Log:Snatch and Gab

2020/11/10 Lien Carpenter Talia Grimm 1

Lien didn't feel that the middle of the park was the best place for a conversation, especially not with the collection of police, criminalists, pedestrians, and dogwalkers. She leads Grimm somewhere Lien feels a bit more at ease. It may be no surprise that that place happens to be the Main Street Tavern.

Somewhat contrary to form, she gets a booth at the front, and gestures Grimm in to join her. The waitress gets a signal for two.

Grimm walks in alone and heads over to Lien's table. She feels a bit bad leaving Jack out, but he knew the reasons why. She slides into the booth, sitting across from Lien.

Lien waits for the drinks to arrive; nothing fancy, simply two glasses of draft beer. She takes a gulp and then sets her qPid on the table for Grimm to peruse.

SO... ?

"So." Gabrielle grabs her beer and sips first. She licks the foam from her upper lip. "What was the deal with that fear dust or whatever you were spreading around?"

Lien's lips purse, though she stops herself short of a scowl. Mostly. One hand types while the other serves her more beer.

1. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT I PICKED IT UP, OR I WOULDN'T HAVE.

2. I THINK IT'S MORE LIKE POLLEN.

3. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.

4. IT'S PERSONAL, WHICH IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT IT ON THE POLICE BLOTTER.

"Pollen?" Gabrielle asks with an odd expression. "Fear pollen?" Her voice remains low. She thinks on it. "I'm here to personally understand. This isn't going on any police report," she says to reassure Lien.

Lien knows the curiosity isn't going to go away on it's own, and she'd rather that be sated; preferably for the detective, but she knows that Grimm has his ear (perhaps among other parts). Now she scowls, though it's not in ire at Grimm; general annoyance and thought or consternation, perhaps.

I MENTIONED I WAS WATCHING SCARY MOVIES WITH A FRIEND. THEY MIGHT'VE SCARED HER TOO MUCH. A ...OOPS?

SHE CAN HAVE AN EFFECT ON OTHERS AROUND HER. SUBTLE. PLEASANT. SOOTHING.

THIS COULD BE THE REVERSE OF THAT. NOT SEEN IT BEFORE.

Grimm stares and listens for a bit. She blinks. Then she covers her mouth as she snickers. "So you...you scared the pollen out of her, huh?"

Lien tries not to grin at the correlation and wry comment, but fails. The smirk doesn't last long, though, before she's back to a neutral and (naturally) uneven expression for her tablemate. The qPid on the table is glanced to and then tapped at.

SOMETHING LIKE THAT, I SUPPOSE. IF THAT'S WHAT IT WAS, SHE DIDN'T REALIZE IT. I PLAN TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. THERE'S NO LURKING THREAT FOR THE DETECTIVE TO SNIFF OUT.

Grimm takes a long, slow sip of her beer. Then she sets it down and leans back. "Maybe you really should warn her. Especially if that pollen carries or is contagious. But...I don't think Ja--Detective Carpenter will look into that. But he -will- still be annoyed that you didn't tell him."

Lien's neutral expression turns into a frown. She spares a hand from her beer to rub the good side of her face before commenting.

SHE'D FEEL RESPONSIBLE. SHE'S HONEST. KIND. LOVI- I WON'T PUT HER THROUGH THAT.

DIDN'T WANT TO TICK OFF YOUR CIVIL DICK, BUT COULDN'T RISK HER GETTING DRAGGED INTO AN INVESTIGATION. THERE'S ENOUGH CRAP FLYING AROUND. ENOUGH THREATS.

I'VE GOT ENEM

She pauses for a couple heartbeats, then resumes on a new line.

I HAVE TO TINKLE.

The last word is typed a bit more slowly before she stands up from the booth and starts walking.

Grimm blinks and sits up, watching Lien g abruptly after senses some sort of massive psychic disturbance. She immediately calls upon her dark will and finishes her beer, then sets it aside. She lets her psychic sense scan for what just did that as she slides out of the booth casually.

Grimm has just risen up from a booth after downing her beer and is walking towards the exit casually. She seems to be alone, but the table she was at has two glasses.

Carpenter hadn't seen Grimm at all. Instead, he's texting her as he steps into the tavern, letting her know where he's going to be for a bit. He's just intending to stop in for a drink and a quick burger.

Lien is also walking unhurriedly in the general direction of the entrance. Presumably to the restrooms, from her message, though she never reaches them. Instead, she turns to step for the street outside. While not in a hurry, she brushes or shoulders blithely past those entering.

Just after he sends it, Carpenter can hear Grimm's smartphone's custom ding for him. DUN DUN. An alert sound from some popular cop show. Gabrielle's about to check her phone when she spies Jack, dead ahead. She puts on a forced smile and steps over to him a bit more quickly. "Hey Tiger," she purrs as she steps up to him to give him a hug and attempt to give him a kiss on the cheek. Once her mouth is close to his ear, she whispers, "I was just talking to Lien when someone outside of the bar gave her a massive psychic suggestion to go to the lady's restroom."

Talia is returning to the tavern floor after an extended visit to the ladies' room. She totally didn't turn a sink into a lava fountain. You cannot prove that she did. Even if she did - and Talia certainly isn't saying that she did - Talia must have put the lava out because none of the tavern's fire alarms went off.

Carpenter picks up on the forced smile from Grimm, but does give her a hug. He nods to her when she whispers. "Good to see you." He glances back toward the door.

Grimm smiles more genuinely and adds honestly, "Really good to see you, too. Sorry, I was on mystery-solving mode." She slides an arm around him. "Whoever it is isn't inside here. And--wait, she's leaving? We should follow Lien."

Carpenter nods to Grimm, "Sure, let's go."

Grimm smiles and offers to hold his hand before they start to walk out, if he'll accept it. "Sorry, I know this is your time off. I promise a warmer receptions later," she sweet talks Carpenter to apologize.

Carpenter smiles. "I'll need a meal after this. That's why I was stopping to get a burger." He takes Grimm's hand and heads outside with her.

Grimm chuckles softly and gives his hand a squeeze. "Okay. My treat. Anywhere you want. And I mean anywhere. Here. Europe. Asia. An alternate universe known for the best burgers ever. Wait, that may ruin you for burgers," she says playfully while keeping her senses on alert. She adds with a whisper, "And if I start acting funny, I'm probably being controlled, too."

Lien has stepped outside and is still walking, turning to her right to mostly follow the sidewalk, albeit slightly angled towards the street. She isn't jogging or even moving briskly; nothing more suspicious than a casual stroll down the walk. Given her angle, she looks headed towards a black panel van stopped at the curb a few spots up from the tavern.

Carpenter nods to Grimm, "The best burger I've had was in Cleveland, believe it or not." He whispers to Grimm, "The van, I guess?"

"Cleveland it is, then. I never knew you've been that way," Gabrielle comments, trying to behave normally. She didn't even think twice about bringing Carpenter along a potentially risky adventure. She whispers back, "Is that where she's headed? I must've missed it. I better take a peek inside."

Carpenter nods. "I was there for a football game about a decade ago. Saw the Redhawks take on the Browns. Hopefully the burger place is still there."

Lien continues her little stroll, nearing the van in question and confirming that as her destination as she approaches the rear doors rather than passenger door. She'll reach it in another few steps.

"I hope so, too." Then Grimm whispers to Carpenter, "Four people including the driver. One at the rear door with his hand on the handle, two further back. Tactical gear and armor. The doorman and the other in the rear are armed. Snatch and grab, and probably at least one mentalist among them."

Carpenter nods, and reaches for his pistol while looking for some appropriate cover. "What kind of weapons are we talking? SMGs? Rifles?"

Grimm whispers, "Assault carbines."

Carpenter nods. "Is she confronting them? Or climbing in to be taken?"

Grimm replies softly, "She's mind controlled. She's going to probably climb in peacefully."

Carpenter nods. "So starting a firefight isn't going to be a great option on the street. Maybe we can follow the van?"

Seems that Gabrielle Grimm could add oracle to her list of titles, though the order might technically be reversed. As Lien steps near enough, the rear door is swung open and helps Lien inside. Rather bodily, by grabbing the front of her jacket and pulling.

Carpenter does make a note of the make, model, and license plate, though. Habit.

Grimm thinks on that. "A shoot out in the middle of Old Town is risky. I can follow the van. Or Lien. I'm still attuned to her, so I should be able to teleport us to her as needed if we lose the van. We can fly, teleport, and I can probably track along."

As soon as she's in, the door is shut. The brake lights come on, followed by the turn signal as the van prepares to turn into traffic. If the pair hadn't been alerted and watching, the sparse second or two for the loading could easily have been missed, or assumed as someone simply getting in. Quick and smooth.

Carpenter holsters his pistol again. "Alright. Let's follow them, then."

Grimm doesn't look directly at the van. Has it prepares to turn off into traffic, she opens a portal directly above the van and pointing down. Black energy spirals down and marks a light gray arcane looking circular symbol on the rooftop with a general symbol in the center that looks like an arrow pointing to the front of the van. "Marked the roof," she comments.

Grimm steps to Carpenter and puts an arm around his waist. "They just hot-tied her in the back. Let's go." She sprouts black shadowy wings once the van doesn't have them in their mirrors and takes off, carrying Jack aloft.

Talia cannot help but blink as she watches Lien and Grimm dip on their checks. She recognizes Lien, at least, as a heroine - however dangerously armed - and that's what makes this all the more weird to her. Being paid up on her own tab, Talia jogs outside after Grimm and Jack... Only to watch as they fly up into the sky on wings of purest shadow. "Well. That's different."

Carpenter does his best to remain calm as he's lifted into the air to follow. He takes long, deep breaths to keep his cool.

Grimm notices Jack taking breathes. Her shadow field stretches out so a tendril can wrap around him more securely. It's stronger than her physical body is, after all. "Sorry, I should've warned you. I'll, uh. I'll land on a rooftop and we'll go by gates," she says as she slows and gently banks towards a rooftop.

The van (now visibly marked), heretofor referred to as The Party Bus, pulls into the flow of traffic and heads east. No squealing tires, barging in, or anything else conspicuous. It's nothing like the action movies.

The van continues east towards the bay, turning north before driving into the bay or across the bridge to Sandy Bottoms. It nears the port, pulling into one of many freightyards surrounding the port proper. This particular one appears to be occupied by Ship-EZ Transportation & Logistics

Carpenter shakes his head, "No, it's fine. Keep going."

"Okay. But you don't have to do it to impress me," Gabrielle says as she picks up speed again. She doesn't do any crazy flight tricks, and holds him close and secure. "Though...you -are- pretty amazing," she flirts to keep his mind off of being in the air.

The van does, indeed, pull into the fenced shipping yard, backing up to one of the ground-level roll-up doors at Ship-EZE Transportation and logistics. It sits there for the time being, headlights flicking off and then horn honking three times.

Carpenter is pretty focused on the van, trying to keep an eye on it. That's enough to keep him from freaking too badly. Keep an eye on the prize, so to speak. "I think I'm going to call it in to the CBPD. We should probably go in ahead of any backup, but it'd be good to get the boys in blue showing up at the right time for once."

"Yeah..." Gabrielle says, distracted briefly as her eyes register the name of the company. They narrow as she recognizes Ship-EZE. She didn't know they had a branch in Colonial Bay! Maybe it's new. She'll have to tell Connor. "Shick. If they get her in there, we won't be able to get her out," she says as she tries to fly faster. "I don't know if I'll even be able to track her once she's gone through their processing."

Carpenter furrows his brow, "What are you talking about? It's just a warehouse."

For the time being, as Gabrielle and Carpenter near, there is no apparent activity. The van is outside; no one has left the vehicle nor exited the building.

Grimm shakes her head. "No, that company...that's the name of the organization that transported my little sister around the world without question for..." she cuts off her words. She doesn't want to put the Cartesian, past or present, in Carpenter's crosshairs. But she owes him the truth, doesn't she? "...for the Lords of Order." Maybe that'll enough. They were the ones who gave the orders, after all. If Connor's order spell lets him see the future, then that must've been an ability the Lords used to see Gwenneth's fate. Burning questions start to cloud her mind. Was Gwenneth saved and Gabrielle purposely and knowingly sacrificed? "And that organization is warded. Even with a powerful mage, getting in was difficult."

Talia jogs along in the wake of Gabrielle and Carpenter, following that wing-shaped blob of darkness overhead. After a block or so, Talia vanishes from the chase and is replaced by Sinmore. Fortunately, Sinmore's longer stride seems better able to keep up with Gabrielle's swift shadow flight.

Carpenter furrows his brow again. "Well, we can hit the van before they get inside, then. Or when the door opens." He calls the situation in to the CBPD. "This is Detective Carpenter. Witnessed a kidnapping. Followed with meta assistance, and we have the van in a lot at a warehouse down at the port." He then gives the address, after having to look it up.

Carpenter also passes on the plate, make and model of the van.

Grimm looks for a place to land on the ground. Hopefully something near and with cover. "Good call," she says quietly after he calls things in. Her wings don't need to flap to fly, but they do move a bit as she floats down.

CBPD dispatch acknowledges the call and reports that units are en route, Code 3. A report from the plates indicates that they are registered to a 2030 Ford Pinto. Registered owner is one James Porter, 834 Bayside Dr in Colonial Bay. Obviously, the van is not said vehicle.

Carpenter sighs as he hears the owner of the plates. "How is he involved even when he isn't here?"

Grimm smiles a bit at Carpenter as they safely touch down. "My guess? Registration mix up. Just like how the paternity tests kept insisting he was Kysmette's biological father."

Sinmore would probably blame it on bad luck, if she were there to hear the question. As it is, Sinmore is a block or two away, watching Grimm and Carpenter descend upon their quarry. The diminuitive giantess presses onward, hoping to get a good look at where they're going before they dip completely out of her line of sight. Just, you know, no one pay attention to the 8 metric ton woman running down the street. It's absolutely nothing to concern yourself with, citizens.

Just after the JG Flying Detective Agency lands and Sinmore rounds the corner, a uniformed employee from Ship-EZE exits a personnel door near the rollup to approach the van and speak with the driver. He has a datapad in hand.

Carpenter says to Grimm, "How do you want to play it?"

Grimm takes a breath. "Part of me wants to tear that place apart and find out who runs it, but I'm...not thinking clearly. I'm willing to do this your way. But I don't think we should let them get her checked in."

Carpenter nods. "Can you put a barrier around the entire van? Front and back, so it can't build up speed?"

Carpenter says, "Or if you have to do it with two, behind first. It wont' be noticed. Then do the front."

Sinmore rounds a corner and blinks as she finds herself staring into the warehouse yard through a chainlink fence. That honestly was not her guess on where the Dark Angel she was trailing was going to land. Aren't living nightmares that fly off into the night with random, unsuspecting men clutched in their talons supposed to hole up in impenetrable fortresses or something? Heck, this isn't even in the Port's free trade zone!

Pausing for a few moments more, Sinmore's brain races over the possibilities that lay ahead of her. With a shrug, however, Sinmore's enormous form melts away to leave behind Talia once again. She brushes some ash and dust off of her shoulders, straightening out her brown leather jacket in the process. One hand promptly reaches up to straighten out her fedora while her other hand checks her bullwhip at her waist. Nodding to herself, Talia creeps up on the fenceline and inspects it to see if she can safely scale it without getting electrocuted or lasered or summoning TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF NIGHT TERRORS upon the Earth. You know, standard adventurer trap inspection stuff.

Grimm nods. "It'll take me a few seconds to completely surround it, but I can start with behind and block the rear and sliding side door."

"I can even keep it dark along those rear and side windows so their mentalist can't get a good look at us from those angles," Grimm adds.

The fence doesn't appear to be electrified or enchanted to drain life nor trap souls. There is also the entrance to the lot where the gate is currently open.

Carpenter nods to Grimm. "When things go to hell here, worry about protecting yourself before protecting me. You can always carry me out of here if you don't get shot. Think of it like the oxygen on a plane."

Grimm takes a breath and looks at Carpenter as he tells her that. And damn it, he's right. "Okay. Good luck," she says, feeling an urge to give him a kiss good luck, but worries it may be a kiss goodbye. So she instead turns towards the van and peeks out before making a lifting gesture with her hand to try and raise up shadow walls along the rear and the passenger side of the van.

The walls of pure black erect around the vehicle in an L shape.

Talia finishes inspecting the fence and frowns as she looks at the open gate. After casting a suspicious glance around, Talia jogs through the gate and tries to nonchalantly make her way to cover to try to figure out what's going on around these parts. Ducking down, Talia casts a surreptitious and suspicious glance around just in time to watch shadowy walls pop up around the van. Helpfully, Talia supresses the sound of surprise rising in her throat and narrows her eyes as she watches what's happening.

Carpenter draws his pistol, and gets ready to present his badge. Need to be official and all, after all.

The darkness rides up from the blacktop behind the van. This is rather conspicuous, especially for the man standing outside the driver-side window. He startles, then he blinks, then he yells and backs away from the vehicle.

Perhaps a second later, the engine on the van revs up and the tires smoke as it starts to lurch forward, with forward being towards the front lot and the entrance to the street.

Talia sighs. So much for stealth and figuring out what's going on out here. Closing her eyes, Talia inhales slowly as she stokes the fire burning through her veins, tapping into the jotunblut that suffuses her form. By the time that the van's tires find proper purchase on the pavement again, Sinmore is lurching out of cover to step into the van's path. Planting her boots, Sinmore stoops as she attempts to simply scoop up the van's entire front end and halt its forward motion with enough strength to benchpress a full blown military tank.

Carpenter steadies his hand...and goes ahead and takes the shot at the tire of the van, squeezing the trigger just before he catches sight of Sinmore getting in the way of the vehicle.

Carpenter's aim is true and, while only a split-second before Sinmore's lunge, that's all it takes. The front right tire blows with a report not quite as loud as the gun's discharge, causing the van to immediately dip and turn to its right and inadvertently 'dodge' around the giantess' reach. The acceleration reverses as the brakes are hit to stop the vehicle rather abruptly, though not so much as to cause it to swerve further nor tumble. Side doors on the vehicle slide open with a person at each opening.

Sinmore scoffs as she stands up straight while the van doors come swinging open more or less in front of her. One hand comes up sweep her shock of flaming hair out of her face, an impossibly perfect smile on display as the fire giantess regards the van with fiery green eyes. "Now, now, boys, why don't you put your guns down before you hurt yourselves. I'm sure we can talk this out without you getting hurt."

"Damn. Nice shot," Gabrielle compliments Carpenter. She teleports out from cover and reaches a hand towards the nearest agent. "You guys are free to give up whenever you want," she informs them as misty black energy swirls from her hand towards her target.

The black misty energy reacts to, or is reacted to by the tactically-clad man's armored vest with some minor crackling of static sparks. This seems to make the tenebrous mist divert around him.

Carpenter calls out, "CBPD! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!" He also moves to try to get some cover. Technically he should have called out the warning before firing. But there wasn't time.

The crew in the vehicle now move, nearly as one. The driver opens the door and leaves it that way for some modicum of cover as she exits the vehicle. A device is chucked in Sinmore's direction from the cover of said door.

The two men at the side doors exit their respective openings to either side, with the one facing Grimm and Carpenter (and recently misted) opening fire at Grimm. The rear doors open, though it's not immediately apparent whether anyone exits.

The flashbang detonates at Sinmore's feet, though its effect is not much larger than the jotun. The burst of slugs in Gabriell's direction hits air and/or spatters the pavement at her feet.

Sinmore recognizes the flashbang as a grenade and reacts on instinct. Unfortunately a jump that would have her smaller form tucked behind cover leaves her sprawled almost luxuriously across the pavement here. With a long, tired sigh, Sinmore looks directly at the van while the flashbang, coldly intoning, "You realize that this isn't going to save you, right?"

Carpenter opens fire at one of the men firing toward Grimm.

Carpenter's shot just goes wide, unfortunately.

Offering a heavy sigh, Sinmore climbs back to her feet. She frowns severely as she impatiently waits for her eyes to clear and the church bells in her ears to stop pounding. There may or may not be wisps of flame spontaneously bursting into existence around her for instants at a time before evaporating back out of existence.

Grimm steps back from the shots at the pavement. Carpenter has her back to offer some fire. "Okay, so no nice stuff for you," she warns as a shadow tendril slides out of a black aura that surrounds her, then snakes towards the guy she attacked before.

Grimm's shadow tendril winds arounds the man to pin his arms to his sides and squeeze.

Carpenter opens fire again on one of the gunmen who are not grabbed...and he maintains his cover.

The only other visible at the moment from Carpenter's viewpoint would be the driver who is maintaining some cover behind the door. Carpenter's shot impacts said door rather than the target, and doesn't seem to penetrate.

The driver may be taking this as a signal as she seems to move fully behind the cover of the door and/or vehicle. Grimm can tell that the driver is withdrawing away from the vehicle, keeping it between herself and Grimm and Carpenter.

The man who exited on the driver's side previously, and was mostly unseen until now, roughly takes the driver's place, using the nose of the van for cover. He also uses the hood for a brace, resting a much larger weapon on it. "Ramirez, stop flirting and move!" He may be referring to the one Grimm grabbed, as the much larger weapon is aimed at her and fired.

Grimm is focused on the one she's grabbed and the one running away when the man fires on her with the larger weapon. The round pierces through her dark shadow field and rips through the other side of her chest with a spray of blood. She can't make much of a yell, more of a "UUFF!!" as she's knocked off her feet from the high velocity round. Before she falls though, she begins to slow down and float down on her feet, clutching her wound.

At the command given to Ramirez, Sinmore pipes up with a cheerful, "Sure thing, boss!"

The fire giantess launches forward, sprinting hard as she attempts to close the distance between herself and the van. Calmly, Sinmore reaches over the vehicle and attempts to grab the bossman by the forearms and his BIG GUN  before whirling around to slam him into the ground. It goes practically without saying that the air around Sinmore is markedly hotter than the air not in her immediate vicinity as the fire giantess smiles.

Big Gun Guy (tm) is swept off of his feet by Sinmore's smolder! Hard. He impacts the ground and even his armor can't keep him from getting the wind knocked out of him.

Grimm feels like she might pass out. She blinks a few times and sways as her tendril sags to the ground, but the end still remains wrapped against her guy. "J-Jack...driver escaping...other s-side," she coughs up. She sends a tendril snaking into the van to feel around for Lien to grab her and pull her free. Now Lien is going to owe her.

Grimm's tendril flops around empty spots on the bottom of the van, failing to find Lien.

Carpenter is way more concerned about dealing with the weapon-toting folks, given that Grimm's defenses clearly aren't as tough as he thought they were. He breaks from cover, approaching the van, keeping an eye on the back of it.

The driver continues her rapid withdrawal towards the rear of the lot. It's tactical, but also swift. The man with the large, Grimm-holing weapon now on the ground before Sinmore catches his breath.

Grimm warns the others, "I sense the fourth guy...uhnnn...already made a run for it. He's at the c-corner of the building where the driver's running to."

Carpenter pauses at the corner of the vehicle so he's not out in the open.

The sound of Grimm's coughed out words finally registers in Sinmore's ears. She frowns slightly - that doesn't sound good - and shifts her attention between the man on the ground and the woman running away. One thing at a time, decides Sinmore as she reaches inward again. Fire within the Muspel giantess' body rises, light spilling from the cracks in her basaltic flesh before she thrusts her palm at the man on the ground as the heat inside of her suddenly super-heats the air in between her palm and the man on the ground. A flash of light and fire erupts as the air itself combusts, hopefully blinding BIG GUN .

the man caught his breath, just in time to lose his retinas.

Grimm sways a little and tries to focus. And apply pressure. "Ow..." she applies a bit too much pressure to keep herself from bleeding out. She takes a shake step forward, then vanishes in a flickering swirl of darkness. She appears some distance behind the driver, a dark shadow silhouette.

Carpenter blinks and realizes the guy is free. He walks over and levels his weapon at the guy, aiming for a non-armored location. "Drop the weapon. Now."

As the withdrawing woman looks back, she notes a change in the situation. First, Grimm is MUCH closer to her, perhaps much too close. Second, Ramirez is free as a result. Still withdrawing, she yells, "Johnson, move your ass! Ramirez! Hit it!"

The blinded man on the ground doesn't even bother to fully stand up. He just raises enough to roll himself towards the building and away from the van. The recently freed man doesn't freeze, and moves, also away from Carpenter and the van, as he reaches for a device on his belt...

Ramirez takes a solid hit to the leg (since he is wearing an obvious armored vest) and stumbles, but doesn't quite fall. Limping and bleeding, he doesn't get that far before he shoots back at Carpenter. Not with his weapon, but a grin. And a middle finger. "Adios, mother$#@!@#" Then a click.

And the van explodes. It is a detonation, but the *WHOOSH* is more fireball than raw concussive force nor shrapnel.

Carpenter crouches as the explosion washes over him, and the fire sears him. He cries out in pain, but he's still standing.

Grimm sees the illumination from behind her and whirls around to see the plume of flame. Her eyes widen in horror as she hears him cry out. "Jack!"

Carpenter calls out, "I'm okay!" He says more quietly, "...mostly. Will be. Whatever."

A car bomb goes off in Sinmore's, uh...

Let me start over again.

A car bomb goes off underneath Sinmore. Unfortunately for EVERYONE involved, Sinmore is unaware of the Lien in the back of the van. Sinmore doesn't bother to step out of the inferno that used to be a van.

"Hey. Ramirez. You and your boss forgot this."

Fire abruptly bends as Sinmore becomes ever more visible in silhouette within the flaming wreckage. Tongues of flame bend and twist, warping inexorably around Sinmore's thirteen foot tall form as she lifts both of her hands to point toward Ramirez, the building, and the woman who seems to be calling the shots. A concentrated beam of heat and fire lances outward toward everyone in the path in a searing display.

Grimm breathes a sigh of relief when she hears Jack's okay. There's a trip to the healing clinic after this. She becomes solid once more and gestures towards the flame, then pulls her hand back, trying to summon Lien out of the flames.

Dark energy swirls around Lien and lifts her carefully from the van wreckage and moves her away from the flames, keeping her near Carpenter in case he can help her. Grimm winces as she focuses on being ginger with Lien.

Carpenter hurries over to Ramirez, and goes to kick the mad bomber, not having any qualms about aiming for the same leg at all.

That didn't sound good. Not for Ramirez. There's a crunch, cursing, and he goes from limping to collapsed on the ground.

Carpenter growls, "What was that you were saying? Sounded like 'Ow'."

Ramirez is down, but not out. Johnson is down and possibly on fire (not from the van firebomb, but rather the Sinmore firebrand). The driver continues/resumes her withdrawal to behind the corner of the building and vanishes from view. The silhouette that Grimm noticed in that same vicinity also vanishes from Grimm's senses. Police sirens can now be heard in the vicinity.

Sinmore bolts out of the wreckage and toward Johnson. Carpenter seems to have Ramirez under control for now. Flames trail behind Sinmore as she charges headlong toward the flaming Johnson, whom may next be tackled so that Sinmore can put out the flames.

And, you know, his lights.

Johnson is knocked into the building wall, which stops him similar to a bug on a windshield... just with a little less splatting. He slides down it to slump on the ground. He's not going anywhere anytime soon, with the possibly exception of the hospital.

Grimm pants. "Shick...Carpenter, the other two just that got away just vanished from my senses."

Ramirez is the only one left. And that was the one who just lit up her boyfriend and Lien. "Saw you flip off the detective here. I've got something awful in store for--coughKACK!--you." So Grimm can't get out the rasping words out without coughing up something, but that's okay. She stares daggers at Ramirez to inflict his worst and most painful nightmares upon him.

Ramirez WAS down, but not out. Carpenter took care of the first part, Grimm handles the other. They seem to make a good team as Ramirez' head drops and he goes slack and drooling.

Grimm walks with labored steps to Jack as she sets Lien down near them. This also gives her a chance to see how they're both looking.

Carpenter holsters his pistol and drops to a knee. He looks to Grimm, "How is she? Still alive?"

Grimm nods and sinks to her knees, more to rest than to administer her clumsy care. "I can feel her heartbeat." She looks over Jack's injuries.

Sinmore takes a moment to make sure Johnson and Ramirez are in recovery position. A few moments later, while Grimm is examining the patient, Sinmore saunters up behind all of the horribly injured squishy little people. "Where did she come from? I'm assuming these aren't waitstaff that you guys all stiffed. What the Hel is going on around here?"

Just after the nick of time, a trio of CBPD cruisers arrive, joined by an precautionary ambulance. There are already radio calls for fire going out given the engulfed vehicle present.

Carpenter looks to Sinmore, and points to Lien. "She was kidnapped by the people in the van. A mentalist compelled her to get in. We followed."

"I...I think the--kaff--mentalist...was the silhouette I couldn't make out. That's why I can't sense them anymore," Gabrielle mentions. She looks Jack over, trying to determine how injured he really is. She can't really gauge it, though. "We should...g-get to a healer stat. There's magical ones a Steinberg Tower. We'll still be sore a bit, but--coghcough!"

Carpenter nods to Grimm. "Go. I need to be here to explain to the police what happened. And so they can question the people in the building, who are clearly involved."

Carpenter says, "Or we can get bandaged up briefly while I deal with the prelims."

"Maybe you guys should sit down and wait for the ambulance to call some more ambulances in for you three? You don't... None of you look - or sound - great at the moment," suggests Sinmore.

Carpenter nods to Sinmore wearily. "I agree."

Grimm reluctantly leaves Carpenter to deal with the investigation and arrests. She summons a gate and floats through with Lien, ending up in the magical free clinic. They're quickly attended to, Lien first in one room, then Grimm in another. The magic healers make short work of their injuries, just leaving them a bit sore afterwards.

Lien was pretty bad off. It's probably a good thing she was unconscious; for both the fire (which Grimm knows she'd just LOVE) and possibly the magic (which Grimm may or may not know isn't one of Lien's other favorite things). On the bright side, maybe she'll get to come around to Gabrielle's lovely mug! Again.

Grimm knows better than to be near Lien when she wakes up. She's busy getting healed, herself. Instead, Lien seems a robed mage speaking arcane words of healing over her, with glowing green energy around his hands.

The last Lien knew, she was facedown in cuffs, and not in any fun way. Now, next she knows, there's some guy in a bathrobe waving handfuls of glowing green shit in her face?! Oh hell no.

Uncomfortable as it may or may not be, bathrobe is getting his wrist grabbed by her right. More leverage for when her left balls up for a cross at his face.

"Oh, you'r awake! Don't worry, you're sa-AUFFF!" The vegan healing magic gets suckerpunched and goes down, knocked out cold.

Of course she's safe. There's no longer some weirdo leering over her trying to lay hands on her. It doesn't help that most of her clothes were toast (literally), and may have been removed for examination, anyhow. She fixes that by borrowing robe guy's robe and throwing it on. No hood, though; that's just extra creepy. She now pads around the unfamiliar place looking for something familiar. An exit wouldn't be so bad.

The mage is left in boxers and an undershirt.

As Lien steps out, she finds herself in a hallway with several identical doors. To her right, there is also a door at the end of the hallway.

To her left, a door on the opposite side of hers opens up, and Gabrielle Grimm walks out. "Thanks for the help, Doc. Mage. Whatever," she says. Her black shirt hides the blood stains pretty well.

Well, at least there's a familiar face. Maybe even friendly. Lien's -reasonably- sure this isn't some weird cult kidnapping. Then again...

She gives Grimm the benefit of the doubt, though, waiting for the other woman to turn before waving a hand her way. No sneaky suckerpunching.

Grimm turns for the door at the end of the hall and halts when she sees Lien. "Well, you're looking way better. But...what's with the robes?"

Lien shrugs. One hand reaches down for ... oh, right, no pockets. Her qPid may not have survived that, anyhow. It's ruggedized, not napalm-proof. Not that Lien realizes that's what happened. Mostly, it wasn't in plain sight when she made haste to leave the room.

In lieu of signing an explanation, or trying charades, she goes for simple show and tell. She briefly opens the robe, flashing Grimm. Not necessarily what Grimm wanted nor expected, but she follows it with a pointed look and arched brows, wondering if that answered the question. On the other hand, if Grimm was even curious how far her scars went, she might have glimpsed the answer to that, too.

"Ahhh! Oh god," Grimm raises a hand to shield Lien's body after catching a glimpse of the scars. That is not something she wanted to see. "Close it back up!"

Lien smirks, already closing it up when Grimm threw her hand up. She got the point, Lien thinks. She reties it, and then gestures around the place before looking to her curiously. She follows this up with a moment of miming: holding her right hand out and open, palm up; her left poises above it, thumb and forefingers pinched together and then moving as if scribbling something on her palm.

"Right, sure," Grimm says, hands still blocking Lien out, yet her shadow sight gets the gesture. She finally lowers her hand, and with a twirl of her wrist, she manifests a pad and pen and holds it out to Lien. "We were all in a bad way, but you and me especially. Had to take you to a healer and leave Carpenter behind. I told him to text me as soon as he's done telling the cops the details so I can grab him for healing, too."

Lien steps up to take the pen and pad. No punches! She writes for real, this time, holding up the pad afterward with a smirk(?). It's softer than it was a moment ago. The handwriting is simple, clean, all capital print.

MAKE SURE HE GETS HIS ASS PATCHED UP. LOOKS LIKE THAT'S AT LEAST TWO I OWE YOU NOW. CAN'T AFFORD TO MAKE IT MORE.

"Oh, I will. Even if I have to drag him away from his work," Gabrielle confirms with a smirk. The smirk softens, too. "You owe him one, too. He got serious hurt by the bomb while trying to help save you. And now he's making sure the people we caught that tried taking you go to jail and get processed correctly instead of coming with me to get healed."

Lien's smirk twists downwards into a frown and she adds more to the bottom of the same page.

THEN I OWE YOU BOTH. DIDN'T MEAN TO DRAG ANYONE INTO MY SHIT.

With a smile, Grimm says, "Maybe you should just trust Carpenter a bit. Ask him to do things off the books. I think given it was an accident, he might be willing to overlook it." Gabrielle takes a breath, then asks, "So who were those shickheads, anyway?"

Lien flips the page, giving a bit of a shrug even as she nods.

I'VE GOT NOTHING AGAINST YOUR BUDDY COP. I WANT TO KEEP IT LOW PROFILE, EVEN IF ITS OFF THE BOOKS. LIKE I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU, I'VE GOT ENEMIES. SO DOES SHE. DON'T NEED THEM DOUBLING UP BECAUSE OF ME.

THEY WERE MERCS, I'D BET. HIRED BY OTHER MERCS. I BURNED A FEW BRIDGES ON MY WAY OUT OF THE BUSINESS. A FEW OF THEM WANT TO BURN ME BACK.

Grimm nods softly. "Literally," she comments about burning back. "Does the name Ramirez mean anything to you?"

Lien thinks on that a moment before shaking her head.

NOT BY ITSELF. DIDN'T KNOW EVERYONE IN THE BIZ BEFORE, WOULDN'T NOW. PEOPLE DIE, GET REPLACED.

Grimm winces at that thought. "They had a mentalist with them. We only captured two. The other two got away after the explosion. I was chasing them, but went back because you and Carpenter were caught in the blast."

Lien frowns, absently scratching at her jawbone (on the 'good' side) before noting more.

DON'T HOPE FOR TOO MUCH FROM THEM. IF THEY'RE WORTH ANYTHING, THEY WON'T TALK. IF THEY'RE NOT, WHOMEVER IS ABOVE THEM WOULD BE SMART ENOUGH TO NOT TELL THEM ANYTHING IMPORTANT.

AGAIN, I'M SORRY YOU TWO GOT DRAGGED INTO THIS. IT'S NOT YOUR BAG OF SHIT TO SMELL.

Grimm cringes at that. "That's...yeah, definitely don't want anything to do with that bag. You have such a...colorful way with words," she replies. She wipes at her upper chest, and her clothes clean themselves magically.

Lien smirks at the comment.

THANKS. YOU CAN BLAME MERCS FOR THAT, TOO. NOT THE SAME ONES COMING AFTER ME, JUST IN GENERAL.

She pauses as Grimm magics her laundry, wash AND wear.

NICE TRICK. DO YOU DO WINDOWS, TOO? MY PLACE COULD USE A ONCE-OVER. AT LEAST.

"Hmmmm. I suppose I could lend you some shadow goblins to clean up. For a price," Grimm grins slyly. "Or at least rebuild your clothes so you don't have to go out in robes. Where's your clothes?" Probably back in the room with the unconscious mage. Who groans and sounds like he's coming to.

Lien looks down at the robes and back to Grimm, returning her grin.

I'LL TAKE YOU UP ON THE CLOTHES. NOT SURE WHERE MINE WENT.

She turns at the sound of the groan.

COULD ASK HIM. WOULDN'T BE THE FIRST TIME I WOKE UP NAKED IN A STRANGE BED AFTER BEING HANDCUFFED, BUT NOT AFTER ONLY ONE BEER. THAT'S HOW I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG.

Grimm blinks at the groan. She walks quickly over to her room and peeks around the corner. "What the hell happened to him!?"

Lien doesn't answer immediately, instead following Grimm to the doorway. After a moment, a piece of paper is held in front of Grimm.

HE SURPRISED ME AND WAS BEING HANDSY. I SLUGGED HIM ONE.

Grimm brings her hands to her cheeks, eyes flitting between Lien's message and the mage a few times. "You HAVE to stop punching people who are helping you!"

The paper snaps away, there are sounds of writing and then it reappears.

CONSIDER IT UNIVERSAL SIGN LANGUAGE FOR 'WTF HAPPENED?'

The mage rolls around a bit, and is still unconscious. Grimm stares a bit more, realizing there's nothing she can do for the mage. "We have to get out of here," she says decisively. She turns and starts walking quickly, and waves a hand over Lien. Dark energy starts to glow and surrounding Lien, and then...the robes suck in against her suddenly, forming clothes loosely like what she usually wears. At least on the outside.

Lien considers pointing out that it's not her fault disrobe guy can't take a punch, but Grimm is already walking. She's then further distracted by her robe sucking to her into a pair of cargo pants, tank, overshirt, jacket, and boots. It's in Grimm's favor that Lien wears pretty much the same thing every day. It also makes it easier for Lien when deciding what to wear. She follows Grimm out, since she seems to be the one knowing where they are, thus where the hell 'out of here' would be.

Grimm leads out through the door at the end of the hall, and out to a lobby area. Gabrielle keeps walking.

"Back again, Miss Grimm?" asks the woman at the front desk. She also looks to be dressed a bit like a mage of some sort.

"Yeah," Gabrielle grumbles. It's starting to become a habit. "I'm going to be bringing an injured police officer here soon," she informs the woman. She leads Lien out through another set of doors, out into another hallway with an elevator bank. "We're in Old Town at Steinberg Tower. Close to where we started."

Lien offers a polite nod to the woman at the desk as she greets Grimm, but remains, unsurprisingly, silent. Once they're at the elevators, she nods.

GOOD TO KNOW. THOUGHT WE COULD BE IN EUROPE, OR CANDYLAND, FOR ALL I KNEW.

"Nah, no need to go to Candyland when this is closer by," Gabrielle comments as she stops at the elevator and turns back to Lien. "So...does this friend your protecting know about how your old friends are trying to kill you? The hallway is empty.

Lien meant the comment as snark, but Grimm's nonchalance makes her now wonder if Candyland is a thing. She answers the question with a nod, and some quick jots.

YES. SHE KNEW I CAME WITH BAGGAGE, DIDN'T PHASE HER. I STILL WANT TO KEEP IT AWAY FROM HER. THERE'S ENOUGH SHIT WITH THE BIGOTS AND IDIOTS JUST IN THIS CITY WITHOUT GIVING THEM MORE AMMO.

"Bigots?" Gabrielle quirks a brow. "What do they have to do with your special 'loving' friend?"

Lien's right cheek pinkens, though whether its from Gabrielle catching on her prior bit of gushing, or mention of her friend, she doesn't expound. It also turns sour quickly enough, her writing semi-jabbing at the paper.

ACE, RACE, MEGA, WHATEVERNEWASSHOLEGROUP. SHE'S NOT FROM AROUND HERE.

She pauses, and the sour look softens before she adds more.

YOU AND THE DETECTIVE LOOK TO KEEP THINGS LOW KEY. WHAT IF HE WAS CAPTAIN, OR CHIEF? ALREADY BE A BIG TARGET. WHAT IF THE GANGS, TRIADS, OR MAGICKY PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T LIKE YOU GOT WIND OF IT?

Grimm purses her lips as Lien brings up Carpenter. "Yeah. They'd use him to get to me. Or me to get to him," she sighs and frowns. "But he's tough as nails. He can handle himself. Still...I try not to add any extra threats to his plate. So...I get it."

Lien nods, even adding a smile. It's uneven for physical reasons, but it can actually be discerned from a true smirk. For the few who see a real smile often enough, that is.

THOUGHT YOU WOULD. THAT'S WHY I SHARED. HE HAS A LEG UP ON HER, THOUGH. SHE'S NOT A FIGtheR. TOUGH, STRONG HEART, BUT A GENTLE ONE. NOT ONE TO HURT ANYONE. SHE'D FEEL HORRIBLE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, EVEN IF IT WASN'T HER FAULT. ONE MORE REASON TO JUST LET THINGS GO.

Grimm holds her breath, then exhales reluctantly. "Okay. Don't worry about her being bothered about this, then."

Lien just jots down a quick note with no preamble gestures or expressions.

NOW THAT'S THREE I OWE YOU.

Grimm chuckles and presses the down button on the elevator. "Racking up those points. This should be good."

Lien rolls her shoulders in a shrug, further downplaying it with a quick note.

ONLY IF YOU HAVE SOMEONE ANNOYING THAT NEEDS REMOVED, OR NEED TO GO TO ANOTHER STAR SYSTEM.

Grimm raises a brow at those offers. "Another star system, huh?"

Lien nods while waiting for the elevator to arrive.

AFTER THE WHOLE CRASHING THE MOON INCIDENT, THERE WAS A LOT OF SHIP PIECES FLOATING AROUND. I MANAGED TO COLLECT A FEW AND COBBLE TOGETHER SOME TRANSPORTATION. TO SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE. SOME OF US CAN'T JUST MAGIC AROUND TO WHEREVER WE WANT TO GO.

Ding. The elevator arrives and opens, empty. "I can't magic myself to anywhere. But there are few places outside of my reach," Gabrielle comments as she steps into the elevator. "Hmm...shick. That reminds me, once Carpenter finally finishes up with his work, I owe him that hamburger from Cleveland."

Lien steps in alongside. Her smirk is back as she glances at Grimm sidelong. A piece of paper is held out in front of her.

I HOPE THAT'S IN REACH. DOES IT EVEN QUALIFY AS MAGIC IF IT CAN'T GET YOU TO CLEVELAND?

Grimm laughs. "I mean, if it couldn't, what would be the point?"

Lien grins widely and nods her agreement. Seems that even laywoman evaluations of magic can be reasonably accurate? Who knew Cleveland was such a key metric?

The elevator reaches the ground floor and the doors slide open. "I mean, if it can get you to Cleveland, but can't get you to Paris? Also useless. What did I even sell my soul for, am I right?" Gabrielle opines playfully as she strides out into the main floor lobby and heads for the doors.

Lien snorts at that. Not a full laugh, at least not audibly, but definitely caught her off-guard and amused. She heads out on after, finding the familiar sounds, and possible sights from outside reassuring. Though Grimm filled her in on the location, it's nice having confirmation of that.

Grimm stops on the sidewalk once they're outside. "I think this is where we part ways. I got to check on the detective and drag him away from his work long enough to get his burns looked at," she says as she slides her hands into her jacket pockets.

Lien nods, scribbling out a quick farewell.

IF YOU NEED ANY HELP DRAGGING HIM AWAY, LET ME KNOW. IF NOT, NEXT TIME WE MEET, I'LL BRING THE BEER.

"I can be very compelling," Gabrielle smirks to cover up her concern. "Bring the premium beer."

Lien gives Grimm a thumb-no, TWO thumbs up before turning to walk on her way. She has a place to clean up, afterall. Or a friend to visit.

Grimm raises a hand to wave farewell, before darkness curls up from around her feet and swallows her before vanishing.