. 11

~~Jack~~

"Dead? Did... Michael kill him?"

Maria shook her head, and to his surprise, took a few seconds to comb her hair with her fingers. It was long and flat, and their fight had messed it up a bit. He forced down his smile. For a moment there, she reminded him of Antoinette.

"Garry was embraced here in Dolareido, not long before Michael and I came here, barely elders in our own right. We joined the Invictus, and Viktor established the council."

"Surprising, considering he was a power-hungry asshole."

"He was also wise, and his... tendencies did not blind him, at least not at the time." She shook her head. "I digress. Michael sired a childe not long after establishing himself in Dolareido. Back then the Carthians and Invictus fought with each other more openly; no kine technology to make it difficult. Deaths were rare, however. No open war, but the usual machinations of Kindred. Michael's childe had a... rough time, after his embrace. It was the turn of the century, after all."

"Turn of the century? Oh, right, the 1900s." Not a nice time to be gay.

"Kine often died in horrible circumstances, that long ago. Roland, Michael's childe, lost his family. He was unstable before Michael embraced him. It only grew worse thereafter."

"Rough."

"Indeed. And considering the time period, homosexuality was difficult as well. Garry and Roland found solidarity in each other. And Michael was content to keep his hands out of it."

"Until?"

"Until the Carthians grew more aggressive, starting brawls in the streets. Brawls that were... perhaps warranted. The Invictus and Carthians have butted heads over territory since before he or I came to Dolareido, and it is now impossible to know what land originally belonged to who. Regardless, the violence grew, and Michael ordered his childe to never see Garry again."

Jack slapped his forehead hard enough it echoed through the cathedral. "Has Michael seen a single movie in his whole life? Or read a fucking book?"

"Fiction? Rarely."

"Figures."

"Michael's ignorance for storytelling aside, he knew Roland would defy him. Steps were taken to keep Roland from seeing Garry, and sometimes they were... less than peaceful. And you know how Gangrels can be."

"Yeap." The idea of locking Jessy up in a box to stop her from seeing Eric was hilarious. Plus, being a Gangrel, she had ways to get through things other vampires couldn't. Only powerful Gangrels could turn into clouds of smoke, but the younger ones still had ways.

"We don't know what happened or how, but we do know Garry came to us, begging for us to find Roland. Apparently he'd threatened suicide. He was a fledgling, and fledglings are often unstable. And as I said, Roland's first life had been unstable enough."

Fledglings were unstable for a good reason. They'd literally just died, so that sucked. They woke up looking all pale and thin. They suddenly had a new set of instincts with a mind of their own fighting to get out. And the only way they could eat now, was drinking other people's blood. The ethical dilemma alone was enough to tip some new Kindred into suicide territory. Far as Jack knew, most managed to find some solace in that they didn't have to murder anyone, and hell, the Kiss was pleasurable. But it was still taking blood from unwitting, and sometimes unwilling victims.

Then there was the whole problem with being yanked out of their previous lives. Sure, lots of Kindred held up a facade so they could still interact with people from their first lives, but not family. Not close friends. You couldn't trick those two, not forever, and any kine that figured out what was going on either ended up bound by the Vinculum, embraced if the Prince allowed it, or dead.

And from what Maria said, Roland had issues in the family and friends department.

"You didn't find him?"

"Michael looked. He... hesitated to trust Garry, but looked eventually. Perhaps it was that hesitation that led to Roland's demise, we don't know. But he was not found until the next night, a pile of ashes in his apartment, drapes pulled open."

"Damn that's... that's really rough. Suicide note?"

"Yes, though it provided little resolution, only that Roland was miserable with all circumstances, and the promise of immortality seemed more a curse. He said goodbye to Michael, to Garry, and that was all."

"Fake?"

"Garry insisted Roland was extremely depressed beforehand, and Michael checked the handwriting. Either a rather cunning Carthian plotted against Michael and went after his childe to torture him, and faked the suicide, or the reality was as it appeared."

Sighing -- lot of sighing tonight -- Jack leaned back against the pew, and motioned with a finger to his birds. They came down to join him again, and Scully dropped his necklace on his head for him. A small adjustment later and it was around his neck again, and immediately the Beast in his guts quieted. His two familiars got comfortable on his shoulders again, and he made sure to give each of them proper scratches on the back of their heads. The conversation with Maria was making him feel affectionate, and sad.

"So Garry blames Michael."

"Yes. And Michael blames Garry, for creating the unusual situation for Roland at all, to pick between Carthian and Invictus."

"And this was over a century ago?"

"Yes."

"Long time to hold a grudge."

"Is it?" She raised a brow as she looked at him. "I do not fault you for looking for the good in everyone, young vampire, but do not be so foolish to think that vampires -- or any sentient -- wouldn't hold a grudge for hundreds of years. Scars last for a long, long time."

He winced at that. "Yeah, I guess. Just... damn, that is some serious drama shit. Personal shit."

"I kept it secret for a reason. "

"I'm glad you told me, I am. But now I gotta figure out a way to use it to stop this war."

She shook her head. "Do not be so stupid as to think this war is purely over the personal issues between those two. The Carthians and Invictus fight each other in every city with a vampire presence."

"Yeah, I get that, and I get why. But I still think I can at least bring us back to a shitty truce if I can get those two to come to some kind of understanding."

"Unlikely, but not impossible."

Mulder and Scully cawed a few times, and rubbed their heads into the sides of his head. He took a few seconds to assure each of them he was fine, scratched them behind the neck, and stood up.

"Damien said you think Michael didn't kill her."

"Yes."

"Damien's also pretty sure Amanda's good enough to not get caught in some shitty distraction maneuver from the Carthians, and accidentally go up in flames."

"Damien is perhaps correct in that, I do not know. I know little of the fledgling, but her sire Gloria isn't exactly a... methodical sort."

He laughed, earning a small smile from the woman that never smiled. Gloria Jenning was a bit of an airhead, which was all sorts of weird for a Mekhet. Then again, gossip was information, and Mekhet absolutely loved information.

"Three options then. Amanda screwed up and Garry's distraction accidentally killed her. Which is what Michael says happened, and is using as his reason to go on the aggressive against the Carthians. Option two, Michael killed her, is lying about how she died, and is using the lie so he can go on the aggressive. Or... option three, Amanda's still alive. Michael says she's dead, so if she's alive, he might have her stashed somewhere? But, why would he do that and not just kill her?"

"Because my once fellow councilman is not Viktor or Tony or... or Lucas, young Ventrue. He is both smart enough to want to avoid creating unnecessary enemies, and not so bloodthirsty that murdering a child would not faze him." She managed another small smile as she looked up at him from the pew. "In this regard, I suppose I am thinking as you, and not assuming everyone is a heartless bastard."

"Let's hope being an optimist doesn't backfire and get me killed. I--" His phone buzzed, and he took a quick peek. "It's Damien."

"Go. We are done here." Nodding, the corpse lady stood up, dusted off her beautiful white gown, and started up the stage, headed toward her den below. "Be careful, Jack. And please do not spread this information about Garry and Michael lightly."

"I won't. You got my word on that."

She nodded again, took a deep, heavy sigh, and disappeared around the curved wall behind the gigantic organ.

~Dangerous,~ Mulder said.

~She's sad,~ Scully said.

~She's definitely dangerous, and sad. But not as sad as she used to be. Hopefully that tussle gave her a little... closure, I guess.~

He checked the message from Damien.

~Fiona thinks Athalia might know something about Garry's attack on Xnomina,~ the message read.

~Shit. I really want to keep them out of this. If we start getting them involved, Garry might ask Avery for help, and she might even do it, too. We don't exactly get along.~

~Maybe. How did your heart-to-heart go with Maria?~

~Well. Got what I needed.~

~Great. How?~

~Brute force psychology.~ Jack laughed as he texted the message. Brute force psychology that nearly got him killed.

~Interesting. Perhaps the same can be used on Avery?~

Ugh. It had been borderline kamikaze to use against Maria, and very well could be again with Avery. But Avery's bitch attitude wasn't exactly unwarranted, considering the shit she'd put up with in the past, and her goals as an Uratha. Sure, she made everything a thousand times harder than she needed to, but she also wasn't hoping to kill Jack either. Hopefully.

~Natasha is handling things on that front. If Avery gives her trouble, I trust her to deal with it.~

~And any other trouble that comes her way? This Carthian Invictus turf war seems oddly timed, doesn't it?~

Jack groaned and rubbed his face. ~Because it's happening just as we started to figure out more about what the fuck Black Blood is up to? Yeah, I noticed that. But Tash and the Prince are a pretty deadly combo. I trust Tash with this, and we got our hands full anyway.~

They had to get this war dealt with as soon as possible, before something else bit them in the ass while they were too busy dealing with bullshit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Natasha~~

The Prince sighed as she leaned back in her chair. On the top floor of the Elysium Tower, Natasha stood in front of her boss's large desk, squirming. Not because she was scared; she'd gotten used to the Prince, mostly. Scared because how this conversation went could have an enormous effect on the city at large, and she didn't really like having that responsibility. She was a Mekhet, and would always prefer to be on the sidelines.

Case in point, Daniel stood next to the Prince, and Tash knew her sire might say three words in the whole meeting.

"Please, spare no details, Miss Vola."

"R-Right." And she didn't. She told the Prince about the trip into the Hisil with the boys, Eric, and Sándor. She told her about their encounter with Street-Tail King; mentioning its name earned a scowl from her. And she told her about what Sándor said about the tear.

"Minerva's legacy..." Antoinette looked up as she sighed, and combed her hair over her shoulder with her fingers, down over her suit jacket's chest. "My old friend's experiments with ephemera had progressed further than I thought."

"Indeed," Daniel said, and he adjusted his glasses with a single finger. One.

Natasha nodded. "And Jack is convinced B-B... Black Blood is responsible for the tears. Or at least, is connected to them."

"That creature is insidious," Antoinette said. "I believe Jack is correct. Black Blood is a spirit of grand intent, and if bringing down the Gauntlet is within its power, it will do so. Spirits would love nothing more than the freedom to visit the physical world ad nauseam."

"B-But Street-Tail King doesn't want it gone."

"Yes, that is peculiar, is it not? Perhaps it has something to do with what Sándor noticed, that the tear was not cutting to a realm he recognized. And then there is the incident of Jack and the Begotten becoming trapped in that strange realm of ghosts."

"I'm n-not following."

"Spirits do not like the Gauntlet. If Street-Tail King has given information that will usurp Black Blood's plan to destroy the Gauntlet, we can only surmise that something else is at risk."

"M-Maybe Street-Tail King is happy ruining Black Blood's plans? They are rivals."

"Oui, but even I would side with an enemy if we shared a goal of such colossal value."

"Then..." She tapped her temple as she looked down, frowning, juggling thoughts. "The tears and M-Minerva's legacy might overlap, but maybe something else would happen too?"

The Prince leaned forward, elbows on the table, fingers netted together in front of her. Classic thinking pose of a mob boss.

"Minerva threatened much, if Avery is correct. But I have no recollection of her experiments ever touching on realms other than the Shadow Realm. If these tears are opening ways to other realms, then I fear there is a connection."

The way she said 'other realms' sent ice down Natasha's spine.

"Maybe Minerva's legacy, d-destroying the Gauntlet, could do the same to other barriers between us and other realms? Or maybe... " Natasha held up her hands and mushed them together, as if squashing different colors of clay. "And instead of only the physical and sp-pirit realms connecting directly, it'd be... more of them? M... Maybe all of them?"

Her sire smiled at her for a tenth of a second before nodding at her. "Smart." Two.

"And that does indeed sound like something a scheming spirit like Street-Tail King may be hesitant to allow. Though in truth, I am surprised it gave the information without enforcing a deal."

"It almost did! My... the b-boys stopped it. They were convinced it wasn't helping earlier without a deal because it hates Avery, no other reason. They were right."

Antoinette laughed softly, shaking her head. "Perhaps. I doubt it was that simple. In all likelihood, it was waiting for an excuse to give the information without losing face."

"I guess that m-makes sense."

"This information is... problematic. Dealing with Black Blood is never easy."

"And Jacob," Natasha said.

Antoinette shook her head. "I will not blindly assume that Jacob is also responsible or linked to Black Blood's actions. But, I have to accept that it is a strong possibility. Minerva knew Black Blood, but she knew Jacob best of all, and to my chagrin, it would not surprise me if my old friend knew enough about his lover to be able to recreate her experiment."

"B-But... why?" Natasha raised her hands with a shrug. "Why would he want to do something like that? I mean, it sounds..."

"Apocalyptic," Daniel said. And that was three.

"Indeed. The sort of thing Azamel would warn us about."

Natasha gasped. "You think she knew all along?"

"No. But Begotten know realms better than anyone, and I am sure she noticed something brewing."

"I see. I... um... I p-planned to work with Avery, so we can get a closer look at this newest tear."

"Prudent, and dangerous. Avery does not like what we dragons here in Dolareido do. And she especially does not like us after I forced her hand, indenturing those boys to you."

"Yeah, b-but Arturo and Matthew are convinced she'll help."

"I see. Then, carry on, Natasha. Inform me of future progress. And well done."

Natasha smiled, bowed slightly, and half turned to leave. But before she got any further, she looked back, knowing full well she shouldn't ask this question.

"Ab-b-bout... Samantha..."

"Nothing has changed, Miss Vola. Do not tell my childe what you are up to. All business of Black Blood is never to grace her ears."

"B-But... Jacob--"

"Is not proven to be our enemy, yet. And even if he is, Samantha is as safe with him as she would be elsewhere."

Natasha stared at her boss before making a quick glance to Daniel. Safe, with Jacob, really? But all her sire had for her was a slow, sad nod. He agreed with Antoinette. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed with her.

"And if he is, um, an enemy," Natasha said, "then... Samantha's in a position to... d-do something?"

The Prince's cold eyes confirmed. This was another ploy of the Prince's, another way for her to control the outcomes of situations. If she had to use her childe, her lover's mother, as a tool in her games, then she would.

Natasha gulped, nodded, and left. Jack wasn't going to be happy about this, and if he didn't hear it from Tash, he'd hear it from Jessy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She sat down at her counter with the boys in her apartment. They each sat beside her, and all of them looked down at the counter in thought. A business meeting.

"I t-told the Prince. She... wasn't happy."

"Understandable," Art said. "If Jacob's an enemy, that's a big enemy to have." He rubbed his nose, frowning. Right, Jacob had smashed his face in in a fight, effortlessly defeating him and Matt at the same time.

"Yeah. B-But she's not going to stop Samantha from dating him."

"Makes sense."

"It does?" She blinked up at the big guy.

"She'd be tipping her hand if she did, you know?"

Natasha groaned, but nodded. The idea of sweet Samantha getting caught in the middle of all this was horrible. Horrible! She shrank on her stool and leaned forward enough to press her arms and shoulders against the countertop side.

Matt pat her on the shoulder, and rubbed her back, earning a small sigh from her.

"Tomorrow," Matt said, "we can talk to Avery, and organize something, figure out a way to get to that tear."

Art nodded. "And hopefully not piss Black Blood off too much doing it. Maybe Red Tide? He was looking for that tear we couldn't find around the Cathedral."

"Tear we couldn't find." She sat up, tapping her chin. "If Black Blood is making these tears, then m-maybe it created a tear there, in the den b-below the Cathedral, to make Maria look guilty?"

"Black Blood framing Maria?" Art looked ahead, entering thinking mode. They'd all thought these thoughts already, might as well voice them. "I guess that'd explain why we caught the blood wraiths saying her name. Black Blood wanted us on the wrong trail, and it had them spreading misinformation."

"Exactly!" she said, grinning up at Art again. The grin quickly morphed into a frown before she could stop herself. "If...." Sighing, she looked back down, and shook her head. "N-Never mind."

"What? Never mind?"

"Y-Yeah. I don't... w-want to fight about it anymore." No more fighting about what happened with Avery and Maria.

"Oh." Art sighed and looked down, like she'd hung an anchor around his neck.

Matt coughed, and they both looked at him, making him squirm a bit and scratch the back of his head.

"This relationship," the gentle giant said. "It's... it's important that we treat it like a relationship, right? And I'm no relationship expert, but we should be able to have arguments, right? Not throw fists or anything, but if we have a disagreement, and we start yelling or something, it should be okay, right? We shouldn't worry about leaving each other because... I don't know."

The gentle giant was smarter than he realized. Or were those Jack's words?

She smiled at Matt, leaned up and over, and gave him a kiss, a good one. "You're right. You're v-very much right. I... I guess I was worried before, b-because it's an unusual relationship, so I didn't want to disagree over anything. D-Didn't want to stir the water cause it was so perfect. Perfect, and... and not real." Both men were looking at her now, eyes heavy. She squirmed. It was a heavy topic, one she'd been afraid to have, but if Matt was willing to talk about, she should be too. And no offense to Matt, but she was the better thinker. "But real relationships aren't p-perfect, right? They're messy, and problematic, and... and there should b-be room for us to get into arguments about stuff, and not w-worry the relationship will die."