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

[shootfirst]

♬ 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.

Comments

EVERYONE ❧ important plot thread (hotel), night between july 17th and 18th

[shootfirst]

[ the morgue group made it back a couple hours ago and the marengo team isn't departing until the following day, which means everyone is home when spike completes his nat 20 drive check by spinning into a place out front of the hotel.

the car isn't even stopped before kat clambers out. as soon as they reach the dragon suite floor, she's slamming the hotel room door open. most of the inhabitants are still awake between nightmare-induced insomnia, strange sleep cycles, and having just returned from missions. kat stands in the doorway, shoulders hunched, a murderous rage in her eyes as she scans them all and her eyes light on mark, who's sitting between elena and gar on the couch. she growls out: ] Get the fuck away from him.

[isisagent]

[Archer stares bemusedly from the bar, Martini in hand.]

[Under his breath he remarks,] This oughta be good.

[graveflowers]

Archer, don't give her a reason to shoot you. [She was about to start digging in on her lucky charms, and the spoon is hovering near her mouth, but she's sort of staring between Kat and Mark in utter confusion.]

[notaroundme]

[Elena sure as hell looks surprised, but she's not moving anywhere. Because she's the kind of person who will jump in the middle if she has to.]

What's wrong, Kat?

[slay]

You've got about five seconds to fess up for yourself and try to explain before we do the fessing for you.

[ since kat is too pissed to even speak to mark, buffy will barrel right past her and point an accusatory finger at him. ain't nobody got time for these games, yo. and because as pissed off as she is, she's still slightly more reasonable than kat. slightly. because buffy feels hurt and upset and angry but she's also the person who gives 9000 chances to her friends. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike has his arms crossed behind Buffy and Kat and he is also glaring at Mark angrily.]

You didn't mention your family business was betraying your friends, mate.

[witchwoman]

[Myri is hanging with Vi when all hell starts breaking loose. As the situation escalates, she stands and crosses the room, looking around as if she can piece it together.]

Hold on...just- Everyone calm down. What's happened? What's all this about?

[65]

[finnick is over here at the bar with archer, martini also in hand. THEY'RE BONDING, OKAY. he's also looking pretty bemused, eyebrows raising.]

I'm assuming something happened with Mark.

[thank you, finnick.]

[nosdacariad]

[ panic crosses mark's features, his entire body going rigid as he stares at kat, looking like a cornered animal. his mouth works open and gets stuck there, as the blood drains from his face, and his eyes dart from one face to the next ] I don't-- I didn't-- [ and he seems to recognize instantly the futility of denial from the looks on their faces ] It-- it's not what it looks like.

[notaroundme]

[Wow, that reaction is not doing you any favors, Mark.]

Well, it sure looks like something, so if I were you, I'd come out with it. The rest of us have spilled enough secrets. It looks like it's your turn.

1/2

[rationalizes]

[ gar looks like a rug has just been pulled out beneath her, every last strand of her sanity about snapped. her voice wobbles a bit as she stares in hurt disbelief. ]

Mark... Please... please don't tell me--

2/2

[shootfirst]

[ the betrayal in gar's voice seems to incense kat further, and she shoves forward, bringing a hand up that's suddenly balancing a small ball of angry fire on the palm. ... this is a brand new trick. nothing like horrible anger to uncover new powers, surely that's healthy. ] Tell me why I shouldn't burn your skin off.

[graveflowers]

Kat, stop! [There's an odd snap to Violet's voice, sharp. This is what Mark wouldn't talk about.] He's the only one that know the whole story. And he's going to tell us. Before you set him on fire.

[witchwoman]

[Vi and Myri seem to react in tandem. As Vi calls out to reason with Kat, Myri rushes forward and wraps a hand gently around Kat's wrist, not trying to force her to stop but pleading silently.]

[shootfirst]

[ kat violently yanks her wrist away from myri, but she looks at her, seething, and the flame dies out. still, she grits her teeth and turns a glare back on mark. ] 30 seconds.

[nosdacariad]

[ ♬ nos da cariad - david gray

mark's eyes drop to the floor, and his brows knit together. it takes about 20 of those seconds before he manages a mumbled: ]

I opened the door for him.

[graveflowers]

[I opened the door for him. There's a crash as Violet drops her bowl of cereal onto the kitchen floor, eyes widening and her mouth dropping open in a horrified expression of understanding.]

Mark. Please don't say you mean at the concert, please.

[notaroundme]

[That's the first thing Elena thinks of too, because he was watching the back door. What other door would he be talking about?]

Why would you do that?

[Because there has to be a reason. There has to be.]

[isisagent]

[Archer downs his Martini, hurls the glass across the room, and pulls his gun out - pointing it at Mark.]

Because he's a double-agent, duh.

[He stares at the man who, just hours before, had bonded with him over horrible jokes.]

[65]

Archer, put down the gun. [diplomacy 31. even if he doesn't actually feel like being diplomatic, because wow he is giving mark some judgy face too.]

1/2

[romanticidal]

[ 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.

[nosdacariad]

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

[slay]

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. ]

[shootfirst]

[ ♬ 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. ]

[notaroundme]

[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.]