new orleans ♔ there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck

[dragonsclaw]

♫ Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse

WHO || Buffy, Alainn, Rose, Sam, Dean, Faith, Felicity, Isabella  [closed]
WHAT || The Ex-Knights of Failboat head off to interrupt an auction for Rafael Giovanni's life...
WHERE || New Orleans, LA
WHEN || A couple weeks post-LA
HOW || Actionspam

Held in the grasp of the Knighthood's enemies for a stretch of time that has been an aching splinter in the heart of the ones who love him, Rafael Giovanni's life now stands up for auction.  Having made a number of powerful enemies in his days as the vigilante assassin The Black Scourge, including the secret Vatican police known as Iscariot, Draken Crombe's organization sought to capitalize on the many who sought revenge by sending out word that Eterna Jade was not, as his trial had seemed to prove, the Black Scourge at all, and offer the chance to kill or torture Giovanni to whoever would pay the largest sum.

The Knights, being made aware of this, did what they could to stymie this auction from coming to pass, and Buffy Summer and Jack Chessing managed to at least thwart it several times, leading to its cancellation and inevitable rescheduling elsewhere.  However, none of this led to Giovanni's actual location. 

The capture of Draken Crombe finally allowed them to learn of the latest plans for the auction - to be held at a location in New Orleans, a temple of some sort.  It seems that Crombe's other followers still intend to follow through with ridding themselves of Rafael, making it clear that even with Crombe in Knights' custody, the villains still have some organization or leadership.  Tia Ellison rattled out the plan by invading Crombe's mind, learning of the way that he had been psychically manipulated by the Mind Master for years, and doing what she could to start to heal his shattered psyche.  

Jack Chessing, eager to see Rafael rescued after their many efforts, cautioned however against sending too many on what might be a mission from which there is no returning.  To that end, they've tried to split the forces of their magic-users, fighters, and researchers.

Now, it's up to a few to save their friend... without losing any more.

Comments

[likedillinger]

How's that work, anyway? The [ he gestures vaguely at his chest ] Terminator regenerator thing?

[familybusiness]

[His brow furrows, like he doesn't really know how to explain this properly at all.]

It's kind of like...I focus the energy inward instead of outward. It's a lot of concentration and visualization, I guess.

[likedillinger]

So it's not like you [ he makes the motion again ] -- on your own?

[familybusiness]

It's not like some kind of crazy rapid regeneration or anything like that.

[He's not Wolverine.]

[likedillinger]

Look, I don't know how it works.

[familybusiness]

I'm working with a very limited skill set. Congratulations, you've already seen half of it.

[Baby psion over here.]

[likedillinger]

You talk to this Tia chick about it yet? [ mr. pc over here ]

[familybusiness]

[He shakes his head.]

Haven't had a chance yet. It's not really a conversation I want to have where other people can eavesdrop.

[For reasons. You know.]

It's first on my list when we get back.

[likedillinger]

You think yours is the same as what she can do? Or does it follow its own rules?

[familybusiness]

I don't know.

[Just being honest.]

I'm hoping she'll be able to tell me one way or the other.

[likedillinger]

And what if she doesn't know? [ do you have a plan sam ]

[familybusiness]

Then we'll figure it out- [So that's kind of a no.] -together.

[At least he's not gonna try and figure it all out on his own, right?]

[likedillinger]

[ he considers that for a moment, before nodding, satisfied ]

Yeah.

Yeah, we will.

[familybusiness]

[He nods as well, glad they're on the same page and got there without any yelling.

He'll change gears instead.]

I forgot to mention this before, but Felicity mentioned that she might want a sort of Hell 101 'class', just so that she knows what she's dealing with. It might not be a bad idea, all things considered.

[likedillinger]

She's probably not the only one. Not a bad call at all, and might drive home why it's a bad idea to go phoning up certain old friends.

[familybusiness]

We can only hope. Hopefully, they're a little less shell-shocked by the whole thing at this point, or at least enough that they can listen without getting defensive.

Those old friends got them good.

[likedillinger]

Yeah, well, I get it, trust me. No one likes to think they got fleeced that bad. You keep looking for a way to make it not true, so you don’t feel like such a sucker.

[familybusiness]

We should probably stick to the facts and try to field questions as best we can. The less personal we make it, the better.

[They don't need a situation where people start making excuses for the people who betrayed them.]

Then they'll know what they're up against and how to deal with it, at least.

[likedillinger]

They're gonna wanna know how I know some of this stuff.

[familybusiness]

[He's not sure that's gonna happen necessarily, but it begs the question...]

What are you willing to tell them?

[There's a lot Dean hasn't even told him, so it's a reasonable enough question.]

[likedillinger]

I don't know. There's some of it that I never wanna look back at, let alone tell them about.

[familybusiness]

I don't think they're gonna ask for details, for what's it's worth.

[Just a basic idea of where he's been and why this is important.]

They just don't want to feel like they have no idea what to expect.

[There's a long beat where he debates saying something else, before he finally just does it.]

One of these days, I want you to be able to tell me. There's a lot I still don't understand, too.

[likedillinger]

[ dean kind of fixes him with a stare for a long moment, before saying with a cautious detachment: ] What did you wanna know?

[familybusiness]

I don't know.

[He pauses a moment, trying to figure out what he's even attempting to say.]

I want to know what these people are capable of. I want to understand what you went through.

[With Jo and Bobby and Castiel. With him.]

I don't want to underestimate them. And I don't want to not be on the same page as you. And I don't want to be in a position where I might not see something coming.

[He doesn't want to make the same mistakes or fall into the same traps.]

[likedillinger]

[ faiiiiiiiir. hesitation before: ]


I don't know what she's told you. Or what you've heard elsewhere.

Maybe we should start there.