Log:Grimm Family Matters

Grimm Family Matters 2020/07/02 Grimm Radical|Connor Cartesian|Randal 1

Connor invites Grimm out to his place in Green Acres, to go ahead and look into the past. Might as well do it our in the rural section of town. He comes to the door after she knocks, and he smiles. "Hey there. Come on in."

Grimm smiles weakly at Connor, looking anxious. "Thanks," she says as she steps in. "And thanks for...this."

Connor lets her inside, and closes the door. He then gives her a hug. "You're welcome. I can't promise anything, you know. But we might get some clues."

Grimm hugs him back. "I know. I'm just grateful for you offering. I'm sorry it took me so long to work up the courage to have you finally look." She sniffs and steps back, smiling at him in gratitude.

Connor smiles. "Let's head into the living room." He then snaps his fingers, "Were you able to find something of hers, like I suggested? If not, it's okay. It'll just be a little harder."

"Yeah, my mom had a few items left in the basement," Gabrielle says forlornly. She flips open her messenger bag, fishing around for something. "This was her favorite," she says quietly as she pulls out an old barbie doll, blonde and in pink clothing. She reaches in to grab something else. "Oh, I forgot...I made you something to thank you." She pulls out a ziplock bag with a dozen chocolate chip cookies. The same recipe Randal taught her. She leaves out that she burned two batches before making a reasonable one. This batch is...mostly not too overbaked. She hands both out to Connor.

Connor smiles. "That's...too kind. Thank you." He pulls out a cookie and offers the bag to Grimm to grab one herself. "Nice job, by the way."

"On what?" Gabrielle asks as she smiles and grabs a cookie. She takes a bite, having sampled a spare at home already. It's crispy. Edible, though. Better when dunked in tea or coffee, most likely.

Connor takes a seat in the living room with the doll. "On the cookies, silly." He chuckles. "This doll will do nicely. This will create a sympathetic link to your sister...and help me see her past more effectively. You're welcome to link to my mind again while I do this, so you can see at the same time. Your insight into what I see could be useful."

"Oh! Thanks. I tried my best. I need more practice. You don't have to eat them," Gabrielle chuckles. Sure, she could just buy cookies, or conjure them. But she chose to make them herself from scratch. She finds a seat as he settles down. "Okay. Let's try that," she agrees. He can feel her mind making contact to be let in by his.

Connor takes a bite of hte cookie, and smiles. "A litle crunchy. You'll get it down with more practice. He lets her make contact with his mind, and then he finishes the cookie off. "Okay...all set?" He focuses his mind on the doll, and casts his spell. As with his other magic, there are no hand gestures. No incantations. If one couldn't sense the magic in use, they would think he was just concentrating on the doll. But as soon as his senses ended up in the past, he can't see or hear anything in the current time.

"Sorry," Gabrielle says of the cookie, but she smiles at him making the effort to take a bite to be nice. "But thanks. I'll definitely work harder at it." She nods. "I'm ready," she says as she sits back, not sure how this will go. She clasps her hands in her lap, fidgeting a bit.

Thus the threads of fate entangled with the blonde little doll in pink are followed... back and back to... the blonde little doll in pink. She looks much newer to Connor (and Gabrielle via their link); shiny, outfit is still fresh, and... she's moving!

Ok, not really. As things focus and zoom out, it's clear the doll is being moved by a young girl of 9 or 10. Both are in a living room, and are accompanied by a third blonde sitting on the couch. The doll is enjoying simple walk in the park, judging from the narration by the one holding her and bounding her along a coffee table in front of the couch.

Walk (bound), walk (bound), she walks(bounds) right across the tablet on the table, shutting off the music video that the older blonde was watching. A great sacrilege, it seems, judging from the annoyed reaction. How -dare- her peppy pop and dreamy dancing from the latest teen boy crush crooners be interrupted!

Connor shifts his focus to the girl who is clearly Gwen. He says over the link to Grimm, << Okay....going forward in her timeline, now. We'll see what happens. >> He starts to scan forward on the girl's thread of fate...

Grimm nods, then remembers he can't see. She's glad about that, because she's blushing brightly at the old memory. << Got it.>> She fidgets a bit more in her seat. Deep down, she's scared of what they may see.

Now Connor skips forward. It was likely that his initial aim was a bit off, and he was a bit early. That or it was the wrong house... or wrong dimension? In truth, it would be no stretch of the imagination at all to picture those two a decade later as the two he'd just met in the past few days.

Following the warp and weft of Gwen is much easier now that he has threads in his 'sight' to follow. The two of them at school, walking home from school, to school... a bit of a blur with the skimming to... there!

The two of them, after school, and it's time to walk home, as usual... except Gabby is still talking to her friends. Important things! Classwork? Pfft. No, -important- things! Who said what to whom. Who likes whom. What band member did what and/or is the best/cutest. Important middle school things.

Too important to be interrupted by walking hom just yet, but Gwen wants to get home. Her friends aren't here, and her fun things are at the house. Besides, it's raining (though, really, it's only unusual when it ISN'T raining in Seattle). This is when Gabby, as the Senior Executive Big Sister, officially promotes Gwen to Little Sister, First Class. She's 10, and therefor old enough to walk the few blocks home on her own.

Gwen may or may not agree, but its less ability to and more the company. They've ALWAYS done it this way. For forever... or at least since they've been in the same or neighboring schools. After a few appeals are ignored (the big girls are talking about boys again, eww), Gwen walks off for home in a bit of a pout.

The view from Gwen's vicinity, though not quite her own perspective continues. Down the street, around the corner. It's passing an alleyway that Connor has the advantage of his point of view remaining his own, rather than Gwen's... as she never sees it coming.

Well, him coming, more specifically. Though the alley would be a convenient place to step out, the man simply appears behind Gwen in a sense surge of magic. A well-, if oddly-dressed man (or so Gwen might have thought). He wears a white dress suit of a cut and style a few years behind even the adjusted current. White shirt. White tie. A well-travelled white fedora. Beneath that, his face is... obscured. Concealed? Missing? Vague and unclear?

Before Gwen can react, there is another surge of magic from the man, and she crumples. There is no cry or wince of pain, it's as if she simply fell asleep. The man catches her before she crumples to hit the ground, and carefully lifts her up. He then turns with her, as if to step into the alley... and vanishes again in a flash of magic energy.

Connor blinks as he looks at the figure in the past. << That looks like the Cartesian. But that's not me. >> This is the one time he wished he could communicate with the past. << Randal? Or another Cartesian from time? That's not my grandmother, for sure. >>

Grimm relives a pang of guilt as she gets to see the memory with adult eyes. Her reason for turning Gwen away was so stupid. Grimm's eyes sting a bit as they start to water. Her irresponsible behavior is what caused everything. Her throat tightens as she expects something awful to come next.

What she sees next causes her to sit up and cuss angrily as Gwen crumples, "What the shick??" Good thing Connor can't hear that. She tries to control her thoughts and calms as Gwen is caught. << That was only about...a decade ago almost.>>

Connor takes the time to analyze the magic...looking it over. He should be able to tell who it is by looking at the magic itself. At least it would confirm that he's seeing a Cartesian and not some...illusion.

Connor swallows slowly. << That's magic of Order. For sure. >> He pauses, << I'm going to try following her thread further. I'm not sure if it will work. But we need to know what happened. If this fails, I'm sure as hell talking to Randal about it. >> There's another pause, << I'm talking to him about it no matter what. >>

<< I...can't believe it. That...that can't be Randal. He...he wouldn't.>> Gabrielle sounds like she's trying to hold on to that belief, but it's faltering.

Grimm feels her stomach drop at the sudden yet familiar sense of betrayal from someone she trusted completely. Why does this keep happening?

Connor furrows his brow as he tries to follow the thread, and finds it...difficult. He finds himself swearing as he ends the spell. "I can't track further. It just...fades out of reach. It didn't end, though. So likely still alive. At least at that point."

Connor grimaces, "Up for a trip up the road to Randal's place? We need to talk to him."

Connor zips closed the bag of cookies and stands up. He considers getting his gear, and thinks better of it...not wanting to be carrying around a dangerous weapon, effectively.

Grimm digs her fingers into the arm rest of her chair. Her mind drifts back to something Connor said to her when the rift was poisoning her and starting to crack. Think of Randal. He's nice. He never hurt her. Only it seems like from appearance, he's the root cause of all the bad things that happened to her due to Gwen's disappearance. A chain reaction of misery and self-loathing.

Gabrielle pushes herself up to her feet. "Yes. I want answers. Now," she says, trying to moderate the anger in her voice. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, counting back from ten while she calms herself. "I want to hear what he has to say about this," she says before opening her eyes, her feelings more under control.

Connor places a hand on Grimm's shoulder. "He's a good man. Assuming it was him that we saw, I'm hoping there's a good explanation."

"What good man takes a 10 year old girl from her family?" Gabrielle asks as she looks Connor in the eyes. He can see tears welling up in hers. Her makeup hides that they're red-rimmed for the most part. Her jaw is clenched, but her lower lip quivers faintly. "I...know he's probably not responsible. Not really. If he did do this? It was a Lord of Order that sent him to do it."

"You're sure Gwen's thread doesn't end?" Gabrielle asks a moment later, some hope creeping up in her voice instead of anger.

Connor nods. "Not then. That I'm sure of. He didn't' kill her. I know that." He takes a deep breath, "We can't absolve him of responsibility. I know that. He knows that. And you know that. But at the same time, we do need details to judge for sure what happened and why."

Grimm nods slowly, feeling tortured at the moment. "Let's go. Maybe walk. I need the fresh air to calm down. To think. All these years, I thought she was dead. I used to think of all the things I'd do to the person who took her from us. Now, I...I just feel gutted. I want to hold onto hope, but I'm afraid I'll just be shattered. Again." She sniffs and turns away to wipe at her eyes. "Let's go?" she says once she's pulled herself together.

Connor nods. "Let's walk. It's only about a mile."

Grimm shoves her hands in her pockets as they head out to walk in the quiet country neighborhood. She's mostly silent. Despite herself, she keeps trying to think of hopeful outcomes. A reason for everything.

Connor walks quietly as well, not wanting to rub salt in teh wound that Grimm is obviously feeling. But he's also angry himself. It took a world-ending event for Randal to quit being the Cartesian. And for Connor...it only took a person being in danger to quit. How long had Randal been at the job? How many questionable things did he have to do?

Before long, they're at Randal's door, and Connor knocks.

It's only a few seconds before Randal comes to the door. He's walking much better, no longer needing his cane, due to the intervention of Amelia with his arthritis. He smiles as he sees them. "Hey there. Please...come in."

Randal Duran

An older man, most likely in his 50s or 60s. His goatee is grey, and his head is completely bald. There's a pair of round-lensed glasses on his face, and he's wearing a nice blue button-down dress shirt with black slacks.

Grimm should be happy to see he doesn't need the cane now, but she isn't even thinking straight enough to process that. She looks up and lets Connor lead, needing to hold her tongue for the moment.

Connor nods, "Thanks. We...um...need to talk to you about something from about a decade ago."

Randal nods...and lets them inside to the living room, and closes the door. "Okay, so...what do you need to know about?"

Grimm walks in, jaw still tense. "We need to know about a girl that was taken," she responds quickly, like she's been holding that in for the whole walk.

Connor takes a moment to think about it. "I wanted to help Gabrielle find out what happened with her sister, who disappeared nearly a decade ago. The sister, Gwen, was ten years old at the time." He rubs his hands together slowly. "When I looked back, I saw the girl taken. By the Cartesian. I think it was you, Randal."

The elder Duran sits back in his chair, as he thinks about it, looking a bit stunned. Connor follows it up with, "Gabrielle has thought she was dead this entire time. It has...impacted her life terribly. Please...what happened? And why?"

Grimm bites her tongue as she waits for an answer. She's really hoping it wasn't Randal. If he said it wasn't him, she'd almost be too ready to take him for his word rather than believe he caused the chain reaction of events in her life.

Randal gets teary, and he wipes it away, "I...remember the case. Pretty clearly. I was ordered by Lord Antherion to protect a girl. She was in...grave danger. I was told that there would be some event in her future which would tip the balance...and that the event could kill her...and I couldn't let that happen." He shakes his head, "I'm sorry, Gabrielle. I had...no idea."

He pauses again and covers his face briefly with both hands before he lowers his hands to the arms of his chair once more. "I took her into what was meant to be protective custody. I took her to an organization called 'The Railroad' in Seattle, at the port. They specialize in smuggling people. I never harmed her."

Grimm blinks rapidly to try and not cry. Her shoulders droop. He was protecting her. "Do...do you know where they took her? What happened to her...?" she asks, her voice so quiet and trembling.

Randal shakes his head, "I...am not sure. All that the Lords of Order would tell me is that she was safe, and that her fate was averted. And The Railroad themselves told me nothing. I'm sorry."

Connor shakes his head slowly. "And I'm not exactly on speaking terms with them. We might have to find this organization and ask them directly."

Grimm's hope drops, but it's not extinguished. "They'll talk," Gabrielle says firmly. "Did the Lords of Order say anything about the dangerous event and what it would be? Or who was behind it?" she asks. Her arms are at her sides, but her fingers curl into fists.

Randal shakes his head, "No. They didn't say anything further. They tend to be...inscrutable. And would often tell me only what they felt I needed to know."

Grimm takes a breath and thinks a moment. "Can you tell us where the Railroad is? Or where you remember meeting them?"

Randal nods. "I can certainly give you the location where I met them. But it's been nearly ten years. And I didn't deal with them again after that."

Randal snaps his fingers, "But...they're...kind of mercenary. If you know someone with that kind of connection, they might be able to find the organization and get you in touch with them?"

"I...might? I'm not sure. I'd have to ask around," Gabrielle says after some thought. Perhaps Rick Mason knows. He seems like that sort.

Connor nods and listens slowly. "Well, it's a lead, at least. I find it a little disconcerting that my spell failed to keep tracking Gwen after that, but perhaps it was blocked by the Lords of Order themselves, for all I know."

"Could be...? Something to protect her from...whatever it was that was behind this event?" Gabrielle suggests. She feels her energy drain after all those pent up emotions and anger fade. She walks over to Randal and looks down at him, processing all her emotions and thoughts. Then she leans down to give him a big hug.

Randal hesitates as Grimm hugs him...and slowly returns the hug. He says quietly, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were related. I shouldn't have put you through that, Gabrielle."

Grimm sniffles and cries a bit, shaking her head. "All this time I thought it was my fault she was kidnapped." She hugs him a bit tighter. "There's no way my family could've kept her safe from whatever the Lord of Order saw. You didn't know. And...you kept her safe. If I had to go through everything I did so she could live? It was worth it. Thank you. For saving her. I...I can't thank you enough," she says through her tears.

Randal just holds Grimm closely, "You're welcome." Connor shakes his head slowly, "I don't trust the Lords of Order, though. They didn't give the full story. There's more to it. There has to be."

Grimm rubs and pats Randal's back before finally letting go and straightening up, wiping at her tear-streaked face. Most of it was hidden by the hug until now. She looks to Connor and nods slowly. "I'm willing to bet on that. So...does that mean we got to track down the current Cartesian? And would the Lords of Order intervene in something like this if Chaos wasn't involved?"

Randal shakes his head, "Chaos might have been involved. Eventually. But not yet. They were concerned that the event would tip the balance. So, either the event was about her specifically, or someone or something your sister was going to interact with."

Connor looks to Grimm, "....like yourself."

Connor lets out a long breath, "That can't be it, though. I'm reaching."

Grimm blinks at that, looking between the two Durans. "Do you think...? Lazare seemed to think I was a benefit to his side. But I'd never -be- this if Gwen had never gone missing. I never would've become a criminal justice major. I probably would've never met Jonathon in class. And then I'd have never gotten these powers. Maybe it was all a trick."

Randal shakes his head, "Don't jump to conclusions on that. The Lords of Order do things for a reason, yes. But there's no reason to think that they wanted you to end up like you have, as arguably a force for the other side in their war."

"You're right. Could they be fooled by Chaos though? Into thinking they were preventing something, but ended up being the cause of something else?" Gabrielle asks worriedly. "It's all a big chess game to them, isn't it?"

Connor nods. "A Chess game is a good analogy, yeah. That's pretty accurate."

Grimm looks between Randal and Connor. "You guys know more about the Lords of Order and Chaos than I do. I was just wondering if they sacrificed one chess piece to gain an advantage elsewhere," she shrugs. She doesn't even know how to really play chess. "But...I guess right now, it doesn't matter, and won't help tracking down the Railroad."

Connor nods. "It's possible that's how they would do things. They certainly don't have a problem with exchanging for an advantage."

"It's just a crazy theory. Since you suggested I might still be the reason my little sister was in danger," Gabrielle says. "But Randal's right. I'm just all jumbled up right now and jumping to conclusions," she says, taking a breath to try and focus herself.

Randal nods. "All I know was that there was some event in her future that needed to be avoided."

Grimm takes out her phone and looks up something in Maps. "So it was at the port? That's kind of big. Anything more specific on where I should search there?" she asks.

Randal nods, and lists the location. Longitude and latitude. He just rattles it off.

Connor stares at Randal for a moment. "What?"

Grimm blinks in surprise. "Wow, you still remember that? After all this time?" she asks as she looks up.

Randal shrugs and smiles. "It's a talent."

"I'm...impressed," Gabrielle says sincerely, still surprised. She punches in the location. "Okay, got it."

Randal nods, "There are certain types of things that stick my brain. Not everything. But certain things do. Usually numbers."

"Wow. I can barely remember a phone number when someone tells me, especially after a few minutes. But you remembered those numbers from ten years back," Gabrielle says in awe.

The lat-long gives Grimm, in Maps, a shipping/intermodal company called Ship-EZE. A smaller company, judging by the footprint of the warehouse compared to its neighbors, not to mention the unfamiliar, kitschy name.

Connor looks over Grimm's shoulder, "How long has that company been around? If at least 9 years, they might have been in the same location."

Grimm looks back to her phone with Connor. "Not sure if that's new or if it was around back then, but it's a start." She checks out the company website to see if there's an established date, or how far the yelp reviews go back.

The company website looks to be rather simple and unadorned. A very basic template, for those familiar with such things. A rather bland homepage, basic Contact Us, and that's about it. As for Whelp reviews... Would you like to be the first to review this business?

"Seems pretty...new. Or fake," Gabrielle comments and looks over her shoulder at Connor with a faint smile. "Maybe it's still them."

Connor nods. "It might be. Worth checking out. At the very least, I can try using my sight into the past again at the location in question. We have a rough idea where and when now.

Grimm smiles more as she realizes he's coming with her on this. She didn't want to assume. "Thanks. Your help really means a lot. Just in case, maybe you should 'suit up'?"

Connor nods, "I should, yeah. Just in case."

Randal nods and stands up, "I'm sorry I can't be more help, Gabrielle." He knows that she's already forgiven him, but he still looks awkward about it. "If you need anything else, please let me know."

Grimm looks back to Randal and smiles gently. "You've been more than helpful. You have no idea," she says as she impulsively moves to give him a big hug again. "Thank you. And I'm really glad your leg seems to be better." She finally noticed with how he stood up with ease.

Randal nods and smiles. "Ummm...you're welcome." He steps back after the hug, "Yeah, Miss Steinberg helped me with the arthritis."

"Good. I'm surprised she didn't do something sooner." Gabrielle smiles as she feels a growing sense of hope at having a lead. "If I think of anything else, I'll let you know." She's raring to go.

Connor shakes his head, "She didn't know Randal was having difficulty. That's on me."

Grimm nods. "I didn't even know she could cure arthritis."

Connor chuckles. "I know, right? I didn't know that was curable."

Randal smiles but remains quiet. "Well, you should go. See what you can find out."

Connor nods. "We can walk back to my house. It's only a short walk." He smiles. "Thanks again, Randal."

Grimm nods to Randal. "Right. Thanks again, Randal. Have a good evening," she says with a gentle smile before they head out. "I can scout ahead to find the place and open a gate to you once I find it and you're ready," she says to Connor excitedly.

Connor smiles. "If you want. But if you want backup, you should wait for me to get my gear."

Grimm has to try and calm down. She's eager to get started, but she doesn't want to take a risk. "I...should probably wait for you. It won't take long, after all," she agrees with a smile.

Log:Investigating the Railroad