knightsoflegend | chicago ♔ but close my eyes for a while | and force from the world a patient smile

Entry tags:

chicago ♔ but close my eyes for a while | and force from the world a patient smile

♬ Evil - Interpol

WHO || Spike, Francesca, Archer, Myri, Finnick, Elena, Buffy, Des, Gar, Mark, Kat, Rafael, Isabella, Jaka, Burt, Violet, Luthir, Val'drin, ??[Closed]
WHAT || The Knights prepare for the trial of Rafael Giovanni and face a few revelations along the way
WHERE || Various locations, Chicago
WHEN || July 17th - November 21st [Back AND Forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order!!

The trial of Rafael Giovanni looms on the horizon, as summer gives way to fall, the chill in the air creating a definite atmosphere of foreboding as the date grows closer. It's not merely Rafael's freedom on the line after all - but also Des', thanks to the deal he struck with Iscariot. While Francesca and Val'drin work to uncover the secret of the mysterious hourglass artifact, lawyer Jaka Teken'Duis uses his ... unique legal powers to work towards a "Temporary Insanity" case for Rafael. The Knights, unhappy about the potential ramifications of such a plea, continue to seek any evidence they can to show Rafael was actually innocent, and place conspiracy charges back on Chad Becksworth and his ilk for what transpired. Not everything they learn, however, is what they were hoping to find...

Others wage more personal battles, as the coming autumn signals the encroaching winter, and Luthir and Violet's time draws shorter to find a way to stop her nightmares, lest they kill her. Elena plays a dangerous game, working to uncover more of her nature by training her doppelganger powers - with the enemy.

This log covers any work and non-work related shenanigans the Knights have while staying in Chicago, immediately following the three mission logs and continuing for four months. This will be the Knight's last time in Chicago before the trial: after which they plan to return to the castle to fully Knight Violet and Dawn and decide where to head next.

Make your own threads, don't fuss about tag order, feel free to threadjack multiple people into one thread for hang-outs, ask me if you want a certain scene with an NPC, etc. forever whatever. There will be a few group scenes, which I'll alert everyone to on Plurk. They may not all be posted immediately, so keep an eye on this post for new threads as time goes by. Please wait to post social threads here until we reach a certain point in the top group thread. I will alert you all when you are free to post.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ at the exact same moment that vi's bowl hits the floor, rafael is on his feet across the room, horror mingling with frantic anger beneath his cold expression. ] What are you saying.

I opened the door for James. I-- didn't know why he was there, alright? I didn't know what was going to happen...

Right. Which I'm sure has everything to do with why you didn't tell us. It couldn't possibly be that you're still lying, it's not like we have security cam footage or anything that looks like a really different story.

[ she looks pointedly over at kat. ]

Show them.

[ her gaze flickers over to rafael briefly, not entirely happy but at the same time grimly sympathetic. she's ready, by the looks of it, to get between him and mark if she has to. ]

[ ♬ disappointed - nine inch nails

kat is already whipping out her laptop from her bag, setting it on the table and spinning it around so that most of the room can see.

she touches the screen and it hums to life, yanking up a duplicate of an officer's e-mail, and an attached video file. it's labeled 'surveillance 108270__faa' at the top and is in slightly grainy black and white, but the figures and location are recognizable: it's the back alley behind the concert hall. the date of the concert is stamped across the lower left, and mark is visible, talking to violet. there's no sound, but the two of them seem engaged in some kind of intense conversation. mark looks anxious, continuously looking over his shoulder, and as violet listens, she begins to look worried as well. she moves forward, placing a hand on his arm tenderly and he looks slightly relieved. his relief seems to grow when she withdraws and moves back to the stage door, stopping with her hand on the bar to turn back and make one last comment. mark turns his face away, and vi gives him one last lingering worried glance before disappearing inside.

mark collapses to sitting on the steps, and buries his face in his hands, shoulders shuddering slightly, but abruptly he looks up as if he heard a noise. there's no recognition in his expression, but definite apprehensive understanding, and when roger james steps into view of the camera, mark gets to his feet. he looks back at the door hesitating visibly, as james steps closer to him, demanding something. mark mutters a response and then james jams a finger into his chest and gestures at the door. terror overtakes mark's expression again, but then he nods, resigned again and goes to peek inside.

he looks back out moments later, and nods gingerly, waving james in. the assassin pushes past him and marches inside, and leaves mark staring at the door as it swings closed.

the feed cuts out instantly there. kat watches the feed with a disgusted, pained look on her face. ]

[Elena really wants to believe that there has to be some kind of misunderstanding, but it's also obvious that the others have seen something the rest of them haven't yet, and she finds herself unconsciously standing, just to get away from him, to get a better view.

What she sees makes her stomach flip.

When it's finally over, she swallows past her dry throat, glancing back at him.]

Did he threaten you?

[She's still desperately hoping that there's more to it than this.]

[As the video plays, Myri's brows knit together in concern and confusion. The exchange with Violet makes her turn towards the girl briefly, glancing as if asking if the remembers this. Bringing her focus back to the recording, she steps back, mouth dropping slightly in horror. One hand reaches up to cover her mouth, looking on unblinking until the feed cuts. All she can do is turn to Mark, looking so betrayed and hurt and scared of what she's just witnessed.]

...Why?

[Violet doesn't return Myri's look because she's too busy watching the screen, looking pale and shaken and like she's going to be sick.]

That was it then. [Is isn't a question, but she's looking at Mark like she wants him to tell her it's not true anyway.] That's what your family wanted you to do. Why.

My family never wanted this. [ he looks distraught at the very idea. ] I did it because-- someone told me to. [ he shifts uncomfortably in place, eyeing archer's gun across the room. ] I couldn't tell them no.

Save it. You had a choice, and you made the wrong one. Now you're gonna tell us who told you to. Who have you been working for?

[ there's the singing sound of metal as isabella draws up her sword over by rafael. there are sure a lot of weapons/projectiles in this room. it's a friendly place. gurl looks customarily pissed, but in that really unfortunate way where she has someone to direct at it legitimately. ] Why is that even a question? Is it not clear he has been working with the men who wanted Jade dead?

[Archer sighs, and stares at Finnick.]
Fine. I really don't give a damn anyway.

[He hands his gun to Finnick.]
You sort this mess out.

[And he just pulls a whole bottle of Whiskey from the freezer.]

[ Dawn isn't quite sure what to think right now, except that maybe people are a little too trigger-happy right now. She glances around the room before her eyes settle on Mark, a genuinely sad expression on her face. ]

You--you couldn't have known that was going to happen, right? Why couldn't you tell them no?

[finnick stares down at the gun feeling not unlike how kanye west feels about water bottles. he'll just ... move it to the side ... far away from archer. also, he finally addresses mark:]

Were they going to kill you?

I -- I wasn't working for anyone. I work for the Knights. You guys are my-- [ he stops himself, throwing a desperate look at dawn ] Elena asked if he threatened me. If that was all that happened, I'd have laughed right in his face.

It's-- it's my ... family.

Mark, just... [She sighs softly, seeming to wilt..] Remember Atlas? You said not forever.

[Elena's face falls, because this is the reason she was looking for and yet it's HORRIBLE.

Her voice is quiet.]

You should have told us...

[ gently: ] We could -- we can help. That's what we do, Mark. Especially for the people we care about.

You can't. [ he says it firmly, rather than dismissively. ] No one can.

... And I haven't been carrying it entirely on my own, Vi. Wynn knows. He knows all about it.

[Des has been quiet this whole time, standing in the back of the room with his arms folded, listening, steadily growing angrier. Shooting Mark's kneecaps out won't bring Jade back. Mark's just an errand boy, not the man he wants, but hearing that Wynn knew about Mark's connections sets him reeling.]

And the son of a bitch wonders why I don't wanna join his team. [He laughs, wheezy and half-mad.] I ain't surprised. You know the reason why Jade liked me more than any of you? It was because I didn't treat her like she was something valuable. Or a piece in whatever the hell this puzzle is. And that's all she's been. [He weaves around everyone, heedless of the drawn weapons, until he puts himself right in Mark's space.] Was her death part of it too, you spineless little marshmallow? Was she supposed to die? Why don't you stop with the can'ts and the wouldn'ts and tell me why? What was so wrong with this picture that you and Wynn and your goddamned family needed her out of it?

[He grabs Mark by the collar suddenly. (intimidate 31)] Tell me.

[Spike probably should stop Des. This decision clearly wasn't an easy one on Mark, and though Spike doesn't have a bloody clue what it's like having family to worry about, he imagines it complicates things a lot. But they could have found a way around it if they'd had some bloody clue of what was going on. At the very least, Jade could have worn a bulletproof vest under her dress.]

He's a useless bloody coward with a habit of getting his teammates hurt. That's why he didn't come to us. That's why he just let the wanker in.

[ gave you all - mumford and sons

with a mighty will save of six, mark flinches under des' grip, squeezing his eyes shut as tears threaten to form. he can't look at des and he stammers as he says: ] T-that's not how it worked. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I didn't know. I told you, my family's not behind this, the bad guys are in a p-position to hurt them, that's what Wynn knew. He doesn't know I -- he doesn't know they contacted me that night. J-just that I have a stake in all this.

I swear, they didn't ask until we were already there. I didn't have time to think long and hard on it or what it meant. All they told me was I had to let a man through a door, that's it, and if I didn't do it-- if I didn't do it, they'd--

I was wrong, I was terrified, I can't-- [ he picks a new word, remembering des' warning ] I didn't know what to do. I didn't think they'd try to kill her. We were all there, I thought--

I thought we could stop one guy from taking her.

Edited 2013-11-06 11:46 (UTC)

This isn't Mark's fault. I know we all want someone easy to blame, but he didn't do this. They did, and no one except him had to make that kind of decision. You can think it was cowardly all you want, but it was his family.

We knew Jade was in danger. We should have been able to protect her.

[They were all responsible for her safety, and while Mark had certainly made it harder, she had sympathy for his position.]

If it had been my family in danger, or someone I loved, I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing.

[That didn't make it right or brave, but it was an impossible decision to make.]

[The explanation makes Myri breathe easier. She had imagined that Mark and that man were somehow related, that this was only going to complicate things further. It did, of course, but in a way that was easier to understand.]

None of us can say with certainty what we would have done, if the right threat was placed before us. [She looks at the group around her. Nearly any of them would have been enough to make her do just about any task to keep them safe.]

But you could have tried to tell us, Mark. At least enough to know what we were getting ourselves into... [She hesitates, because secrets are kept sometimes to keep others safe, aren't they? Even with all their revelations, most of them came too late. They were after thoughts by then.]

We could have gotten her out. [Des releases Mark.] I wouldn't have left her.

[Because it's as much his fault- if he had stayed with her. If he had stayed backstage instead of going to the bar, because he was a heartbroken fool...]

I hope it was worth it.

You have to go.

[ buffy pipes up after some silence, not looking directly at them at first but steadily raising her gaze. she looks pointedly at mark, jaw tight. she doesn't like having to say this, doesn't like that he's broken their trust at all, but from where she's standing, it's the only way of making sure it doesn't happen again. ]

As long as they can get at your family, we can't trust you. [ her gaze flickers around the room, hesitating meaningfully on elena and anyone else who's being overly sympathetic right now. ] And anyone else who thinks they'd do the same, well you should leave now too, because we all signed up for this knowing that we'd be doing what was right as personal risk, that there might be a cost.

Anyone who they can give leverage over is a weak link we can't afford right now. They are already winning. We don't have time to worry about attacks from within.

[ she nods her head, apologetic but unrelenting. this is the only way. she doesn't have time to spare feelings or be gentle - people are dying, and it could have been prevented. ]

You need to leave. Get on a plane today, and go back to England, because you're only compromising this mission.

[ nat 20 diplomacy check ... ]

Edited 2013-11-06 20:04 (UTC)

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