(A/N): So I wrote this chapter, and typed it up. Then I was sitting there looking at it, and I said to myself, 'Hm, I think I'll add just a little bit more to the end of it.' 2,200 words later, we have... this. Foreshadowing, I guess- although I'd say it's pretty obvious at this point.

Trigger Warnings: Once again, Vi and the others are convinced that something bad happened to Evie (technically it did, but I mean something criminal), and while they never really mention anything explicitly, the implications aren't great, considering that Evie is a woman, presumed to be kidnapped by a man/group of men. Multiple mentions/references to theoretical violence- basically, Hettie and Vi make threats that they are absolutely willing to follow through on, if need be.

January 15th, 1966

Vi

None of us knew what to do. We were all terrified that something had happened to Evie- was currently happening to her- but we weren't sure what we could do about it. While the men cordoning off the bathroom were almost assuredly dangerous, there was nothing to indicate that they were the ones that'd taken my sister; if she'd been taken at all, it was more than likely the guy we'd sent her off with that was the perpetrator. However, there was also the not-so-small chance that both entities were... in league with one another. That those 'contractors' had sent the hunk with the tattoos to lure some poor suspecting girl somewhere they could get their hands on her, and we'd made it all too easy for them to get exactly what they wanted.

Hettie and I, of course, wanted to confront them. Pip wanted us to go straight to the police- pointing out that if what those men were after was a pretty young woman, we were just as much at risk as Evie, and that if by some miracle they weren't involved, we'd end up bringing down a whole host of other problems down on our heads. Lou, on the other hand, was against both proposed plans; ours for obvious reasons, and Pip's because- well, to put it in her own words: "She's been missing half an hour, she left willingly with a man, and she's been drinking but is far from drunk- do you really think law enforcement is going to do anything other than laugh in our faces?"

Predictably, Hettie didn't react to that well. "So, what? You want us to just sit here and twiddle our thumbs? Let them get away with this?" Lou stood her ground- like she always did- but Hettie shook her head fiercely, and pulled herself up straight. "Screw this, I'm going over there." Which was a terrible idea all around, and yet... we were right behind her, as she made her way across the crowded club floor toward the bathrooms.

As we approached, the man she'd spoken to earlier caught sight of her, and rolled his eyes with an exasperated- if slightly amused- air. "I already told you, Princess-" She cut him off, and this seemed to be the point where he noticed that she no longer appeared to be sloshed- and she wasn't alone.

"Listen up, and listen good. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't so much as blink an eye at the back-alley bullshite you're clearly running in there any other day of the week, but you've struck me at a bit of a bad time. See, my best friend is missing, and all signs point to you and your bathroom buddies- so I'm going to go ahead and do you a favor, here, by letting you in on a little secret. When I find out what happened to her- if I find out anyone has so much as touched a single hair on her head- I'm going to make them suffer. I'm going to take my time tearing them apart piece by piece, and I'm going to enjoy it- so it'd be in your best interest to do anything you can to make sure you aren't the one that ends up at my mercy. Tell me," She said, baring her teeth in what I'm sure was supposed to be a sweet smile, but definitely didn't come across that way. "Have you seen my friend, Evie?" His eyes had widened at 'back alley bullshite', and had only continued getting progressively wider ever since. When she was done, he swallowed thickly and said,

"You... said she was missing?" Maybe this particular guy wasn't a criminal mastermind, if he was this easily intimidated. "How- how long has she been... missing?" As if he didn't already know.

Hettie crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow at him, but deigned to answer his question anyway- probably because she knew it would be our best bet to get to Evie sooner. "About thirty minutes. She went off with some guy- incredibly good-looking, tattoos all up and down his arms- I take it he's one of yours?" By the way his eyes widened ever further, I thought it was a clear yes, but then he started to shake his head- only to stop and glance behind him, at the bathroom door.

"I- I'd have to check with-" He cut himself off, looking vaguely panicked. "-my supervisor." He finished kind of lamely, but before we could lay into him any further, he turned and disappeared through the door. Judging by the way he squeezed himself through the smallest gap possible to keep us from seeing anything, I assumed that if we tried to peek, we would've found him holding the door shut from the other side. He was only gone for a minute or two- long enough for us to share bemused looks, but not much else- and when he returned, he seemed almost stunned. "You- he said you can... come in?" We didn't bother sharing a look this time- there was minimal planning we could do with just our eyes, and even if the rest of us did manage to come up with something viable, Hettie certainly wasn't going to wait for us to do so.

She followed right behind him, practically plastering herself to his back, but at least she had the presence of mind to keep her hands at the ready. They were already partially raised; one to her waist and the other to her chest, both already half curled into fists, ready to lash out or defend herself if she needed to. What good that would do her against men like these, God only knows, but I knew Hettie well enough to know she wasn't going to go down without a fight. I followed maybe two or three feet behind her; close enough to interfere if they grabbed her, but hopefully not close enough to make myself an easy second target for the other men in the room, and behind me was Pip. We'd long figured out not to have him at the back of the line, even though he was the biggest and the only boy, because for one, he got distracted the easiest, and two... well, let's just say we learnt our lesson. Last was Lou; she was the best lookout, the most reliable- and she was the only one of us who kept a knife on them without fail. By the way I could see her right hand fisted in the pocket of her skirt, I was pretty sure she had a hold of it right now, but was most likely worried that pulling it out would start this encounter off on the wrong foot- as if it could ever have been on the right foot. We usually stuck Evie in the middle, between Pip and I, in an attempt to keep her out of danger- whether that be an errant elbow or... worse- which made this whole thing all the more painful.

The bathroom was empty- that is to say, Evie wasn't readily in sight, and there was nothing suspicious to be seen... except for the four men waiting for us in the room, all dressed head to toe in various kinds of tactical type gear- clad in varying shades of jet, pitch, soot, and midnight, respectively. I cast my eyes around the room, not caring whether they thought I was rude or strange for stooping to check under the partially open stall doors, but in the end, I saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary- except for the men themselves, and their distinct lack of tools. There was one man that was clearly their leader; the one the other guy had called his 'supervisor'- he was a few years older than the rest, and I suspected that under his flat cap, he was balding. What sold me the most on the idea that he was their boss, though, was the air of superiority about him- it made me want to punch him- and the way the other men in the room looked at him with a sort of begrudging respect- when they weren't watching us with far warier expressions than I thought we deserved. Well, than I thought they should've thought we deserved.

"You're looking for someone, yes? A girl?" He asked, directly addressing Hettie, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm told you think she was taken- that we took her. Is that true?" Suddenly, I wasn't so sure we'd backed the right horse. Hettie, however, didn't seem to care whether any of these men were directly involved or not; she wanted to do anything she could to get Evie back, and at the current moment, we had no other leads- which meant that if these men weren't careful, Hettie was going to do what Hettie did best: Go fucking feral.

"I already told your little buddy here what happened- he didn't tell you?" The guy who'd been guarding the door shot her a nervous look that she ignored. "My best friend, Evie, went off with a bloke about half an hour ago- well, closer to thirty-five minutes now, thanks for that- and disappeared into thin air. She isn't the type to leave without telling us- at least not willingly- and we've already checked everywhere else. The only thing we've seen is you, and your suspicious urinal obsession. Ergo..." She shrugged tersely, and the man looked almost impressed. Almost.

"My man Sawyer, here, told me you gave him a description that matched our quarry," The first guy- Sawyer, apparently- shifted uncomfortably at being dragged into things again, and honestly, I couldn't blame him. I think my friends and I were all on the same page, though- if these men had targeted the bloke Evie had gone off with- that we'd sent her off with- and she'd gotten caught in the crossfire... we were going to make them regret it, one way or another. "Why don't you describe him to me, and I can determine for myself whether things... line up." The issue wasn't whether he said they lined up or not- it's whether we believed even a single word out of his mouth.

Hettie made no effort to hide her skepticism- she was only a good actress when she wanted to be, and clearly, she was past that point- and the leader looked like he would almost be amused by this, if he wasn't on the clock. "Painfully good-looking," Was how she started, which I thought was a little extreme of her- but then again, he wasn't exactly my type, so I suppose that played into it a bit. "Tall- about six foot two, I'd guess-" And we'd gotten pretty good at guessing that sort of thing, over the years. "-light brown, maybe dark blonde hair, short and messy, but like... in a good way. Light wash jeans, biker boots, and a white t-shirt that showed off his tattoos-" He cut her off, and honestly, I'm surprised it'd taken him this long.

"Dimples?" Oh, hell! That wasn't some inane, innocuous question; that wasn't the sort of detail a man like this would take note of- unless it was recounted to him on multiple occasions. He was looking for- his quarry- was Evie's... what, exactly? She barely knew him- she wasn't part of this! But if they were after this guy, then where was he? And infinitely more importantly, where was Evie?

"You bet your arse he had dimples- as deep and as wide as you please. Is that your way of confirming he's your bloke?" He shot her a look so stern it almost read as disapproving- which was just about the worst thing a person could direct at Hettie, really.

He crossed his arms over his chest, and I idly wondered whether that would actually deter her from physically attacking him, or if she'd just go straight for his face instead. "I can neither confirm nor deny-" He cut himself off, slapping her hand away as she went to grab him by the collar, as if this was completely inconsequential to him. "Stop that," He said, and Hettie practically growled at him. I didn't blame her- it was incredibly condescending. "We don't have your friend. We don't know where she is, other than not here. But if you cooperate, we might be able to help you find her- eventually." Which was by far the most suspicious thing I'd ever heard.

"Vi?" Hettie asked, and when I took my eyes off of him, I realised she was looking back at me over her shoulder. "It's your call." The fury in her eyes had softened slightly now that they were on me, the closest she could get to offering me sympathy in a room full of men who were most likely our enemies; who were watching closely as it was, but their leader, the guy we were actively conversing with, was watching me like a hawk- or some other kind of predator. There was no need to consider it- as I'd already said, we had no other leads... and there was no way I would let this one pass us by, just because I was skeptical. Whether we helped them or not, they were still going to go after this guy- and if he had Evie, we needed to do everything we could to get there before something irreversible happened... like her falling in love with him. With this bloke who was now, clearly, bad news. Even if he wasn't... even if he wasn't the type to hurt her physically, he could still hurt her in other ways.. I guess it was a good thing Lou had never been the type to say, 'I told you so', because once again, she'd called it before any of us had even had the chance to question what was happening.

No. I had no choice- so in the end, I leveled their leader with my most serious look, and asked, "If I do this, and you come across my sister- you'll bring her back to us? And if you can't bring her back to us, you'll tell us where to find her?" The man didn't move for a second, and I was worried that it was because he didn't want to make any promises he couldn't keep- and he couldn't keep it because he already knew exactly where she was.

In the end, though, he slipped a hand in his pocket and pulled out another one of those business cards. "I'm not in a position to make a deal like that- but I can put you in contact with someone that is. All I need from you now is information enough to cover our bases... anything else can wait until tomorrow." Tomorrow?!

"But Evie-" He shook his head, effectively cutting me and my outrage off.

"There's nothing we can do for your sister if we don't have information- you won't give us the information until you have your deal. I can't give you the deal, and the person who can- the earliest I can do is the morning. It's only a few hours- anything that's happened is over, and the rest... there's no time limit on that." What was that supposed to mean- and why did it feel like the worst sort of omen?

I flicked my eyes to the offered business card, then shrugged, pointedly not taking it. "Hettie," She flashed a big, flirty grin at Sawyer, and pulled the business card already in our possession out of her pocket; the guard blanched, and the leader shot him a look that spoke of later discipline, before he turned his appraising gaze back to Hettie- not like he was admiring her body, which was very much on display in this particular dress, but like he was assessing her newly revealed talents. "As you can see, we've got that covered. So," I narrowed my eyes at him, letting him know it was merely a sign of faith- an entirely calculated one- that I was bothering to continue this conversation. "What do you need to know?" When he looked at me, I saw that same edge to his gaze- like he was trying to figure out what I was capable of. Let him try, I say.

"Was he alone?" What sort of question was that? I suppose, if he was dangerous- if they were hunting him because he'd done something bad, and they were going to have to engage him- it was important to know if he had allies, or if he was working alone. Knowing that, I shrugged.

"As far as I know. When we encountered him, he was alone on the dance floor. It was one of the reasons we sent Evie off with him- because he wasn't with a group of other men, or actively trying to hit on anyone." The men on the outskirts shared glances, but the leader merely steepled his hands under his chin and hummed thoughtfully.

"And you said he was wearing a white t-shirt... nothing else?" Other than the jeans and the boots... right?

I tilted my head at him slightly, letting him know just how strange I thought this question was. "Like a jacket, you mean?" He nodded, and I thought it was odd he was putting so much emphasis on a piece of clothing. Was this guy known for his signature style, or something? "No, he wasn't wearing a jacket. Why? I don't see how that's relevant-" He cut me off, turning his head to address another one of his men.

"If he didn't have it, maybe she was already wearing it." Who? Evie? He turned back to me, and seeing the look on my face, he shook his head. "You said he was alone- but what about your sister?" I felt my eyebrows furrow. "Did she talk to anyone else, tonight? Did anyone show any interest in her, other than- him?" I- was he saying... was he saying we were wrong? That the guy Evie was with, hadn't been alone- and hadn't just not been alone, but had been actively working with someone to pick up Evie? Why?

"I..." I hesitated, trying to think about it. "I don't think so? I mean, we barely let her out of our sight, so it's not like-" Lou cleared her throat quietly, and I looked back at her, where she was still standing just inside the door. "What'd you see?" She looked reluctant to say anything- both because she didn't like talking around strangers in general, and because she clearly didn't like the idea of giving them information about Evie, even if it was supposed to help her.

After a second or two, she seemed to steel herself, because she lifted her chin and said, "There was a woman. Evie talked to her for a few minutes up at the bar, when she went to get a drink. I noticed, because- well, that bartender was kind of a prick to us, so I wanted to keep an eye on Evie, since she's... y'know. Soft." The word didn't exactly sit right with me, but I honestly couldn't think of a better one. "He completely ignored Evie, but went straight to this woman, and I think- I think she must've asked Evie what she wanted, because he never took his eyes off her, but gave Evie the drink." I glanced back at the leader, and there was something on his face- I couldn't tell what it was, but it was enough to let me know that he thought this was more than relevant. "They talked for a moment after that, and Evie was smiling- and then she looked back at us while you guys were dancing, and she seemed... almost sad. The conversation ended quickly after that, and Evie started heading back, but the woman stayed by the bar. That's the only time I think someone showed interest in her tonight- I mean, other than the more obvious attempts at skirt chasing, of which there are too many to count." That- Lou had noticed all that? Lou had noticed all that, and I hadn't?

Still, I wasn't sure it was as important as we were trying to make it seem- until I remembered what the leader had said about the jacket. 'Maybe she was already wearing it'- and suddenly, there was a she who'd shown interest in Evie? "When was this?" I asked, at the same time he asked, "Was she wearing a leather jacket? A motorcycle jacket, oversized enough to fit a man?" Lou hesitated, obviously trying to figure out what question to answer first, then shook her head.

"No, no jacket- and maybe... ten minutes, before we first saw him?" His eyebrows furrowed, and his gaze fell for a second as if he was thinking.

"Perhaps... perhaps he gave her the jacket in between the two interactions. I don't understand why, but va- they're, an odd bunch." By the way he cut himself off, automatically corrected himself, there was clearly something he wasn't telling us- the problem was, I knew there was no way he was the type of person to suddenly start spilling all of his secrets to us.

The only thing I could do was play dumb- or, well, curious and unaware, I suppose. "This jacket... why is it so important to you? It's just a jacket, right?" His eyes flicked to me, and I immediately knew he wasn't fooled. Unfortunately, it seemed like whatever he was trying to hide, either wasn't related to the jacket as much as I thought it was, or he was far more skilled at deception than I previously thought.

"Our informant on the door told us that when he arrived with her-" For a second, I thought he meant Evie- and then I realised that who he actually meant, was the woman he assumed had spoken to Evie at the bar. "-he was the one wearing the jacket. When we encountered them, she was wearing it- which I assume is the only reason they got away." How could a leather jacket make the difference between someone escaping or not? And how did Evie fit into this?

"You said you encountered them- Evie's bloke, and this woman. What about Evie?" He was quiet for a second, staring me down with exactly the sort of look I really didn't want to see right now- or ever, when the person sending it my way knew information about my sister's whereabouts that I didn't. It was a look of pity, and it made me sick to my stomach. "And this woman- who is she? Who is she to him? And why- why Evie?"

I couldn't tell if his hesitation was because he was reluctant to give me bad news- or more likely, reluctant to have to deal with the fallout of giving me bad news- or just that he didn't want to reveal any more information than he had to. "From the description given by our informant- and I assume your friend can back this up-" He tilted his head in Lou's direction briefly. "-she has black hair, pale skin, and dresses all in black. Sound familiar?" At first, I thought he was alluding to some sort of relationship between the two parties, considering the choice he and all his buddies had made to wear matching black ensembles, but then Lou made a quiet noise from behind me, and it clicked that he was simply asking her for confirmation about what she saw. "As for their relationship... if they are who we think they are- and they are- then," He shrugged. "She's his wife." I pinched the bridge of my nose to the point of pain.

"So, what?" I asked, too tired at this point to feign any sort of aloofness. "She saw that her cheating, criminal husband was interested in Evie and tried to warn her off before he could make his move, but failed?" He almost smiled at this, even if it did seem like it would've been a rather sad smile.

"Oh, nothing like that, I'm afraid." You and me both. "It was probably something of a competition between them, to see who could catch your sister's attention. I assume they picked her because they liked the way she looked- although..." He gave me a once over, before his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, like he'd found something unpleasantly unexpected. "If your sister looks like you, she isn't his usual type." I blinked at that, then jumped on it as quickly as I could.

"You said you encountered them- if Evie was with them, you'd know that she looks a lot like me. So stop bullshitting me- was she with them, or not?"

Once again, he almost looked impressed with my eye for detail- unfortunately, I didn't think that was going to help me get any information out of him. "She was with them when they escaped," He said, and I honestly couldn't tell whether he was lying to my face. "I just didn't get a good look at her, because it happened so quickly. If it hadn't, then they'd be in our custody right now, instead of... wherever vermin like that go to lick their wounds." Were those literal, or figurative wounds? And if they were hurt... that meant there was a not-so-small chance that Evie could be, too- which just made the idea of tomorrow all the more distasteful.

"Why take her with them? Why not just leave her here? She's nothing to them, so why-" He cut me off, shaking his head again a bit disappointedly.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we really gave them much choice in the matter. With the way we forced them to flee, I don't suppose they really had an alternative. If they'd released her, it would've cost them too much time- too much blood- and we would've been able to catch up to them. This way, by taking her... they got away. They won't, the next time." But would the next time be soon enough to rescue Evie? And what did he mean by... it cost them too much blood? I opened my mouth to try to ask, but he cut me off again- which was really starting to piss me off. "That's all we need to know, for now. I suggest you head home- that's where your sister will end up, on the off chance she's to return on her own. And if she isn't... well, then we're the ones that will be bringing her back to you. Best to leave us to it then, isn't it?"

I scowled at him. I didn't care at this point- it wasn't going to affect his opinion of me or get him to bring Evie back any faster, but it did make me feel a hell of a lot better. "If you think we're going to stop looking for her just because you say so, you-"

"You're going to stop looking for her, because you have no other leads." Well, as much as it made me want to literally rip his head off with my bare hands, he had a point. "He'll be by early, so you'll want to be ready for him... best to get as much rest as possible." As if there was any way we were getting so much as a wink of sleep tonight.

"You..." I started, my fury bubbling up inside me, and then I came to the realisation that it was pointless- he was either going to help or he wasn't. Nothing I could say was going to change that, because he didn't care. Not about me, not about Evie, and certainly not about our love for each other. All he cared about was completing his mission, and finding and catching the people he was after. I didn't know how to fight that, so I carefully packaged that fury back in its little box and shoved it in a corner- because I knew it wouldn't do me any good in achieving my readjusted goal. The thing is, this guy- the leader- may not care about any of the emotional stuff, but... he wasn't the only person in this room who might have the opportunity to help Evie. "Please," I said, making sure to address each of the men individually, even if it did seem to make Sawyer feel extra uncomfortable. "My sister means everything to me- to all of us. If you find her, please just... bring her back to me."

(A/N): Vi: 'I don't care what I have to do to get my sister back- I'll fight God, if I have to.'

The Hunters: 'What, and I cannot stress this enough, THE FUCK?!'

also

Evie: *soft, sweet, gentle*

Evie's Friends: 'I'll kill you. I'll watch you bleed out, and I'll enjoy it. Try me, bitch.'

also

Vi: 'Please, just... bring my sister back to me.'

The Hunters: *almost certain at this point that Evie is dead*

Their Leader: *not entirely sure that if Evie IS dead, they weren't the ones that killed her*

Sawyer: 'For the love of God, please leave me out of this!'

also

The Hunter Leader: 'Go home. On the off chance your sister comes back on her own, that's where they'll Influence her to go. If not, then we'll be the ones to bring her back to you- in a body bag.'

Evie: *is very much alive, and is very much NOT coming home in a body bag*

also

The Hunters: *all dressed in coordinating, if not quite matching, black tactical gear outfits*

The Hunters: 'What? Someone noticed us, and thought we were incredibly suspicious? HOW?!'

Information:

So, to explain- the Hunter's saw Lisbet wearing the motorcycle jacket when they busted into the men's room, and sent the stake flying toward her heart. Jerremyah spun them and used that spin to apparate them out of there, but the speed with which he did it meant that the Hunter's probably just went, 'DANGER, RAPID MOVEMENT!' and by the time their eyes caught up, the only thing in the room with them was blood, which they assumed was Lisbet's, since they'd been aiming for her, or possibly even Evie's (because a less scrupulous vampire could've used her as a literal human shield), but was actually Jerremyah's. That's why they think the motorcycle jacket is the only reason they escaped, because they assume (like Lisbet assumes) that it was probably thick enough to save her life (I'm telling you right now, it probably wouldn't have been. It would've been close- like, if they autopsied Lisbet afterward, the stake would've just barely been in her heart, but it would've been enough to kill her) because they also assume that if Lisbet had died, Jerremyah wouldn't have been bothered/physically couldn't have apparated them out of there- and honestly, they're right. If he knew before he started apparating that she was dead, he absolutely would've stayed, and cradled her body while they killed him... or worse, he would've wanted them to kill him, but they would've taken him into custody, and basically the same thing as Khal's prediction would've happened. Evie would probably try to fight the Hunters, but they would've literally just stunned her or something, and then they would've patched her up, obliviated her, and sent her back to her friends.

On another note, maybe you've been wondering how the Hunters even knew there would be vampires in that particular club that night anyway- well, here's your answer. The bouncer- the one that was eyeing Jerremyah 'like he was some sort of predator', then told Lisbet to 'keep her boyfriend in check', only to be horrified when she said she'd 'keep him on a tight leash', and reacted like he'd 'realised she was just as dangerous, if not more so', and with the face of someone 'who had just realised they were being stalked by an apex predator'- is a Hunter informant (and likely an ex-Hunter himself). He contacted the Hunter's, they sent over their closest team, and voila- panic at the disco, vampire edition. You might also remember that right before that, Lisbet and Jerremyah both 'skillfully intimidated' and 'subtly' Influenced their way to the front of the line, which is probably another reason they were picked out of the crowd- not to mention the fact that the bartender seemed pretty aware of it, even if only on an instinctual level, and they Influenced Evie out in the open. The better question is, how did the Hunter's sneak into the club and get into position without Lisbet and Jerremyah noticing them?

Also, I'm curious whether I actually fooled anyone or not... but in order for that to happen, people would actually have to be reading this, which I have no proof of. Do you think they're ever going to fix traffic stats, or are they not going to bother?