coming at you fast, midnight

[cosmiccon]

Comments

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam nods.]

Yeah, that'd probably be best. He might not be able to open a door here anyway. The bunker has wards.

[Most of which Rowena installed which is why she's able to get around them.]

[matriarchate]

( Unmute. )

There's a general store in Lebanon, Kansas. I can be there in twenty minutes.

( She looks to Sam. )

Mind giving me a ride?

[imnot_likeyou]

Not at all.

["Lebanon, Kansas. Got it. I'll be there in twenty." And with that David will hang up and give Allison a chance to make sure she has everything she needs. Sam still wants to check in, though.]

You going to be okay with him?

[matriarchate]

I can handle him, and whatever wants to kill him?

( She's not afraid. )

But thank you for worrying. If it makes you feel any better, we can make this a family outing. Maybe he can finally earn your trust after what happened with Elena.

( This feels like a one-time deal. )

And David owing you a favor is not something to sniff at.

( "Should things go David Gainor's way, he and the others will be the next Inner Circle. Having one of them in your back pocket will be quite the get out of jail free card." Rowena considers. "I am also here for anyone that might want an extra hand."

Choose your fighters, Sam, should you want to go with Allison at all.

"Elena and me can hit the books, follow the family line. Everyone should learn how to properly salt and burn, eventually," Dean says. "Either way.")

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam nods, because he doesn't want to make it seem like he doesn't trust Allison to be able to take care of herself, but he's not going to lie and say it wouldn't be comforting to be able to watch her back himself.]

Do you want me to go?

[He puts the ball in her court, and let's her make the call. Because he does trust her to know her limits.]

[matriarchate]

I think that having two people there to watch his back would be better than having one. And, I think you earning another favor, if that's what this can do might be something we'll need.

( Ever the diplomat. )

[imnot_likeyou]

Okay.

[Then he'll grab his stuff.]

We'll go take care of what David wants, and you guys start on the bodies. Hopefully we'll be able to get this done fast.

[matriarchate]

Come at it from every angle.

( As she and Sam gather their things and stock up, Dean leans against the bedroom door, dropping in on Elena.

"Male Samantha called in Allison's favor and Sam's tagging along." )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena looks up with a nod, because while she tentatively trusts David, she doesn't think Allison should be going on her own.]

That's good. Someone will have her back.

[cholesterol]

He asked us for a favor, too.

( She should know what he asked, especially because she may be a part of the research should she -- want to be. )

He'll owe us if we trace his coven's family lines.

[braveandstupid]

Oh.

[Interesting. She nods because that seems like an easy enough project to cover.]

Just a bit of research? Or does he want you to do something with those family lines?

[cholesterol]

Something about his and the other children of the Colony, all of their parents and I guess their parents, and so on - they're possessed. The Colony founders lived on through every generation. Sounds like they sign up to have their bodies occupied all to keep the line going. David's done with it. While he, Allison, and Sam gather whatever he needs, he wants us to trace back to their original bodies, salt, and burn them. Because if he succeeds in ending their reign, they'll just jump to another body if theirs is still intact.

( It's a lot, he knows, and he'll answer any questions about it after the fact, but he wanted to get it all out there. She's smart enough to know there's more involved. )

[braveandstupid]

[She nods slowly, attempting to process that:]

So we're going to find the witch ghost's original bodies and destroy them so they can't try to steal someone else's body?

[She just wants to make sure that she's on the same page.]

[matriarchate]

( In the doorway, Allison situates her bag, waiting for Sam to join her. )

If. It's three hundred years back. But, if anyone can.

( It's the combined efforts of Elena and Damon (and maybe Mary and Bobby, and Rowena.) )

[braveandstupid]

Guess we'll hit the books. And you guys?

["Are going to see a witch about a favor," Sam says as he catches up. He nods to Dean as well. "Text us if you find anything?"]

[matriarchate]

( "You too. And Sam. Things go south, you get out of there."

With that, Dean maps out the beginnings of a plan to find what they need and how, and Sam and Allison take a drive to the general store in town.

Allison pulls her bag out of the backseat. )

Thank you for coming with me. I actually trust him, but if he needs protection this much it makes me feel better you'll have my back while I have his.

[imnot_likeyou]

I'll always have your back.

[He grabs his own kit, and they make their way over to the door, where David is currently lounging, waiting for Allison to arrive. He glances up at the sound of footsteps, and blinks when he sees Sam.

"Brought a friend?"]

[matriarchate]

I'd rather have two people watching my back, but that's just me.

( She hasn't had the time to unpack almost dying. Part of bringing Sam with her is because the last time she went without him, she was shot point blank and Klaus Mikaelson saved her life. (A favor she or Malia still owes. It's not clear.) )

Did you want to call it off just because Sam is here?

[maleficum]

No.

[But to be clear:]

He's just not getting an extra favor from me. Whatever he's owed, it's coming from you.

[Fortunately for Allison, Sam isn't looking for anything from her that she isn't already giving.]

So. Let's go over the plan.

[Because he's not reckless, he does have one. He walks past the both of them and spreads the map out on the hood of Sam's car.]

We are breaking into an old storage reliquary. And by old I mean abandoned, and by abandoned, I mean in the middle of the most God-forsaken swamp in the Florida marshlands.

[matriarchate]

( It's hers. Fine. She settles on the other side of map, peering down. She nods. Bayou, part two, apparently. She promises not to get shot this time. She doesn't dare ask what he's getting, that's not how favors work. So, she asks the relevant questions. )

What do you need to be protected from?

[maleficum]

All kinds of fun things. But most of them feral.

[He taps on the spot on the map.]

I've been there before, but it's wrapped in enough warding spells that you can't just pop in unless the Inner Circle wants you to. If you have to go the long way, you have to take a boat through a space where not only have all kinds of fun cryptids claimed it as their territory - your lindworms, your bromeliads, an occasional swamp hag -

["So things mostly just minding their own business, but get hungry just like anything else."

David nods.]

But also, the Ivory Tower has a deal with the Colony going back a while, where they use the swamp to make vampires they're having problems with disappear. Instead of burying them or staking them or ripping out their hearts like normal people, they drop them into the swamp and leave them to rot. They'll even let them keep their daylight rings, just to show them how charitable they are.

[David's voice says they're not charitable.]

The game is if you make your way out of the swamp, you've earned your freedom and have been punished enough. Most of them don't make it out. And before you start to feel sorry for them or think you can save them, don't. They're completely feral and have been making due on whatever they can get their hands on in the swamp, so if they get even a sniff of human blood - they'll tear you apart before you can try and reason with them. But, last count, there were only a couple left, so if we're lucky, we won't run into them at all.

[matriarchate]

So, bloodthirsty cryptids and out-of-their minds vampires.

( He needs protection, maybe even more than Sam and Allison. )

Where do we start on that map? I don't see any usable doors.

[maleficum]

I already set up the boat rental down here.

[He taps a small inlet that's a bit closer to civilization.]

I'll open a door to the rental shop, and then we'll go from there. Once we get to the reliquary and get what we need, I can use the door there to get us back here. Hopefully we will be in and out because I have a dinner date.

[Sam glances over to Allison to make sure she's good to move forward. Most of the things he mentioned are easy enough to just avoid. Bromeliads are stationary plants, lindworms are more scared of you than you are of them, and swamp hags ... well the swamp hags might be a problem.

Either way, the vampires are the biggest of those problems, so hopefully David's right, and they can avoid.]

[matriarchate]

Okay. And then, we're square.

( Favor done. She needed to get to New Orleans. She almost died for it.

It feels full circle that David is taking her into the swamps of Florida. While she can handle herself, she's happy Sam is there with her. Because this feels like more than a two person job. )

Is there anything that might block your magic once we get there?

[maleficum]

My magic specifically? No. I know my way around the wards well enough, I just can't do it from afar.

["So no anti-witch charms as part of the package?"

David laughs.]

No. And most people have forgotten this place exists, so it has that going for it too.