some roads you really fly

[beanchaointe]

Comments

[phonetically]

Scott and Allison are inside.

( A beat. Into the phone. )

No. I was - not - I have friends. Smits --

( Derek is just -- happy he's not always around Stiles. )

Call my chief. Bye.

( And he hangs up with a huff. )

[impetere]

[She smirks a bit.]

Trouble at work?

[phonetically]

Yeah, one of my guys doesn't believe sabbatical's a word. I need to keep my number in commission, but there's no guarantee I won't be hounded.

( HOUNDED. )

Derek.

( "Stiles."

He's still a bit miffed he was on the FBI's radar. But, Stiles did aid in getting him off of it.)

Turning it off.

( And... good. )

[wildkingdom]

[Good.

Cora nods, turning to follow her brother inside. Once the door opens there's chatter at the table, with Lydia, Isaac, Scott and Allison speaking as another face pops into the call.

It's Malia. She looks worn out, but she's awake and she's on the phone. She may still be in bed.]

Please say this will be fast.

[phonetically]

Are you in bed?

( Stiles all but climbed over Scott closest to the wall. He is still obnoxious as a vampire, good to know?

"Derek!" Scott is all smiles.

Allison sets her phone down against a ringed menu. Jackson zips up his luggage and sits back, picking his phone up. Alex will probably be back to his room at any second. If need be, he'll do this on the go.

Allison eyes everyone, sitting up straighter.

"This will take as long as it takes. Everyone ready?" )

[wildkingdom]

Bayou wolves party hard.

[That is all Stiles will get as an explanation, and everyone will quiet down so that they can begin. Isaac shifts so that he's relaxing more and smirks.

"Sounds like you all had fun over the last couple days."]

[matriarchate]

It was a graduation party.

( And - it was fun, as was her non-date/the person she'd sat next to. Not the point. )

It was work. We were all working.

( For the record. )

Alright. Let's start with updates. Isaac?

[notwitty]

Nothing new here. We're still trying to gather the people who scattered from London but ... there's not a lot of us.

[Which is disappointing.]

We think they might be heading east, so we're trying to send scouts into other major cities to see if we can catch any warning signs. Once everyone gets settled, I'm headed out to Prague.

[matriarchate]

Alright. If you're heading through Paris, I can link you up with the French Argents again, or send them on their own. Focus on Rome, Madrid. Berlin.

( Major cities. )

Malia. Do I want to know?

[wildkingdom]

What? We're bored.

[The bayou is really boring and sometimes they have to make their own fun.]

Everything's been really quiet here. Davina wants to keep the kids in the bayou for now, but some of the adult witches are heading back to the Quarter. The vampires haven't found anything either.

If Monroe was here, she's either really good at hiding, or long gone.

[commend]

( Scott amusingly looks to Allison who isn't bored. )

Maybe she was never there. Maybe it was there way of trying to shore up - nothing - while they tried here.

( "A diversion," Stiles says.

"That's what McCall said." Jackson speaks up, too.

Stiles swipes the phone from the napkin holder and sets it face down.

"Someone better turn me over."

"Scott?" Allison asks next. )

Okay. Uh. The hunters. Any trace of them in North America, it's gone. We don't know why. All my contacts have reported back. Something changed.

[impetere]

Maybe losing the entire cell here made them pull back?

[It makes sense. Cora saw the carnage that the Salvatores, Klaus and Hayley left behind. She can't imagine that facing that kind of loss wouldn't make them rethink the grand plan.]

[phonetically]

( From under the faced down phone, Jackson's voice cries out again.

"Turn me back over." )

Yeah. And not just the guys that took Derek and got the jump on me. But, the ones that went after Elena - and then me. Both groups. Pretty dead.

[beanchaointe]

[Lydia rolls her eyes, before reaching forward and picking up her phone.]

So what's next? Stiles is going to need to stay here for Vampire 101. I'm planning to stay with him, at least until classes start up again in September.

[commend]

I'll be staying, too. The hunters have gone to ground and I think I can do some good for the Salvatore School. I might even - teach.

( He's mulling. He likes what he's mulling. )

[impetere]

["Good for you," Isaac nods.

Cora glances up from the table.]

I'm going to stay too.

[matriarchate]

( Allison nods. Stiles slowly takes in the Cora is staying information, turns, wonders, and then - settles back again. )

Should I secure us a house then?

( "Us?" Scott asks. )

You're right. With the hunters all but underground, unless there's pressing business, I want to stay close. ( To her friends. To Stiles. She gives him an encouraging smile. ) So. House?

[beanchaointe]

[She nods, not looking over her shoulder at the vampire who sure is sitting there listening to their every word.]

Definitely house. There is not enough room for us at the b and b.

[engender]

I'll be flying to New Orleans.

( No one asked, but he's there, perched on the edge of the top of the booth. Since people are sharing their plans.

"We don't need that," Allison says. "New Orleans is handled." )

There's a witch there.

[impetere]

Freya's going to help is with a problem.

[Which addresses the question without addressing the question. Then she turns her attention to her cousin.]

Can you go with him? Make sure Freya doesn't do anything shady.

[Malia nods. "Let me know when you're getting in and I'll meet you in the Quarter."]

[engender]

( "Freya." Allison says.

"What happened, Derek," Scott asks. To his Alpha, Derek answers. )

The witch that held me did a spell. My strength and wolf form are gone. I can't transform. Not fully. Not. At all.

[beanchaointe]

...That explains the trip to the warehouse to find the weird rock.

[Lydia nods as she takes that in.]

Good to know.

[illtempered]

It's a moonstone and it apparently matters.

( By now, Jackson has let a certain witch of his own into the B & B's room. )

Also, I'm leaving. I helped with this, but - I'm going to try to help some put upon witches. It's hard out there for shapeshifters and witches.

[beanchaointe]

[So it'll be the four of them, plus Cora. Just like old times.]

Anything else that we need to put on the table?

[matriarchate]

Derek, take care of what you need to. I trust Freya. Stay by your phone. Malia? It's a family affair, stay on him while he's powered down. ( Not powerless.

"Oh," Scott says. "I might have another werewolf on the payroll soon. Tyler Lockwood? I guess he asked Elena for a referral." )

That would be a good get.

( Allison looks at Stiles, who's really only made commentary. And then Scott. And probably everyone ends up looking at him. Except for Jackson, he's finishing packing.

"What? You know what's on the table for me. Eternal life. I will be eternally long-fingered and quick-talking." Allison did not need that. Scott smirks. )

And? What's next for -

( "Vamp school? Caroline says I have promise. But, this is my last 'outing,'" he says, using quotation marks. " Until, I get a handle on my wandering and my mouth. Her words." Or, her paraphrased words. )

Okay. Lydia, we should go house hunting. Everyone else, we didn't pack for this kind of longterm assignment. So, let me know if you need a credit card, the expense account, an assistant to bring or pick up things. We're still on lockdown. We're still wanted. We're just small town people now. Again.