Ms. Scope picked up her ringing telephone. "Hello," she said, flipping through paperwork as she shouldered the phone. "This is Ms. Scope." She knew it was probably someone important since not many people had her direct line.

---

Kanti stopped as Jason spoke up. Tucking a loose hair behind her ear, she raised her eyes to meet his. Things had been slightly uncomfortable between them since the whole incident. She wasn't sure why it was like that...but assumed it was just one more consequence for becoming an Unnatural.

"Yeah...I'm fine," she replied, brushing the question off as she looked down at the stack of paperwork waiting for her.

The sound of breaking glass made Kanti jump. She crouched, pulling Jason down with her. She realized it was just a broken window and withdrew her hand from his arm, embarrassed at her reaction.

---

Cyrano stopped near Ian's desk, sighing as looked at the papers the man had. "I don't know how they're doing it..." he offered, too depressed to get angry about it.

---

Smiling Zaref enjoyed the moment. There had been so few between just the two of them since the attack and before that- since his escape from the coven. Talullah the thought of her sent shivers down his back. If she ever took it into her head to come find him, she wouldn't be merciful.

---

Shaking her head, Satin gave Pavel a smile. "I know...I was just frustrated," she explained, thinking that she thought the words were more true than anyone else. She really was becoming a burden for all of them. Frowning at a thought, she walked out into the clearing of the Unnatural settlement.

---

"The night?" Udi questioned with raised eyebrows, "That gi- uh Satin implied I could stay as long as I needed, though she might not feel the same now." He watched Neal, wondering if the rest of the camp was made up of freakishly serious people.

"I'll just discuss it with...uh- your leaders," Udi offered and went off through the trees hoping he could find his way through.

---

Pepper was just exiting the chapel when a short Unnatural, Mark and a newcomer appeared. She tried for a moment to remember the short one's name but couldn't quite recall what it was- though the zombie did have a vivid memory of the small person chatting to her for the better part of two hours one day.

Putting her hands on her hips, she looked over the group. "Come to introduce someone?" she finally asked, not sounding curious at all.

---

Naomi slowed as they reached the Savage's property. She led them up and around towards the back of the property where the labs were located. There was too much security to go onto the land without being spotted so she stopped at the edge of the forest that grew up right to the edge of the property.

Quickly morphing, she changed into the dress she'd brought- having forgotten human modesty and protocol long ago.

---

Dellan's eyes narrowed at the offer. "You could do that? Make me stronger?"

---

"It's not your fault," Lark offered through her tears- hating herself for being so weak. She wasn't like this and couldn't imagine anything more embarrassing than crying in front of Brick like a little girl.

---

The thought of dressing up did cheer Curse up for the moment. She stood up and walked over to the closet.

"I hope I can really go. Emmaline said I could before, but she wasn't absolutely sure."

"Ms. Scope, this is Captain Von Hannibal from the police… I realize that you are putting the Detective on trial, yet you have no backing from the police sector… I will and can back you...” he said glancing around to make sure no one was listening when he heard the sound of shattering glass "Hold on..." he said to the phone and set the phone down "What the heck happened?"
---
"Yeah" said Mark "he calls himself Malachi... Says he's a magic user" said Mark to the zombie "Magic user ehh?" asked Brand "run of the mill mage I'm guessing, seeing as he has no dragon" Mark replied "yeah"

Jason stood slowly, frowning down at Kanti thoughtfully. Her nerves seemed to be on edge for some reason, though he could not really blame her. He moved over to the broken glass and picked up the rock with the note attached to it. He frowned down at the writing and then walked over to hand it to the detective.

"I thought it was Gwen who bit you," he said. "And that she wasn't a part of the local coven."

----

Ian ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. He looked up at Cyrano. "Mel said Monstropolis Daily could have an insider in our offices, or have an unnatural on their side. Like a small elf who can sneak in and out of our building." He smirked faintly. "She said something about a being called a Wrackspurt, but by that time I think she was just teasing me." Shaking his head slightly, he looked down at the paper in his hand again.

----

Selena moved back slightly and knelt in front of Zaref, the skirt of her dress billowing out on the ground around her. She took his hands and looked up at him with a serious expression. "There is no one else I would rather spend eternity with," she told him.

----

Pavel patted her shoulder awkwardly. "I don't think you should give up on him," he said slowly, hesitantly. "But I don't like you going off to see him by yourself. At least bring someone else with you who can help if he gets out of control like that again." He looked at her pleadingly.

----

"This is Malachi. He can't fly," the short person said, and then miraculously fell silent, looking up at Malachi expectantly.

----

Indigo would have blushed if he could, but, figuring she would not care, shifted into human form. Quickly pulling his cut-offs on, he approached her side and looked over Savage's property.

"He has a lot of security," he observed in a monotone.

----

Sparrow hesitated for a moment. "Sparrow has the power of healing," she said with a slow nod.

----

Brick's jaw worked back and forth slowly. Another, larger, shudder ran through his body, and he struggled against the urge to shift. He placed his hands on Lark's shoulders and pushed her back gently so he could look down into her tear-stained face.

"I don't know what Savage has planned," he admitted. "But I'm going to be right here for you. Whatever you need, whatever you want, I'll do my best to get it for you. If your pregnant he has to start treating you better right? He can't risk anything happening to . . . it." He looked down at her stomach with an unreadable expression.

----

Caerwyn sat down on the bed and watched her, kicking his legs back and forth absently.

She'll let you go. He spoke into her mind with confidence. I'm sure everyone is going to work hard to not let anything happen. And that Richard guy has those guards now. And you'll be with me. He grinned slightly. And I won't let anything happen to you.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

"No duh" said Josh as he walked up "This guy is hard core... Whats the" JOSH! "Plan" Adam? asked Josh Its me... Where are you? Josh replied Just outside the complex... I'm afriad to ask where you are Adam said Um... Laying inside a cage, I don't know where the others are Josh sighed Great

Josh looked at the others "I've made contact with an elf inside... It may give us an advantage"

"If it was up to me, you wouldn't even be invited to stay with us at all." Neal muttered under his breath as the visitor mentioned speaking with the leaders of the camp. "This way..." the Darkling said aloud as he ducked under some low branches and stepped out into the clearing.

Neal walked up to the front stoop of the chapel where Pepper was standing. "New visitor..... unknown species.... and arrogant. Just the type we need around here." the Darkling said motioning behind himself at Udi as he leaned against the railing of the porch. It took a few seconds for Neal to notice the small group of ragtag Unnaturals standing by the porch.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Neal asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked over the small gathering.

-----------------------------------

"You really have joined a pathetic group this time, haven't you Old Boy?" Karl said with a chuckle as he watched the group by the chapel. The Hybrid was still biding his time... waiting for the best moment to make his presence known.

"No, no I can't fly. I mean, I've tried. I can create air currents by heating and cooling it, but I've never been able to use that to fly," Malachi said, getting side-tracked by the small person's comments. "Um, sorry. I guess you're Pepper. I was hoping I could stay here for awhile. Got run out of the last town I was in and I don't really know where else to go."

Malachi was starting to feel a tiny bit uncomfortable as everyone gathered around. He had no clue what any of these people could do or even what species they were.

"Like we don't have that already?" asked Mark sarcastically "Nah, we just got another arrival..." Marks hearing picked up a chuckle and his head shot in the direction of the noise to see nothing but a tree "Nothing but the wind… Mark buddy your brain is playing tricks on you” he said while shaking his head “Nothing could get through those guards” he then turned to the small being beside him "Who the heck are you?" he asked.
---
Von picked up the phone again "Listen, I have to go... Consider my offer and call me back at 307-829-478... Goodbye Ms. Scope" Then stood up and walked up behind to Sargeant Croft and the Detective Kanti "What h- is that?" he said as he looked over Kanti's shoulder "Uh, I should of mentioned that in my inital report" he said, flinching as he saw that Steel had revealed that he was a vampires son.

"Well, I never," Ms. Scope muttered, wondering if she should associate with the contact or not. After all they could pay off as many witnesses as they needed to. Maybe it'd be a chance to save money though- she jotted down the number and name in case.

---

Kanti looked at the note with a puzzled expression. "It was Gwen. Everything led me to believe she's not part of the coven...but it could have just been a clever cover. Of course there's one sure way to find out," she looked up from the writing and met Jason's eyes, "Whoever gave us this tip is going to end up in some hot water if they're lying about a coven of vamps."

She couldn't imagine what kind of insane person would try to frame vampires.

---

"I'm thinking the first is a more likely explanation," Cyrano offered with a smirk, thinking of Melanie. He shook his head, "But it doesn't really matter, the point is we're going to go out of business at this rate and nobody will care. Ms. Scope likes bossing us around but she doesn't have any reason to save us from closing down."

---

"Alright," Satin replied, giving Pavel a small smile as they stepped into the clearing, "I should probably apologize to Neal," she added, looking over to where the group of Unnaturals was gathered. "He looks a little busy though-"

---

Pepper raised an eyebrow at Neal, "Well, they were just bringing Malachi who can't fly here to meet me." She turned to look at Malachi and Udi, "You're both welcome to stay here. We're running out of space since Unnaturals have been coming here for protection but I'm sure you can both squeeze in somewhere."

Udi made a face at Neal's back and then looked back up at the zombie. Something about her made his hair stand on end. Looking down, he pressed a button on what looked like a watch. His horns and tail appeared again. "That feels better," he muttered.

---

Zaref smiled shyly at Selena, "Me too," he offered and leaned forward to kiss her.

---

Naomi nodded at Indigo, watching a few guards walk back inside. She turned to Josh, "Do they know anything about the layout?" she asked.

---

"Can you heal what's missing?" Dellan asked hoarsely, struggling until he managed to slip out of the loosened straps of the straitjacket. He looked significantly at where his arm used to be and then glanced back up at Sparrow, "Can you heal that?"

---

"Will it even be human?" Lark asked, looking down as well, "Who knows what he might have done- it could be a creature. Or he could just want a child to experiment on...I can't let him do that, Brick we have to get out of here before anything happens."

She'd never felt so worried before- not even after all that time in Button's zoo.

---

"You're right," Curse answered, You know they've been worried, talking about Eslatar and the killings all over town...

---

"Wystan," Talullah hissed, motioning with her hand for the vampire to come.

Wystan looked over at the open door and pushed it open further, stepping into his matriarch's room.

"Where are you going?" she asked, looking as if she was heading somewhere herself.

"My little Zaref seems to be getting married. He still hasn't learned to block our connection," Wystan answered, turning away from Talullah.

"I'll go with you. I have to get out of this house- it's suffocating me," she answered, uncharacteristically bitter.

Wystan couldn't argue, so he simply nodded, hoping her grasp of his true intentions remained foggy.

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair, something he had been doing quite frequently these past few weeks.

"Looks like he's the father of one of our very own," he gestured to the signature. "But seeing as we still don't know where the coven is, this doesn't provide much help."

He looked into her face for a moment before turning his gaze away. "Do we know anything more on the alleged murder that took place in the royal's hotel suite?"

----

Ian nodded slowly. "Mel wants to help find out who the insider is," he said with a pained expression. "I told her I wouldn't let her get involved, but I get the feeling she's going to try anyway." He paused for a moment and then grimaced faintly. "I was wondering if maybe . . . you'd talk to her about it. She might listen to you."

----

Pavel stifled a small whimper and moved closer to Satin, almost knocking her aside in his haste to hide from the newcomer. "He smells strange," he said softly, looking over at the annoying short Unnatural with slight distaste before watching the newcomer again and moving deeper into the shadow of the chapel. The sun had been behind several clouds up until now and he could endure the daylight for a little while, but he felt the obvious relief when he stepped into the shade.

----

"Who the heck are you? Who the heck are you?" the short person parroted. "I'm Jack! Jackie! Jack-Jack! Jacqueline! Jack-chan! Jacki Chan! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The short person doubled over in laughter.

----

Selena caught Zaref's lips with her own and pressed forward in a gentle kiss. After a moment she pulled away and smiled faintly. Suddenly she frowned slightly.

"Are we going to be safe here?" she asked quietly, thinking of Tallulah.

----

Tears welled in Sparrow's eyes as she reached out and touched the severed limb. Slowly she shook her head. "Sparrow is so sorry," she whispered. "But she cannot grow back that which has been taken."

----

"We will," Brick said firmly with a confidence he was not sure he had. Blending down slightly, he brushed his lips against her forehead lightly. "We'll get out of here, I promise." He frowned slightly then. "I just need to . . . think of some sort of plan."

----

Caerwyn scowled darkly. I would never let him even come near you. He stood and moved to her side, reaching up to lay a pale hand on her arm, looking up at her earnestly. You believe me, don't you?

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Kanti shook her head, "I haven't been able to do much behind a desk...though as far as the coven goes I was able to compile a list of properties in and around town that have been registered under the same name for longer than fifty years. It might not be much help, but it's a start."

She thumbed through a few papers next to them on the desk as other officers hurried to tape up the window that had been broken. "Aren't the royals still around? I thought I heard something about them asking around about the case."

---

"Sure-" Cyrano started, "But why would she listen to me? I mean, if her brother can't persuade her..."

---

Satin listened to the introductions detachedly, hoping not to catch Udi's eye again. The Satyr had been useful, but he wasn't exactly someone she wanted to be best friends with.

"Wow, that person is loud," she commented, trying to remember where she'd seen the short one before.

---

Zaref shrugged, "I'm not sure...I never told you this, but my sire, the one who bit me originally, he's with Talullah. We're connected forever, but I try to block him reading my thoughts as best I can."

---

Dellan frowned, disappointed and pushed back some stray strands of white hair. Sighing, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"It's just as well, bringing it back wouldn't heal it..." he said softly.

---

Lark tried to calm herself as she looked up at Brick. She opened her mouth to say something further but was caught off guard when the alarm suddenly rang, signaling that they had to return to their cells.

Scrambling to her feet, she looked at Brick, "I'll try to find something out when they come for me again," she offered, giving him a half-hearted smirk, "We'll get out of here."

---

"Yes," Curse answered, "But I don't want you to hurt anyone either. You'd be mad at yourself then...it'd be just like I hurt you." She sighed, "I don't think he'll be there. Mr. T. would make sure the wedding was safe at least..."

Jason thought for a moment before nodding slowly. "I think the Prince and Princess are still here with some of their royal guards, to oversee the investigation. It seems like one of those opportunities for the Crown Prince to know what it's like to be in charge of something. However it seems to me that he's more interested in going after whoever did it himself, instead of waiting for us to do it." He smiled slightly, remembering a time when he was young and rash and naive. Time sure did fly . . .

----

Ian flushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeeeeeah, normally it would just take me. But I um, think she likes you or something so . . ." He grimaced again, embarrassed for his friend.

----

Selena frowned slightly. "I would ask Eslatar to help you with that," she started, then sighed. "But it doesn't look like he'll ever be much used to anyone anymore."

She smiled faintly. "At least my sire is dead and we don't have to worry about him coming down on our heads." It seemed like little comfort in the grand of things, however.

----

"She is sorry. So very sorry." Sparrow whispered, tears continuing to fall down her pale cheeks. She moved to the other end of the cell and pulled her knees up to her chest, feeling Dellan's pain as if it were her own and agonizing over the fact that she could not heal it.

----

Brick stood slowly, nodding. Reaching out, he gently stroked her cheek, swallowing hard. "Lark, I--" he faltered and then glanced back at the tunnel. He needed to leave soon, otherwise there could be consequences. With a sigh, he left off what he was going to say and turned away to head back to his cell.

----

Caerwyn started in surprise. He took a small step back and studied her face, realizing she was serious. He wanted to protest, saying that he would never regret hurting anyone to protect Curse, but then he remembered Gwen . . . that was different, he told himself savagely, and shook his head.

You could never hurt me, Verity, he said instead, tenderly. He reached out again for her arm and stroked it gently. He did not want to think about Mr. T at the moment. So far he thought the kitten was doing a terrible job looking out for his own, what with Eslatar like he was and the chapel burning down and Brick and Lark captured. Now there was that human . . . that human that smelled of rich cologne and girls and fancy cars. No, he was not sure they could trust Richard either.

You don't need to worry about me, he added with a confident smile. I've been taking care of myself long before your time.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

"Ahh..." Neal said as he looked over at the person who he guessed to be Malachi. "Welcome to our humble abode." the Darkling said with a tip of his hat to the new comer before the little Annoying One started rattling off names and laughing. I've never like that one.... Neal thought with a shake of his head.

"Well, if you don't need me around at the moment, I'll be in my quarters." Neal said turning his attention back to Pepper and trying to block the sound of the Annoying One's laughter.... if you could even call that noise laughter.

"Thank you, ma'am," Malachi replied to Pepper. "I'll try to make myself useful while I'm staying here."

The short person that had helped escort Malachi into the camp was babbling again and he tried to keep up with the stream of dialogue.

"It's nice to meet you, Jack ...Jackie," Malachi said and nodded politely at Neal. He spotted Satin and a smile crossed his face. "So Jackie, can you introduce me to her? I think I'd quite like to get to know her."

Mark raised his eyes at Jacki, what was this guy on? Was he insane? Possibly... Half the people in this camp were... Brother first weed lady, now this? What gives. No wonder he was feeling a strange presence.
---
Josh sighed, "I doubt it... But I'll ask" he said. Then asked You wouldn't know anything about the layout of the complex would you? No... I'm really sorry... Its ok... Were going to rescue you guys some how... Not today I doubt but someday
---
Jash then turned to the two werewolves "No, sorry" he said.

Adam then remembered that he had become stronger over night and brought his arm up to look at it "Well at least one of Savage's experiments worked" he said, and punched the front of his cage. Expecting that it would shatter. Instead and eletric shock ran through his body and sent him flying against the back wall "Ouch"

The short person of no distinguishable gender that was either a Jack or a Jackie, glanced up and over at Satin, a sly smile crossing over its face.

"Ooooh, you think she's pretty do you? Huh? You think she's a pretty girl? A lot of people think that, yup! Yup, yup, yup! Get in line, buddy! And watch out for her watchdog. Heh, watch for the watchdog. Hehehehehe! That's funny! Anyway, yeah her name is Satin. Like the cloth. She's soft like the cloth. She's nice like the cloth. Satin is nice."

Grabbing Malachi's hand, the short person pulled the mage over to where Satin stood and where Pavel was hiding close by in the shadow of the building.

"This here's Satin. Satin, this here's Malachi. He can't fly, but he can do something with fire. Fire! Hahahaha! See what I did there?" The short person looked back and forth from Malachi to Satin expectantly.

P.S."Brooklyn!"