinking, "Surely, he wouldn't be stupid enough to do the exact, same thing in the exact same place. We know what happened in Castle World and will take measures to stop it."
"Glad to see you back, Evie," Lya acknowledges the tired cop with a smile. "What I'm worried about is what if all he needed was a Scion from our world to make an anchor?"
"Hitoshi..." Phoebe gasps.
"Yeah... something tells me that's why the Mimir said his returning would be the only way to set things back on track."
"Ah, fuck me," Evie puts her coffee on the table and her face in her hands. After a second, she lowers her hands and says, "I hope that Hitoshi can make it back, if it even occurs to him to try."
"I don't think there is any way for us to talk to him, at this point."
"I think it's 'any Scion' - and I was just a target of opportunity. Evie is a police officer and the daughter of Heimdall, who I imagine Loki wants to stay as far away from as he can get," Alex says. "Thomas, maybe he wanted to do this back then - the Cold War and the Red Scare were great opportunities ... but he fucked it up when Thomas' skull got bashed in."
"So either Hitoshi starts World War III or my alternate reality self does. Either one of them could be used as an anchor. What's left ... they don't care. All they want is to bring all of the nastiness of modern warfare right up to Asgard's front door."
He flags Maggie down and orders Rick's Southern-fried Catfish along with some garlic fries.
"The only way to save that timeline is to make sure the circumstances that make it possible don't happen. No President Holliwell. No Secretary of Defense Ryder. I'm not in the military, so that's something," Alex adds.
"And you have a nifty new scarf," Lya says pointedly.
"Um, yeah. Found it in my stuff. I'm not sure what it does, but it feels like a relic," Alex tells them, fingering the fabric. "I suppose I could always wrap it around my face and rob a bank, right?" He lifts one end of the scarf and flings it across the lower half of his face. Klepto and Toxic are both rising out of their seats, grabbing their utensils as makeshift weapons. Where Alex had been sitting, there is only a Grim Reaper-like figure, a hood falling over a skeletal visage. Skeletal hands fly up in a 'don't shoot' gesture, and you hear Alex's voice as if it were coming across a tinny, ancient speaker.
"Whoa, whoa! It's me! What the-?" he says. And then the grisly specter is gone, the scarf falling away from Alex's face.
"You ... changed," Evie said.
"Into what?"
"Death. You looked like the classic skeleton-in-a-shroud," Lya said. "All that's missing was a big-ass scythe. I mean, you even had that creepy hairs-on-your-arm standing up thing going."
"A present from Hel? I thought she was pissed off at you," Evie asked.
"So did I. Apparently, she's running her own game."
"She's Loki's daughter, technically. I don't know why she'd be helping you or us," Lya frowned. "Okay, food."
Talk flagged as other orders were placed. Alex ran out to the curb and bought the morning paper. At first glance, there was nothing amiss in the headlines.
"... be making a sweep through the Western states on Tuesday, including stops in California and Nevada," Alex read aloud.
"The President?" Phoebe asked. Alex nodded.
"Game on," Orithia said.
Evie chews thoughtfully upon a bite of chicken and waffle before she speaks up, "So, what if we make the first move, here? We know where Krieger was summoned and they would have no reason to move him until it's time for him to attack. Heck, he'd stick out like a sore thumb if he were put in a position to interact with other people. Best to keep him hidden in one place until time for the hit."
She takes a sip of water before continuing, "What if we take Krieger out, first? What they don't know is that we know the exact location of the summoning and what Krieger looks like."
"Of course, we'd have to content with the bitches, most likely. I'm betting at least one of them will be around keeping Krieger...ummm...happy," she trails off, the meaning clear. "They were pretty obvious in letting him know that all his hungers could be slated..."
"Krieger's like that berserker that attacked in the middle of Lya's show," Alex tells her. "An Einjehar, summoned from Valhalla and loyal to whomever summoned him. He'll fight for them until he is killed, whereupon his spirit returns to Valhalla. His skills will be just as fresh as they were in his prime, but I'd want to visit a gun range, or follow whatever rituals I observe before going on a mission. Some of the guys in Afghanistan were pretty superstitious in that regard."
"Based on your coordinates, Evie, they were at the condominium complex where Sunny lives. And the D.A. And maybe the other of Fenris' cubs."
"So, lots of people around. If we were to do it, it would have to be fast and quiet...or, as quiet as something like that could be. The good thing is that Krieger's body would disappear after death. Fenris' spawn...nope. We'd have bodies and a murder investigation," Evie's brow furrows as she thinks this through.
"Does the paper say exactly where the President will be going? Which cities? And where he plans on making speeches and shaking hands?" she asks. "Even if all we have are cities, we can do some sleuthing to find out where he plans on doing any Ra-Ra Rallies."
She takes another bite of chicken and tilts her head slightly, looking at the date on the newspaper that Alex holds. She's curious as to exactly how long they were gone. If it turns out that she needs to get resources from HQ for anything that they might do, she needs to come up with a good excuse as to where she's been and that will depend on how long she has been gone. Gone for a day? No big deal. She was exhausted after the break-in and fire, conked out afterward and slept like a log. Longer than that? That's going to take more creativity.
"Presidential visits are usually planned in advance," Alex says. "That includes whatever venues he's visiting and usually the local police and state troopers. There's got to be information in the open that won't get people asking questions."
"Also, we've been ... away for a couple of days. I wouldn't put it past Loki to be so egotistical as to use the Westview, somehow. The President is either going to be there, or the sniper will be using it as his staging point. We need to find someone we can trust."
He mulls it over. "Oh, hell. The Country Club. Nice venue for a fundraising lunch, it's wide open. Soleil Hunter is a member. And, unless they pulled my membership when I left the DA's office, so am I."
Evie nods, "I can get details from HQ, I'm sure. They'll probably have details out, guarding routes and whatnot."
"A couple of days isn't too bad. I can make something up to explain my absence. And, since I'm officially on leave per the Chief until the investigation on the break-in at my place is settled, it's not like I would've been missing work," she leans back and thinks.
"Hey, Lya...can we say that you wrangled me into helping you with some last minute band stuff? I don't know...moving equipment or something?" she asks.
"I figure that it could've gone down like this: after the break-in, I can't sleep and you guys are still awake, so we hang out. I get the call about the fire. We all help with that. Officially, it was me who went in to look for Alex*. We can say I found him where he had tumbled down into the tunnels. Of course, he couldn't go back because...fire. So, he was looking for a way out. Get him out, hook back up with Lya, get Alex to his office. I crash at Lya's place because fuck going back to a bloodstained bedroom in an apartment with a door that no longer locks. My phone is dead, so I don't get any calls. I sleep a long time and then Lya asks me to help with stuff. So, I'm just now freed up and realize that I have not been getting phone calls. I am a terrible friend and sister who was inconsiderate and should be shot for making people worry."
"Sound plausible?" she asks. "I mean, it's more believable than 'went to alternate dimension, blew up a castle, visited Asgard and hung out on the Bifrost.'"
"How about you tumbled down the tunnel and got lost in the storm drains?" Alex said. "I was thinking I could plead spending the night at a nonexistent girlfriend's place."
"Nonexistent, right," Lya snickers. She makes a kiss-kiss sound.
"I don't want to use her name if it'd blow her cover," he said quietly.
"Don't you start the protective older brother routine," Lya frowned. "She's a Valkyrie, one of Odin's shield maidens, Alex."
"You're right. It's still our task, though."
"If we take care of Krieger won't they just get someone else? It's not like he was the only good sniper in the past," Lya replies. "If we can save Holliwell and prove he's being impersonated, however, there will be no reason to assassinate anyone because they won't have anyone set up to take his place."
Maggie returns to the table with everyone's orders and a warm blueberry pie for the table. "Fresh out of the oven!"
Lya makes a drooling noise as she inhales the scent of the pie. "I've missed this so much!" She starts cutting pieces and dolling them out on plates. "Anyway," she continues after Maggie returns to the counter, "If I can get control of the Westview I should be able to find out if we were making any special arrangements for a presidential visit. If you need to use me as an alibi then no problem, Evie. I've had your back since we met." She winks and hands Evie a piece of pie.
"I only mentioned Krieger because he can be fought. Summoning a replacement would take time they don't have. The political circumstances would change," Alex says.
"Well, do we have time to get to Montana, pull a rescue and get back before the President arrives? There's no guarantee that, even if we do the rescue, that Fenris won't still assassinate the would leave a power vacuum that could still be taken advantage of. Holliwell isn't the VP, so he wouldn't be moving directly into office, anyway. There's probably someone else who would fit the bill just as well," Evie says.
"Well wouldn't we still need to rescue Holiwell anyway in order to prove that Fenris is a fake so we can stop his plans? If all they wanted was to kill the President they could've done it long ago. Chances are they won't do this if they can't end up on top when it's done. If we can rescue Holiwell and confront Fenris in his disguise before he knows that he needs to change his plans, we'll have him dead to rights, and having the real Holiwell on our side could get us some added firepower like the cops or secret service if we have to storm the steps of D.C. for the final battle."
"Oh, definitely! I'm not suggesting that we do one or the other. It's more a matter of 'what do we do first?" Evie clarifies.
"If we rescue Holliwell first, we're going to have to make sure we kill everyone guarding him. If word gets back to Fenris and Loki, all they have to do is slink back into the shadows for another 50 years and wait," Evie says, more thinking aloud than anything else.
"If we stop the assassination first, we tip our hand. Loki and Fenris know that we know the plan. But, they still don't know that we know where the real Holliwell is. How could we know? They just have to plan a new assassination and get a new sniper."
"Security's tighter than 'plan another hit,'" Alex says. "If there's someone on the inside feeding them information, Loki and Fenris can't pull the same trick that quickly without risking their source.
"Going after Holliwell is fine, but unless we stick by his side until everything is settled, we'll have no way of telling them apart. Whatever magic Loki is using is meant to be a perfect duplication of the real Justin Holliwell."
"And there has to be a reason things keep turning on Las Vegas."
"My other concern is that there's no getting to Montana and back in a snap. I'm not sure that Hrojar will want to help us, again, if Odin has figured out what we did. Remember, he said that any use of that bag would alert Odin. So, we'd be sending out a giant ping saying, 'here we are!' I don't know that we want to get his attention," Evie shakes her head. "So, unless we can find someone willing to fly us on a private plane or 'copter, we're looking at booking a commercial flight there and back."
"We could drive, but it's fifteen hours each way. I can handle that without needing to take a 'd have to leave pretty darned quick," Alex says. "And get a vehicle where some of us aren't crammed in the back. We'd also need space for Senator Holliwell on the way back."
"If it were me, I wouldn't kill him right away. I'd find someplace where I could chain him to the wall and leave him out of the way for insurance. Maybe not forever, but at least until I'm sure my impersonation stunt will work."
"From what I saw, that's exactly what he's doing. Fenris mentioned 'throwing him in the oubliette,'" Evie says. "This is Fenris we're talking about, so I'm not entirely certain the oubliette was just an expression meaning to hide him away where he'll be forgotten or if they literally have an oubliette."
"Having been penned up for eons, I'd think Fenris wouldn't use the wrong term," Alex says. "Heck, if the President's appearance is a fundraiser, I'll buy the tickets. We'll just have to figure how to look ritzy and be ready to rock-and-roll when we need to."
"You're the cop who is used to hunting down criminals, Evie," Lya chuckles. "If you think we'd be better served going after the sniper then let's go after the sniper." she leans forward and grabs the coffee pot. "Without the Vantage, though... I guess it's down to police leg work to smoke out this Krieger guy?" She starts pouring another cup of coffee when an idea strikes her and she almost spills the coffee before setting down the pot excitedly. "Ooo... I know! How about we get a burner phone and call the FBI with a tip that some Neo-Nazi group led by someone claiming to be the decedent of the famous Nazi Alaric Kreiger has been saying they're going to kill the President Warner because of his Jewish heritage? That might make things a bit harder for them, at least."
"It'd at least shake things up," Alex agrees. "Once you do, I call Soleil Hunter up and ask her, point blank. Any surveillance of local calls would catch the reference and put some heat on her. Of course, if she names me, that could backfire big time."
"I wonder ..." he says, fingering the scarf. "I was able to see Thomas Cardinelli and Edward McCain. I wonder if I can track him because he's dead. Or maybe Valeria can, because he's called forth from Valhalla."
"Well, unless they've moved him, I know exactly where Krieger is," Evie says. "And they would really have no reason to move him until it's time to make the hit. Where he is now is comfortable and they can keep an eye on him."
She scratches at her cheek, thinking, "Everything is just happening so quickly. It's all bunched up together and I'm not certain what the best course of action would be."
"You're absolutely right, Lya, that getting Holliwell is important and it could stop Loki in his tracks. I'm just concerned about time. I want to be able to also stop the assassination, as well, and we'll be cutting it super close if we go to Montana," she furrows her brow. "No matter what, I'm not leaving him in an oubliette to rot. We're going to get him, one way or the other."
"So, let's see..." Evie starts listing off pros and cons. She doesn't want to make a decision for the team. This is something that they all need to agree upon. All of Lya's points have been valid and she doesn't want her friend to feel like she's being steamrolled.
"We stop the assassination first. That tips Loki and Fenris off that we knew about the hit and we know about their summoning. They can't know for sure that we know about Holliwell, but they could make that leap of intuition. In that case, Holliwell becomes useless to them and they'll most likely pump him for all the information they need (if they haven't gotten everything already) then kill him. They may get rid of their inside man, thinking they've been compromised. At any rate, we buy time."
She continues, "If we go to Montana, there's a good chance that we won't make it back in time to stop the assassination, considering that we are probably doing to hit some opposition that will slow us down. But, we have Holliwell. As you said, we then have proof of impersonation and can throw a major wrench into things. Again, we've bought ourselves time because I don't think that the local authorities are going to be able arrest and hold either Fenris or Loki. But, we've now left a power vacuum to be filled. While Holliwell is no longer a viable option, given time, Fenris and Loki can do much the same thing as before, just with a new person..."
Evie trails off for a minute, "...unless Holliwell is central to the whole thing. What if there is no one else that fits the bill? All of this has already played out in Hitoshi's world and it's going swimmingly. I think, given that, either option will work for our purposes."
She shakes her head and frowns, unhappy with that idea to some extent, "So, we could do either and it should stymie their plans. But, it means that there's a good chance that we'll have a death, either way: Warner or Holliwell."
"But, I think we have the best chance of saving both if we go get Holliwell, first."
"Fits the bill," Alex mutters. "Why Vegas? Both in the 1950's with Thomas, and now, with us. Why pick a city that has four Scions in it? I know our parents sowed their seed hither and yon, but we don't get our 'mutant abilities' when we turn thirteen. We have to be recognized, empowered. And, even then, it's a long way to the top."
"So why pick a city where there are empowered Scions? I mean, come on, you've a daughter of Heimdall and a son of Tyr, key figures in the legend. You have to figure Heimdall is watching out for Evie, and that my old man is keeping tabs on Larry Talbot."
"Evie, you said Hitoshi's stuck in an alternate version of Vegas. I know he's kind of indistinguishable from his hotel at times, he's just kind of there - but why not throw him into an alternate Japan? He 'rescued' his dead girlfriend and boom, he's in Vegas, when you could have kept him running around for decades fixing his past life and all the places it went off the rails. There's something specific to the here and now that factors into their plans. There has to be."
"Hmmm," Evie ponders. "That's a good question. Let's see what history can tell us."
She pulls out her phone and starts doing some searches about the founding of Vegas, what the land was before it was built upon and prominent figures in the city's history. There's no guarantee that there will be anything there that stands out, but it's a starting point.
"Grrrrr," Evie gives a restrained snarl of frustration. "Nothing."
"Come on, we can narrow it down. McCain was a jotunblut thrall, so he had a normal lifespan," Alex said. "Whatever they had planned was within his life span. And killing Thomas Cardinelli screwed everything up, because whatever they needed him for also needed him to be alive. So look around the time of Thomas' death. And, if we can, we need to ask if he had any other scions as allies, or if he was on his own."
"For that, we can probably ask Thomas himself, if he's still hanging around," Evie says absently as she starts typing in some new terms into Google, trying to find something that they don't already know about that time: prominent political figures, new structures being built, unexplained accidents...that sort of thing. "Or, I can call his brother and have a chat about who Thomas was close to. His brother knew something big and supernatural was afoot."
It's a wry sort of parable for modern times, with each of you turning to your smartphones to access data across the internet. Well, at least the internet doesn't demand you hang on the Summer Tree for three days, or sacrifice an eye.
"Hmm. Nellis AFB received its present name in 1950, so that's a wash," Alex says. "But it's currently the home to the US Air Warfare Center. If the President is visiting, he'd probably fly into Nellis rather than McCarran."
"If Krieger is meant to be an assassin, then the hit needs to be somewhere the President is in the open."
"I bet HQ has been alerted to where Warner will be and what routes he'll take. I can make some calls and find out," she pauses, looking up from her phone. She makes a sound between a sigh and a 'hmmph, "...which means I'm going to have to make a couple of other phone calls and take my take my ass-chewing like a woman."
"So, as far as Thomas, do you want me to try and find him or do you want to do that, Alex? From the nature of your latest gift, I'm guessing you might be better suited to finding him," she nods towards the black scarf.
"I'm not sure that'll do the trick, but he said he tended to be in places that were significant in his life. At the very least, I can visit his grave and find him there," Alex said. "You get the skinny on the president's visit."
"Oy. Okay, let me take care of something, first, and then I'll call HQ. Excuse me," Evie gets up and moves to an empty table nearby so that she doesn't disturb Lya and Alex as they continue to talk. After all, nothing has been decided yet. Right now, everyone is still gathering information before making the final call.
Evie stares at her phone and mulls over what she's going to say. Softly, she chuckles to herself. For Saul, she's only been missing a couple of days. To her,
she's been gone a week or more. Maybe. To the best of her knowledge. (Honestly, she's lost track of time with all the shuttling between times and places and trying to keep straight what she saw in the Vantage.) At any rate, it feels much longer.
If she is going to be able to move around Vegas again and get things done, she can't hide. She's too much a of fixture in the community. Too many people know her, recognize her. And, she certainly can't make a call to HQ and ask about the President anonymously!
Taking a deep breath, she dials Saul's number. The phone barely gets through a single ring.
"Evie! Where have you been?" Saul's voice immediately answers, filled with concern.
"Hey! Hey...yeah...look, sorry I didn't call, earlier..." Evie starts to say, leaning back in her chair.
However, Saul interrupts, not letting her go on, "The guys told me about the break-in at your place. And then you go to the fire and just disappear. What's going on?"
Evie laughs softly, "I just...oh, geez, Saul. It has been a hell of a couple of days. I was so exhausted after the fire that I pretty much collapsed. I hadn't gotten any sleep in over a day, at that point."
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Saul asks. He knows that she had been fine after the break-in, but no one saw her leave the scene of the fire.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
There is a long sigh on the other end of the phone and she can imagine him finally relaxing. However, she knows that's just the calm before the tirade. She's only ever been on the receiving end of one of his rants a handful of times, and she fully expects this to be one of them.
Evie is not disappointed.
"What the hell were you thinking, going into the fire like that?! You're not a fireman. You're not trained for that kind of thing. You could've been killed!" Saul's voice starts out low but starts to rise as he continues. Evie sincerely hopes that he's not at HQ. "I mean, I know you want to help everyone, Evie. I know you do. It's just who you are. But, you can't do everything yourself! You need to let those who are professionally trained take care of this kind of thing!"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Saul. I'm sorry that I worried you," she speaks softly, trying to calm him down. Evie knows that this will pass. Saul simply doesn't have it in him to stay angry for long and, she knows that he's not even really, truly angry. (She's seen that when he dealt with Deb's ex-husband. This is not that!) This is simply him letting go of the fear that she had been lost in some tunnel, somewhere, and him feeling helpless. When he had carried her out of the desert, he had been actively doing something about the situation. Having to sit and wonder, not knowing...that's an entirely different situation.
Still, knowing that he will get over it, soon, doesn't make her feel any less bad for making him feel that way, despite the fact that she hadn't planned to disappear. She truly feels terrible about it all.
There is a long pause, followed by a sigh, "You..gah...I can't decide whether I want to punch you or kiss you next time I see you."
"I vote for kisses! But, you know...that's just me," she chuckles. "Punches are full of hurtiness."
"Heh," Saul sounds like he's starting to calm down a touch. "So, did you find Mr. North?"
"Yeah. He had tumbled down into the tunnels. But, since he couldn't go back up because of the fire and he figured that no one would be looking for him, he tried to find his way out with no light or map. It wasn't going so well for him."
"I imagine not!"
"He wasn't hurt so we dropped him off by his office after everything was done. He said that his girlfriend would come pick him up. After that, I was so tired that I asked Lya if I could crash at her place, since we had been hanging out before the fire and she was my ride to the scene. I fell asleep and...I just woke up. I missed your calls. I'm sorry!" Evie apologizes again.
"I'm just glad you're safe. And, don't you ever do anything that stupid or reckless again!" Saul says sternly. It sounds strange to have Saul, usually so upbeat, to sound like this.
She says warmly, "Look, I'll make it up to you. How about I run you through a solo adventure, sometime?"
"I can take anyone I want?" Saul asks. She can practically hear the smirk over the phone. He's already letting it go. She's safe and all is well.
"Oh, gawds," Evie groans and lays her head against her hand. "Yes. Anyone. I will think of something to run Stevie Vunderbard and his Magical Goat through." She laughs at his whoop of triumph through the phone.
"Okay, you be safe, then. I..." there is another long pause before Saul finally continues. "I'll see you later. Call me tonight."
"As you wish," Evie replies with a soft smile. "Talk to you tonight, then."
After she finishes with her call to Saul, Evie places another call to Ricky, giving him the same explanation. There are a lot of "I'm sorries" interspersed with some good-natured picking between the siblings. Thankfully, Saul and Ricky kept her absence to themselves for the time being and did not inform her parents or Ian. They figured it was best to give it a little time before worrying them.
Once that is done, she calls HQ. The plan is to find out the President's travel routes, which will include any public stops. If anyone asks why she's inquiring, she has a simple explanation. Even though Evie's officially off-duty, at the moment, it can't hurt to have every available person keeping an eye on things that day, could it?
Lya leans back in the booth with her coffee as she ponders and Phoebe speaks up. "Well... what if it's not history... what if it's like a place where all the ley lines cross?"
"Like Stonehenge or something?" asks Toxic as Phoebe nods. "Loki is a god of magic after all."
"Or like in Doctor Who where it's one of those 'fixed moments' where whatever happens here, happens here," Lya tosses out when an idea crosses her mind as she sits up excitedly. "Ooo... what if... like... Las Vegas is in and of itself an anchor of sorts, eh?"
She grabs some creamers and stirs them into her coffee. "Every world we went to, the shit seemed to be going on in Vegas," she continued, "so making the assumption that the assassination might happen in Vegas, one has to wonder... why bother putting not just two scions, but one of your daughters on the board of a hotel? We saw how they planned to use it in Castle World... so maybe they've got plans for it in this one." she gestures with her spoon. "Like a book repository or something."
She taps the table with her spoon. "I figure if we make a move on the hotel, we can kill a few birds with one stone. Not only will the rumors that should explode from this make Selene and Malcolm's lives difficult and throw a FBI shadow on anything they do, I should also have access to any special hotel arrangements that might need to be made for a Presidential visit. Toss in the fact that I'll bet my favorite microphone that Hitoshi has a jet or a helicopter somewhere for getting to Holiwell, and there you go."
"Speaking of hotels, though..." she taps her nose with the spoon and then gestures at everyone else with it. "Does anybody else think it's weird that Hitoshi's mom hasn't called anyone asking the whereabouts of her son?" She pulls out her phone and sets it on the table. "Not one message."
"Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," Alex mutters. "So you're saying we're some kind of temporal nexus? 'Spock, try to figure out where the next time breach will happen. Scotty, get the warp engines back online ...'"
"Wait. We have Hitoshi's office number, don't we? Do we call and start shaking things up?"
"Why not?" Lya shrugs. "No stranger than what we've dealt with already. Maybe we call and say that Hitoshi has returned and wants to speak to the board about some disturbing information he's discovered. That might get them all wondering..."
"I wonder if the keycards from the other Westview work in ours," Alex said. "That gives us access to the executive floors and Hitoshi's penthouse."
"I like your thinking, counselor," Lya chuckles. "Definitely worth a try anyway."
"All right," Lya says as she pushes her now empty pie plate away from her on the table. "So the girls and I are going to get us some respectable new duds and run over to the FedEx where we can put together our new business proposal for the Westview. Phoebe will call the hotel and fake like Hitoshi's secretary to make the announcement that he's returned and wishes to call a meeting of the board of directors. Meanwhile I'll leak these photos from the hotel to a few dozen news sites so we can get the rumor mill churning before our big reveal at the meeting. Do you think we should get a handwriting analyst to verify the letter from Hitoshi first? You know they're going to question everything."
She gestures at Alex with a smile. "You're more than welcome to join us for the meeting if you want to be my legal muscle. If not, maybe you and Evie can see if those key cards work so you can search the executive floors while I keep them busy."
"With any luck we'll gain control of the hotel, throw Selene and Maxwell for a loop, and get more information as to where they plan this assassination attempt." She gestures at herself with her hands. "That's MY best idea for a plan, anyway."
"I'll opt for searching the rooms. Let's not rouse their suspicions too quickly," Alex says. "But I'll be a phone call away if you need to call on legal muscle."
"Las Vegas Police Department, how may I direct your call?"
"Patty, this is Evie Cartwright. Put me through to the Chief?" Evie says. She winces slightly, bracing for yet another dressing-down.
"I'd chew you out, Cartwright, but I haven't got the time," the Chief says. "I did tell you not to take any unnecessary risks. Where are you, General?"
"No. I'm in one piece, Chief. Floor went out from under me, I couldn't climb back up. I spent most of the night wandering through the storm drains - which were totally gross with water and fire retardant - trying to find an exit that wasn't blocked or chained off. But, hey, I found Alex North. He's alive. A little crispy around the edges," you tell him.
"Good." He sighs heavily. "I can't say I'm not glad that you called in. Apparently, the President has decided to grace us with his presence. He's in California through Monday, then he'll chopper up here Tuesday morning to kiss some babies, speech at the Las Vegas Country Club, and then fly out of Nellis. We'll be backing up the State Troopers for the motorcade, and assisting the Secret Service on the protective detail.
"Secret Service is doing a final walk-down of the Club on Monday morning. I want you there, mostly because you're one of the best pairs of eyes I have on the force. 9AM sharp, please. And ... I know you don't do the dress-for-success thing, but no t-shirts, okay?"
"If it makes you feel any better, Chief, I've already had two ass-chewings, today. So, consider me properly reprimanded," Evie chuckles. "But, yep...I'll be there. 9AM. No T-shirts. Not even the nice ones."
"Keep sharp, Cartwright. I'll expect to hear from you tomorrow," Chief says.
"Yes, sir!" Evie grins as she closes her phone and goes back to join Lya, Alex and the Furies.
She settles back into her old seat and resumes eating the pie that she had left behind. Smiling, she says, "Score. Only got yelled at two out of three potential times. I call that a win!"
"Okay, here's the deal. Warner is in California through Monday. Tuesday morning, he's coming to Vegas and will be giving a speech at the country club before flying out of Nellis. I'm to report to the Club at 9AM to assist the Secret Service with doing their final walk-down."
Lya fills Evie in on her plan for the corporate takeover. Nodding, she says, "Great! Hopefully, all of that will keep them busy. Were you planning on doing that tonight or tomorrow?"
"Well we'll need to get the clothes and stuff first and have Phoebe make the call so they can arrange a board meeting for us to go to... so unless they throw down with an emergency meeting, my money is on tomorrow," Lya replies.
"Remind me to thank Hitoshi when we see him because this business takeover stuff is a pain," Lya chuckles and starts counting on her fingers. "We've got to arrange the meeting, buy the suits, distribute the photos to the media, get an analyst to confirm the letter was written by Hitoshi, put together a prospectus for the board...damn... anything else?"
"We could try getting Karen Ryder on our side if you think she's trustworthy," Orithia adds.
"Yeah... considering she basically runs the place, it would be nice to have her on our side, " Lya replies. "That is... if she's not all shady and shit."
"You know... you're probably going to have to watch the language if you become a CEO," says Klepto with a smirk.
"Dammit... see? This is exactly what I'm talking about," Lya groans.