YARA ROSEWOOD
Yara's feet bounce anxiously as Clayton drives them back to Tares - Her peaceful reprieve in Clearmeadow brought to an end.
"I can't believe Kellan's gone," She says sadly. She glances over to Clayton who has a death grip on the steering, his breathing heavy.
"I don't understand why hunters were at the restaurant in the first place! He growls out. "There's no reason for hunters to be sniffing around us!"
"Let's just get to Darla first, then we'll know what to do."
~
Clayton pulls his pickup truck to a stop in front of the restaurant, Yara gasping at the scene before her. Her once magnificent window wall was shattered, and broken pieces of glass littered between the pavement and her restaurant. She smelled the blood before her eyes found the source, a trail leading back into the main dining area.
"Holy shit! How many were there!" Dalton comments as he and Jensen walk up to them - having followed along in Jensen's car.
With a heavy, defeated sigh, Yara walks over the glass shards, her heeled boots crunching with each step. She glances over the damage as she passes, following the trail of blood through the room.
"Lee," She says his name softly as her eyes land on his body leaning against a table. Neither of them needed to physically check his pulse to know that he was gone.
"He got shot at the window, dragged himself over here before he succumbed to his injuries," Dalton says, his voice firm, his eyes scanning the floor around them.
"One bullet wound to the chest. It seems to have missed his heart or anything major. Must've been whatever poison they loaded the thing with," Jensen adds to his friend's assessment.
"We should find Darla," Clayton says putting a hand on her shoulder. Taking the stairwell, they head to the second floor, finding Darla in the middle of the hallway, lying over Kellan.
"Oh Darls," Yara sighs softly, rushing to her, pulling her into a hug that sent her into sobs once more.
"Sweetie, I'm so sorry," Yara whispers, stroking her hair.
"He's gone. He's gone," She cries into Yara's shoulder. "I left him, he told me to go get Decker and the others when we realized...I should have stayed. I could have saved him! It's my fault, I left him!" She sobs.
"That's not true Darla," Yara begins. "Kellan wanted you and the baby safe you know that."
"We could have taken them together!"
"You could've been killed too."
"Then at least we would've all gone together," She murmurs as she lets go of Yara, moving back to Kellan's body.
"There were two of them. They came from your office. Decker and the others went after them, I heard their car speed off," Darla informs them before going quiet. Seeing the distant look in her sorrowful eyes, Yara knew she wasn't going to get more information out of her.
Getting up, she walks to the guys, a tear falling down her cheek as she leans into Clayton.
~
JENSEN CARTER
Jensen's heart hurts at the situation and the callous loss they'd suffered. He and Dalton had become good friends with Kellan since the incident at the gym and it was hard for him to see his lifeless body lying there - While his wife clutched onto him. He'd known loss before, his heart understood her pain, but his mind also understood that they needed to move on the situation.
It was sheer luck that no one had reported the noise or destruction coming from the restaurant or happened upon it by chance. Jensen acknowledged that it was late at night and the streets were empty but he also knew these conditions won't remain that way for long.
"Listen up," He begins, his voice soft but his tone assertive - His team leader traits coming into play. "We need to get ahead of this situation before it gets out of our control. As far as we know, no one's reported anything. Yara, you need to decide how this is going to go. Are we going to keep this quiet and clean the mess ourselves, or do you want to involve the police and take a legal route? Just know, though... your cameras in this hall and the stairwell are down. The main floor ones are still running but it probably hasn't caught much. That's not much for them to work with."
Yara looks at him, wiping her tears as she thinks over his words. To her side, Clayton's head shoots up to where the cameras are located, his brow rising in shock seeing that Jensen was right. "Quiet, we have to do it quietly. The hunters won't go to the police and even if we do, it won't do us any good." Yara responds.
Jensen gives her a nod, satisfied with her response, "Here's what's going to happen," He begins again, eyes going to Clay. "First we need to secure the area. Tarp and construction tape, do you have any here, or in the truck?"
"Yeah, I left some tarp in the basement storage here and I might have some loose ends of tape in the truck's bed."
"Good. Get the tape, get some chairs... use it to block off the window wall and the sidewalk. We'll sweep the shards to the side as well. We aren't calling the police, so no need to preserve the scene." Jensen instructs.
"The tarp?" Clayton asks.
"We need that to move Lee. His body can't stay where it is, it's too out in the open, and runs the risk of being seen." He answers, Clayton nodding in understanding. "Yara, dial Decker for me on your phone."
"Okay," She answers doing as he asked, handing him her cell.
"Get me an update on their situation," He says to Dalton as he passes the phone to him - Dalton nodding in response.
Turning back to Yara, he continues, "While he does that, go to your office, see what they were after and what's missing. Clay and I will start with the downstairs. When Dalton gets through with Decker he and I will go meet them. You will have to stay with Darla - we can't leave her and we won't be able to convince her to move just yet. Clay, you'll stay with Yara... just in case... Let's move!"
~
"I got a location from Decker. He says they'd just flipped the hunter's car, they're moving in now. He says they have it under control and they'd bring the bastards back here," Dalton rushes out to Jensen as he and Clay are in the middle of tying tape around the chairs on the sidewalk.
"Go, Jensen. You and Dalton," Clayton says to him. "I'll finish up here and deal with Lee's body. I'll call you if anything happens."
"Okay," Jensen nods, "D, let's go."
"And Jensen!" Clay called out to him as he walked away.
"Yeah?"
"Here, take my truck," Clayton says tossing his keys, "Take the extra tarp too."
~
DEAN STRAKEN
Dean wanted nothing more than for the night to be over but he knew that wasn't going to be the case. Following the fiasco at the supposed L-XV dealer's home, the three of them waited there for Quinn's organization's clean-up crew to arrive.
During that time, Quinn eagerly used Calvin's fascination to dive into a Lycan/Hunter teaching session. Dean didn't fault Calvin for this though, considering it was his first time seeing a fully shifted Lycan up close and in person. He did however give his friend props for aiming his comments and questions to him instead of Quinn.
Though that didn't deter her any, Quinn went into her extremist ideology every chance she got, at one point blaming the deceased victims in the room for their death. Calvin did his best to steer them clear of the topic but Quinn had a talent for bringing it up.
When Dean had asked what was going to become of the Lycan, she told him that her organization would handle it. "They'll first determine if it would be able to shift back into human form. If it does, they'll interrogate it, if not, they'd put it out of its misery." She's explained with a shrug. Dean wondered if that was the full truth. Nothing about this seemed right. The skeptical part of him wondered if there was any chance it could be a ruse or a carefully orchestrated ploy.
Upon, the organization's arrival, Quinn received a call which she took in the privacy of a corner away from them. Reading her lips, Dean could make out the words 'yes sir', 'no sir', and 'he is'. When she'd returned to them, her face morphed into a friendly smile, as she spoke more to Calvin than him. "Hope it's not past your bedtime. We have another lead."
Which led them back to Quinn's car, heading off to another mysterious location.
~
"And why did you get shotgun again?! I'm sitting in front next time!" Calvin complains childishly making Dean shake his head with an eye roll. Quinn surprised him by letting out a laugh. Not acknowledging it, Calvin goes on about being in the backseat - challenging Dean to a game of rock, paper, scissors next time for the front seat.
~
"What's the situation this time Brooks?" Calvin asks after a moment of silence.
"Observe and Report. Intel says there's a new dealer, we're going to check it out. It seems he's popular among their groups with a habit of distributing more than selling. But we're instructed to not interfere." She answers.
"So he gives away his stock for free?" Dean asks curiously.
"Seems that way," Quinn replies.
"Interesting."
"This is the place, Wilson grab the black case from the trunk would you," Quinn says as she pulls to the side of the road and turns off the ignition. Dean looks around seeing that they were in one of the more abandoned, crime-ridden parts of Tares. The area once was a city-founded neighborhood, but a devastating fire changed that. Now it served as a hotspot for gang crimes and drug deals.
Quinn exits the car before he can voice any opinion, Dean exiting as well. Walking to Calvin's side just as he shuts the trunk, his friend gives him an incredulous, his brows raised couple with a soft sigh. Dean gives him a single pat on the shoulder in return just as Quinn walks to them. "Follow me," She instructs simply, moving without any response from them nor giving them the chance to ask questions.
Giving Calvin a shrug, he follows behind her, wanting to see what the night will bring. Part of him expected that there was more to this stakeout but what? - that he couldn't figure out.
He and Calvin follow Quin into an abandoned apartment complex, moving through the stairwell until they exit on the roof.
The cool night breeze whistled softly, blowing lightly through them. The sky was a deep, clear blue and the moonlight reflected on broken window panes of nearby abandoned structures' windows. The majority of the stars were blocked out by thick grey clouds, the moon hidden from sight as well. The darkness was a bonus for them.
Taking the case from Calvin, Quinn opens it, handing them each a monocular before retrieving another for herself. "Holy shit Brooks. Are these -"
"AN/PVS-14," She answers nonchalantly as if they weren't discussing military-grade equipment. "Here they come, be extra quiet, remember their senses are heightened," She says directing her statement to Calvin, speaking as if it were a teaching moment.
Stooping low, the three of them creep to the building's edge, peering through their night vision monocular.
On the street below, just two buildings away, Dean sees two motorcycles pull up, a car trailing behind them. To his side, he sees Quinn pulling out a pair of headphones and a long-distance listening device. Seeing him staring at her, she raises a brow in question at him. Though Dean did have a question - which was why she alone would be listening, he didn't voice it. It wasn't the time and he didn't want any hiccups to be on him. Turning back to his monocular, he sees a total of four men standing together, seemingly waiting. A few minutes pass before another car pulls up with its headlights off - two persons exiting the vehicle.
The group begins conversing, their interactions seemingly friendly, two of them even sharing a laugh. Dean figured all of the persons below were Lycan considering the circumstance and Quinn's intel.
Pulling out something Dean couldn't see from his angle, one of the men hands it over to the pair that came in the car. They talk some more before shoving the item back at one who initially pulled it out. Their shouts echoed slightly through the empty streets but Dean still couldn't make out their exact words.
Watching intently, he sees one of them take the item before bringing it to his mouth - head tilted back dramatically. The group below all stand stiffly, watching each other in silence. None of them making a move.
After two minutes of this - according to Dean's counting - the man hands the item - which Dean was now one hundred percent sure was L-XV, back to the duo. One of the two takes it while the other reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wallet.
Dean assumed that this was the end of what they came to see, a drug deal for the L-XV, but the group below proves him wrong. The one who taken the drug begins to scream as he hunches over - dropping to his knees. One of his friends places a hand on his back which he shoves off before falling face-first onto the street.
Through the night version, Dean sees the man slowly become less human. His body jerks violently against the asphalt, the man mindlessly grinding his face into the floor. His hands flex at odd angles before long claws sprout from his nails. He continues screaming into the ground in agony as his back hunches - shirt ripping as the imprint of his spine pushes through.
"What the hell is he...is he shifting? Why does he look like that?" Calvin voices.
"It's their drug. He did that to himself," Quinn answered lowly, her voice unsympathetic.
"Is it over, is he dead?" Calvin asks as the man stops screaming and lays motionless on the ground.
"With that drug, you never know.." Quin supplies.
Seemingly wanting to know the same, one of his partners walks up to him, placing a hand on his half shifted form. No sooner had the man laid his hand on his friend did he got attacked. The man's body pushes through the rest of the shift, looking painful and forced. With no screams accompanying the remainder of the shift, he fully transforms into a grotesquely mutated Lycan.
"Shit, what the hell is that!" Calvin voices, Dean hearing the uneasiness in his voice - the grip on his monocular tight.
The duo move in sync, backing up hastily from the rest and dashing to their car, however, instead of fleeing they each pull out a shotgun from the vehicle.
"What the hell, they were prepared for this?!" Calvin hisses.
"Hunters," Dean supplies as Quinn stays quiet, watching the scene below unfold.
"I thought they were all Lycan, that this was a Lycan drug deal we were watching," Calvin adds.
"So did I," Dean replies.
The sound of gunshots began to fill the night as the two hunter fire shot into the mutant Lycan, the beast turning its attention to them - charging forward, jumping onto one.
"We have to -" Calvin begins but Quinn cuts him off with a definitive "No."
"Aren't those your people down there?" Calvin asks, he whispers bordering on hysterical.
"There's nothing we can do."
The other two Lycans transform, the first one to complete his shift jumping onto his friend's beast.
"Holy shit," Calvin gasps as he watches the three Lycans fight each other now, attention no longer on the hunters - one of whom heads to their car's trunk.
"It doesn't know itself anymore. It doesn't recognize friends. All it knows is bloodlust," Quinn states to them, Dean looking at her to she she was watching Calvin.
~
ARROW BERLIN
Time moved slowly for Arrow, her mind aware of everything happening around her. Her eyes locked with Nicholas as they both flew forward, out of their seats as the car went airborne. In their hurry to escape the Lycans, neither had remembered their seat belt - a costly mistake.
She sees Nicholas collide with the shattering windshield as she herself is thrown into the car's steering. The car continues to flip, the groaning of metal bending competing with the sounds of breaking glass. A harsh force burns her and pushes her back, the airbag choosing then to deploy. Arrow feels the pain of the whiplash in her neck - a ringing in her ears drowning out the noise of the car's destruction.
Arrow loses track of events, finding herself waking in a now still, upside-down vehicle. Her neck bent painfully on the car's rough, her body slumped over on itself having no support. Blood trickled on the surface next to her but she didn't know which part of her was bleeding.
"Nicholas," She gasps out getting no response from him. Instead, the purr of an engine approaches them, bright headlights shining at them. Her eyes burn at the unwelcome stimuli, sending shooting pains up to her skull.
With a whimper, Arrow begins pushing herself the best she can, one of her wrists slumping under her weight with a stabbing pain that makes her cry out. Doors slam in the distance, Arrow knowing that her time was limited. These Lycans were coming and they were in no shape to fight, much less defend themselves.
Huffing out three hard breaths to psych up herself, Arrow uses all her energy to right her position - doing her damned best not to scream out in agony. Her already busted lips begin to bleed as she bit into it in her effort to keep silent.
She'd moved, but not much.
"Think, think, think..." She murmurs, looking over the car's interior. Nicholas was slumped over to the side of her, his body alarmingly unmoving. The gun he had was strewn too far for her to reach in time, and she had no idea where hers had ended up.
"Think Arrow, think, think," She murmurs again seeing three pairs of feet come to stand before the wrecked car.
"Should we just finish them here?" She hears one of the males ask.
"Darla would want in on this, can't deny her that." Another voice answers.
"They killed Kellan and Lee, they deserve to suffer."
"I can see the girl moving, hear a heart racing. The boy's own is faint, must be passed out. We might just have to take her alone." One adds.
"We'll take the two."
'Like hell!' Arrow thinks to herself, suddenly struck with an idea.
~
Making it to the glove compartment, Arrow pulls out the case she'd seen Nicholas stuff in there. Moving fast, she opens it, taking out multiple needles and one of the vials. She overfills two needles, not caring about measurements. Taking the other vial, she does the same with two more needles.
She could only conceal them by angling her hand as a pair of boots came directly before her, standing where the driver-side door used to be.
"Your time has come hunters." The man says before reaching a hand in to grab Arrow's ankle.