DEAN STARKEN
Finally spotting his target, Dean gets up from his seat and begins heading in their direction. Brisk, purposeful strides get him there in an instant - Dean forcing a pleasant smile onto his face as he readies himself to speak.
"Quinn, wait up," He calls out to the person he'd been waiting the entire day to talk to.
"What is it Straken? I'm swamped," She replies to him in a not-so-polite manner which Dean brushes off.
"I wanted to talk to you about your task force," He begins, finding himself cut off by her laughter.
"Ha, I saw this coming a mile away!" She laughs. "The answer is no, and I won't be changing my mind. Goodbye Straken, I have things to do."
"Wait Quinn-"
"I said no Straken!"
Dean lets out a groan as he watches her walk away from him, returning to his seat with a dejected sigh. "No luck, huh? I told you so." Calvin voices from his desk.
"Still had to try that route, you know," Dean begins. "But I have one more avenue to try before I give up on this."
"Let's say you do get in the task force, then what? It's hers, I'm sure she'll find a way to keep us separated and have me in her sights 24/7" Calvin rebuts.
"One problem at a time. We can work around that once I get myself in," Dean states.
"You know, we have to give her props. Creating this task force. It's like multiple birds with one stone. She gets to get into my head with her hunter stuff, she gets to move in on Lycans under the disguise and protection of the law, she gets her organization closer to finding the drug, she'll probably get a promotion if this is successful, and who knows what other motives she's got."
"Yeah, she's a calculating one. Using this taskforce she created to get to you..."
"Maybe we're too hard on her. What if she wanted me in the task force because she genuinely thinks I have the skills to help? We've just been assuming the worst."
"Cal, there's no doubt in my mind that she'll use this opportunity to get to you. I just know it in my gut."
"Man, you sure you want to do this? Get pulled back into this mess?" Calvin begins. "I know what's up, I can just play my part and keep my distance. Make excuses or flat out run away anytime she brings up hunting."
Dean chuckles at his friend's statement, shaking his head. "I'm getting in." he declares, standing from his seat as he spots his captain. "Time for plan B," He says to Calvin.
"The captain? Damn, that's a low," Calvin snickers.
~
"STRAKEN!" Dean hears behind him as he opens his car door. Turning around, he sees an angry Quinn stomping toward him - Already knowing what was coming. Dean lets his car door shut as he waits for her to come to him, preparing himself for the conversation. He was ready, knowing exactly what angle he was going to play this at.
"Now Quin," He begins passively in hopes of calming her - His action having the opposite effect as he notices her fists clenching tightly.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ON STRAKEN?! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" She yells at him. Dean glances around the parking lot, noticing some officers stopping to look at them. There were a fair bit of people outside as it was the end of a work shift and the start of another.
"Quinn, I know you're angry-"
"Angry!" She interrupts. "I'm not just angry Straken. I am pissed, annoyed and disrespected! You went to the captain, over my head, behind my back - To get into my task force! After I explicitly told you I didn't want you in it. You think you can just have your way in this precinct! You are a self-"
"I CAN'T LEAVE CALVIN ON HIS OWN!" Dean exclaims cutting off Quinn's rant.
Quinn scoffs at him, speaking before he can continue, "Oh, is that it? You can't leave your friend with me? Why on earth? Is this because of the last case we worked together? Because we have different perspectives on the world? It's that right? Do you think that I'm some kind of dangerous extremist hunter so now I shouldn't recruit your friend to work with me - at our job?! A major opportunity for him might I add! His skill on this -,"
"No, it's not like that."
"He's a big boy, Straken. He can make his own judgments and decisions. He said yes to my task force, I didn't force him, he could have declined, " She argues.
"Stop and let me explain, okay?" Dean says, holding his hands up before him in surrender. Quinn folds hers in response, glaring at him, giving him his chance to speak.
"Look," Dean begins. "I'll be honest, our last major case..it was Lycan related...and I almost lost him. Twice, in fact." He explains softly to her, watching her expression soften as he'd hoped. "Calvin is my best friend. He's like my brother. The only person I truly have in this world and I was helpless then. There was nothing I could do to save him...help him, and he almost died. I need to be there with him. Tares is way messier than it was, and this task force is going to carry him deep into these situations. I...I can't lose him, Quinn."
"Straken-"
"I know it was low and underhanded, me going to the captain to get in, and I'm sorry... but I was desperate. I have to be by his side through all this."
Quinn lets out a heavy sigh, the two of them standing in silence as she thinks over Dean's words. Dean waited anxiously, hoping that the angle he'd chosen to play would work.
"Alright, Straken," Quinn responds reluctantly with a stiff nod, turning to walk away without saying anything more. Turning back to his car, Dean lets a smug smile grace his features, his plan having worked perfectly.
~
Two days after landing himself a spot on Quinn's task force, Dean and Calvin find themselves in Quinn's first official meeting. She'd recruited seven others, making them ten in total.
"Alright, guys. Let's get to it. We've wasted enough time," Quinn addresses the room. "First, let's get this out of the way - All of us in this room know about Lycans. I've hand-selected everyone here because, one, you're aware of the situation or you're a hunter and two, I think your practical skills will be an asset in helping us achieve the goal of this task force."
Dean looks around the room at Quinn's words, having never thought these particular persons before him were hunters. he knew the force was full of them, but knowing whom exactly was a little surprising to him.
"So, by now we're all aware of the L-XV, yes?" Quinn begins again, pausing for the room to nod in response. "Well, this task force's purpose is to find the head manufacturer and distributor of the drug. Our goal is to get that cursed thing off the street and stop more Lycans from becoming mutated super beasts. They're bad enough as is, we don't need them indestructible and on a rampage through our streets."
"Damn right!" Daniel, a detective Dean had worked alongside a couple of times comments.
"Now, I'm part of a hunter organization. I'm under the Kennedys. The Kennedys recently came to Tares as they are expanding their empire. Daniel, Luther, and Kaylah here m are also part of that organization. Kaylah recently transferred over to us. There's another organization in the city run by the Berlins." Quinn explains.
Dean's eyes rise slightly at the mention of the Berlin name, but he reigns in his surprise - Intently listening on.
"They've been the main and only hunter organization here in Tares until recently." She says to them.
"Are we going to be working with them?" Calvin asks, leaning back into his seat.
"The opposite, actually. We're going to be staying far away from them," Quinn answers. "That organization is in a mess at the moment. Policy changes, power struggles... isn't that right Kaylah?"
"Yeah, that's right. That's not even the half of it." Kaylah responds. "It's why I transferred."
"You may think we're all hunters so that automatically puts us on the same side but it's more complicated than that," Quinn continues. "So to avoid any misunderstandings, this will stay strictly between my organization and us on this task force. No one else. Got it?"
Everyone in the room either nods or murmurs a 'yes' in response, Dean nodding along with them. He'd manage to keep his expression impassive but he was majorly confused about Quinn and Kaylah's comments regarding the Berlin organization. Quinn's voice breaks his thoughts as she begins to speak again.
"Down to business now," She begins, walking to the pin-up board in the room. Opening a file, she begins taking out photographs, pinning them for the room to see. "Persons of interest, we have Vincent Rockwell, his sister Viviane, and his son Ezra. Second to them we have Doctor Mattias Woodroffe. Next to him, Theresa Henning, and Dallas Henning, both scientists. Next, Jackson Reynolds. And last but not least, the Berlins. The deceased Allister Berlin, his brother Elmann Berlin, and Allister's daughter, Arrow Berlin." Here's what we have on them," She says handing a stack of files to Kaylah who passes them down to everyone.
"I thought you said the Berlins are hunters," Calvin interjects, opening his file.
"They are, but that doesn't mean they can't get up to no good," Quinn replies.
"You think Arrow Berlin has a part to play in this? Seems more her father and uncle than she," Dean starts, trying to remain impassive as he flips through the pages before him
"We thought so at first too, but circumstantial evidence we've collected says otherwise. As you can see in her file there, she's quite deeply involved with Ezra Rockwell." Quinn explains to him. "We are going to infiltrate everyone on this board, we're going to use what we know and the law to get us in and bring down their whole operation. Get rid of this drug once and for all."
~
YARA ROSEWOOD
Stokes of reds, oranges, and yellows melt over the blue sky as the sun slowly dips out of sight. A cool breeze filters through, rustling the leaves on tree tops, making the tallest of grass blades sway to the side; bending the flowers as it passes by. Laughter fills the air as Yara pours herself another glass of wine. She looks out the window with a smile on her face, watching Clayton and Jensen struggle to regain their composure from laughing so hard - Dalton sitting to the side in mock anger at being the subject of their joke—an embarrassing story from when he and Jensen had just enlisted.
Grabbing three beers from the fridge, she heads back out to the group, stepping over a bag of cement that had fallen over in the walkway. setting the bottles down she steps back to look at the progress. "I can't wait until this is complete," She says aloud the guys murmuring in agreement.
"It's coming along quicker than scheduled, it'll be done in no time," Clayton says looking up at their cabin - which he was in the process of renovating and expanding, turning their once tiny cabin into a home. A passion project he'd rope Jensen and Dalton into. He'd drawn up the plans and blueprints himself, with plans to add a second story with a rooftop balcony, a screened porch area, and improved stone pathways.
Yara wraps an arm around her fiancé, leaning into him. The chime of a new text on Jensen's phone grabbed her attention. "Ooh, is it Naomi?" She asks, her voice slightly teasing.
"Do you not see the twinkle in his eye?! It definitely is!" Dalton says joining in on the teasing. Though their relations with him were rocky upon their first few interactions, they'd quickly warm up to each other, their mutual friendship solidifying as Jensen and Clayton's was repaired. She didn't fault him for the initial friction though, knowing he was simply loyal to Jensen - his longest friend and teammate.
"You know, I still haven't met her properly," Yara starts.
"Yes, you have, twice!" Jensen replies.
"Nope, not true. The first time I met her was at the hospital and that was for a minute at most!"
"I brought her to your restaurant opening."
"Are you kidding, I was so busy I probably spoke to her for two minutes then!" She argues making both Jensen and Dalton laugh.
"Ah, maybe next time you see her it'll be for three minutes!" Dalton snickers.
"Ha ha!" She voices sarcastically with an eye roll. She goes to return a snide remark but the shrill of her phone interrupts her. Seeing Darla's name on the screen she answers the call.
"Hey, Dar. You and Kellan finish at the -"
"YARA!" Darla screams, Yara having to move the phone slightly away. "THEY KILLED HIM! THEY KILLED MY KELLAN!" She cries.
All the guys stiffen, their eyes snapping to her having heard Darla's cries.
"Where are you? Where are you, Darla? Who killed him? Are you safe?" Yara fires off, getting to her feet.
"I'm at your restaurant. It was hunters."