watch it close, let it brew

[regentem]

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[regentem]

[Derek comes to to the sound of voices - to be more specific, a voice, sounding frantic and panicked. The voice isn't unpleasant, but it is unfamiliar, just like the rest of the place smells. The room is sanitized and sterile leaving him no clues about exactly where he is or what is happening, but he is surrounded by familiar people.

"Davina? Oh, Jesus. Davina, wake up, please."

If he turns and looks, he won't be able to see the man. The voice comes behind him, on the other side of the pillar they're both chained to. The man has managed to swing himself, legs out, to the pillar on their right where two women are chained - one being Davina Claire, who Derek's met before, and the other, an unfamiliar woman with long dark hair falling in front of her face. The man he's chained with is trying to nudge Davina with his foot, hoping to rouse her.

"Shut. Up."

Directly across from Derek is a man with a collection of computer screens that he's working diligently on. He has a gun on his hip, indicating that he's probably a hunter, and for the moment Hawthorne falls silent, but Derek's chains shift as He moves on the other side of him.

And, if Derek looks to the right, he'll see Josh and Hayley, still hanging limply in an odd metal apparatus. Their left arm stretches awkwardly across the front of their body, but on first glance it's unclear of the purpose.

Wherever they are, it's very much not okay. But hey, at least Derek's awake.]

[engender]

( The first thing he does is try to pull away, to break the chains holding him in place, but it's like he can't (1). Like he's fighting an invisible barrier. He immediately wonders if this is magic. And then his (8) gives him the view of this hunter watching some sort of security feed. )

Hayley!

( He does recognize Davina and sees that leg kick hers. )

Who's there?

[regentem]

["Hawthorne. Terry Hawthorne." He huffs as he leans back against the pillar, staring at the door on the other side of the room. "Hayley'll be okay. A snapped neck isn't much for a hybrid, though ... I guess that depends on what the people here what to do with us."

There's a pause as he shifts, trying to get a better look at the man on the other side of the pillar.

"Don't think we've met. Then again, they only loop me in when it'll affect city stuff."]

[engender]

( Having been ahem - working so close with Hayley the last few weeks, Derek knows Terry Hawthorne is the leader of the human faction, the liaison for everything supernatural in New Orleans. Josh, he doesn't recognize, but Davina, Davina is regent. And with Hayley the crescent "queen," he realizes what this is. )

We haven't.

( Someone being there within earshot makes him second guess his hypothesis. Eyeing the hunter with his back to them. )

Derek. I only know Hayley and Davina.

[regentem]

["Oh, you're visiting, yeah? Hayley's guest." He gets filled in on some of the details. Either way though, Derek can pick up on his anxiety, being stuck in the situation they're in. "A shame you picked now to visit."

And he does mean that genuinely.]

[bravebartender]

[Cami jogs ahead of them up the stairs of city hall, and pauses at the head of the stairs. Not because she doesn't want to go in, but because she's trying to think of a plan of attack in the window they have.]

Okay, so what exactly do we need? Town records, right?

[rehire]

Town records, but specifically records of any recent purchases or acquisitions, with familiar names or obvious holding companies.

( How recent, he's not sure. Monroe has been everywhere, but was this her base camp. He doubts that, considering how international her operation had been and how profile she became. )

[bravebartender]

Okay.

[She fishes out her key ring, and swings it up into her hand.]

I have keys to Hawthorne's office, so we should be able to use his terminal to get the access we need, but we just have to get past the front desk. So worst case scenario, let's hope that the receptionist at the desk isn't the one who likes taking vervain in her coffee.

[Not that she'd compel them much, just enough to smooth the way. She doesn't like doing it, but sometimes, in times like this, it's a necessary evil.]

[rehire]

Shouldn't be too hard. In my early days as an associate I charmed quite a few receptionists.

( Now his receptionist does the charming.

He ascends the steps and holds the door open for Cami before approaching the receptionist at the desk. )

Good morning, my name is Harvey Specter and this is Camille O'Connell, and we're from the zoning board. ( Well, it couldn't be this easy, (4) for the lie )

[bravebartender]

[The receptionist raises her eyebrows as she pulls her glasses down off her eyes, letting the chain dangle a bit as she does. She doesn't know enough to call Harvey's bluff, but she's definitely aware enough to call Cami's (11). "You get a promotion when I wasn't looking?"]

Hey, Deb. Harvey is from the zoning board, I'm just assisting.

[She holds up the key ring.]

Terry asked us to come by and pick up some stuff from his office.

[Which is a very loose lie, but plausible enough to get by the receptionist (15 vs. 8). "He never came back from lunch. Everything okay?"]

Oh, he's fine.

[That lie is a bit harder, but she still sells it.]

Just feeling a little under the weather.

[wildkingdom]

[The tires squeal against the dirt as Malia pulls the car to a stop, and the bayou is tense and on alert. The older wolfs have set up shop at the head of things, some of them in wolf form, some not, and it's clear they're ready for an attack - they just don't know where it's going to come from.

Malia goes over to talk to the wolf who seems to be in charge in the absence of Hayley and Aiden.]

Allison, this is Lisina. Lisina, Allison. We don't know where Monroe's coming from next but we wanted to check in and see how things are going.

[matriarchate]

( Allison knows what it looks like when you're bracing or a battle, and she slings her bag over her shoulder just in case. )

We know this is a tense time. And, you may have heard Hayley Marshall was taken. But, we're here to make sure it stops there.

[wildkingdom]

["Not the first time, not the last. And I think you know as well as I do that it never really stops." Lisina's lived in New Orleans a long time. She knows the kind of trouble drawn when Klaus Mikaelson calls the city his home.

"We'll hunker down and wait it out, just like we always do."

Malia nods.]

You should start moving the kids at least further into the bayou. The deeper they're in, the safer they'll be.

[matriarchate]

( Whether it has to do with Monroe, or someone else, an existence of hunkering down is not an existence and living with that danger is not acceptable. If Allison had her way, she'd make it so that the werewolves in the bayou never have to worry again. )

When was the last time this happened?

[wildkingdom]

["How old's Hope now? Eighteen? So maybe three or four years ago. These old Nazi vamps Klaus pissed off during the war came through, determined to do a werewolf purge, hybrids and tribrids included. Add to that the Hollow situation ... it was just a mess."

She pauses, then tips her head to the side.

"Though, I will say that this is a first in the sense that the main perpetrator is not exacting some kind of vendetta against the Mikaelsons and we're all collateral damage. She just wants all of us dead."]

[deathlessness]

[Rolling into the cemetery after the attack is far more tense than you would expect, though those visiting likely shouldn't be surprised. The regents are missing, and even if their connection to the ancestors was severed and not what it once was, the cemetery is still where they feel the strongest. The presence of their dead beneath their feet, drawing on the power of those who came before - even if it isn't literal, it is grounding.

Freya has set up in one of the mausoleums, spreading out her map over one of the stone slabs, as well as the other locator spell ingredients. She places Hawthorne's business card and a scarf of Davina's they pulled from her closet, before glancing back to her brother.]

Seems like we just need something from Hayley and Derek. I think Aiden will do for Josh.

[Next best thing to a family member is a life partner.]

[uniquelyvulnerable]

Scott and Aiden will return with sufficient means.

( Elijah is perched at the entrance to the mausoleum, both keeping an eye on the graveyard and keeping close watch on his sister. They have had close calls before and unlike a certain Mystic Falls incident, he doesn't think to get his very human witch sister checked out by anyone other than the paramedics who gave her the okay.

He knows what toll her magic can take, however, and so he is also impatiently waiting for some kind of reinforcements. )

Your network has widened in my absence.

[deathlessness]

I've made some good friends. Good allies.

[She glances up at him with an amused look. Freya's struggle with finding her own footing in New Orleans outside her family has certainly improved, having gained acceptance into the covens. She's grateful for it, given how far away her family had to be at times.

At the same time, however:]

Though there's still no substitute for family.

[uniquelyvulnerable]

No, there isn't.

( He apologized for his part in severing Always & Forever a few years ago, but like everything else with Elijah, the guilt remains as a bloodstained reminder. )

How have the factions held up? Is there still a council between them?

[deathlessness]

Well enough. It helps that Davina, Hayley and Josh all have a good working relationship. And that their factions trust and respect them.

[It's not something the Mikaelsons ever would have been truly able to manage. The kind of respect that comes with fear is rarely a productive one, and always leads to hurt feelings.]

Losing them would be quite the blow to what we've been working on here.

[blackstarred]

[Mia Queen should not be licensed to drive by any state in the union, but between her Slayer reflexes and the unobtrusive choice of vehicle allowed by their rental car, they some how manage to make it to New Orleans from Mystic Falls in two thirds of the time without causing a major accident or getting a speeding ticket.

William likely white knuckled it the whole way down, but you know what, they're alive. You're welcome.

It's also, because of that very precise timing that they manage to get there before the commotion starts. Mia finds a place to park near the Quarter, glancing down at her phone as she scans the square. It's mostly free of people, as it's inching close to ten at night, but there are still a few wandering, as well as someone who might have had a bit too much to drink, slumped over the edge of a nearby fountain.]

This is where Bela said to meet right?

[slavophile]

( William has done what he can from the road, unable to be there himself. He has no direct tie to Cooper and his one connection went into the drink - he assumes. There are no cameras by the river. And his usual attempts have gone unnoticed. He's preoccupied, worried, and his thoughts are going a mile a minute.

He could be worrying for nothing, especially because Bela wants a meetup. )

Uh - I think.

( He triple checks, closing his laptop and peers around. (18) for a spot check. )

[blackstarred]

[He is at the right place. And as he peers around, he makes note of the quietness of the street and the absolute absence of Bela. But that slumped over figure by the fountain does seem familiar, now that he looks at him, but it's only the briefest glimpse before a cop steps in to block him from view, thinking it's a drunk who fell asleep.

Mia misses it, is too focused on finding Bela (10).]

I don't see her. Are we early?

[slavophile]

Or, late. Or - on time and she's --

( A nagging feeling gnaws at him, the familiarity of the body not sitting right as he climbs out of the passenger side. )

What if she was intercepted - or held up. That's --

( His heart drops. )

Mia, that's a crime scene.

( As if in slow motion, he runs across the street over to the square, nearing the fountain, the onlookers and the police presence. )

[blackstarred]

Wait, wait!

[Mia catches on just after, and does her best to slide between the scene and her brother. It's more protective than anything else - it's entirely possible this isn't something he's going to want to see. It's entirely possible that they were too late, and tonight is going to break her brother's heart, rather than provide any reassurances. William may be older, but she's protective anyway.

Also, if it is a crime scene, and it's not what they both fear it is, then it's probably better if they don't contaminate it by rushing in prematurely.]

Let me check, okay?