"C'mon. Get that thing ready, Arux." Embriel kicks the blood solution machine she'd stolen from the Dragons days ago, until it starts to whirr. This, just about the time Yin appears in a house identical to hers, on the inside.

Arux nods, and gets to his part. He's silent, as he often is these last few days. It's either business, or nothing. That's his Yin, damnit.

Yin lands...doesn't stay on her feet like she usually would. It's not graceful, really, but at least she lands without hurting herself.

"Yin! Are you okay?"

She blinks slowly, looking around. Her house...no. Still..."Arux?"

Embriel smiles her porn star smile. She's still got it. "Yin, thank God... and Menayen... where's Alou?"

Menayen shakes his head. "I don't know. He was right behind us."

The vampiress bites her lip as her interest helps her gently to her feet, leaning on him heavily and clinging little to his arm. "He should be here by now..." she observes with a fair amount of trepidition.

"I have to close the portal," Menayen groans, "Revilier could follow if Alou's..."

... just about the time a shower of metal erupts through the portal, splitting outwards into a cage shape that just misses Yin and Menayen. The Serinian clicks his remote, and the portal shuts.

Embriel removes her hand from over her heart, scared shiftless.

Yin gains about five shades of white. "That was Revilier. So Alou..." trails off. Don't know, but with his daughter unconscious on the floor, security breached, and an armed spy facing him, the general may have...can't even think that.

"You're not hurt, are you Yin?" Embriel snags one of the tubes from the machine, offering it to her. "Blood substitute."

Yin tries to smile faintly, though she only just manages before looking back to Menayen, leaning against Arux's chest. Feels a touch weak in the knees, just...terrified to know what had happened to Alou. "No. They actually took pretty good care of me, outside of Brandt being an idiot and the whole 'chained to a table' thing. But thank you."

"We'll get you taken care of." Menayen stands up, rubs his feet. Hurty. "We need to figure out the consquences of what we just did. Figure 'em fast, too. They won't look here first, but I don't doubt that Revilier will find us. Yin... did you learn anything while you were there?"

"I'm not sure..." she shakes her head as though to clear the cobwebs, trying to categorize. "Revilier calls himself a 'Golden' wyvern, whatever the hell that means, not a Silver. He claims not to like Brandt, and I'm moved to believe him. Brandt and Prata--Prata is the Silver who confronted you--are an item, but he's a jackass and it's kind of one-sided. They're still claiming to have nothing to do with the Tower bombing...the stories are so consistent from all sources I almost grudgingly believe them. Also, since they know who 'Kaz' is now, they think they're able to keep track of your contacts and figure out what's going on ahead of time now. Predicted the attack...although apparently you out-maneuvered them, I hope." Thinks. "There's probably more if I sift enough."

"They couldn't have foreseen this," Menayen nods, holding up his portal device. "It's how I got to this place to begin with. The technology here doesn't even come close."

"They treated you well, though?" Embriel sits on the couch, thinking about that. "I thought they would've tortured you, at least." 

"They didn't. They only questioned me the first day, too, asked where Troix was...didn't try to torture it out of me, though, even though Revilier questioned me on it himself, and Brandt and Prata both seemed to have expected torture. He only asked a couple of times, and implied he was going to hurt me, but he actually just healed my injuries. Let me bite him, even, and I just stopped when I was done, he didn't stop me. As an interrogation session, the time was wasted...he just left after. And of course, by the next day, the chances of me knowing where Troix was weren't great, since you all had presumably moved her with someone in captivity who may or may not crack and reveal it under interrogation. They didn't pressure for anything else. After they released Menayen, though, there was no indication they were going to do the same with me, and none that they were going to do anything but keep me chained to a table, either. It was just...up in the air." Pauses. "Well, Brandt beat me with a whip earlier, Revilier at least seemed pissed and threatened him. That was probably a good cop, bad cop thing, anyway."

She's still leaning against her ex-commander, and the human, for his part, pets her hair gently behind her back. She's understandably a little messed up, though you'd have to know her pretty well to get more than a whiff of that.

"I wonder why they didn't torture you?" Menayen pulls open his hastily acquired peasant shirt, showing off a number of deep lash marks running crosswise along his (admittedly) taut chest. "They sure gave me the business, and I never saw Revilier once."

"What was he like?" Embriel, ever on task, asks of Yin.

Yin winces a little. Both for Menayen, and considering what may happen to Alou in short order. Just...damn. She'd never want anyone to straight up trade themselves for her, least of all someone she likes. "I have no idea," she admits to the "no torture" part.

Looks to Embriel. "He was...surprising. Multi-faceted, anyway. Extremely military and hard-faced when around other people, seems quite a bit softer and empathetic with his daughters, and when he was dealing with me alone. Though, again, I suspect that was probably some sort of interrogation tactic...I don't know." Shakes her head a bit. "Extremely attractive man, too, for the record."

Menayen casts a funny kind of glance at her. "That's kind of a strange observation to make after the two days you've had."

Yin shrugs. "Well, his daughter beat the shit out of us, and I seem to recall her mentioning a comment about carpets and curtains." Pause. "Also, a bit of a falacy is that initially Prata seemed to think that you were in much worse trouble and much less likely to be released than me, so I'm wondering about why the outcome."

"I'm beginning to think he does stuff just to screw with our heads," Kaz admits, ears wiggling. "But hey, I had to say something dumb to her before they kicked my ass. Ain't no way that hair is naturally that color."

Yin's lips start to twitch towards a smile, before fading again. "What are we going to do about Alou?"

"I'd say Alou's dead." Menayen nods a little. "I don't waste words that aren't funny. I'd give him two hundred to one odds. Should've jumped in the portal with us."

Ellen's grip tightens noticeably on the arm folded over her chest. Pauses. "Still. When can we confirm that?" Still military.

Menayen totters over to the sofa and takes a seat next to Embriel, who's scritching the kitty before she remembers that it's not so much a kitty. Not that he has a problem with it.

"Well... everyone who went along had a communicator. 'Course, once we got to your site they were supposed to be destroyed." He gazes at Ellen most meaningfully. "I wouldn't have known where you were at all, had I not been able to hack into their security cameras."

She nods a bit. Thinks. "I don't explicity remember Alou destroying his, unless he did it when the door was blown in, since Prata interrupted."

"We'll find out soon enough. If it's in one piece, they'll be able to use it to track ours." Menayen grinds what's left of his down with his tazer's butt, just to be sure. "We may have to prepare to reap the whirlwind." He grins a little at Embriel. "God, woman, you scritch good."

Ellen's lips twitch a bit towards a smile, though it doesn't quite make it and her cheeks are still furiously red for a reason her dragoon compatriot can't begin to guess. So Menayen-Kaz had seen....well. Nice. But mostly a horrible, sick feeling is situated in the base of her stomach. Alou....deaths happen. Of course they do, it's part of the business. But not to bail her out of trouble. Not a single father to help a chronic bachlorette not many would miss.

"What do we do next?"

Menayen purrs a little. A lot. "We don't leave a soldier behind. Ellen, you're a spy. You're godblesseddamnedfucked good at it. So I want you to prepare to take over for me, in case I don't come back." He nods. "Gonna get Troix's dad back."

Yin blinks slowly. Unexpected. Still...really...she's prepared to agree to pretty much anything and not kill valuable time in discussion if it means it gets Alou back. Revilier could call up and say "her for him," and she'd readily agree...if she could get by her allies, anyway. Smiles just faintly, and nods. "Right. What's the first step?"

"We gotta check the tape. Embriel, honey cutie sweety love, go flick that blue button on my console over there, would you?" He favors her with deadly kitty eyes, lip quivering and everything.

"Oh my God," she mutters, forcing herself to look away. "Don't do that!" She swipes her eyes. "You little bastard..." steps over push the button anyway, though. The display bleeps to life, showing an image of a damaged and empty chamber with two long slash marks on the floor.

"Rewind about four minutes," Menayen notes, "the green one."

Another click, and the tape begins to reverse. Its mostly a blur, but Embriel stops it just after Ellen vanished. There's no audio, but its clear that Alou fired his gun at Revilier, and equally clear that something clogged the mechanism and caused his weapon to backfire. The shrapnel nicks his forehead, and Revilier swiftly rams a metal-knucks fist into his diaphragm. Alou falls, and is instantly pinned to the ground beneath a cage of metal similar to the one Revilier then sends into the portal, the one that had snapped into Okarthel. The portal closes, and the general hefts his daughter tenderly into his arms before leaving. The metal cage drags Alou along as well, ripping into the floor.

Yin lets out her breath...ten kinds of relieved. "I have never been happier to see a friend get the crap smacked out of him." He's alive.

"We'll have to smack and hack the system a little. Find out where they're keeping the dumb bastard. Then I'll portal as close as I can and steal him. Might need to cause a diversion." He sighs a little, shaking despite his bravado. He's scared shiftless. "Yeah."

"You should let me do it. I know you can work the field, but it's not your specialty," Ellen observes after a moment. "You're the digital expert and much better than us Plebians at the whole 'diversion and blackouts' thing. Breaking in and getting shot at is my specialty. Show me how to use the portal...thing."

"No." Menayen looks at her, serious as a heart attack. "You need to get checked out. There's no telling what might've been injected in you, or planted on you, or cast on you. Besides. If something goes wrong, Troix needs at least one person she loves still alive."

Arux nods. "He's right. We can offer another of ours for the job, though, Menayen. Ellen's one of our best, if not the best, but she's not our only infiltration agent. I could go, if it would help. But she's probably right. This is delicate stuff, as you certainly know, it's not a bad idea to be where you do your absolute best work."

"A bedroom?" He perks up, looks at Embriel, and smiles a fangy smile. She whaps him gently. "I'd feel better if Ellen stayed out of this for now. Who could you send?"

"Of course." He'd agreed, after all. If Menayen hadn't already told her to stay put, he would have. "I can go. If not, I can have another agent--Qeelak Suaco; he's very good, worked directly under Ellen for...years--give it a shot."

Menayen blinks. "You do realize that your superiors are gonna have your ass if you keep spending Dragon resources on Spider problems, right?"

"This could be written off as a Dragon problem...and, really, is. I already had to get part of it cleared; it helps that the General likes her. More, Yin has draconic secrets coming out of her ears, her being discharged doesn't make her sitting in a Wyvern interrogation room any safer. The ice is thinner this time through, but dragons are honorific enough that I should be able to swing finishing out the operation with only minor browbeating."

Menayen nods a little. "I'm glad you people understand military matters. Revilier's an active general and even though I'm ten million times smarter than that half-cocked junk smuggler I know I can't keep up with his military mind. Pisses me right off a race horse, too."

"You make a good enough run at it to return the favor," Yin observes with a slight smirk. "He called you 'a likeable little bastard.'"

"I am a likeable little bastard and you know what?" Menayen lowers his head, ear wilting. "I think Revilier's not as bad as we've been led to believe. Despite getting my ass kicked. I think we're missing part of the puzzle." He pulls out his little portal device. "The gray button goes to signal source one, that's here. The blue one goes to source two, that's the back room of the blue bunny pub in Tarantella. The red one goes to a McDonald's in Julen City. The white button clears an open portal."

Yin's silent, just...pondering. They are. She's sure of it. But...where? Could this many competent spy types really have been so completely misled all this time? And by who?

"And to make it go somewhere specific in Grace Tower?" Arux inquires.

"The yellow button and the pink button have been cleared. I'll code them once we find Alou." He sits on the couch again. "Hey hot girl, can you sit by me again? I want to feel empowered." He smirks. Embriel rolls her eyes, but does. Big kitty and all.

Meanwhile, Arux looks down to Yin. "Meanwhile, we need to get you tested for the aforementioned 'injections, implants, or spells.'"

She nods.

"I'll do it," Embriel elects. Then blushes furiously when Menayen sets a quizzical eye on her. "I'm a spiritualist. I have to know medicine for when my monsters are wounded."

The cat looks at Yin. "Is that okay? I need to find Alou in the meantime."

Ellen nods a bit. "Sure." Arux is skeptical, but it's certainly worth a try and could save them from having to arrange clandestine transportation to the nearby military base.

Embriel ruffles Menayen's hair and gets up. "I've got some equipment in the kitchen, if you want to come in there, Ellen?"

Menayen, then, hops up to his terminal, sighs, and begins working on the keys. Everything hurts, he's tired, and some of his men are dead. Its not a good day.

Yin nods, and stands up...Arux rises with her, making sure she's steady now. She is, and heads off after Embriel. "Oh...by the way...how long has it been since the fight at Kaz's house? It seems like I was out for a long time...." No, she has no idea what day it is.

"It's been about... four days now, if I'm to believe what Alou told us." The former porn star and current summoner leads Yin into the well furnished kitched, where a black medical bag lays zipped closed on the sturdy oak table. "Did they do anything I should know about, to you?"

"Not when I was conscious. I woke up with my wounds bandaged and tended, and Revilier magically healed me with some sort of glowy golden light later. Brand beat me with a whip, Revilier healed me again, and that's about the only touching of note."

"Glowy golden light?" She pulls a stethoscope from the bag, looks at Yin, and blushes brightly. Puts it back. Pulls a device that looks suspiciously like an airport scanner from the bag. "Well, it's probably just a simple healing spell." She waves the wand from Yin's hair down to her toes, and back up. "You're clean of bugs. Are you sore anywhere that might be an injection site?"

"Not that I noticed."

"Are you hurting anywhere in general?" Embriel puts away the wand. She keeps her eyes low, and meek... she's never really forgiven herself for allowing herself to be paid off before.

Yin shakes her head. Pauses, and smirks a little. "Not really. Just from landing on my ass after coming through a portal. Anticlimatic, that."

"Well..." she produces a small bottle of white tablets from the bag, marked simply 'analgesic', and hands it to Ellen. "Take these, just in case. I'm, uh, really happy to see you okay."

"Happy to be okay," the vampiress assures, amusing herself a bit. "And, thanks for your help, Embriel. So, I strike you as clean? Magic, bugs, drugs and such?"

"You don't have any physical abnormalities that I can see. But if anything feels out of the ordinary, you need to get checked again." Embriel smiles a meek little smile. "You can go if you want. Arux has been worried six and needs your arms around him."

Yin smiles a bit, and nods. "Yeah..thanks, Embriel." She's not oblivious to the attraction, certainly. But it can never amount to anything, and she doesn't always give false pretenses. Heads back into the other room, and does just as suggested. Poor lummox. Such a good dog needs some petting now and again.

She knows that. Its why she doesn't feel too put off around Ellen. She wonders if Menayen needs scritched, and goes back to see about that.

"... and then, we can get in through there... he's in bad shape. Brandt went to town on him with that whip. We won't have time to screw around, you know." Menayen rubs his eyes, staring into the computer screen. Alou, much unlike Yin, has been hung from his wrists and ankles from the ceiling, and his entire body is dark with lash marks and bruises. There's no question about it... there's been no mercy for him.

As it turns out, Arux is over by Menayen, looking over his shoulder, and not really in a frame of mind to be cuddled. Thus, Ellen situates herself quietly in a semi-familiar armchair a little ways away, and just waits, uncharacteristically quiet. For once, even she has to admit that it's a bad idea to tag along. Something in her gut says that there is something...wrong about her, something that wasn't there before. But damned if she can place it.

"What about the security actually in the room?" the dragoon commander inquires. "And will we be able to land the portal directly in the room?"

"I can get it closer this time, now that I've been in there and I know the building better. I'll rig up something to put the security system off line for a minute or two. But it needs to be now. We don't have time to go get help, or he's just not gonna make it." Menayen grimaces. Brandt again, another lash, a mailed fist uppercut, a shower of blood, and Menayen turns away from the screen. "This is my fault. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit! I am so gonna kill that guy this time!"

"Yes, well, we'd be thrilled to help with that, too." It's hard to tell whether Arux is joking or not; it could go either way. He stands up. "Okay. I'm gonig to get a couple things together, then I'm ready to go as soon as you can send me."

"Roger. Steve. I'll be done in about four minutes." Menayen turns his full attention to the keypad, and a second much smaller monitor fires up. Streams of numbers and commands flow down the display, and Embriel, for her part, turns away a little dizzily.

Arux sets his hand reassuringly on Ellen's shoulder as he passes her. She manages a slight smile. It fades fast, but she is grateful. Alou...

When Arux returns, he's short two of three horns, and is just winding a filiment of something or other around the second sizeable one. It blinks out of wight a few moments later...and, really, he's instantly not all that recognizeable without them. He isn't in the kind of armoured catsuit Yin had worn on her first jaunt to Grace Tower--the things take a minimum of five minutes or so to get in and out of--but he has lost the overcoat to avoid anything dangling that can catch or be caught. "Ready to go?"

"Just so. And... yup." Menayen, whose eyes look decades older than the rest of him right now, hands over the little portal device. "I've got a sticker under the location buttons. Best thing to do is wait for them to leave, sneak in and sneak out. As much as I wanna see Brandt turned into a bitch-steak-burger with cheese fries, I don't think we need to risk a confrontation. But I don't know military too good. Maybe we should capture him. I dunno."

"We have a fire-infused bastard's lifespan to take Brandt out. Alou is the only priority right now." Glances over the buttons. Okay, straightforward enough. Looks back to the screen. Of course, he may have to move sooner if it looks like Brandt is going to kill the Spider right now. "Yin, have a medical team ready."

He doesn't notice it's an order. She does, but doesn't mind, considering their history together. Nods, and gets up, heading for a phone to take care of this.

On the screen, Brandt is toying with what looks like a stiletto dagger. Speaking, and toying with it.

Menayen clocks a few more buttons. "Okay. Go..." clicks again, and the lights and camera go off. "Now."

Arux nods slightly as he arms a pistol so there's no sound or hesitation to alert Brandt. Hits the proper button, waits for the blue swirl, and steps into it.

Not twenty seconds later, Yin jumps to her feet, eyes wide, when Arux reappears with his bloody burden. She trembles just a little and has accomplished the tricky feat of being even whiter than usual...but her voice is even despite herself. Finishes throwing pillows off a couch. "Lay him down here. Med team's on its way."

Alou's not responsive at all. Breathing, but less than awake. The tiny sentry spider skitters silently to a chair leg and crawls behind it, sitting and waiting.

Embriel, no stranger to wounds, immediately begins to clean the blood from Alou's skin. She turns his head to one side. "His mouth is bleeding," she grumbles, "I wonder why?"

"I don't even know. Probably because Brandt is a dick among dicks. Except in the literal sense."

"Yeah, he won't be anymore," Arux notes.

Yin has to smile faintly at him. "And you wonder why I love you."

She isn't a whole lot of help. There isn't any critical bleeding to stop--Brandt was a decent torturer, whatever else he was, and didn't do anything that could render immediately unconscious. She just grabs a chair and sets it beside the arm of the couch, seating herself in it sideways and threading lithe fingers into the undamaged parts of Alou's hair, just for reassurance. "If you can hear me, Alou, you're okay now," she reassures, voice soft and gentle. And, under it, the barest touch touch flirtatious without her direct consent...that's just very characteric "Yin." It's always there. Right now, her face isn't anything even approaching flirty. Just...a shadow of pained. She'd gotten him into this, after all.

Menayen plods around throughout all of this. His first order of business is to have Embriel sweep Alou for bugs-- conveniently missing the chair across the room. After that, her makes a point of touching Yin's shoulder to reassure her, and turns the security camera back on to see what kind of fallout they're dealing with.

"Wow," he blinks, "you're pretty efficient Arux."

"I do my best. How are things looking?" Heads back over to the put-upon kitty to look with him, pulling the enchanted filiments off his horns as he does. Expensive and one-time use...there's a reason they don't use them all the time.

"He's definitely dead." Menayen looks down. Dead. Even an enemy... he says something in a language that actually originated at CEAGT, an institutionalized speak to keep secrets from leaking. "Lookit, the door's opening. There are two people who'd better not come through that door and... fuck me."

On the screen, a tray of food tumbles out of the hands of a very worn-looking Prata. She falls to her knees at Brandt's side, shaking him urgently. Her hands tug at her hair, her mouth hanging open.

Menayen reaches for the off button.

Even Arux cringes. This part of the job, you try not to think about...and never want to see. Glances back to Alou, and Yin. Today sucks.

Embriel is busily binding something around Alou's broken right wrist. "Yin, could you cut this tape for me?" She's doing her best not to panic, despite being a little panicky. Alou's eyes are open, but he's not looking at anything. Not really.

"Yeah...sure." Gives his hair a gentle scritch as she stands up, snitches a dagger from Arux's belt--he almost comes around swinging on habit, but catches himself--and does just that.

The gauze pops, and Embriel smooths the edges down. "He'll be okay. Bad news, though." She looks at Arux. "I don't think he'll be able to talk. Ever." She pats his hair, heart breaking for the poor bastard.

Yin starts to speak. Appropriately, can't for just a minute. Finally..."What? Why?" This time the pain in her face doesn't even try to be hidden.

Arux blinks. "I second that. He spoke to me after Brandt was down."

"Brandt's knife... did you see it?" Embriel takes hold of Alou's chin. "If you're squeamish, look away." She opens his mouth, displaying Alou's tongue-- puffed up and black. "This is poison."

Yin cringes. Shudders a little. "...Why do emergency services always take so damned long to get here?" she finally spits. Walks over to the window, and glances down the street. Ah. Finally.

"I gave him some antitoxins, but they're basic." Embriel looks at Ellen, but doesn't speak. Can't really. This whole situation sucks out loud.

In not very much longer, Alou is being lifted to a stretcher by military medics. Yin watches quietly, then half looks back to Arux and Menayen. "I want to go with him. Or are you going to stop me?"

Menayen shrugs. "Not my call. You are his friend though, and as close to family as he's got left. Might as well go." He smiles a bit. "Troix would want you with him since she can't be, anyway. Also, Arux," he looks up, "don't say no. I'll bite you."

"I won't," Arux notes to her as he buttons his usual overcoat. "I only like it when you bite me."

Ellen smiles faintly at them, and nods. Climbs into the ambulance with the stretcher--no one stops her--and they're off in not too long.

Arux looks over to Menayen. "You couldn't bite me even if you wanted to, shortfluff. You'd fall asleep halfway through the process. There are some beds upstairs, maybe it's time for an eight hour break for you?"

"Look here ya scaly cunt, I'll have you know that..." Menayen yawns. Yawns big time, ears pressing back. "No one saw that. I think I'm gonna have that nap. What are you gonna do?" He blinks. "That girl, Prata. She's in hell right now, but she's a silver wyvern. She'll want blood for Brandt."

"Try to figure out what the repercussions of what we just did are, Prata included. The explain myself to my superiors while I'm at it, and check on Yin and Alou a bit later."

"I like you, Arux. You do the anal officer thing really well." Menayen pauses. "And that's not slang. Goodnight!" And he races for the stairs at a sleepy clip. He'll probably drop off before he gets to bed.

The shadow dragoon smirks. Finishes with his jacket and the belts buttoned over it, and sighs softly, fingers to the bridge of his nose. This a minute. Allows himself a little much-needed brooding time... and finally leaves to go about his business. He never notices the little spider.

The spider simply digs into the chair leg, quietly broadcasting its signal.

It's quite awhile before Alou gets out of surgery...an ansy and well-healed Ellen spends most of the time I'm-not-pacing-just-walking, or brooding by the window. She usually dislikes bright sunlight for obvious reasons, but her ring's protecting her well enough--hers had been taken, of course, it's the first thing a smart person does with a vampiric captive, but Arux had had another ready for her when she got back--but she just doesn't notice today.

After quite a long time, she's situated quietly at his bedside, quite awake, and just...waiting. The doctor hadn't concluded that he'd never speak again, exactly, but...did note that he'll be unable to for quite awhile, and that regaining that function will be a stroke of luck.

She almost wishes she could doze. She doesn't have the human excuses to get up and walk around like "eat" and "pee." But, is unwilling to leave his side, after what he'd done for her.

Alou's unresponsive for a long, long time. Long enough that Menayen pops in once or twice, and Embriel comes to check on him too. She kisses his forehead, leaving a bit of blue lipstick there, and goes, not really wanting to be around a brooding Ellen.

"Excuse me," a nurse calls hours later, "its almost time for visiting hours to be over, but do you think he'd mind another?"

"I'm sure not. He won't notice anyway, at this rate," Ellen observes.

"Alright. I'll let her in." The nurse heads off the other way.

A few minutes later, a young woman peeks her head into the ward. Her snow blonde hair and pale, tired features ought to be immediately familiar to Yin as she sits, without waiting to be asked, at Alou's bed side.

Ellen jerks to a more upright position from where she'd been leaning her chin on her hands, deeply startled. How in the hell...? And Prata....

Ultimately, when Prata doesn't speak, Yin doesn't either. Just...waits quietly from where she sits for whatever comes next, face vaguely clouded with guilt and empathy. She doesn't hate Prata. But a cruel maneuver had been struck against the silver wyvern, the only blight to the Fire's death.

Prata looks at Alou mostly, her eyes tired, her posture not as pristine as usual. She reaches out at one point and covers his hand, only briefly, before pulling it back.

"I'm sorry this happened to him," she says, not without genuine emotion in her voice. "Have you recovered well?" Doesn't look at Yin.

"Yeah. I'll be better when Alou wakes up, but the doctors say the surgeries went well." Pause. "How are you doing...?"

Prata doesn't smile, when she might have yesterday. "Someone killed Brandt, Yin." Eyes sparkle. "Someone close to you shot him in the head. Shot him. Shot my Brandt." Her fists clench. She doesn't mean to show weakness like this, not to Yin, who she respects so much for matching her in a fight. "I guess you know why I'm here."

Yin closes her eyes. "Blood."

Prata nods. Slowly, up and down. "I had to talk to you first." She looks at Alou. Covers his hand again. "Arux ripped out my heart. I can't see anything anymore, I can't breathe. And I need to see him die with my own eyes." She squeezes Alou's hand. "But that would be handing my pain to you, wouldn't it?"

Yin flinches inwardly. So she knows it was Arux...damn. Just...damnit. She's silent a few moments, mouth slightly tight. Finally... "...Of course it would. I've loved that man for twenty years, Prata. And he's felt the same way about me for...longer." Closes her eyes again, brow creased lightly. When she finally starts to speak again, her voice is soft. "Any rumor you've ever heard about us is wrong. All this time he's been there by my side, he's never gotten to touch me intimately. Even once. No one else has ever been interested in me for anything but my body but...there he is, year after year." Her eyes open, a slightly faraway sheen overtaking them. "I don't know if you saw it. But there was a valuable necklace, white gold, confiscated from me when I was taken to the tower. He gave that to me a few years ago to celebrate my last promotion and appointment to secondary unit commander." A small smile pushes at one corner of her lips before fading. "He was promoted to Commander at exactly the same time. We're partners, have been for decades, and such a damned good team we're always advanced together. But he wasn't nearly as interested in that. Blew his whole raise on that necklace, too...I probably chewed him out for an hour."

Pauses. Way off track. Tapdancing. Finally... "I know that you're hurting. I can't even imagine losing Arux. I'd do anything to keep him safe. So...I only have one request for you, Prata." She leans her cheek on her hand again, and looks across to the Silver Wyvern after a moment. "If you have to kill someone to move on, kill me. Not him. I'm the one who started this whole thing. None of this would have happened had I not gotten captured. Had I not made mistakes in my first run at the tower. Had I not told Arux that Brandt beaten me with a whip. He's like me...he tries not to cause casualties, since our opponents are just doing their jobs for causes they believe in, too. It may have ended differently had I not told him that. This is no less my fault than it is anyone's." Sighs quietly. Looks back up to Alou, thoughtful. "If you need to see blood to feel better, please make it mine. You have my word I won't stop you." Her voice is quietly, solemnly earnest.

Prata looks at her. Quietly, coldly. Looks at Alou, takes a moment to pet his hair. "So I kill you. Brandt is avenged by the six degrees of separation. And then Arux comes after me. Maybe he kills me, maybe I kill him. He kills me, father goes after him. I kill him, the dragons come after me. Either way, Wyvern versus Dragon escalates. People die. No matter what I choose, it happens. Even if I don't kill you." She gazes at her fingertips, watching razors of metal flow along her fingertips like blades on a saw. "So why should I kill you when the end would be the same?" Looks at Yin, glimmering eyes streaming genuine tears. "I don't understand. I don't understand this war game, I don't know anything about politics or revenge or anything. Father sent me. He said I had to choose for myself. He said he wasn't going to order me to kill Arux because he doesn't see what Arux did as a crime." She sniffles. "Arux saved his friend's life. He's a hero." She's blubbering now, just pouring everything out. Her eyes clear, though, her gaze grows solemn. "Come here, then. I want blood."

Yin's quiet at first. She just...feels so sorry for Prata. Her pain, this dilemma. She's been there, certainly. Everyone in the business has, unless there's something sociopathological within them. Finally..."This shouldn't be about politics or what's 'proper.' It's about your heart. And what it wants you to do. Or, what it wants you to do most." Looks to Alou thoughtfully. "Not in the hospital. I don't want Alou to wake up and see blood. If you want to kill me, let's go outside first. Somewhere secluded if you'd rather no one sees, but anywhere outside." Rises, touching Alou's hand gently. Thoughtful. She's actually not planning anything. She lies often enough...she's a spy. But she's not lying now. And when she says something honestly, she sticks to her word. There are no tricks this time.

"As you wish, Yin." Prata doesn't move. Just looks at her, coldly, eyes twinkling with a cruel sort of chill. Finally, she rises and follows, swiping tears away from her lashes.

Ellen leans down to kiss Alou's forehead. It's nothing sexual...she'd picked up the habit from her family, and will also kiss cheeks of people she likes. "Thank you for saving me, Alou," she says softly. "I hope you feel better soon. Troix needs you, after all." Straightens up, and just heads quietly out the door.

When Yin is gone, Prata pauses. Looks at Alou. "Payou, aphier din tier u tier." And she goes. The words, of the wyvern tongue, literally mean. "I thank you, family of my family."

Behind the hospital, Prata's bearing goes quiet. She looks at Yin. "This is your last chance to turn back. Regain my respect. Save your life." Her eyes soften. "This willful self-sacrifice is not the act of a proud dragon. I know dragons."

Yin folds her hands. "Neither is it the act of a wyvern to agree to an exchange and then take her blood from elsewhere, anyway. This will save him. I can't let you hurt him while there's something I can do about it. You know what it is to be in love. Anyway, this is more a vampire thing than a Dragon one. This is how I grew up. 'Myself for my kindred.' I may have lost your respect, but at least this way I retain mine."

"At least you could fight me." Prata's eyes lower. "You insult me by thinking that I would take your charity in exchange for the life of the man who murdered my Brandt!" She takes a quip step forward and swings one hand, sawblade tips whirling... but it's plain that she's only aiming for the very edge of Ellen's cheek.

The cut opens up cleanly. Yin doesn't wince. "Well, that isn't what we initially agreed to. So I didn't."

Prata watches a little bead of blood trickle down Yin's cheeks. "There," she whispers, looking down at the little bit on her fingertips. "Blood. What good would it do me to take something you were giving freely, when something I love was taken forcefully? I never want to see you again, Yin. I like you, and I hate you." Turns. "I'm going to keep working with Father. If Arux gets in my way again, I'll kill him."

"I'll pass the message along. Prata?" Pause. "Thanks. And...I'm sorry you lost Brandt. I really am."

"I believe you. I just don't want to believe you, so I can hate somebody for this." And she's gone. Just like that. Gone, heading back to the supersonic airstation that brought her here.

Yin sighs quietly. This is not the way for Prata's bad relationship to have ended. Whatever else was true of it, she'd loved Brandt...and now she'll never see him for what he was. If she weren't afraid the Silver may end up in a similar relationship down the road, that would be a good thing.

Flips open her phone. "Arux? I saw you called me. Warning me that a Wyvern's in town, right? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Uh-huh. Thanks. Let me talk. I saw her. Let her go, okay? Make sure she isn't given any sort of trouble. Thanks. No, not yet. I'm going in to see him again, now. Yeah, stepped out for a minute. Right. Talk to you later." Hangs up, and heads back upstairs, wiping the blood from her cheek and resuming her place at Alou's bedside.

Alou's not awake, but he's stable, and recovering. Trying to speak in his sleep, but only sighs now and again.

Yin's phone rings. The number simply says "EARS".

Flips it open. "Yeah?" The very tips of Yin's fingers are running concernedly through the hair near Alou's temple, or resting on his shoulder. A touch can be a very comforting thing, even if you're unconscious.

"I think Arux shit himself." Yup, that's Menayen. "The problem train is rolling into town. We've been watching Prata since someone saw her going into the hospital. Someone's following her, and I think she's too hurtin' to be as cautious as usual."

Yin sits up. "Do you have any idea who? Also, how quickly can you get another guard on Alou?"

"Twelve seconds. I've got a detail there already. And they're mediators." Menayen's voice goes cold. "Don't mess with them on your own."

Yin frowns. "I'm familiar with them. I'll watch my step. Get someone else on Alou. I'm going to go talk to Prata. If we mutually cover each others' backs, we should be able to take two or three mediators. I hope. Well, excepting snipers and such, it's not like they're known for getting into straight-up fights...we'll figure it out." Grabs her jacket--it's fall in Okarthel--pats Alou's shoulder, and hurries out the door. "Where can I find her plane?"

"She won't make it that far. Not if the mediators are in the open. They mean to murder her. She's just passing the courthouse, and... she's stopped. Leaning up against a wall, crying her eyes out. She's like a wounded fish in a barrel."

"Which wall?" Yin's running. Doesn't bother with the elevator...takes the stairs. For two levels, they're faster, and breaks into a sprint about the time she hits the street below.

"Southwest."

The streets aren't too crowded. A couple of people are watching Prata, a few offering to help but meeting a very 'I want to be alone' Wyvern woman.

"There's one near her. Two on the rooftops, just watching."

Yin's heart is in more or less in her throat by the time she gets there, but she's in "business" mode now. Skids to a stop, grabbing Prata's hand. "I know you really don't want to see me right now but inside right bloody now if you like breathing not really time to explain just trust me."

She doesn't know what to say. Just goes, pulled along by Yin, not caring that someone's obviously following them.

A pistol clicks nearby.

Door. Almost always unlocked during daylight hours; she was occasionally assigned to the courthouse and knows it well. Jerks Prata so that she twists towars the wall...and changing their relative positions very quickly, putting her on the wyvern's other side in a flash. "Inside, fast!"

She's not moving. Not really, just... sort of limp in Yin's grasp.

The mediator nearby hasn't appeared yet. She fires twice, just missing Prata's eye socket when Yin tugs her out of the way. People cry out, run, flee... but Prata doesn't move.

Yin growls slightly. At this point, she's basically treating Prata like a visiting dignitary...after all, she's leaving peacefully, and if something happens to her, the results will be similar. She puts herself between the wyvern and the gunfire and shoves her forward along the wall so she can get the door open, then pushes the wyvern inside and follows. Slams it shut to make sure it latches the first time. Ices it shut, then hurries across the room to ice the other door of the windowless place, too, cell phone out and auto-dialing Menayen.

"Domino's?"

Prata huddles against the ice. She's regaining herself, bit by bit, and a sheet of metal wraps itself around the layers of ice at the same time. She wipes her eyes and nose, looks around.

"What's going on...?"

"Blackjack" Yin reminds. "They opened fire. Never saw the shooter. We're in the utility closet on the southeast ground floor. We're both okay. Sealed in tightly, but god knows how long that will last or stay safe. We need backup. Bells and whistles may help; Mediators keep it quiet."

"Roger dodger. Stealth suits, right? I have an idea, but man, is this gonna piss off Okarthel. Gimme two minutes."

Prata gets to her feet. Looks around. "Mediators." Mouths the word almost sacredly. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I got a call from Kaz a few minutes after you left saying that they were following you." Pauses, considering, debating...damn. Of all the people she doesn't want to talk to right now. But...finally sighs aloud. "Prata, is there a number I can get your dad directly without any bullshit?"

She nods a little, and pulls a phone similar to the one Yin had picked up after meeting Kaz. "The blue one that says 'daddy'." She blushes.

Yin smirks a little. "No worries. I still call my father 'daddy', too. In private, anyway." Builds up her courage a few moments. She really, really does not want to talk to the wyvern general. But...her practicality finally wins. Hits the button, and lifts the phone to her ear.

It doesn't take two seconds to connect. "Listening," the unmistakable voice of the beautiful general flows into Yin's ear.

Pauses at his voice, then goes on. "This is Yin. Prata and I are in trouble."

"Yin? A pause. Surprise turns to business in a heart beat. "What kind of trouble? Are you still in Okarthel?"

"Yeah." Her voice skips along quickly and clearly, each word carefully annunciated to avoid repetition. "We're pinned down in the courthouse by at least three Mediators. I don't know why they're gunning for Prata, but several bullet holes in the side of the building say they are. We'll have dragoon troop support momentarily and Kaz is planning something, but I don't know what just yet. If you have any troop presence in the area, no matter how slight, I think it would help to get them visibly covering us. For the physical help, but mostly because it's a signal that at least three nations are on the alert and watching the situation. Mediators hate working with blown cover; it should get them to back down and wait for a better chance, not to mention give us a chance to run intelligence on the situation from our end."

"I can have two black wyvern troopers and a handler there in three minutes." Black wyverns, of course, being the berserkers of wyvern kind. Attached to beings only just related to wyverns known as Sin Elementals, the only real use for them seemed to be causing distractions. However, a White Wyvern handler could control them as well as a kid controls an RC car. "Are either of you hurt?"

"No, not yet. Our location is secure but pinned down." Seals off the ventilation system with ice so nothing can be piped in as she speaks. "No airflow, but quite a few hours' worth. External room, though, and I have reason to doubt the safety of moving farther into the building." Next room is a sniper's heaven. Mediators are too damned good and probably had someone scout several escape routes. They'd have had a gunner covering the other side of that door almost as soon as she and Prata were in this one.

"I'll handle this. Reinforcements are en route." A pause. "You saved my daughter's life...?"

"Not dying first; sentimentality later," Yin assures in her perma-purr, dodging the question. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Just sit tight." All business again. "Okay. Two berserkers in place. And... down! Get down!"

About that time a concussive burst shoves several of the courthouse's bricks a few inches inward, leaving a tumbling Prata with ringing ears and muddles sense of balance. Outside, three very unhappy mediators stand coated in sheets of pink paint.

"Operation complete," Menayen purrs on Yin's phone. "You can see them now. Bastards dodged the bomb, though."

Both the phones had been knocked out of Yin's hands...she scrambles to pick up Menayen's. "Awesome. Also, Revilier has a couple of black wyverns and a handler here, too, reinforcements on the way. Feel free to get them directed around if necessary."

Meanwhile, a dozen dragoon troops--and also six police--attempt to circle the Mediators against the wall, weapons levelled at them. "Stay where you are," Arux growls through a megaphone. "All Draconic forces have been ordered to use lethal force at any resistance. Lay down your weapons and put your flamingo-in-heat hands against the wall."

The three, now fairly close together, look to one another as if searching for a way out. In unison, all three lift their weapons to their temples, pause.

"Disarm them," Arux snaps softly to the woman to his left. She nods, mutters something to the other dragoons beside her. All three change aim and fire...not at fatal spots, but at the wrists of these people's gun hands.

They're a moment too late. The mediators, trained to believe that the mission and duty are so critical to the greater good that their own leaves are nothing in comparison, have no regrets.

Menayen cringes, looking at his screen. "They're down, Ellen. They're dead."

Yin sighs. At their own hand, probably. Finally..."right. Thank you. We'll take the other door out if you sweep the room for snipers." Prata doesn't need to see that. With Brandt...well...it may not go well. Stands. Offers a hand up to the wyvern. "Coast is clear, probably. Waiting for a second all-clear, and we can go."

She lifts her phone. Nods to Ellen, and takes the hand. "Sorry..." she murmurs, not really knowing how to follow up with it.

"For what? I can't imagine you lined up some mediators just to piss me off. Nod twice for 'yes I did' and we'll get you some immediate psychiatric attention." Makes sure the siver is steady.

Prata doesn't smile. She's really not in the mood to be kidded after earlier, nevermind escaping her attempted assassination. "I dunno. Existing. Causing problems." The metal peels away from Yin's ice barriers. "Your turn."

Yin takes the hint, and doesn't try to pursue that line. Ice crumbles away. Checks for an "all clear" from Menayen and, once they have it, heads into the clean room of the courthouse rather than the southwest wall, where cleanup rooms are still at work. "We would appreciate your cooperating with questioning about this later, but that can be done remotely. It's understood if you'd like to get under the cover of your own military and securely back home. Your 'reinforcements,' whatever exactly that means, should be here before long, and dragoons will no doubt be covering you, too." Pause. "You going to be okay, sweetie...?" Okay, so it's a quick shift, but she likes Prata and is worried about her, and admittedly feels older than her too for some reason, regardless of what's actually the case.

"I'm going home to my father," she's quick to answer. "I want out of this life. I don't want to fight, or be questioned, I don't want anyone official to know I'm even alive." She stops. Looks at Yin. "Come back with me." Her eyes gleam a little. "I want to give you something."

Yin blinks. If she's reading Prata right, this particular wyvern isn't planning anything of it, but...she's wary as hell. Of course she is. Raises her hands a little, a touch defensively. "Prata...I just spent days chained to a table there. I have a good friend still unconscious in the hospital over it... " pauses. "It's not that I don't trust you. But you're about the only person there I do trust. Honestly, I'm too damned scared to just walk into that tower. Is there anywhere else I can meet you, unless you'd rather not...?"

She nods, a bitter little smile forming on her lips. "I understand. That guy, Millarca." She looks aside. "He's a mediator." And turns, to walk to her destination. Done with all of it.

Yin walks with her, but silently, keeping an alert eye to their surroundings. While she won't let Prata just leave her behind until she's safely surrounded by wyverns, if she's done talking...that's okay. She'll just be a bodyguard. Silent, and okay to ignore.

Prata's never felt so thoroughly insulted and humiliated as she does today. She doesn't want to talk, and is silent all the way to the clandestine little airstrip disguised as a charter helicopter service.

Two wyverns meet them at the gates, White Wyverns with such a clerical air that Prata immediately feels like she's sitting in church.

"Wounds?" One of them asks, milk white eyes glowing.

"None." Yin looks to Prata. "I'll see you later, okay? Feel better." Turns, and heads back towards the hospital. She wants to see Alou.

Prata looks at her. Lowers her head, and lets the Whites lead her into the base. She hopes Yin understood. Genuinely hopes that, more than anything... for her sake.

Any insult...has gone over Yin's head, really, except refusing to accompany Prata back to the tower. That she can understand, though she hopes it's understood enough. Really...her thoughts are almost too twisted and crowded and set upon by now to process anything that's not necessary. Millarca.... gives Kaz a ring, lifting the phone to her ear again. "Hey. Prata says a guy going by 'Millarca' is a mediator."

"Millarca? Millarca... the guy who sold Josel the dragon egg treatment for Troix, right?"

"Right. Human, supposedly. I just want to check on Alou right now. But after what just happened, there's a chance we can get Grace Tower to cooperate with what they know on the investigation and this mess, which is likely quite a bit considering what she just told me. She said there was something she wanted to give me, too...don't know if it was sentimental or pertinent. I asked if she was willing to meet me somewhere other than the tower--don't feel safe just walking in there, needless to say--and didn't get a response. She may have just forgotten in her current frame of mind, but maybe she didn't. Hopefully she'll get back to me on it." Yawns. She's not even physically worn out, even a little, just...mentally drained.

"Better get some rest, sleepy. Alou's fine, we're watching him. Why don't you go home?"

Ellen smirks. "Because I'm a stubborn ass who wants to sit with Alou. And one who outweighs you two to one, fuzzball."

"Ah, you underestimate the practically cosmic size of my junk."

"You stuff that much, huh?" Yin grins a touch despite herself. "I'm hanging up on you now, small-feet." And she does--no doubt to later rebuttle whether the next time they speak or in some creative visual form when she next walks into her house--and continues on to the hospital. Talks her way into spending the night in a chair in Alou's room, since it's after hours--concerned, not a creepy stalker!--and heads back into his room to make herself as comfortable as possible.

A nurse is in the room when Yin gets back, looking Alou over, checking readings, changing bandages, and so forth.

"Are you family...?" She asks of Yin, looking at her. No horns, no fins, no tiny hairs on her hands... she's human.

"Yeah. Unless 'technically' is important." Yin smirks a tired, quirky, barely-smile. "I managed to talk the nurses up front into letting me stay, though, I'm sure they'll vouch for me if you check."

"That's okay. I'll take your word for it." The human, who might be in her early fifties or late forties and has the cheerful look of brand-new lunch lady, fluffs a pillow and hands it to her. "I'm with Kaz, by the way." Smiles a bit more.

This, of course, gives Yin immediate pause...before a slightly more genuine smirk threads across her lips. "You're out of his league." Laughs softly, though it's probably only funny to her.

She smiles right back. "I'm the only girl in the outfit that Kaz doesn't hit on. He was making his advances like he always does, and I agreed to have sex with him. He was so fuddled that I agreed that he hasn't hit on me since. Do you need anything?"

This amuses the vampiress to no end as she takes a seat. "Nah. I just wanted to sit with Alou and make sure he had someone familiar nearby when he woke up. Yin, or Ellen, by the way, on the off chance you don't know. Pleasure to meet you."

The nurse chuckles coolly. "Ellen. I'm Julie. It's all my pleasure, too." She sits as well, finished with redressing his wounds. "He won't be about for a while. He'll never be the same man, either."

"How do you mean?"

"He won't be able to talk, for one. He was chatty. Also, they hobbled him." She looks at his feet.

Yin glances down that way. Cringes. "He wasn't captured but fifteen minutes before he was rescued," she observes, soft and wry. Sighs softly. Sinks back in her chair. Alou...and not to mention Troix. She's going to have to be the one to explain why daddy can't talk, too. The buggerfly is going to be devastated. Is quiet a bit. Finally... "I'm just glad that Arux already shot the bastard who did this. Saved me the trouble."

"Killing's a horrible cycle. Not that there's always a better way." Julie fishes some mints from her pocket. "Honestly, I think they did this to Alou just to bait you guys. Why else would they do it so fast? It must have been the intention."

Ellen's phone rings. The number, this time, reads "JULEN C."

"Yeah...the torturer was thrilled, I'm sure, but the others usually would have stopped him." Glances at her phone. Raises an eyebrow, and picks up up. "Hello?"

"I need to talk to you." The crisp voice of Revilier answers. "In person."

A white eyebrow is up instantly. There's a pause. Considering. "Where, and concerning what?"

"Wherever you feel safe, and concerning my daughter and your friend Six."

Yin gazes at Alou's face. Good reason. "Name a neutral city and I'm probably fine with it. How's Venice? The one by you, I mean." It's a city surrounded by a fair amount of wetland a few hundred miles out of Julen which, surprisingly, did manage to live up to its name as a cultural and artistic center. This, along with a lack of a large airport nearby, has also had the side effect of making it pretty racially neutral. It's genuinely mostly human.

"It works. You dont' have to come alone if you don't want to. I will be. Any questions?"

"Where do I meet you?"

"There's a little bistro two blocks north of the station. It's Dandridge's House of Ribs. Nice and public."

Yin nods a little to herself. He could still get her. She doesn't doubt that. But her gut doesn't think it's a setup. "Alright. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Yin."

"Business?" Julie asked.

"Sure. See you soon." Hangs up. Lets out her breath. Quiet a moment, then looks up to Julie. "Yeah." Smiles, a little wrly, and stands. "If Alou wakes up before I get back, apologize to him for me, and tell him I'll be harassing him at the first opportunity?"

"Of course." She nods. Hands her a mint. "Here. Good for ya."

Ellen smiles a bit. "Thanks." Takes it, sets her hand thoughtfully on Alou's forehead a few moments, kisses it, and takes her leave. Considers where to go. Kaz? Nah...he'll be understandably worried, not to mention her turning around and put at risk what he'd just arranged at very great cost. Her safety and freedom and all. Arux...he'll try to stop her. But she can probably sweet talk him into it. Hopefully. But she really wants to go alone.

Arux. Definitely. Tosses the mint in a garbage can as she walks out of the hospital. Doesn't even notice, really...habit. It was probably fine.

One begging, pleading, reasoning, and guilting trip later, she's managed to get Arux's permission...on the condition that he gets to monitor the situation remotely. And that she owes it to Menayen to let him in on all of this, too. Still another talk she isn't looking forward to, as she approaches the cat-thing. Blinks. "Has that always been purple?"

Menayen holds up shorts. "Yup. White lab coat covered it well, though. What's up, pup?"

Yin sets a hand on her hip. "Revilier wants to meet with me."

"Oh, wow, I bet you told him to go to a whole new kind of hell!" Menayen grins, and hops onto a chair to sit kitty style.

Yin smiles. Hoo boy. This is going to be even more fun than imagined. "Actually, I want to do it."

Menayen looks up. Suddenly. Glares at her with those sharp, attentive kitty eyes. "Tell me this doesn't have anything to do with what I saw on the tape?" It had been pretty hot, after all, and she did look like she enjoyed it. Who was Menayen to say she wouldn't go back for more? Revilier hadn't turned out to be that bad of a guy, compared to his underlings-- though that made him guilty by proxy.

Yin narrows her eyes. Though her cheeks redden, she's more pissed off at the very suggestion than she is embarassed. Deeply so, actually. She's had her credentials and integrity called into question quite enough times in the last three months, thank you very much. "Look, that was a weird-ass situation, and you should certainly have been able to tell that not only did I not initiate anything, but I tried to slow or stop it more than once. Give me at least a little damned credit. This is because he said it has to do with Alou. And his daughter, but I'm more worried about Alou. His prognosis isn't good. Hobbled, and the doctors confirm he won't speak again. Revilier's a healer, and we did just save his daughter's ass. I want to see what he has to say."

Menayen's eyes narrow a little bit. Lips peel back, fangs bared. Ears press back. "One never knows, Ellen. I had to ask. I've lost good people to stockholm syndrome before. To dragons, more often than not. One of my people, more importantly one of my friends and the guardian of a little girl who loves to play with yarn with me is lying crippled forever in a goddamn hospital bed, because we came for you. I lost two more coming to get you." He actually hisses a little. "Forgive me if I'm worried that I might lose you, too. So why don't you stop pissing off at the kitty who's technically your superior officer right now, and go see Revilier, and get your own fucking credit? Get out of my face." And he buries his head in the crook of his arm, ears still back.

It occurs to her to apologize or try to patch things. Then she realizes she can't think of anything she'd said that she'd care to take back.

Arux is all but shoved against the doorframe when he unwittingly passes her on the way out. Blinks, absently rubbing his ribs where she'd shoved him and watching her back a few moments. Well. That must have gone well.

"What the fuck are you looking at, Baa Baa Black Sheep?" The kitty hisses. "This ain't a fucking broadway play, fuck off." He's trembling. Hurting, in his little heart. And heavens, does he not deal well with that.

And Arux...damnit, but the big guy is at a loss. Yin is the empathetic one who's gentle and good with people, so this is the wrong side of this little show for him to be on. "Er...I was expecting that little talk to last longer. Wanted to let you know that I'm sending two people to keep a remote eye on the situation, and wanted to know if you wanted to be involved...?" Bless him, but he can't think of anything better to say.

"You're not concerned at all that your superiors are gonna ass rape you for this?" Menayen looks at him, a serious, uncharacteristically somber expression on his little face. "I can see saving her, getting some info. But now you're actively meddling in civilian business. Stupid civilian business that she ought to be smart enough to avoid. I saw the tape. Revilier was playing her from the start, either that or he really likes her and wants her for himself. There's some angle we're missing. Prata told Yin that the only name we know in the missing dragon egg case belongs to a Mediator, and I think that's what needs following up. If Mediators are stealing dragon eggs to perform creepy transmutation experiments on five year old spider girls then that is seriously fucking up the natural order of things and Mediators are supposed to be preserving the natural order of things and you know what? Go ahead, whatever. Tits command official attention." He lowers his head again.

Arux tilts his head. Waits to process Menayen's rapid-fire statements. Then... "You're right. Speaking as someone who's known her for decades...Yin is headed for a nervous breakdown. She's been in complete denial that she's not a dragoon anymore, she's getting sloppy and missing things, her mood is completely and totally off of what she usually would be when a longtime pet investigation gets a strong lead, and she's single-mindedly focussing on Alou meanwhile rather than the larger issues. Fine. A solid sidetrack will keep her nose out of what's turning into a much bigger, more dangerous, and more complicated investigation than I think she can handle right now...not just for her sake, but for the safety of everyone else on the project."

"What project would that be, Arux?" Menayen looks up again. "She's working for me, now. Spiders aren't chasing Revilier anymore. We found the common enemy, there's no reason to think that going to him is going to do anything but put her at risk. She has no business on any project unless I say so and god dammit if I want to let her get herself captured again or killed. She doesn't need to be doing anything but recovering. Put her in the looney bin. She's out of her league trying to take this all on her shoulders when it's just not her job anymore." He squeezes his eyes shut. "I know you love her. You know that she's not gonna stop even if Revilier doesn't harm her. She'll try to dive back into the investigation."

Arux closes his eyes a few moments. Yeah, he does. But loving someone makes it even harder to judge that line between "stressed" and "lost it." Considers. Finally, quietly..."Does she know she's one of yours?" Looks back down to Kaz. "I don't think so. She's on the same investigation as she was when she was taken off duty as a dragoon. She hooked up with you for the purpose of staying on it. You haven't ordered her to do anything she didn't want to. She's acting as a rogue agent. Don't get me wrong. She's not playing you, hell no. But it hasn't fired that you're her boss, even though she'd tell you differently. You're her ally and her friend, like Alou is. Helping and being helped in return. I'm sure that's why she thinks you bailed her out of the tower, not because she's 'one of yours.'" Gazes at the ground a few moments. "Not even I can really guess at everything going on in her head right now. But I would bet my life that it involves finding some way to get Alou fixed."

"You shouldn't bet your life, Arux. You can't have it back if you lose." Menayen hops off the chair. They're not gonna leave him alone. "Like she'd listen if I told her not to go, anyway. Until such time as I deem fit, Kaz and his network will supply no reinforcement or support personnel to Yin's little crusade. I'm turning my efforts elsewhere. And I'm getting a sandwich. Tell her good luck for me."

Arux nods. Sighs inwardly...it legitimately pains him to see such a fallout between Yin and someone she likes. Not on a professional level. That they can get around. "I'll do that."

---

Meanwhile, Yin's wasted little time in securing her own transportation back to the mainland. She just gazes out the window the first little bit. And then the fact that she finally has a moment alone can't be ignored any longer. The first choking sob catches her by surprise. She takes a deep breath. Waiting. Wondering whether any others will come.

It's a hopeless fight when they do. The non-vampire, non-dragoon, non-spider sinks against the window, knees pulling close to her, and cries painful, racking tears like she hasn't since she was a child, on the way to Venice.