Yin gazes out the window of her office, sipping red-tinged coffee and sitting on her desk, enjoying a break. She has a good view of the former Grace Tower from here...ground zero, and now the site of the new construction. It had been an important show of power to begin rebuilding immediately and, uncomplicated by memorializing a large number of people when the death toll had been small--and mostly caused by Gabriel's satellite-killing, had gotten underway as soon as they could juggle the budget.

Being a queen is hard. She isn't there yet, not officially...she doesn't wear her wedding band away from home, grudgingly. Not until the state ceremony three weeks from now. But she's already shouldering the responsibility, as Revilier shifts more and more over to her officially.

It's a good thing, not a chore. But it's still a lot of work.

There's a tap on her door. Yue stands on the other side, with a now very adult-looking Troix in tow. The buggerfly is clutching a very attractive-looking orb in her hands, one that glows like a miniature sun--about the size of a baseball.

Yin looks that way, slips off the desk. Glances at the camera briefly before putting herself in front of the door. She's entering a controversial marriage this month, of course It's a concern. Moments later, though, the door clicks open, funny-smelling coffee still in hand.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Hello, darling," Yue breezes as he steps inside her office. "Troix here had a late night visitor, and I was hoping you could talk one of your idiot scientist fruits into having a look at her result."

Troix sticks out her long, colorful tongue. "You make it sound like someone knocked me up." She shoulders past Yue--Troix now stands exactly 5'11'' and has a stronger build than the narrow-shouldered Yue-- and offers the burn-glowing, but still cool, orb to Yin. It pulsates with an oddly divine energy.

"Mm...let me put down my coffee. And come on in, shut the door behind you." Yin smiles, turns, and heads back to her desk to set it down. Once everyone's situated, she reaches out to take the orb in hand. "Does anyone else want some coffee, by the by? I'm picking on Petrovic today for something he said last night, so I'm more than happy to ask him to get it."

The angel and his protege enter, with Troix easing the door quietly shut. She's dressed nicely, in a pretty, quarter-sleeved shirt and black jeans; more so, an observant Yin may see that Troix's physique, as it matures, has grown more and more humanoid.

The buggerfly starts to set the orb into Yin's hand; the dragoon may feel a sudden violent spike in temperature about now.

She does...and draws back immediately, startled hand wasting no time in jerking back. "Hold that!" she notes as she starts to. It's not intended as sharply as it sounds...just meant so that she doesn't drop it, and fast for the change in plans. She's actually ready to catch it with her foot if it falls...an odd skill to have, one of the many insane things she'd practiced in her spy days.

Spikes in temperature, after all, get her attention...even more than the odd feeling she has about the object, the same one she used to feel around Ai, and a similar but darker feeling near Yue.

Troix nearly dropped it. She catches it again, blinking.

"What?" she asks, eyes glittering.

Yue smirks a bit. " Did it burn you?"

"It certainly did its best, though Troix doesn't seem to feel it. Sorry to startle you, sweetie," she grins at Troix. Then she looks to Yue. "So, what just happened?" She clearly knows, after all.

Yue holds out his right hand, displaying the remnants of a nasty burn all along his palm.

"That orb is almost certainly a divine object. Certainly a fire-aligned object as well." Yue sits on the edge of Yin's desk, catty as always. "Do you read the Christian bible, Yin?"

"Parts of it. It's required reading for political figures, I'm afraid." Yin pulls out her chair--wheels are fun!--so that she doesn't have to sit across the desk from them business style, and has a seat. "Pull up a chair, sweetie," she smiles at Troix. "It looks as though you're the keeper of the shiny thing for the moment."

Troix glances around the room. Pauses, and sits next to Yue on the desk. "As well I should be," she chuckles.

Yue rolls his eyes. "Well. It's like any religious text in that it has its rights and its wrongs. That bauble in dear Troix's hands means she is not the daughter of her father."

Troix blinks. "Zuh?"

"Troix is a daughter of Chaos, one of two sun gods presiding over this particular plane of existence. She's a Cherubim; I've seen this before." Yue looks at Yin. "This object is the flaming sword of the cherubim, and it means Troix must hop a plane to Iraq as soon as possible."

Yin cocks an eyebrow. "Iraq? Now?" It just had a delicious spurt of violence in one corner. "Why Iraq?"

"The gate to Eden is there. I'm not perfectly clear on the details, my darling dragoon, but from what I understand there is a mechanism of sorts within the confines of the garden. It could be an energy source--that is my theory-- but regardless, every so often a Cherubim is born to enter Eden and do... something." He smiles sheepishly. "I'm not sure what. There is a catch, of course. The gate is guarded by two Cherubim who are, I have heard, older than all but the oldest dragons. Their flaming swords, however, actually work, and I came to you with this," he looks at her hand, "because I need someone fireproof to accompany Troix on this pilgrimage."

"Ahhh..." Yin thinks. Cringes inwardly. She is a very, very busy person right now. "Is there a reason for the rush? What's the time constraint comprised of? And...would you mind setting that on the desk a moment, Troix?"

"The last Cherubim did not want to do it. Within a week, she was besieged by puppet angels. Not Seraphim as I was, but soulless servants." Yue smiles a bit. "Beautiful things. Elementally aligned on this plane, but without conscience or reason. They are essentially robots."

Troix lays the orb on the desk. Of course, being a perfect sphere, it sits neatly without rolling, the flame within boiling; and Yin's desk is in danger of scorching.

"Ah." For the moment, to test whether this will work at all before making plans. Yin cautiously reaches out, and touches the top of the orb with three fingers.

The orb surges brightly, and the temperature spikes around it again, but contact with it does not burn her skin.

Yin breathes out. "Well, I guess that settles that." She picks up the orb...and wrinkles her nose. Picks up the paper that was underneath it--several, actually--which have a neat, circular hole seared straight through them, edged in black. "I needed these. Oh, well. My fault." It's funny, in a way. Except that she did just finish them....

She thinks. She shouldn't. she should. And she shouldn't. Sighs inwardly.

"Alright. If you're sure on this story, Yue, I'll make arrangements and cite it as a national security concern. Query..." she holds the thing out. "If these angels come looking earlier than expected, will they be attracted to this thing, or to Troix? Where will they go first?"

"It's hard to say. Last time both were in the same place." Yue smiles at Troix, who, not surprisingly, looks as though her entire world has been turned upside down and shaken out.

"Okay. Well, in case we get the benefit of that doubt, I'll hold onto this for the moment. Nothing wrong with helping the odds. I need to make a lot of arrangements...give me three hours or so, and I can tell you when our plane will be leaving."

Yin's expression softens a touch at Troix's expression...she's been in very similar places, herself. "Oh, here, Troix, I keep this here for you...." The wyvern-ish queen-ish leans over, pulls open her bottom drawer, and searches for a small tin box. She dips into it occasionally, herself, but not often. Born vampires don't tend to develop fixations on eating. She opens it up with her free hand--a little ice helps fix it to her palm so that's possible--and sets it on the desk. Fudge...with just a touch of processed blood in it. It's a subtle thing, but makes it taste delicious to someone with vampiric tendencies. She smiles.

Troix glances at it. Looks at Yue.

Yue shrugs. "Darling, I told you, I have no idea how your physiology works. I doubt candy will make you fat." 

The buggerfly, then, thanks Yin with a quiet nod and takes a piece, to her infinite delight.

"I'll do what I can to help. I don't foresee any danger involved in this, apart from ever being in the middle east." Yue hops up, to a click of heels.

"Thank you." Yin smiles. "Meanwhile, I'll set you two up with some visitors' passes...you can visit the cafeteria, which is very good by the way," it has a nice variety of foods of mixed ethnicities free to all employees, one of many personnel-related changes she's made lately, "and some rec rooms. I'll track you down as soon as I've made arrangements. Does that sound all right?" She rifles through the top drawer, retrieving a couple of said passes and setting them on the desk as well.

"Most of what I need to do is strictly beauracratic, but I'll get through it as quickly as I can. Meetings to reschedule, security to inform, plus the travel arrangements, et. I have a lot of loose ends to tie before I'm allowed to do anything unexpected anymore."

"I can imagine. Not to mention telling your cock and balls he's not getting any for a while." Yue smirks a little. "Complex, I'm sure. Troix darling, let's be on our way."

Troix smiles a fudge-faced smile. "Ohhkhay."

Yin smiles at them. "Remember, use the left elevator. The right one will probably get you interrogated." She breathes out, and sets to things. Complications. Ugh. Oh, well. At least it will be a nice break.

A few irksome steps later, she dials Revilier.

Ring.

Ring.

"Goddamn motherfucking French! Hello?"

Pause. Yin giggles. "If you want to get rid of them, beloved, we can always just blockade their cheese, whine, and pretention imports. They'll implode. Tough day?"

"No, no, I'm playing Grand Theft Auto, and losing. Sorry, I had a few minutes off. How are you lover?"

The dragoon grins. She does so love her husband. He's a touch "off" for an important national leader. "I'm just fine, thank you. I finished the final terms of agreement to settle that silly spat between the railroad and the steel workers' union, I hope. It's nice to have it out of the way."

She holds up the paper, gazing...through it. "Of course, it has a hole burned through it, but I remember what it said. On that note, Troix and Yue visited me a few minutes ago."

"Bad news as usual?"

"Oh, something typically arcane. Something about Troix really being a cherubim, shiny orb that tried to set my desk on fire, Garden of Eden. Etcetera. I really wish that I didn't have to take Yue seriously when she talks about angel attacks. On that note, I'm going to Iraq. Incognito, of course."

When Revilier speaks, it's without a hint of surprise. This kind of stuff is becoming far too common.

"What do you need from me, lover?"

A smile touches the edge of her lips at that. He's so great. "Well, I think I have it mostly stapled down...most of my plans for the next three days can be moved for something of higher priority, delegated, or handled remotely. Long plane ride, and all. I do need your opinion on how to handle the visit, though. I can certainly ask Hinan," appropriately, she's gradually developing professional relations with the head of Julen's intelligence units, though of course she isn't--and doesn't ask to be--familiar with all of the agents, "to button it down entirely so that no one's the wiser, but there's still a chance it will leak out onto the networks, and this is one of those things other nations would love to hold over our heads. Or just question, but either way, it could be messy. Or we could go the cover story route, though I'd need to think on what it should be and how to handle the Iraqi government's suspicion at why I'm dropping in unannounced. Is there anythign we need to do in Iraq, a POW hanging around or whatnot?" It would be delicious for it to turn into actively good press.

"Our troops haven't been active there in while. We have a station, but it's more of a rest stop for British troops than anything. We're working on some peace talks, of course, but Dham Millanova's already there." The ambassador who, through a few key connections high up in Julen's heirarchy, retained her new position despite Yin's efforts. "Of course, I could plant a POW if you want."

"Ugh...I do like the idea, but what do you think Dham," she still doesn't like the woman, a bad first impression goes a long way with Yin, "will do about it? Although she's a draconian ambassador and it's technically none of her business, I can see her raising public scrutiny about why she wasn't informed and was allowed to be visiting while the supposedly pre-planned situation was bound to unfold? It won't be hard to convince the public that it was a 'potentially explosive situation.'" The press's bullshit-phrase of the year! Revilier's heard her rant on it a couple of times now, though usually in a relaxed sort of way.

"She answers to me. Never worry a bit about her. If she causes enough trouble, the press will find out she was the one who set up the plant, and.. well. I'll set it up if you think it's a good idea."

"I'd adore you for it. More than I already do, I mean." She beams. "Thanks, Revilier. I'm not sure how long this will take, though I hope to god it's less than three days. Plus, we have a date Sunday." She examines her nails.

"Can't miss a date," he chuckles. "If I don't get my Yin fix I get cranky."

Yin snickers. "I maintain that what they say about sex drying up after marriage is a ploy to keep some poor saps single to keep the market open. Alright. Is there anything else, beloved?"

"Yeah. I love you. If you have even a hint of trouble, call me."

"I will. I'll get things set up with our station there on the way for quick backup. But the most dangerous part comes in the next fifteen minutes." Yin heads over to her closet, rifling through it. Purses her lips. "I get to try to coax Yue into traditional Islamic garments. Wish me luck, and a battalion while you're at it."

"Heaven help you, my love. Alright, I'll start making calls. Right after I take this hooker back to her apartment."

"Remember to tip her. I don't want any pimps interrupting dinner Sunday. They have no decorum." She grins. "Love you, Revilier."

"Love you, my snowflake."

Yin smiles, and hangs up. Breathes out. Smiles a bit. Okay. Now for the fun part. She gathers things together--needs to find something insulated to carry the orb in, and holds it for now--and, a few minutes later, pokes her head into another office. Petrovic's. "Hiya, sweetie. Guess where we're going in an hour?"

"Disneyworld?" Petrovic looks up at her from his computer, looking twenty years older today. Security has been a *bitch* for weeks and, along with a cold that just won't go away, he's had a few employees leave for various reasons; maternity leave, relocation, and conscientious objection.

"That actually sounds like fun, I'll see what I can do." Yin ponders this. "Actually, Iraq. We have a cover story--retrieving a POW and, since they have a unit there, I'd imagine that Hinan's group will be handling most security, but you're welcome to come, of course." He's gotten understandably more protective and, for her part, she's gotten better about not ditching him and his. Usually. "At least it's warm and dry, good on the sinuses."

Petrovic audibly groans. He needs rest. He's run himself ragged the last few days.

But.

"I'll need to pack. Have Soze set up your travel; he'll know where to go to get away from attention."

"Yes." Yin grins sheepishly, fangs glistening. Poor bitch. "Sorry, thank you." And she slips back out, calling a couple of mundane-level security people until she's tracked down Troix and Yue, and heads that way.

---

Mm...she'd hoped Revilier would be home. But he had a string of really important conferences today...granted, they'd probably been derailed by the red sun thing, but now he gets to do damage control about that. She'd reported what had gone on, of course, and he gets to figure out what less insane story to share with the rest of the world. She'll collaborate it after she knows what it is. She has asked that he put emphasis on Dham having played a big role in something very nice, and dying honorably in the line of duty.

For now...a long bath. Scrubbing off way too much sweat...and she always feels the need to bathe awhile once she's killed someone decent, anyway. Always has, it's a quirk.

She's still a bit annoyed over the whole thing. Nasty fight! Save the world! Semi-traumatize an eight-year-old! But you lived, so...nothing for you. Not 'yay you, guess what I'm giving Julen' or 'yay you, you won't miscarry your next baby, Yin!' Or at least 'yay Troix, you get... she paused. Hm. ...insert good Troix thing here.

She yawns, and settles lower into the foamy water. Oh, well. The status quo is intact, things are back to normal. That's she and Revilier's job, really, and that of every other world leader...to keep things nice, and peaceful, and normal. She'd just done her job.

Awhile later, she's settled on top of the covers in she and Revilier's bed, dressed only in a comfy silk robe...her usual sleeping attire, Petrovic's certainly learned to knock. A bit, nondescript yellow envelope is lying lightly over her belly...a present for him. She'd been waiting for him, but it's been a long day, and she's dozed off despite herself.

After a while, the knock comes. Petrovic stands on the other side of the door, looking better, but somber as usual.

"Mm..." Yin's eyes open a bit, grudgingly. She yawns, makes sure her robe is tied and decent, and sits up. "Mm-hm? Come in."

The door opens, and Petrovic steps inside, eyes down as per usual, just in case. "All rested?" he asks, close to his usual chipper self.

"Working on it, yes. It's okay, I'm decent." Yin smiles and crosses her legs modestly, setting the envelope aside. "Your throat sounds better. Iraq sucks, but is apparently good for colds."

"Dry heat, you know. I just wanted to make sure you're alright. Troix returned home safely, too."

"Good to hear." Yin nods. "She didn't seem as shaken as I'd expect, but it felt genuine to me. We'll see, I guess. But yes, I'm fine, thank you. Just another day's work, and all. So what's Revilier up to, do you know?"

"He's in Myanmar. Things were horrible enough there as it was, but... apparently he thought they needed help. A wyvern general wields quite a bit of intimidation power these days." Petrovic sits on a chair, eyes set on the floor still.

"Ahh...that makes sense. Well, I'm certain he'll iron it out. He's awfully good at his job, and all." Yin yawns. Yawns again and slips off the bed, mindful that her robe remains tightly wrapped. "How about things here? I only had a little bit of time to gauge public reaction."

"People here are used to disaster. I'm not sure anyone batted an eye. Soze and his team kept things practically untouched as soon as Menayen sent word of the disturbances." Petrovic still looks away. He's just gotten used to it. Boss's wife, after all.

"Mm. That's good. In a twisted way. But I suppose if Revilier's not here, I'm the one who gets to make generic executive 'it's okay now' remarks for posterity." She yawns one last time, scritches her hair, and heads to her closet to pick a serious-but-not-mournful suit. Pretty grey pinstriped number, she quite likes it.

"Probably. There haven't been any threats on your life. Not since this played on the airwaves, anyway." He reaches into his pocket, holds up a disc. "Someone sent a copy to you. The case was marked 'Order'."

Yin raises an eyebrow at that. Lays the suit down on the bed--they don't own cats, she can do this!--and heads over to retrieve it before slipping it into the player. "I'll finish dressing so you can stop craning your neck shortly," she assures. Hits "play."