Forsaken of Federal Hill

It's Thursday morning, you've all come to varying degrees of success on finding your prey, now is time to bring the others up to speed and decide on a course of action.

Rashid stifled a yawn, even passing out cold after all of the stupid drama, his sleep was anything but restful. "So, ignoring the fact that we are missing a couple people, I'd like what we have on progress, we need to get this started. There's a gang moving in on our area called the Red Scorpions. They are peddling some new shit they tag as Toxic here, and whatever else it does, it makes people more likely to be Ridden by spirits. I've found at least one holdout area that is kept dry of the stuff, I'm hoping we were able to find some more vendor spots, or what in this stuff is so attractive to the other side of the Gauntlet.

Everyone seemed a little antsy, and the fact that not everyone was here wasn't helping. A big breakfast might have been something to open with, but that idea flew out the door last night in a mess.

That's great Rahid! I mean, not the part about new drugs. But good to hear that our efforts here at the outreach are having an effect and that people are - I know this is going to sound corny, "Just saying no" Where is the hold out. I'd love to make them something special as an indirect "thank you".

New drugs show up all the time. I knew we had a theory after the spirit was in the girl, but how did you find out it affected the spirit wold? Did you talk to Jessa? Was she on that stuff? then half to himself in thought how would she know? academic horror crosses Rory's mind and a look of deep concern is on his face You DID use a control group right? I'd love to get a sample if you have any left and run some tests on it.

Hangovers weren't nearly as bad as they once were when he was human but lack of proper sleep and his conflicting emotions had caught up with him. It was a good thing Rashid had crawled in next to him in urshan, there was something very calming about the presence of a pack mate that kept them from having to purchase a new mattress for one of them again. He was not happy Helen was missing but she was a tough werewolf despite outwards appearances and with as business like as she was, he half expected her to walk in at any time.

Luke had apologized to his friend sincerely over coffee before the others arrived, he felt pretty bad after all Rashid had done for him starting with his first change. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like if he went back to Hollywood, if he could even go back. Just the idea of leaving here made him more homesick than leaving Texas ever had although it would be tempting just to run and hide from this debacle with Helen.

Luke was ready to focus in on the hunt, he want to kill something loudly and violently so everyone knew there was a predator to be reckoned with. ”We got three baggies of the stuff, and we'd love for you to take a look at them Rory.” He set the baggies down on the table. ”Now we just need to find out who's leading these scorpions which means we need to find an in with the gang or catch one of the members and make him talk. I vote for the latter.”

Oh, ok so YOU got the stuff Luke. Ok cool Bunsen burners and graduated cylinders danced in Rory's head. So how many the did you give this stuff to, and are they taken care of or do we need to address that at this meeting?

"No, people aren't getting this Toxic. Even local vendors avoid this stuff, so no matter what it does extra, its bad. R&R were with me duing my part, they left before getting into it with a Scorpion recruit, some guy they call Slug. He may be our in. Rory, test all you want in whatever lab you have. The spirit connection isn't tried and true, its a feeling I have in my gut. We can always bring it with us into Hisil and see if it acts like a catnip without the host."

Luke was back to himself more or less, which was good, because the whimpering that happened earlier would have made all of this terrible. Rashid brought him out here to help him out, and in return he got someone to be himself with, with all the good and bad that entails.

The wolf-bloods, still rather new to their roles within this pack, sat and listened to what their werewolf companions where saying. But something was off, very off.
Rose was often late to meetings do to work, but another of their number was uncharacteristically missing, and no one was saying anything about it. While she was still feeling out her relationships with the Uratha, the uragarum loved her. Even the oft aloof May.
But Cho did especially, and it was he who was most anxious about why of all of them Helen was missing. He wanted to ask, but it seemed like Rashid was intent on business.
"Slug a stupid mutha fucka. Been slingin' other nigga's shit his whole life. Ain't much of an in. But if he knows somethin' won't take much to convince him ya ask me. Say the word and me an' O-Train'll go pin his ears back for him." Riley spoke up. Cho knew most of that to be true, he'd bought from Slug plenty.

None of the rest of the Uratha questioned him when he moved forward, but everyone else was shifting gazes back and forth. There were obviously questions, and honestly, Rashid didn't know Valentine enough to answer for her.
"If anyone has her number, call Valentine. I don't know where she is, I don't know what she's up to. There was a bit of a row last night, so she won't pick up if it's my number. Anyone have any other ideas? Unless something runs contrary to Riley, I'm full in on that just to chase something down."

Cho and I successfully got a hold of 'Nevermore. It knows of the Cat spirit Rory had seen and is going to contact it for us. Rose and Cho were absolute dears and helped me grease the wheels for that meeting when it comes, AND we got our territory marked at the same time, cuz Rose is super awesome like that. It'll take Nevermore as long as it takes, so everyone, heads up if 'Nevermore contacts you. Oh and one more thing. The cat spirit deals in secrets. So we're going to need to provide some. I'll set up a basket in the office if everyone wants to drop a few in a sealed envelope that would be great. We can use it as an offering when we meet.

Luke looked around at the group and no one seemed to be volunteering to make the call. He huffed and pulled out his cellphone, he was genuinely a little worried about her no-show to a meeting she was too professional for that, spat or not spat. She'd made that very clear the night before.

It started to ring for a second before everyone turned their heads as her ringtone started to play in the other room.



”Well fuck, that isn't good,” he shoved his phone into his pocket and started heading to the door. ”I'm going to go find her.”

"Hold up kid. You aren't going alone. If she hasn't come back for that thing, something more is off. Everyone is up to go searching, yeah? I'm not even sure why I'm asking. Group off to cover ground, noone goes alone.
Rashid stood to announce the premature end of their meeting and waited for everyone to start moving.

Rose walked into the room as Luke tried to walk out, quite literally causing them to bump into each other. "Sorry I'm late, guys-oof!"Where's the fire, Luke?" He barely acknowledged her. At his lack of reaction, her eyes scanned the room. Everyone was standing and heading for the door. Well, everyone except Helen, who was nowhere to be seen. "I'm not the only one who is late, it seems. What's up with Helen? I got caught up with work. Where are we heading?"

Cho shot up.
"I uh, I'll c-call Ro." he said, pulling out his phone and dialing. He walked over and picked up Helen's phone too. He'd call her whole contacts list if he had to.
Riley looked at Rashid.
"Where you want us champ? Randy got a big set of lungs on him." Randy nodded in agreement.
"Betcha ass I do." he said in a booming voice. May rolled her eyes.
Then Rose came in late, bumping into Luke.
"Helen missing because Rashid yell at her, we gunna find her. Split up like on Scooby Doo. I tell him he can't yell at girls, he's too big. Like this one." she said in her matter of fact tone, smacking Randy upside the head for good measure.

That got the entire crew up and moving. The fact that she made herself invaluable to everyone BUT Luke hurt Rashid a bit, but hey, gotta move with the punches. He had to laugh at Fang's analogy. A little off the mark, but a good image.
"You guys know her haunts? She'll be in one of two places. hunkered in someplace she knows, personally, I don't think that's her, especially without her phone, but they should be checked. Cho, you ride with Fang, I want you to head out with O'Keefe and check out the cyber cafes or that coffee joint she was always talking about. She'll be either there, or trying to find something to vent against. Rory, check out the Hisil, Nevermore could know something, and if you spot it, Secrets would know it, even if you have to bargain with it." Geez, this picking skills in the heat wasn't exactly easy, but he needed everyone working their best. "Our biggest target right now, and something that she may see as part of the reason she's upset, are the Scorpions. Riley, Randy, head to the Dollhouse, they aren't open yet, but someone there has to know about the recent Scorpion movement. I have a fresh nose, I'll move on her scent as best I can, if I lose it, I'll join you two there. Luke, tag in with me. Echo, be a dear and man the communications for us. Start some group chat up, use the outreach lines so we don't lose contact with each other. If someone gets something useful, shoot it to Echo, she'll distribute."

Rashid really needed this to work. rallying everyone together wasn't something he was particularly good at, but if he know their roles, he could keep everything moving.

As fast as Rashid was walking down the sidewalk, Luke almost considered shifting into dalu form just so his legs could keep up a little better. He didn’t know what was worse than a man walking a very large, obvious wolf or at best hybrid or a large hairy man doing the same thing. Their destination was becoming very clear as they rounded another block.

”Hey, I’m going to let the others and let them know where we are,” he said, pulling out his phone to shoot a text to the rest of the pack. As they came into view of the Dollhouse, it was very clear something had gone down there the night before but before they could get closer he caught a very familiar pair of voices quietly but loud enough for their heightened hearing, calling them over.

”Any clue what happened here?” Luke asked as soon as they were at Riley’s car.

There? No. This way. Damn it Luke, keep up, this whole things hurts. Rashid pulled tersely on the braided rope. He knew he could easily rip it out of the kid's hands and take off at a speed that satisfied him, but in the morning hours, a loose wolf in the streets would be pandemonium. Found it. And...shit. Shit, shit, why Valentine, the fuck. Rashid whipped around and met Luke's eyes before leading him over to R&R talking quietly (for them) across the street from the strip joint.

Luke addressed them while Rashid sniffed around the car, he HAD to make sure all signs pointed to hell in a handbasket. No doubt about it. This was definitely not heaven, not today anyway.
While bemoaning his luck, he overheard the three of them talking...Not sure man, but looks like someone trashed the place...and the clean up crew, they in Scorpion colors. And strapped. Saw a couple Mac tens....

Luke could see Rashid’s agitation and he felt it too. They needed answers fast or one or both of them was going to hit Wasu-Im or worse. ”No sign of Helen though?” He asked trying to keep calm and from shifting any more towards Dalu than he already had.

”Naw man, but O-Train is calling some girl he met last night to see if she knows what happened. Riley jerked his thumb towards Randy who was waiting impatiently on the phone. After leaving a short message the big guy hung it up and shrugged, but in a few seconds the phone with off in his hand.

”Hey girl, why u ain’t answerin’ mah call?”

The faint female voice on the other line sounded strained and distraught, ”Sorry, I’ve been at the hospital and I didn’t recognize the number.”

”Wuts goin' on?” Randy said a bit too loudly.

”My girlfriend is in the hospital, you meet her last night and she’s in real bad shape. I’ve got to go, I’ll call you back later okay?” the voice on the other side sounded teary as she hung up the phone.

May barely obeyed traffic laws, as she did have a cop in the car with her in case something happened. The made it to the little coffee shop in no time at all and Cho nearly stumbled as he practically exploded out of the car.
Helen was nowhere to be seen, her usual waitress waved as she recognized Cho however and he made to ask the woman if she'd seen Helen today. She hadn't.
He looked to Rose for their next course of action as May went up to the counter to buy a muffin.
"What? She love chocolate, if she's a wolf she gunna smell it in the car, come running." May shrugged, crumpling the to-go bag's top and tossing it on the dash.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Rose laughed. "If you ever go missing, May, I promise to buy out a candy store to lure you back. I can't promise I won't kick your ass for taking off when you do show up though. So no leaving, just ask for candy pre-emptively." She smiled to let May know she was kidding and turned to Cho. "And I got boxes of otter pops with your name on them so you better stick around too."

Rose resumed her somber expression as they returned to the task at hand. "I don't know Helen well enough to guess where she'd go. We haven't really hung out. I'll give the precinct a call and ask them if anyone is there matching her description." She shrugged to indicate she wasn't sure what else she could do, then grabbed her cell and dialed. When a voice answered, she responded with "Detective O'Keefe here." After listening for a moment, she spoke up. "No, no. Carol, I'm not looking for Price. I just need you to check the computer for me. Has a Helen Valentine been brought in? She's Caucasian, short blonde hair, about 5'5 and weighs 120 lbs. 22 yrs old. No noticeable scars or tattoos." Rose's face fell as the woman searched and searched. Then she said something and Rose cleared her throat.
"Well, thanks for looking anyway. No, I don't need an APB out on her. It's personal. I owe you a venti Starbucks with an extra shot. See you later."

As soon as Rose hung up, her phone gave its notification sound, letting her know a text arrived. She quickly checked it to see that Luke and Rashid were at The Dollhouse and that something was clearly happening. Or had happened. "Guys, we have a new destination. The Dollhouse. Luke says some shit is going down and we're clueless here so let's go see what's happening over there." May spun the wheel and headed off in the direction Rose had indicated. Rose sat back and wondered what it would take to bring Helen home from wherever she had gone. She belongs with us now, she thought possessively.