CLOSED ♔ don't know what the country's coming to

[behindcloseddoors]

♬ on an evening in roma - dean martin

WHO || Rafael, Des, Buffy, their best pal in the world
WHAT || An unexpected incident
WHERE || Rome
WHEN || June 7th, 2014
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

Who knows how long unconsciousness has them all swallowed in its grip. But when it finally allows them to resurface, they'd notice the smooth motion of a car indicating they're... still riding in a vehicle. A wis check of 14+ might recognize it's a different limo, however, and it doesn't take a wisdom check to recognize that they are all crammed together on the same side of the seat now. With... hands cuffed to the seat between their legs.

Across from them, a large figure sits grinning manically... wearing a familiar gray cassock. Oh hi. :)

A single glance out the window at the bustling city outside is enough to recognize that is sure as shit ain't London. And Anderson will be quick to clear that up for y'all, waving one hand at the view.

"Well, now. I hope you all enjoyed your rest. Let me be the first t'bid ye welcome... to Rome."

Comments

[contingency]

[ the stranger opens the door and nods to des to get in the back first, and then slides in after him, shutting the door behind them.

right then, of course, a couple vatican agents appear back from the way they came into the garage. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Well, there goes Des's moment of relieved zen. He had that for like half a second after he got into the car. He was totally going to start talking and trying to recover from all that, but nope. He clams up again.]

Rafael...

[slay]

[ with des in, buffy finally pulls her cuffs off of yumie’s neck and shoves her to the ground where yumie’s head cracks hard against the concrete (atk 28, dmg 18 b/c penetration oops), turning to climb into the passenger seat of the car. ]

Sorry, guys, guess you’ll have to catch the next one. [ she yanks the door shut and turns to rafael like ok baby we can go now. ]

[romanticidal]

[ yeah he peels away dramatically, looking in the rearview mirror (drive 29), and heading towards the exit, even as one of the agents slams a button that starts a gate coming down. raf's check is good enough that he manages to slide RIGHT UNDER IT barely, in the nick of time, and then they're flying across vatican city WHOOP WHOOP MOTHA FUCKAS ]

[nothingsodivine]

[OKAY. NOW DES CAN BREATHE.

And also promptly ignore all safety laws in Italy and human decency at the speeds Rafael's driving, so he can start rifling through everything he can reach in this limo to see if they stashed their weapons and phones in here. (search 27 #actualdetective). Don't mind him all up in your kool-aid. And don't hit the brakes too hard, Raf.]

[slay]

[ buffy settles into her seat, sighing her relief as they break out of the fucking vatican and put it behind them. while she’s certain a car chase will ensue, she’s basically not worried about that right now. they’ll get to that in a minute. she just needs a moment.

the adrenaline begins to wear off and the panic sets in. they took her strength. however they’d done it, it doesn’t matter—she has no way of knowing if it’ll come back with time or if it’s gone for good and she can’t protect her family anymore. she looks down at her hand, realizing it’s shaking. her ears feel clogged with the sound of gunfire, and the sickening, lurching noise that came from heinkel’s brain scattering across the church floor. on the heels of spike and myri’s disappearance, with no idea how he got free from anderson, des in the backseat feels like a knife pressed to her back, and the stranger is worse still.

so, maybe she’s taking time out of their day for her own little nervous breakdown. she reaches across rafael, steering clear of interrupting his driving, and pulls his left side gun from the holster to train it on the stranger in the backseat. her hand shakes just slightly while holding it at arm’s length, more for her own comfort than an actual threat. she doesn’t have much in the way of defenses right now, and she’s still hand cuffed. ]

Des, sit down. [ she makes a gesture with the barrel. you're not out of the woods, either bro. ] Now tell us who you are and how you found us. [ it’s impossible to find her terribly intimidating when she’s so clearly just reacting to being at her wit’s end and fucking horrified of everyone in this vehicle (intimidate 14). ]

[contingency]

[ yeah he is

not even fussed. (will 24)

he just watches her calmly from beneath the hood, and then nods ahead to the left. ] There's a sign of St. Cuthbert's ahead. They can heal you.

We'll talk inside.

[ rafael goes from staring in mild, grim surprise at buffy, to looking back in the rearview mirror again, a strange look in his eyes as he stares at the figure. after a moment, however, he pulls left.

des, much to his rejoicing, finds a box with their weapons inside, though no phones in sight. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Yeah, hold please while Des places the box on the floorboards of the limo and sinks into the seat with a pained sigh of relief.]

This has been- [he pauses to take a shuddering breath, like he's finally lost all the cool he's been projecting since his dramatic arrival back into the fray and is showing his true feelings.] -the worst day of my obscenely long life. [Given the desperation with which he's clinging to his gun, a spot of 15+ will probably notice that his hands are shaking.]

[slay]

I don’t want to talk inside! [ she raises her voice, incapable of backing down even as she becomes completely incapable of keeping her emotional reaction out of her voice. she’s hanging on by a thread. ]

I don’t wanna go anywhere with you. I wanna know who you are; I wanna know how you found out where we were, how you know us. [ she turns her gaze to des, turning the gun as well, ] And I wanna know how the hell you got away from Anderson without so much as a scratch.

[ if hellsing and iscariot are truly wrong about her, if she isn't a monster, then how is it that these are the people she surrounds herself with? she thinks of alucard, sir integra's attack dog. maybe that's all she's ever been, too. sehanine brought her here to fight a war because she had the strength—not for her upstanding moral values.

she shakes the gun, snapping. ] Just tell me who you are!

[romanticidal]

[ rafael turns his head very slightly towards her as the car stops, his voice quiet. ] Buffy...

[ he reaches up slowly to lay a hand on her forearm. ] I think we owe him this much, no?

[nothingsodivine]

[Des growls in exasperation, BECAUSE EVERYONE STOP ASKING ME THAT QUESTION.]

I don't know what happened to Anderson. He locked me up. I broke out after and-

[He side eyes the stranger.] I'm not explaining this when he's here. I'll tell you. I just... Not with him.

[slay]

[ rafael’s touch makes her chest heave and her eyes burn. she tightens her grip on the gun at first, matching the way her face tightens and contorts with the struggle of simply accepting everything that’s happening. when she lowers her gun, it’s not just a surrender—she cracks.

distress wells up in her face in the form of fighting off tears welling in her eyes, and she finally lowers the gun, turning to push open the door and climb out of the car. she’s keeping it on her for now—not because she could make any use of it, but because it makes her feel better not to be totally defenseless. ]

[romanticidal]

[ rafael watches her go, then glances in the back seat again, his gaze lingering on des' for a moment, suspicion warring with a desire to accept des' assurance in his eyes. finally he stares at the stranger for another long moment, before getting out of the car and heading towards the door. the stranger follows, and leads them towards the door, where this symbol is inscribed. he pushes it open, into a small well-lit sanctuary. the building looks rather old, filled with antique furniture, basins, books here and there. a couple middle age and older men and women seem to be present, dressed in simple cleric robes, moving from small alcove where bed is to other rooms with supplies. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des meets Rafael's eyes with a look that's abysmally pained and says all there is to say about how he feels right now. He climbs out of the car and shoves his gun back into his jacket where it belongs, although he's reluctant to let it go. Some people have security blankets. Des has a pistol. Shut your face.

He keeps his head down as he walks in, having had his fill of organized religion of any kind today and shuffles in to catch up with Buffy, grabbing her arm as he does.]

Blondie, wait. [He runs his tongue along the inside of his cheek.] I'm sorry for losing it back there... and for... you know. [he makes a vague gesture with his free hand.] I'll explain everything. I promise.

[slay]

[ she tries to pull her arm away but AHAHAHAH no strength—it doesn't work, so it's just a futile, pathetic shade of what she would normally do, which only serves to further frustrate her. shaking her head, she turns her face away, pressing her lips between her teeth. ]

No, you won’t. [ she gets a hold of herself and looks back up at him. ] You never do. You’ll explain just as much as you have to for me to lay off. Now let me go. [ the last words come out through gritted teeth. ]

[accusatory]

[ ♬ medicine - daughter

as raf and the stranger disappear inside, leaving these two outside alone, another voice pipes up from behind them.

guess who. ]

There isn't much to explain. I've told him before: letting him fall into Iscariot hands doesn't serve my ends.

I wasn't about to sit back and let that happen.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des sucks in a breath and releases Buffy's arm at the sound of the all-too familiar voice. He swallows hard and glances down at the ground, unable to look behind him.]

Azrael. [Said in the most uncomfortable tone of voice ever, like it is physically distressing him to have her here right now.]

[slay]

[ it’s a miracle no one has had a psychotic break tonight. buffy’s like thiiiiis close. instead, once she's whipped around and shared a moment of pre-commercial-break shock with des, she snaps straight to snark. ]

Maybe you should have thought about that before you branded him. [ her hand tightens around rafael’s gun, but she keeps it at her side. guns in church a+. ]

[accusatory]

[ she lowers her gaze at des, answering buffy even while fixing him with an intent stare. ] I did what I had to do to make my message very clear. It doesn't matter who thinks they control his curse now.

His fate belongs to me. And anyone who chooses to intervene with that should know precisely who they're dealing with.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des glances behind him to meet her gaze, because apparently he cannot ignore her drilling holes into his back. And something about her words brings his confidence back, because he makes a face.]

You know I get all tingly when you're all possessive. [His tone is dry as the Sahara, though.]

[slay]

You know, I think the thousand-year mark was a good time to accept that stockholm syndrome just isn't setting in and give up. Maybe you should rethink your game, find a new way to get a boyfriend. [ it makes a lot more sense now. azrael being at the bridge. the curse being what it is. if this is really azrael, if the angel of death is real, and the grays are the ones who think they control his curse that azrael's also referring to—just who the hell are does that make the grays? ] Ever heard of "Tinder"?

[accusatory]

Don't let the existence of our rules give you the wrong impression: this is as far from a game as one can get. [ she moves closer to des, because what is personal space ] I'm not willing to give him up so easily.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des tilts his chin up slightly, pointedly trying to look anywhere but at her now.] I keep telling her she's betting on the wrong horse, but she's more stubborn than me.

[He rolls his eyes.] But she might have kicked Anderson down a few flights of stairs, so she has that going for her.

[slay]

Better the devil you know?

[ her question to des is dry, not forgetting precisely what anderson had called her. it’s really awkward to watch azrael basically trying to mount des, but buffy also has the impression that it wouldn’t be trying to if she left them to it. just saying. poor zarad. so she sticks around. ]

Thanks for the desperation. It really came in handy. [ girl you thirsty. with a roll of her eyes, she tucks rafael’s gun into the back of her pants. if he wants it back he’ll just have to go in there and get it. a gesture of good faith. ] You couldn’t have shown up before they declawed me?

[accusatory]

[ azrael just stays all up in des' grill, even trailing one finger along his jaw and flicking his face towards her with a nail so he'll look at her

hi ]

Direct interference comes with a price for my kind. I had to prioritize.

[ she finally glances back at buffy ] You seemed to manage just fine, Slayer strength or no.