venice/chicago ♔ i need a summer like a winter in my heart

[romanticidal]

♬ Winter In My Heart - VAST

WHO || Rafael Giovanni, Buffy, Myri, Dumage, Kat, Gar [closed]
WHAT || The Knights regroup and then go their separate ways
WHERE || Knight's hotel room in Venice > Flight to Chicago
WHEN || July 7th
HOW || Actionspam

And back to the hotel go the ladies, ready to say their goodbyes, with Myri & Buffy heading to Chicago to reunite Rafael with Jade, and Kat & Gar meeting the rest of the team back at the castle to try to convince Wynn to let them remain on their mission...

[ooc; see subthreads!]

Comments

[romanticidal]

[ he shakes his head ] I have not. But there are so many such organizations, everywhere in the world, that it is not surprising.

[slay]

Not all of them connected to Jade. [ she says it grimly. ] I just ... I don't get it. I mean, Jade turns out to be a person, we follow the breadcrumbs to NOVA, which sends us looking for Angelo who just happens to be at your show? [ she deflates, cheeks puffing out. ] I don't like thinking the bad guys understand this running in circles thing better than we do.

[romanticidal]

This is why I must speak to Eterna. There may be things she did not wish to share with someone she did not know.

... She has her reasons for being distrustful.

[slay]

Mm. I don't blame her. Not all Shadowkind get the carpet rolled out and invitations to knighthood. [ she gives a nod. after a beat, she sits up suddenly, looking at him. ] Wait. You said NOVA tried to recruit you before, right? I know you said it was another guy, um, Dirk ... Dirk Smitland, right? But, does the name Chad Becksworth mean anything to you?

[romanticidal]

One of the brothers, who owns the company. [ he shrugs ] This is something most people in the music world know.

But it was not him who met with Jade and I in Chicago. It was his brother, Burt Becksworth. He sat in on the meeting.

[slay]

[ buffy takes a moment, trying to digest this. why would burt take lead on a meeting with shadowkind when chad was the one so interested in donating money to anti-shadowkind organizations? ]

What was it that turned you off of signing with the company?

[romanticidal]

I was not interested in the first place. We really went for Eterna, though there was a discussion about me while we were there. But our place was with the movement, and the attention so much fame would put on us would take us away from that.

[slay]

Yeah, well, by the sound of it, the movement saved you from a seriously bad situation. Chad Becksworth's the one funding the anti-Shadowkind groups and gathering their DNA. What he wants it for ... I can only imagine. [ she shakes her head. ] We've got knights on it, though.

[romanticidal]

May I ask... how is she?

[slay]

Jade? [ buffy perks up. oh. right. close. she softens. ] I didn't get to know her well enough to tell. She's singing at a club, this place called Nightscape. [ she smiles. ] She's really good, too.

[romanticidal]

I see. [ it's a bittersweet 'I see'. he's just going to stare at a spot on the wall of the plane k ]

[slay]

[ she watches him for a moment, then settles back in her seat, glancing away from him with a sigh. ]

The truth is, I don't know if she's the Jade you remember. What I know is she's alive. And, we're going to make sure you see her again.

[romanticidal]

I cannot tell you how much this means to me.

[ a beat ] You said she was in danger. This is because of what she is believed to be connected to?

[slay]

Yeah-huh. Problem is, these anti-Shadowkind groups want the Eternal Jade, and it's got something to do with her, which means until we figure out what that connection is and beat them to it ... [ she doesn't feel the need to explain further. ]

[romanticidal]

... Then they will still be coming after her.

[ he rubs a hand across his mouth, eyebrows knitted together ] You will have my help, in any way I can. Isabella and Hiro have contacted our allies here: they will be able to hold off our enemies and try to see how far information has traveled about our identities.

filed under things i thought i responded to

[slay]

Hopefully you can keep it contained and continue your work for Shadowkind in Italy without too much trouble. Was, um. [ she looks concerned. ] Was Paolo a friend of yours? [ that was the name, right? the guy who'd outed him? ]

i wondered..............

[romanticidal]

... Paolo was a friend, yes, and our contact with the Resistance. He worked under the guise of a visiting stable hand, and would leave us intelligence on assignments when he came, warn us of dangers, anything the Resistance needed to tell us. We trusted him with our lives.

SORRY

[slay]

Does this mean you won't be able to get in touch with them anymore? But, who's gonna warn them that he turned traitor?

uh huh

[romanticidal]

We have worked with others before. We know how to reach them in an emergency. Isabella will do her best to contact them.

;o;

[slay]

I hope she gets to them before he can do much damage. [ she stops, glancing over at rafael, softening as she realizes that being so ... business-y about it might be harsh. ] I'm sorry.

♥

[romanticidal]

[ he flinches just a little, but seems to accept her sympathy as genuine. ] It is a hazard, in such business. But the people you put your trust in literally hold your life in their hands... so we do not lay that trust lightly.

[slay]

Which makes it hurt worse when you find out you put it in the wrong place. [ she nods, understanding. ] If there's anything we can do to help ... I mean, assuming we don't get reassigned, obviously.

[romanticidal]

I would feel better not dragging either one of you into it. There are already those I care about in danger.

[slay]

[ she hesitates, expression quiet with uncertainty. ]

Care about? [ he cares about them? she chokes the numb surprise down and just nods. ] I. Right. Makes sense. But, as you may have noticed? Kinda durable here. Plus, y'know, volunteering for dragging. W-Which makes it less drag, more, uh. Guide. Guiding us into it.

[romanticidal]

You are very kind. But I do not know how much either of you can do... It will depend on what Hiro and Isabella find while we are gone.