keep your friends close... ((group scene))

[slayers_desire]

No one noticed the young blonde in the corner of the Caritas. She was a regular. She came for a few drinks, sat alone, but never left alone. She never created any trouble. And she always tipped her waitress. She was in the bar today, watching and waiting, when April Kent and her two children had entered to visit with Lorne and Spike.

The presence of the two children spiked some sort of interest, and the young blonde watched the group for sometime. Spike was the first to excuse himself from the table, having to deal with a phone call. Then Lorne was called away, having to deal with two men causing trouble.

The young woman came to the table and sat down. And chatted with April for a long time. After a few minutes of the conversation, Lorne saw April and the children leaving with the woman out of the corner of his eye. He really didn't think about the situation too much, figuring that April was helping a person in need.

But when she didn't return after an hour, he started to worry. After two hours, he picked up the phone and called Clark.

((posting order: April/NPCs; Clark; Ed/Cipher Nine))

Comments

[buffyverse_npcs]

"Handsome, if you can tell me that April and the darlings are home, then I won't have any bad news..."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

That is not something he wanted to hear. "I can't. What happened?"

[buffyverse_npcs]

"She left with one of my guests. Didn't leave a note or anything. I don't even know where they went... or why."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark is already on his way to a place where he can PIN over. "How long ago was this?"

[buffyverse_npcs]

"Two hours ago. I thought she was helping someone... but when she didn't touch base..."

"Spike is all growly..."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"I'll be there soon. Have you called anyone else yet?"

[buffyverse_npcs]

"No sweetie. Spike was wondering if you could contant that handsome detective friend of yours?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Good idea. I'll give him a call." Clark opens the portal to Lorne's and steps through, already dialing Ed's number.

[fmalchemist160]

Clark will find Ed in the middle of teaching Cipher Nine to play chess. (Cipher Nine is already mopping the floor with him.) Ed answers on the second or third ring, PINpoint cradled between ear and shoulder. "What's up, Clark?" he asks, holding up a finger to Cipher Nine in a 'hold on a sec' gesture.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"I need your help. Are you open?" Clark asks, getting right down to the point. His lack of polite small-talk will give Ed a big clue on how serious this is.

[fmalchemist160]

A huge clue, and it immediately makes Ed worry too. "Definitely," Ed answers, sobering up quickly, getting to his feet and gathering up a few things. "Cipher Nine's here, want me to bring him with?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Sure. The more the merrier. Meet me at Lorne's." Clark hangs up and heads into the bar.

[fmalchemist160]

Ed hangs up too and finishes getting geared up, calling over his shoulder to Cipher Nine, "We've got trouble. Clark needs our help with something."

Cipher Nine rises immediately from his seat, retrieving his own gear while Ed contemplates the newest addition to his collection of tools and such: a Beretta M9 handgun in a hip holster (licensed and permitted, of course). After a moment of debate, he decides to bring it with him but resolves not to draw it except in extreme circumstances. After all, he needs to get used to carrying it with him at all times, which he'll be required to do as a cop.

He and Cipher Nine PINpoint into Caritas together within a few minutes. "What's the situation?" Cipher Nine asks as they arrive.

[buffyverse_npcs]

Lorne is delicately trying to deal with Spike, who is pacing and growling in a corner. "Love... love... you are scaring the customers."

"Fuck off mate..." Spike growls in return.

When Clark, Ed and Cipher Nine make their appearance, Lorne turns to face them. "April and the darlings are missing."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Tell us more about the customer you saw her with," Clark asks. "Everything you can remember."

[fmalchemist160]

A surge of godfatherly concern wells up in Ed when he hears that news, and he fights an urge to start pacing along with Spike. Instead, he grits his teeth, lets out a long breath, and tugs a notepad from his belt. Another habit he's starting to try to get into in preparation for the job he's aiming for: taking notes. "Anything could be significant, yeah," he agrees.

Cipher Nine is looking around the bar with careful scrutiny, checking for something else they might be able use to figure out what happened. The more information they have, the better. "Do you have security cameras, or anything of the sort?" he asks Lorne.

[buffyverse_npcs]

"The woman never told anyone her name. She had come in a few times before and I never thought there was anything wrong..." Lorne frowned. "But I will get the security footage for you."

Cipher Nine will notice a man at the bar who is listening to the conversation, and trying very hard to pretend he is not eavesdropping.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark looks over at his father-in-law. Spike is upset, which is more than understandable. But he also doesn't know what to say, even just asking about when he got here.

[nonvillainouscipher]

"Thanks," Cipher Nine tells Lorne. When he spots the eavesdropper, he scowls in the man's general direction and discreetly points him out to Ed and Clark. "I'll be right back," he murmurs to them. Then he heads in the eavesdropper's direction; they haven't got time for a ruse, and this man might have either overheard their mystery woman's conversation with April, or he could be involved somehow, possibly to give the woman a heads up about potential pursuers. While he would normally prefer to go about this a little more subtly, right now, the best option seems to be to confront the man. He steps up beside the man and leans over him just a little, and asks, in a stiffly polite tone, "Something we can help you with?"

[buffyverse_npcs]

Spike feels Clark watching him, so he stops pacing for a moment. "I can't... I have been trying to reach out to her. The same way I used to with Dru... and I just get nothing."

The man jumps, not expecting to be called out so soon. He shifts for a moment. "The woman you were talking about. She... she is a call girl. She never tells anyone her name, just letting us call her what we want."

"She's not human..." He glances away, because neither is Cipher Nine obviously.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"We'll find her. And the children," Clark promises. But his attention is quickly drawn to Cipher Nine, and the man he's interrogating.

"That's not exactly rare here," he says to the man, watching him closely.

[nonvillainouscipher]

"Obviously, that's not going to be a problem," Cipher Nine agrees. Since the man's cooperating, he backs off on the intimidation throttle. "Did you overhear what they were talking about? And if she's not human, then what species is she, precisely?"

Ed watches the eavesdropper closely too, and makes a note of the information he's providing on the notepad he got out earlier. As per usual, his handwriting is chicken scratch, but he's able to read what it says, at least.

[buffyverse_npcs]

The man glances over all three of them, then points at Ed. "She has an enhancement. Like your friend there."

"The number 87 is imprinted on the metal."

Lorne comes up to the group. "I have the video surveillance."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Let's see it," Clark says to Lorne. But he doesn't want to let this guy run off while there's still more they could learn from him, too.

[fmalchemist160]

"I'll keep an eye on him," Ed volunteers, jabbing a thumb at the eavesdropper, "see what else he can tell us. Good opportunity to practice some of the skills I need to learn anyway," he adds in a barely-audible aside to Clark. He moves to sit next to the eavesdropper. "She had a cybernetic arm like mine?" he asks. "You remember anything else about her?"

Cipher Nine goes to watch the video surveillance with Clark and Lorne, keeping a sharp eye on what's in the footage. "Do we have audio, or just the video?" he asks.