london ♔ this is a bad town for such a pretty face

[wynn]

WHO || Wynn, Val'drin, Helen, Francesca, Eric, Lila,  Tia, Grant Peterson, Audrey Peterson, Peter Jayson, various others [closed]
WHAT || A mission gets personal when a cult takes a member of the Knights hostage
WHERE || London, England
WHEN || April 2nd, 10:30 AM  [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam or prose

This is exactly the kind of mess that the Knights like to avoid, and having two missions become very public spectacles in the course of less than a year is not doing much to keep Wynn's hair from turning... oh, wait.

It's already a media circus when the team flies out there in a helicopter that carries Francesca, Eric, Tia, and Lila. Across the street, Wynn has usurped the top floor of an office building to keep an eye on the situation. He watches the screens broadcasting the video taken by the three going on with a tense eye, along with Val'drin and Helen, who are here to consult. Below, the police have blockades of cars, officers, and police line keeping the civilians and reporters back, under orders of Chief of Police Jared O'Keefe.

The Bell 212 chopper hovers for a minute above the building, enough so that Eric can toss a long rope down to dangle over the top floor balcony in the southeast corner. He looks back over his shoulder at Lila, giving her an encouraging but grim nod, and then pulls his SWAT helmet on and grasps the rope, turning around and then hopping back as he slides down. (climb 12) the dc is 10 to climb down, and you are allowed to "take 10" (assume a roll of 10) if you don't have a negative strength score.

Comments

[telekinect]

[ the guy looks back and forth between them all for a moment, seeming to consider, but then he nods a few times, pushing the barrel against the woman's head.

"Fine. Everyone else clears out. Just you."

tia glances at eric and francesca. ] Lila... you don't have to--

[bittersweeter]

It's okay, just get everyone out of here. [ they have comms, they'll still be able to talk to her. and tia has her thing. lila has faith in her ability to aggressively talk her way in and out of anything, even violence. ] We'll be fine. [ she addresses those words to the commando. we. the both of them. ]

[socialgraces]

[ yeah, francesca looks incredibly uncomfortable with this plan, shooting lila a slightly panicked look. what does she even have to offer this guy in exchange for the last hostage?? however, they're a little stuck considering that she's already made such a deal with him, and francesca no longer believes they have a chance of rescinding the offer and not having innocent blood be spilled.

with that thought, she holsters her gun, holding her empty hands up for the man to clearly see. very slowly, with her palms open for all to see, she reaches behind her neck and unclasps the chain of her necklace, carefully removing it from around her throat and lowering it into her hands. she holds it out to lila, and says firmly: ] Take this and put it on. Don't ask questions.

[ she's afraid of drawing suspicion by giving it to her, but she more afraid of leaving lila alone with a trigger-happy mercenary, so she'll just have to take her chances. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ for a long moment, lila just stares at it. she's not going to ask questions. taking it in her gloved fingers, she clasps it around her neck, the chain brushing against her scar as she tucks the familiar diamond under her shirt. she doesn't say thank you, or anything at all, because she doesn't feel like explaining to the peanut gallery about the diamond, but her eyes betray her gratitude. lila doesn't necessarily believe in it's worth, but obviously francesca does. ]

[valdrin]

What on earth is going on in there? [ THIS IS NOT OK.

Grant, however, is already herding other hostages towards the door, and while Tia hesitates, she moves to use her levitate powers to lift the injured hostage and walks behind them to the door. Eric pauses longer, watching lila with concern... but then finally grants her the smallest nod - a gesture that communicates a great deal of faith - and then he too starts moving people out. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ feeling heartwarmed by eric's faith in her, lila's shoulders relax some and she focuses her gentle smile on the guy with the gun as everyone trickles out. keeping her hands in plain sight, she tugs off her gloves and tucks them in her pocket, like she's going to stick around for a while. nbd just chilling with a trigger happy armed stranger.

welcome to lila's childhood. ]

So introductions. I'm Lila. What's your name?

[sirstickuphisass]

[ the man gives a sort of deranged smile. "Peter. And I'll thank you to keep your hands away from your pockets or next time I'll blow her ear off."

meanwhile, as they get outside to the hallway, eric turns to tia, grant, and francesca, surveying the hovering injured hostage. ] Can anyone here staunch those wounds? I'm not sure we're going to get her downstairs otherwise, before she --

[bittersweeter]

Must you? She'll get all panicky and it will be very distracting. Not to mention these boots are suede, blood is so hard to get out of suede. [ peter was just anton to her. she gives a negative amount of fucks about him, but she... well, actually she doesn't give much of a fuck about the woman either, but she's an innocent bystander. zacharovs don't put innocent people in danger, it's like a rule.

but oh. (wis 17) ] Peter Jayson? I saw your video. Lovely cinematography. We never did figure out why you wanted that book though. [ she's hoping he'll explain. bad guys + spilling their dumbass plans is not just a plot point in movies. (gather info 25 & diplomacy 43) ] Die Handgeheimnisse. What are the secrets of the hand?

[socialgraces]

[ francesca's last to leave lila's side, but she first to react to eric's request, and quickly moves to the wounded woman, tearing her own clothing to make a tourniquet. she requests tia set the hostage on the ground momentarily, kneeling at her side, and putting pressure on the wounds (treat injury 28).

she's speaking to the bloodied victim calmly, even as her attention is focused on her injuries (diplomacy 56). ] You're going to be alright. We're going to make sure you get out of here alive.

1/-

[telekinect]

[ grant, in the meantime, starts herding people towards the elevator and tia shifts her focus from what francesca is doing to the group, moving after him to put a hand on his shoulder. ] Grant, maybe you should-- should wait until we get this woman on her feet. [ her diplomacy check is shit, because it's clear that she's unsure he's going to listen to reason if she... lays down the truth right now. she casts a glance at audrey out of the corner of her eye. ] We should all go together, in case there's a trap below.

2/-

[mislabeled]

[ audrey catches that look, tia 8| ] Darling, I'm feeling incredibly faint. I think this whole thing has been dreadful for my heart. I need to get the medics outside. [ she grips his shoulder tightly, as if she were about to keel over at any second. ]

[antiquaria]

[ grant reaches up to curve his fingers through her, shooting her a look of deep concern. ] It'll be alright, sweetie. We're almost out of here, and I'll take you to them myself. [ he looks back towards tia, shaking his head as he wraps one arm around his wife's waist ] I think it's going to be more dangerous to stay up here while that commando's back there. I'll get these people out. [ and with that, they start moving again, down towards the steps as francesca works away on her patient.

inside the room, jayson scowls at her, obviously unmoved. "I don't know, or care. It's my job to get it." ]

[bittersweeter]

And what happens to you if you don't? [ bc lbr it ain't looking good for him. she drops the pretense of really caring about his answer since he doesn't know anything and lila has deemed him useless. and she crit failed her give a fuck, head tipping to the side and curls falling out from under her hat as she regards him. does it really matter? nah. she pulls her gun (sleight of hand 27) and fires quickly, hopefully not, you know, hitting the hostage as that would be frowned upon. (atk nat 20, 30 total; dmg 32) none of y'all should have left a homicidal teenager to her own devices, like really. ]

[sirstickuphisass]

[ with the crack of a gunshot, eric's head shoots up from where he's still standing over francesca. ] Lila. [ and he starts back towards the penthouse doors immediately. ]

[daredtobelieve]

[The sounds of gunfire coming back through the com are alarming for Helen, given what they've heard. She glances up to Wynn with a silent question of should we get our butts in there???]

[socialgraces]

[ francesca's concentrating really hard here, and although the gunshot initially causes bile to rise up in her throat, she quickly remembers the necklace, and she certainly trusts val'drin enough to believe it actually works.

of course, there's still the matter of the hostage caught in the crossfire, and she hopes to all the gods the gunshot wasn't intended for them. either way, she's too busy patching up this other injured hostage at the moment to do anything in the other room.

she does manage to say quite tensely in tia's direction: ] You shouldn't let that woman leave. Tell them not to let her leave. [ which i guess is referring to informing the others over the comm of her suspicions?? ]

1/several idk

[wynn]

[ wynn turns to helen and val'drin with a nod ] Get down to the medical station. Make certain Audrey Petersen stays there.

2/3

[telekinection]

[ as soon as she makes sure grant and company are in the stairwell out of earshot, tia looks back at francesca. ] She knows something about all this. This is a set-up. A-- [ she frowns, obviously confused about the reasons ] cover operation for some kind of robbery. [ she gives francesca a desperate look ] Grant doesn't know. [ the implications go unspoken: they're going to have a hell of a time detaining the wife of a Knight for any reason, because he's unlikely to believe it possible. ]

[sirstickuphisass]

[ eric bursts back into the room, stopping in the doorway, lowering his gun as horror streaks across his expression.

lila's gun was on her hip, which meant she couldn't actually sleight of hand it in plain sight... which unfortunately meant that as she was pulling it, the commando could respond with his readied action.

his gun went off milliseconds before she shot, the bullet going straight through the woman's brain (20 dmg), just as lila's shot took the commando between the eyes. their bodies slumped together to the floor in a slowly spreading pool of blood, which is the sight eric is greeted with as he looks between lila and the casualties. ]

[daredtobelieve]

[You really don't need to tell Helen twice. Drawing her gun as she gets up, she's not at all about to be caught unaware. Shit is getting real. She spares a look to check that Val'drin is coming along as well before she bolts for the door.]

[bittersweeter]

[ whoops.

lila swallows, lowering her gun, but looks largely unaffected by the violence and blood. curious, maybe. her bare fingers unconsciously lift to touch the scar on her throat. huh.

so that happened. ]

[socialgraces]

[ francesca's finally gained control of the bleeding, and the hostage seems to be stabilizing by this point. she looks up to tia, nodding to convey good news. ] She should be ready to move now ... As soon as Eric and Lila return with the other hostage. [ because this is her being optimistic ]

[sirstickuphisass]

[ eric stands there for a good thirty seconds, before he very slowly walks towards her. ] ... Are you alright?

[bittersweeter]

She was always going to die. [ it's quiet, not quite a whisper but close. definitely not the answer to his question. lila doesn't look away from the bodies, but it doesn't seem like she's excusing herself. ] The second he touched her, she was going to die. To prove a point or as a threat or just because, but she was never going to walk out of here alive.

[ finally prying her gaze from the pooling blood, she looks at eric and it is very obvious in her eyes that she is way more affected than her dispassionate tone would let on. ] That's why I made you leave. So it would just be me and her. Not her and Tia or her and five other hostages. People like that don't let hostages live. [ she swallows again, looking back at the bodies. ] I'm fine. I'm sorry.

[sirstickuphisass]

[ eric seems to consider saying something else, but just barely catches himself, and decides against it, nodding. ] We'll talk about it later. We should get you out of here.