Lies to Live Up To

[madimpossibledreamer]

many references this chapter, only a few of which I actually added
(honestly Alice might be an imugi in human form)

Main Points: Assassin's Creed/The Secret World
Summary: Chelsea plans on capturing her first captive with Nate's help and Desmond and Lydia check out the treehouse.
Word Count: 3177
Rating: Teen

 

         Maybe it’s a good thing that Shaun and Rebecca called, because Desmond’s a bit more prepared for the immediate defensiveness his sorta-Novices have when he fills them in. None of them had seen anything, unfortunately, but they’d decided to polish up their skills by taking out a few of the zombies around the area. Including one of the big ones near the gas station. Just in case, Desmond glances at the gas station with Eagle Vision, and, yeah. It’s not a ton, but he’d bet that there’s a little bit of the Filth in the gasoline, given that his mind feels a little oily when he’s staring at it, which might explain the Filth-infected zombies near the gas stations. Question is if that’s natural or not—if it’s common enough, especially in the ground, it didn’t necessarily mean it got added or anything. Something else to ask Shaun—though, uh, yeah, he’s going to have to ask about ‘petrol’ just to see Shaun’s face. It’s funny to surprise him because he tries so hard to pretend he’s seen everything.
         “The shooter is back?” If he was in front of them now, he’d be pulp against Chelsea’s sledgehammer, by the way her hands are flexing on the wood.
         “I’ll have to ask my gram about curses when you don’t have a face or anything physical to tie to the target,” Lydia mutters.
         “How are we gonna take him out, boss?” Nate, like it’s a foregone conclusion.
         Chelsea, he could have called. It’s kind of how they met, after all. But Nate and Lydia? He feels like they barely know him, but. Guess they had signed up for this, after all.
         But there’s something else—Chelsea looks a little conflicted, and it only takes a couple somewhat sheepish glances at him for him to work out that she can’t decide if she wants to stick to his side like glue or go hunting. And she’s not quite ready for first blood, still, but tailing her first target now? Yeah, that feels right. “You want to go after him, Chelsea?”
         She nods, not meeting his eyes.
         “Hey, nothing wrong with that. I’ve got a few questions myself.” He squints in the direction of the house, but all he succeeds in doing is getting more of a headache. He gets the feeling that if he wanted, if he can figure out how, he could tag a target and follow them to the ends of the earth, see their every action as if it’s happening before his eyes, but until he figures out the correct...password or code or command or whatever, it’s not happening. And apparently that’s exactly what she needed to hear, because she dials back the bloodlust and the hesitation disappears. And then, like he’s one of the Rafiqs, there’s the obvious next question. “What’s your plan?”
         She considers, still hesitant. Lydia startles and then glares at Chelsea and yeah he’s definitely going to have to have that conversation after all. Sure, he’d offer it to Lydia, but Chelsea’s got a personal connection here, so it’s hers.
         “I can give you pointers if something doesn’t sound right,” he adds, and apparently that’s enough for her to make up her mind.
         “They’d mentioned delivering first aid supplies and food. I could ask if they want to at least send a few things over, maybe help them start setting up close by. And if I bring Nate, we can teleport right there.” He’d expected her to go for the direct approach, trying to go right after him. She’s picking up some stuff after all—and it’s probably a good approach, given that the guy had a head start. She’ll be looking for clues, not directly tailing the guy. “I’d use the Council’s visual tracking, but if it’s been that long, and if you’re right that he doesn’t have any powers of his own, he’ll be harder to track.” So that app does have a few limitations. That makes sense.
         Still, there’s a couple steps she’s forgetting. “When you’re there, you can recruit Danny and maybe borrow the drone. Pretty sure Rebecca would’ve mentioned if our gun guy had showed up anywhere on the surveillance, but they’re not down on the ground, and maybe the survivors noticed something.”
         If anything, though, this just fuels her enthusiasm. Her eyes are practically glittering at this point. “And since Boone is out by the Agartha portal, he’d know if anyone used it specifically.”
         Actually—yeah, that’s a really good point. The last time, he’d fled into Agartha using the t-posing teleport thing. This time, his wannabe killer actually ran.
         Just in case, he glances at the safehouse again. All blue, which, he guesses in this case, means ‘green light’. If they turn out to be good enough, maybe he’ll even get at least one more Agent just so he can send them out in groups of two. He’d go with her to supervise—it’s kind of an important step—but she’s not doing this alone and he feels like he needs to get to the treehouse, for some reason, and that she needs to accomplish this mostly on her own for her own self-esteem. “Go for it.”
         Squealing and sudden hugs aren’t the usual responses to a first semi-solo assignment, but it’s just part of what makes Chelsea special.

         Fighting through the ak’ab, once you get used to the charging movements, isn’t that big a deal, any more than any of these other weird creatures is. That being said, apparently the area near the treehouse is just full of surprises, because he finally makes it most of the way up the ladder (seriously, this thing is taller than...most of the town, no wonder John had recommended it as a lookout and it’ll be perfect for getting an idea of the area, better even than the map) when he hears a shoe kick against wood.
         He glances up, preparing for a fight just in case, because nobody else is supposed to be here, and—
         There’s a face he hadn’t been expecting to see. “Are you...supposed to be here?” It kind of slips out. Hopefully she doesn’t get mad again.
         Alice kicks her feet. She might be some kind of powerful goddess or whatever, but it’s pretty obvious for whatever she is, she’s also young. “Who are you going to tell?” she fires back.
         He sighs. Yeah, she can probably take care of herself, but it doesn’t stop him from worrying. The good news is she doesn’t seem to be holding his words from last time against him, and it’s probably safe for him to resume climbing, which is good, because he still hasn’t learned the Morse code to tap a warning against the ladder. “I don’t want to get you in trouble with...whatever.” She’d distinctly given the impression she wasn’t supposed to be there when he’d met her in Kingsmouth, and he gets the feeling it’s no different here. Which is something he’d been planning on changing, but not until he had a better idea of the situation. Like with Leonardo.
         She looks kind of surprised, which hurts a little. Sure, he’s an asshole, but he doesn’t like to think he’s that much of an asshole. Especially since he gets the feeling she’d be the one blamed for this, not him. “As long as you don’t tell Bong Cha, the Mouth of the Dragon, I should be fine. I wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t think she likes you. She can’t control you. I wouldn’t tell the Silent Monks either.”
         Okay, he’s never spoken to Bong Cha, so that’s probably pretty easy. The others, though… “The ones with their lips sewn shut?” That’s...a kind of gruesome name, but it matches the gruesome Dragon monks, so it’s maybe pretty appropriate.
         She shrugs, not bothered at all. “Some lesser monks take vows, but the mind is weak. It is easier to be sure of your own resolve if you ensure it with your own hands.” Rukh has hopped off his shoulder, inching closer to Alice and tilting his head like he wants a pet, but from her uncertain glances it’s pretty clear she’s not quite sure if that’s something she should be doing.
         “...Oooookay, that is vaguely horrifying.” He considers. “...How would you like to learn some new stealth techniques to maybe help you out with sneaking out parts?” She’s already pretty good at it, but he probably can teach her something.
         Her wide grin is answer enough. And sure, maybe his recruits would give him some odd looks if they were all here, but hey, maybe her perspective actually makes sense if she’s kind of a prisoner too. Plus if she’s making the decision on her own to come sneak out and follow him around...the least he can do is encourage it. Responsibly. And not just to win the argument.
         And then she finally gives in and starts petting Rukh, and looks fairly happy about it. Rukh keeps blinking, beak open, leaning into it. Having her get along with animals is probably a pretty good step.
         It definitely feels safe up here. Like the church and the courtyard outside the Raven’s Knock, and at this point Desmond can actually spot the protection runes even if he can’t name them off or even do one without looking. John—Wolf-John had been right. These kids did know what they were doing. Passing down secrets over the years.
         When she reaches the top of the ladder, Lydia’s startled, but luckily not so startled that she falls right back off. “I...you’re from the League of Monster Slayers, huh. Sorry for intruding.”
         Alice blinks, face unreadable, that much more disconcerting with the whole snake eye thing. Then she glances at Desmond.
         “Not so much. Alice, this is Lydia Darling.” It’s hard to decide what he should say, let alone how much he should say about it.
         Fortunately, that’s apparently enough to clear everything up for Alice. Who looks fascinated. “The witch who cheated death. Tell me, do you also take payment in terms of rum?” Fortunately, Lydia looks just as disconcerted as he is. Though that is pretty good proof of his hunch and he should probably reimburse the Council, because while it’s her doing, she’s kind of his Novice so he’s vaguely responsible for her.
         “You probably don’t need to preemptively figure out how to bribe her. Authority figures it’s good to have a plan for—so cops, guards, people like that,” he suggests.
         Lydia glances between them again and then smiles widely. “But feel free to bribe me at any time.”
         “Lydia. No.” Sure, Alice isn’t actually a human kid, but if they, say, go back to London that’s just asking for trouble.
         Alice matches her smile with sharp teeth. “I gather you are merely seeking mischief. Perhaps I should opt for blackmail instead. Tell me, what is this tale called ‘Glee’ and why are you so mortified by it?”
         “Gah, definitely don’t tell anyone about that,” Lydia blurts, shaking her head and muttering to herself about mind-reading.
         When the Dragon-girl glances at him, he shrugs. It’s not like he can answer the question either. Probably some show he hasn’t seen, or maybe a book series he hasn’t read. Given that he’s teaching her too, though, he should probably point out that was kind of a bad first impression. “Alice, maybe try not to blackmail allies. They tend to remember that and hold a grudge—and at some point, the blackmail’s going to be outweighed by other things.” He’d say something about giving people their privacy, but...that’d be kind of hypocritical.
         Alice nods thoughtfully, watching him extremely carefully. Like he’s a bug under a microscope. Maybe that’s part of what reminded him of the Isu. It’s a little uncomfortable, but her paying this much attention is for a good cause, so...time to head inside, he guesses. Before he pulls himself up to the roof.
         It’s nice inside. The couch looks really comfortable. (Though he’s gotta assume they got it up here using magic, or something, because otherwise how the hell? Then again, he gets a sudden mental image of Leonardo supervising some sort of ridiculously elaborate pulley system and almost laughs out loud.) They’ve even got a small bookshelf—and, he suspects, the blankets and pillows are for if the members wanted to stay overnight. Pages of homework are scattered among a list of courage tests, lists and drawings of threats in the area (listed like an alphabetical kid’s book in a binder). Tests of weaknesses. Votes on the next target (usually scarecrows; apparently they’re one of the easier ones to take out if you’ve got a flamethrower, which—yeah, they absolutely do, it’s hastily thrown behind the couch, though wendigo, as he’d discovered himself, are relatively easy to chase away and much, much harder to kill). Shaun hadn’t entirely been kidding about the boogeyman, at least, not if the League knew what they were doing. And he’s not the only one—the kids also think the big Draug look like...well, they’re calling them crabs, but still, take that Shaun and Rebecca. They’re also calling them Deep Ones. Lydia looks like she knows what that means, but when he asks she says it doesn’t matter. Given that she tells him the next picture, something called an Eldritch Zoidberg, is another reference, not something the kids are taking literally, he’s guessing that’s why she’s saying that. Alice pays close attention as he flips through, so apparently she doesn’t know all of this either.
         And they also know about the Filth.  
         He’s kind of impressed, not gonna lie. Sure, it mainly says to avoid it, but even that had been a giant pain in the ass, so the fact that they’d managed it? Well done, honestly.
         He especially appreciates the Argh next to the giant zombie thing, because right? Like zombies aren’t a pain enough normally. Just like normal zombies, though, they got hastily added later on, if the rushed scribble means anything. (It doesn’t if any of them is like Leonardo trying to get something down before it disappears from his brain and he gets sidetracked by something else, but given the timing and that he’s pretty sure zombies weren’t at least a widespread problem before the fog, he’s going with ‘last minute addition’.) Jinn, of all things, sound familiar. He’s pretty sure Altair heard of them before. And they’re listing locusts. He’s going to guess they mean, like, giant locusts or magic locusts or curse locusts or revenant-associated locusts, knowing this world. The kids didn’t think of adding something indicating size, so who even knows.
         And Montag. He’s just...noting that one. It’s good to know Shaun’s pen-pal of annoyance is considered a monster in these kids’ eyes.
         There’s also a Night Monster (vague and unfamiliar), Odin (isn’t that Norse? Of course there’s more Norse), the pumpkin man (he’s really not looking forward to meeting that particular monster again), queen Draug (is that what the big female Draug are?), Ragman (that looks like a Revenant), Sleeping One (specific wendigo, it looks like), Terrors (he...doesn’t recognize this drawing, surprisingly, which means he’s probably going to encounter it later on if it hasn’t moved on from the area completely), Miss Usher (he hasn’t run into her yet, he’s pretty sure), vampire (that one has a sick guitar for no reason he can tell), more Wendigo, Xibalban (he’s...got nothing for this one), Yeti (why not, at this point), and then, on the same kind of paper as the giant zombie, the regular zombie.
         This whole situation, weirdly enough, has him feeling nostalgic. Nothing like planning on killing something to throw him back to memories of childhood, huh. Maybe there’s a good reason Shaun’s disturbed by stuff like this, but it’s not like he can change it either. Something moves in a corner—a rat, maybe? It scuttles into a hole in the wall before he can get too good of a look. They’d left food—a bag of chips half scattered over the table that had probably long gone stale (but he’d still happily eat and honestly probably should, he’s starting to get a little hungry), some jerky, a water bottle. Honestly it’s probably not sanitary to eat something a rat has been munching on, but then again, he can just...heal up whatever diseases it might give him. Right? ...Maybe he’ll go for the unopened ones.
         And then his phone rings. He assumes it’s Chelsea with an update on her hunt, which is why it isn’t. “Hey, uh, Desmond?” It’s Danny. Which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong, but. “Remember when I told you I might tell you about the safehouse?”
         “Yeah?” That’s interesting timing.
         Danny sounds amused as he continues. “You’re standing in it. Say hi to the camera.” It doesn’t take long to spot it using Eagle Vision, and he waves. Pretty well hidden. Danny snorts.
         That...makes a lot of sense, actually. No wonder he’s so good at sneaking past monsters if he’s been doing all this stuff for a while. “I’m guessing you’re one of the League’s members, then.”
         “You’re talking to the leader, actually. Well. Former leader. I don’t know, do I get to count myself as one if we’re pretty much all gone?” That...hits uncomfortably close to home. Danny’s voice is cheerful, but the hurt is underneath, and yeah that feels way too familiar.
         His voice is a little hoarse as he answers. “I think so, yeah.” Otherwise, he’s due another existential crisis on top of the others he’s already had.
         “Could you do me a favor while you’re there?” And now Danny sounds nervous. Desmond’s imagining collecting some of these notes, or maybe a journal or something—not that there’s really anybody like his parents left to find it, but it’s more about the principle of privacy, something left that’s just his.
         “Yeah, what do you need?” And—huh, that’d be interesting to check.
         He goes into Eagle Vision just as Danny says it, and and it works out kind of like he hoped, because he in real time sees whatever’s scurrying around in the wall go from not really visible to gold. Though it takes him a minute to work out what he’s seeing. “Can you grab Bob for me? I kind of had to leave him there, and he’s probably flipping out about...you know. Everything. And, uh…maybe bring him with you? Pretty sure nobody here would exactly, you know, be comfortable with him being here.”
         “You named an ak’ab Bob?” That’s...a kind of weird choice.
         “I mean, it seemed like a hilarious idea after I watched Titan A.E., so yeah.” He can hear Danny’s shrug over the phone. “Besides, if you say it just right, it rhymes.”
         Well. He had been kind of wanting a baby ak’ab, so this works out. “Sure—if I can figure out how to get him to come out.”
         That enthusiasm totally reminds him of Rebecca. “Oh, he’s a sucker for attention. I’d even gotten him to walk on a leash. It’ll be easy.”