My Little Ventrue Pt. 09 Ch. 03

Jack laughed, and not a happy one. "Yeah, cause I'm sure Garry didn't also suggest it."

Art snorted. "Did you come here to threaten us?"

"No. Came to have a chat, so follow me. I like to walk and talk." He didn't mean to sound so forceful. A few years ago, he would have struggled to say something so directly. Not because he didn't have the personality for it, he very much did, but because he wouldn't have felt comfortable holding power over others. How the times had changed.

Fiona bounced around a few times before she fell in beside Jack again, and the boys fell in behind him. He didn't actually plan to just walk around randomly. He was going somewhere, but it didn't matter for now.

"I didn't come get you to talk about the problems on our laps, about Maria and shit," he said. "I came to talk about Uratha getting along with Kindred, in general. Brianna, and you two, for example." He looked back at the two men. They both had their eyes downcast, frowning, and grumbling a little. "Brianna's situation sucks because of the Carthian Invictus stupid little war. Mason's isn't so bad, but I'm sure he'd prefer if his girlfriend didn't find herself at the other end of an Invictus shotgun. And then there's you two, the idiots that staked a dragon."

"We didn't have a choice," Art said.

Jack shook his head, "Let me put it in perspective, guys. If I was in Avery's pack instead of working for the Invictus, and Avery told me I had to do something where I knew Antoinette would either try and stop me, or intervene in some way, risking her life, you know what I'd do?"

Matt lifted a hand. "You--"

"The situation wouldn't have happened, guys. Cause even though, if I was you, I'd have trusted Avery, I wouldn't have let things get... like that." They rounded a corner, Jack shaking his head the whole time. Trying to explain the situation was so damn hard, because it wasn't like they were exactly wrong for what they did. "This way to the diner."

The boys looked at each other, brows raised, before looking back at him. "Diner?"

He laughed. Tash was right. They really did say things at the same time, a lot.

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"I'll have this fancy chicken thinger, lass, and this! Oh, this sounds nice." Fiona held up the menu for the waitress, and pointed at several things. No point in trying to say them, and not because she had a Scottish accent. It was a bunch of words Jack didn't know either, French stuff. But he was pretty sure Fiona had basically ordered some sort of chicken with melted cheese, and a side order of oysters.

Jack glared at her. "Fiona, that is a messed up meal. How can--you're just picking the most expensive things on the menu, aren't you?"

She beamed at him before grinning up at the waitress. "And I'll definitely be wanting dessert!"

Jack rolled his eyes. The guys got some blue rare steaks, predictably. Jack ordered nothing.

It was a quiet little restaurant, Invictus owned of course, but not a place for Kindred to get a drink. It was empty tonight, and the staff were all thralls. It was a good place to talk. The restaurant was also a front. They dealt in illegal goods using the restaurant, heavy drugs, shit Jack wasn't happy to be supporting, but while Xnomina kept it out of the hands of kids, he wasn't going to stop them.

Maybe in the future, when he had more of his fingers in the Dolareido pie, but not yet.

"Trying to buy us with expensive steaks?" Art asked. "Cause, I mean, that could work." The man smiled, but Jack could see he was nervous. Still, it was a funny comment, and Jack laughed quietly. He could see why Tash liked these guys.

"No I'm not trying to buy you off. Just... I know I can be an asshole when I argue. I've always been like that, since well before I was vampire, you know? Just wanted you guys to know I'm not an asshole, if I get uppity."

"Uppity?" Art asked. "Not angry?"

"Yeah, uppity. Like this." He leaned forward, elbows on the table. "You're gonna listen to me while I explain the situation, got it?" They both frowned, but nodded, quickly getting what he meant by uppity. "Good. Avery did what she thought was necessary, I get that. I don't have all the details of the how and why, so I'm not gonna make a judgment call on that action. She should be damn happy you guys have been of use, dealing with that azlu and whatnot, or the Prince would be more proactive about dealing with you idiots.

"But, yeah, she did something super risky because she really thought she was helping the city. I can understand you backing her, and so does Natasha." He tapped the table with a finger. "That's not the issue. So understand I'm here as Tash's friend, not as the guy who's hired to keep everyone getting along." Sighing, he sat back, and food was served. The boys glanced at their meat, but it was clear their appetites were damaged. Fiona, naturally, devoured her chicken with gusto. Large appetite on the small girl.

"The issue," he continued, "is that you violated her trust. And I get that you did it because it was the only way to do what Avery needed, but that's the breaking point. You could have talked to her, explained the situation, asked her, and put some faith in the relationship. But you didn't. You basically threw the relationship into the garbage, cause you thought for sure there'd be no way to save it, while also doing what Avery wanted. And sure, you probably also did it cause you thought Tash might get in harm's way, and you didn't want that. But, again, that's violating her trust in you, and any faith in the relationship."

He ground his teeth. "What should have happened, is you guys tell her -- before shit hit the fan -- that you might attack Maria at some point. You come to some sort of understanding, and accept that yes, you might find yourselves in a situation where you attack Maria, and have to do so without telling her. You trust the relationship to be able to survive that! You trust Tash to not fuck you guys over, either. Not stake her, set her aside, and basically abandon the relationship because you think being on opposite sides of a problem automatically means it can't work out."

They both opened their mouths. Jack swiped his hand through the air.

"Eat your meals. I'm not done." They both grumbled, but did as ordered. Fiona smiled at him, big smile, mouth full of chicken. Kinda ruining the vibe, but whatever. "So, maybe the issue is that your relationship wasn't strong enough? Which sounds like bullshit to me, cause everything Jessy's told me -- which is a fucking lot -- tells me Natasha is head over heels in love with you two idiots."

That got them squirming. They looked at each other a bit more, and froze, as if finally coming to a realization. Then they looked at Fiona when she made some loud munching noises, before they slowly took another bite of their meal.

"I guess you guys hadn't gotten to that point in the relationship yet, or hadn't realized it anyway," he said. "Well, Jessy says she definitely does. And judging from the looks on your faces, you feel the same way. I don't know why you didn't say it, or she didn't say it. Could be the two guys one girl thing. Not exactly a common arrangement." He shrugged and put up his hands. "I'm not judging, and couldn't care less. I got a woman five hundred years older than me trying to get me to recruit my own harem. Dolareido, and anyone in its night life, aren't ever going to have normal relationships."

Sighing, he leaned back. God damn, he loved to rant. A little too cathartic, really.

"So," he continued, "she loves you two, you two love her, and there's a barrier between you: what the pack and covenants want. The issue isn't actually the barrier, much as it seems like it at first glance. The issue is your lack of trust in the relationship to be able to survive that. And, of course, that you literally stabbed her in the chest with a piece of wood. Stealth wood, from what Jessy tells me. So not only did you not trust Tash, you were prepared to violate her trust, ahead of time! No fucking wonder she's livid."

They both winced, looking down, before they slowly took another bite of their meal.

"What do we do?" Matt asked.

"Tash is going to ask you to do something, something her and the Prince -- probably mostly the Prince -- have cooked up. It'll be repayment for the assault. Do it. Even if it pisses Avery off, do it. Do it because you trust Tash to not do you wrong, okay? Even if means pissing off the Ordo, Tash wouldn't do you wrong. Get it?" He stabbed a finger at the edge of the table, and relaxed. "A step in the right direction."

The boys looked at each other again, sharing a few more winces before sighing and nodding.

"How's a kid like you understand shit like this?" Art asked.

Jack shrugged. "It's easy to see the flaws in shit when you're looking at things from the outside. I've been a student of the human condition for a long time. I watch people, watch them squabble, watch them say stupid shit to each other, read about it all the time, and..." And it wasn't something he'd ever be able to wrap his mind around. Typical person-on-person interaction was a chaotic mess of stupid. But, just like Julias and the kine he envied, Jack couldn't help but envy those stupid people. They played the social game, found love, lost love, got laid, had fun, and all the things he'd been too afraid to do. "I'm damn lucky I found the relationship I did, cause I'm pretty sure I'd be single for eternity otherwise."

Art smirked. "Certainly enough of an asshole for it."

"Yeah well, shit needed to be said, and I don't have the fucking patience for romcom bullshit. It's funny when it's a tv show. It's ludicrous when it's real life." The waitress returned, taking their plates, and handed Fiona a small menu with a drawn picture of a champagne glass with something solid in it, and a spoon sticking out. Ice cream. Fiona grinned maniacally. Jack rolled his eyes. "So, get me? It's a messy situation. Tash understands why you guys followed Avery that night, but that doesn't excuse you violating her trust in you, and you shitting all over the relationship. That's the problem."

Matt shook his head. "It's not that easy, Jack. We're Uratha. We follow the pack, and it wasn't like we disagreed with Avery. We still don't. Something's up with Maria, and--"

"You will leave Maria alone, or I'll put every last one of you in the hospital."

"Jack," Art said, "something--"

"Something is up. And you idiots are falling for it. But that's not what this little meeting is about. We can talk more about Maria next week. We're here because Tash is a good friend of mine, and she, and you two, deserve a chance. But unlike she, or you two, or most people, I'm apparently the only damn person in this city willing to just say things straight so shit can actually. Get. Fixed."

The waitress returned with two very fancy looking bowls filled with some sort of soft serve ice cream topped with cherries and bananas.

The two werewolves shook their heads. "Uh, we didn't--"

Fiona pulled both bowls in close, and got to work.

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Jack lifted a hand, made a small wave, and Mulder and Scully rejoined him, perching on his shoulders. With Fiona and the two wolves gone, he wanted his friends close.

The Tanvar building, final stop of the night.

Like the restaurant, the Tanvar building was a front. It had offices, with computers, and he was sure during the day they'd be running, a bunch of people working at them. Probably not on the illegal shit though. Didn't take an office building full of office workers to help move black market goods. They probably just did typical Xnomina stuff, trading stocks, while criminals under their feet rolled up illegal cigars and whatnot.

Right now, the building had a few thralls and ghouls standing around, some of them armed with rifles, some with shotguns, and most with pistols. A lot of suits. If the cops showed up, they'd know something illegal was going on just by the look of all the kine, standing around like secret agents, but the Invictus owned the cops so that wasn't going to happen.

"Jack."

Jack smiled, and nodded to Hella. The Gangrel was dressed in a suit as well, a slightly tall woman with tan skin and short dark hair. Unlike her girlfriend Isabella, who wouldn't be caught dead in pants, Hella wore a normal suit.

"Hella Vendram. How's Danny?"

She raised a brow. "The fuck do you care about Danny?" Apparently, she hadn't expected him to remember Isabella's new childe's name.

"Just making conversation. You know we're on the same team, right?"

"Didn't give me that impression, last time you came for a visit."

Sighing, Jack stepped past Hella, and down into the basement. Classically, a single bulb dangled from a cord, an old school bulb that would probably flicker and die on them any moment. But once he was past that, the stairs stopped at a door, he opened it, and a large concrete room welcomed him. It smelled of various chemicals, boxes were piled high, and a couple kine walked around with clipboard, checking things off.

Jack laughed. A paper trail was better than a digital trail. You could burn paper, when you were done with it. Digital information, if it left the machine it was created on, was borderline permanent.

"These boxes," Jack said. "Just filled with cigarettes and shit?"

Hella nodded. "And other things along those lines."

"But it's not what the Carthians are after."

"Not exactly. Terra Den wants to put a hole in what we're doing here. Hurt Xnomina's bottom line. We have a lot of shit set up so we can move all this crap through this building, and it'll take time to get the same shit set up elsewhere. And we always keep a vamp or two here, and a squad of suits, to keep this area secure, you know? If the Carthians take it, that's a vantage point we lose."

"It's only a vantage point if it's helping protect an important area. The area is only important, because we're fighting over it."

She shrugged. "You can argue with McDonald over that. I got my orders, and like you made so abundantly clear on your visit, I have duties."

He almost asked where Isabella was. Better to not poke the bear.

"Any Carthians actually attack the building yet?" he asked, reaching up and offering his pets some oats. They cawed, pecked at the food, and looked around, drawing the eyes of the thralls with the clipboard. Jack grinned at them, and fed his friends some more oats.

"Nah. But they've scouted the area, so they'll probably show up any night now, before Turio or Burksen can be a thorn in their sides." Hella leaned against a stack of boxes, and grimaced as she looked at the clipboard, once the two kine handed it to her. "Used to be that Garry didn't know a damn thing about this building and what we were doing here. But that fucking Jeremy Long asshole and Terra Den really know what they're doing. If they can, they'll take over our distribution, and that shit hole Montoya will have a new job."

"Montoya." Jack frowned as he wandered around, examining the boxes. "Right, that guy. I met him once, when I confronted Jeremy for the first time." When Jessy overstepped and punched Garry. Lucky she was still alive, after that. "Fucker still handing out loans to people he knows can't pay him back?"

"Yeap. Everyone knows about what happened, with Eric and Montoya's shark, some dude named Pitt, but it hasn't stopped Montoya."

And why would it. Now that his boss was a vampire, Long had access to all the information he needed to help Montoya pilot the paranormal world. Ultimately, Montoya didn't matter, now that Eric didn't owe him anything, but still, it was just another pain in the ass Jack had to keep track of.

"So," Hella said, "if you're here, I'm guessing McDonald thinks shit is gonna get really bad?"

"What makes you say that?" Almost a rhetorical question, but, he did kinda want to hear her answer.

"Everyone knows you send Jack the Ripper when shit is about to get real."

He snapped his gaze at her, and she took a quick step back.

"I'm not Jack the Ripper." Christ, did someone share what the curse wanted to be called? Did Jack say it to someone by accident? Or did people just extrapolate from his name? God damn it.

"Fine, jesus. All the rest of us know, is when shit gets bad, McDonald sends Jack and his curse to fuck it up."

McDonald sends? Of course Michael would spin it so Invictus would think Jack did those things on Michael's orders. Not a bad plan. Michael would gain influence, and he knew Jack didn't want so much focus pointed at himself.

"I'm not here to fuck things up, Miss Vendram." Back to titles. Make this shit official. "I'm here to stop things from going to shit." A lie. Michael was hoping Jack would be forced to kill someone, so he could have his war. Problem was, Garry was determined, and quite possibly willing to sacrifice someone to make that war happen.

How to fix this situation? The more Jack looked at it, the more it looked like he couldn't.