After the ball (open to all clan members)

Simon walked up to her and looked at her face, examing the wounds again. 'You know, it could've been worse.'

A lot worse, he thought. His grin fell as he thought about what could have happened. Her face could've been ripped off or she could've bled to death. She was just a frail little human, granted a frail little human he happened to love very much.

Simon put his hands down and turned off the bright light. 'Carol,' he started and then put his hands on the exam table on either side of her. He was leaning down, looking at her at eye level. Her dress was a bloody mess and her face scratched, red and bruising already. They wouldn't be at Duibne again if she weren't human.

He winced thinking about it. Carol as a vampire. She's never once mentioned being turned, although she did ask why he wouldn't bite her. Simon debated on whether or not to just ask.

Struggling he asked, 'Where do you see us in twenty years?'

Simon standing so close to her made her smile and blush softly. Carol always wanted to reach out and play with his hair when he did it. How she never noticed how soft his hair looked, she'd never know. Her smile faltered when he asked his question.

It wasn't that she didn't think they'd be together in twenty years, on the contrary, he was stuck with her till the day she died, but that he asked scared her a little.

'In twenty years I'll be about 44.' She shrugged nervously, trying to roll off the sudden pressure she felt on her shoulders. Quietly she added, 'I suppose that's...up to you.'

Carol really never thought about life after Tacharan. It wasn't as if she'd do her 20 years and then retire. Ellis gave her a choice...well now that she thought about it, it wasn't much of a choice. Either work for Tacharan...or don't. When she made it abundantly clear what entailed in working for Tacharan...well again it wasn't much of a choice. She knew about them now. Choice made. That was Ellis for you.

Being brought into Tacharan meant it was for life and as Ellis familiar, the option to be turned by her was 1 to none. Ellis wouldn't allow her familiars to be turned, Carol could not remember having seen any mention of it in the Domicile history.

She looked.

Was Simon offering it now? And if he was...Carol waited for him to answer.

Simon felt his stomach tightened. Looking down at the ground he shrugged just the tinest bit. Running his hands up her arms, he whispered softly to her.

'No...Carol. It really isn't up to me.'

Considering she belongs to me.

The hairs on the back of Simon's neck stood on end. That familiar voice reached out and wrapped its hands around his throat.

You didn't even ask, either.

He felt Ellis behind him, but Simon knew it was his imagination. Even the soft puff of smoke he felt sting his eyes. He refused to look back...but then he didn't have to.

Are you really going to turn her? Carol's fun, but in short intervals, but I'll be the first to admit that she's quite the freak in bed, especially if you bite her.

Simon straightened, looking at Carol knowing she was expecting more but at that moment he couldn't quite get any words out.

Oh wait, you haven't bit her yet, have you? Why is that? Is the noble, yet pathetic part of you trying to keep your relationship pure? Untainted? Really Simon. That's half the fun.

He reached up and scratched his chin thoughtfully. He nearly jumped when the voice was right next to his ear.

You'll never have with her what we had together, Simon. Don't you miss it? Don't you miss me?

He swore he could feel her warm breath on his ear.

I miss you...so...very much.

Simon felt the venom in her voice. No regrets there, no remorse, no nonchalant recalling of their earlier blissful meetings.

I'll be seeing you, baby.

His eyes focused back on Carol as he tried to will the cold clammy feeling on his neck away.

'No, it is really up to you, Simon.'

Suddenly it occured to Carol that Simon wasn't listening anymore. His eyes became unfocused and he stiffened. She watched his eyes look down and to the side, then glazing as if he was mesmerized. It worried her.

'Simon?'

Looking at the skin on his neck, she watched the goosebumps raise. He was...frightened? No, just upset. Suddenly his eyes snapped back into focus and he looked at her.

'I said....'

Just then the doctor walked back into the exam room, a stronger mix of the solution in hand.

'Let's try this now, should help numb it a little more.' The doctor lifted the spray and she watched Simon back away slowly, getting out of the doctor's way. As the tweezers came back out and the picking began again, she didn't bother telling the doctor that the spray didn't help. In fact, she didn't say anything at all.

Walking through the hospital, Alec waved doctors away from him. One finally wouldn't leave him alone, so he shouted

The blood ISN'T MINE, MOTHER FUCKER. Now get the HELL away from me. I'm here for a reason, and it isn't to get pawed at. Though I do appreciate the gesture. Sorry. Strange evening.

As expected, this stunned the doctor long enough to get by and to the meeting point. Tactless, but effective. Popping into the room where Carol was being de-glassed, Alec frowned.

So...where's everyone else? I took the stinky route...I guess that might have been faster with all of the emergency vehicles heading that way. Anyway, I'm going to change into some scrubs and wash up real quick so doctors don't keep on trying to treat me. I feel your look, doc, and it isn't my blood. Just need to get cleaned up. Shampoo? Conditioner? Fuck no. Socialite blood. Nasty.

Walking into the bathroom, Alec did as he stated. There was some...well, previously internal organ on the back of his jacket. Lovely. Stripping down, he put everything straight into the trash and popped in the shower, washing quickly under ice water with just a bar of soap, not wanting to bother with the shampoo and conditioners. Hospital stuff was usually low grade on pleasant and high grade on antiseptics, anyway, so it didn't make him feel any better than the bar of soap. Shouting through the door, Alec asked

How's our girl? Nothing too permanent, I hope? And what was all of that business, anyway?

Toweling off and getting dressed, Alec sealed the bag and kept it with him. He'd drop it in the incinerator personally...force of habit. The entire cleaning process took right around two minutes, since he was still a little amped.

Any theories?

Simon had backed up to the opposite wall of the exam room when Alec entered rather infuriated. Crossing his arms, he avoided eye contact with Carol, which didn't matter, she wasn't looking at him anyway.

'I saw most everyone get out. Lotus was last. We're regrouping at the Domicile.' He watched the doctor work his way down Carol's face and every now and then she'd wince but stayed quiet. Her eyes were closed.

Alec yelled from the shower, asking how Carol was.

'Right as rain,' he answered back.

As Alec finished his quickie shower, Simon focused his attention fully on the man. 'Well it was centered around the Mayor's table, wasn't it? But it's not like the man was a political threat to anyone.' He shook his head. 'This, right on the hells of the warehouse raid. I'm waiting for the wrath of god to strike us all.'

Though it did appear Alexi's arm was healing, Shay insisted he have someone look at it. She just wanted to make sure it healed the way it should, and that there was no debris left in the wound. She might be over reacting, but she wasn't accustomed to watching someone heal before her eyes.

And speaking of eyes, she also wanted someone to check her's out. Her vision was coming back, a little at a time, but again...it was better to be safe than sorry. The thought of going blind was too scary to even think about. She didn't want to find out weeks or months from now that she had suffered damage that could have been easily repaired with quick attention. Too scary.

Holding Alexi's hand, she stayed close as he led her to the area where they had heard the injured were being treated. The waiting room was filling up quickly, but Shay didn't recognize anyone. That was a good thing, she thought.

Checking in with the woman at the desk, she listed their complaints, and then went to sit down and wait to be called in. Tugging on Alexi's hand, she pulled him to sit down beside her on the couch in the waiting room. Her dress was ruined...ripped up the seam in front, and torn underneath her arm, so that if the binding at the top broke, she'd be sitting there in what little glory she had. She cautiously moved her upper body because of that. Curling her legs up onto the couch, heels and all, Shay cringed when the remaining pieces of glass pulled into the skin of her knees. On the ride over from the ball, she had picked out most of the largest pieces of glass from her hands, but she just didn't have the energy to mess with her knees. And she couldn't see them very well anyway.

Surprised by a yawn, she leaned against Alexi's side, the opposite side from where his injury was, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Sometime soon, we're going to need to do something quiet...calm...maybe go to the movies, or make that run we keep promising to do. I do like some excitement in our lives, but we've been carrying things a bit far lately, don't you think?"

She was exhausted, but she was punchy, and now laughing softly against him.

Looking into his eyes, she grinned, and leaned just slightly forward to kiss him softly.

"Any ideas on what that was all about back there?"

Buildings don't just blow up. Shay was more than curious to know if the explosion was intended for anyone, or everyone...and who was behind it.

Nodding at Simon's assessment, Alec thought aloud.

Well, we know it wasn't us, it surely wasn't Evenhet's style, Anantya would have just eaten him rather than used technology...so that leaves mostly human agencies. Who's been pissed off enough in a high profile way recently that would make a move like that and have the capability...

The only thing I can think of on the fly is someone putting in a bid for Hillman's void in the power structure...maybe Ginnie'll have a better idea on who that might be. Oh, do you want us to skulk around and see what we can find out about the blast? It'll be tough after the fire crew and PD has messed everything up, but we can still do compositions to see what level of sophistication we're dealing with. Obviously they've got good planning and intel, so it could be useful to see if they have equally nice toys or if they're good planners with bad funding.

Anyway, let me know what you need. I thought we were meeting up here - my hearing was all fucked up. So I'm going to get changed and I'll see y'all at the Dom unless there was anything else?

((ooc: Alec out pending response))

Mathias nodded his head in agreement with Shay. Quiet would be nice..quiet would be good, hell quiet would be a refreshing change of pace. It seemed as if their lives of late had been a dance,spinning from crisis to crisis. "Yes, a nice peaceful dinner,no confessions,no one leaving,and for certain no explosions!"

They had barely sat down before Shay's name was called. The staff hadn't realized that Mathias was with Shay,but once they did all bets were off. While not highly placed in Tacharan he was still 'in' the clan and that carried some privilege.

He shooed off the doctor, directing her to Shay. "Minor scrapes really, I am fine"
Once the doctor began to examine Shay, it became obvious her vision problems were only temporary, caused by the smoke and dust. That worry thus resolved Mathias needed to find Simon and the rest of the clan.

"Love, I am going to track Simon and company down - come find me when they are done ok?" Giving Shay a soft kiss,he slipped out of the room. Mathias didn't particularly like leaving Shay, but they were assured she would be fine and just standing there made him nervous.
Asking a staff member,he found where Simon and Carol were. Opening the door, he entered just in time to see Alec getting up to leave.

"Apologies for barging in - seem to have blown off my invite. I just left Shay, she is doing fine - the blindness was temporary, her vision is already returned. Everyone accounted for?"

Listening to Simon and Alec's discussion on the bombing,Mathias suddenly had a thought.

"What about those Mercs who left after Ellis' death?"

It didn't make sense,but this was definitely not some punk off the street's operation. The rogue elements had the talent, and possibly knowledge of supplies.

It was not a possibility Mathias liked to consider.

Simon shook his head slowly. In a tone that was less than tolerating or interested, he spoke quietly from the back of the exam room.

'Not the Mercs. There isn't a leader in the bunch. Why do you think they were Mercs?'

Ellis was smart not to bring in Mercs with ambition, even her Harvesters took orders and never looked beyond their enigmatic leader.

'No, I doubt it. Hillman's people but there's nothing in the files Alec found that even hinted at hitting the Mayor. Speaking of which, a hit like that would come to us, specifically Ellis who'd want to do it on her own.' He scratched his chin thoughtfully, 'No, not us.'

But then who, he wondered.

The visit with the doctor was pretty routine, and overall mundane, except that her hands and knees were burning in pain.
Soon all the glass had been removed, she had been treated with strong antiseptics, and then her hands wrapped. The doctor washed her eyes with a solution, and confirmed all the damage was minor superficial scratching. She got a small vial of wash to use again in her eyes later, and was ready to leave.

The problem then became...where did she go? Alexi had told her to come find him when she was done...but she had no idea where to begin to look. Besides that, one of the cardinal rules of being in the domicile...as a familiar...was she could not move around unescorted.

So now what did she do? Returning to the waiting room, Shay took a seat and thought she would wait. Hopefully once Alexi found Simon and discussed whatever they had to discuss, certainly he would come back for her...wouldn't he?

But after reading through several magazines, and getting some strange looks from others passing by, Shay was getting a little upset. It wasn't bad enough to be labeled familiar, and held to second class citizen rules, but now to be left alone to fend for herself...well, it just wasn't setting too well with her. She hurt...was tired...and still much too weak to be fussing about like this on her own, yet here she was. She was cranky, to say the least.

Pulling her cell from her purse, Shay dialed her home number, and was relieved to hear Tristan pick up. She gave him a very brief explanation as to what happened, and asked that he pick her up. She apologized to him, realizing she had woke him up, and vowed to do something nice for him in return. Once directions were given, Shay gathered up her things, and retraced her earlier steps, back to where she would wait for her ride.

(Shay out)

"Ok, if you don't get your hands off of me right now, somebody's gunna get shot."

'Fuck, my gun was in my purse, and I don't have my purse.' The nurse holding a pair of scissors and the doctor with tweezers both took a step back. After the explosion, she'd been manhandled into an ambulance and brought here to Duibne, then this crappy ass doctor that was spray and tweezer happy decided the glass in her scalp, forearm and thigh ought to be removed. The nurse was of the opinion that the rest of her dress should be cut off.

She stood breathing much to rapidly, looking from doctor to nurse. She new the glass would work itself out and they were not further ruining her damned dress. Instead she reached for the clasps and let the thing fall to the floor in the tinkle and rustle of glass and cloth.

"Now, I'm going to go in that little room there and shower, I want scrubs on this bed waiting for me and all of you gone."

They all stood there for about ten seconds stunned at both her venom and the sudden view of her breasts. People just did not take of their clothes like that, it was just wrong.

Ginnie started for the bathroom and the medical personnel scrambled. Less than five minutes later she was slipping her damp body into maroon scrubs, her hair dripping down her back. Someone had left a pair of thick white socks and she put those on as well. Stalking from the room she got directions to where they had Simon and Carol and went to find them, only to bump into Alec right outside their room.

"You're alright!"

She flung herself on her lover, in a most uncharacteristic way and rained kisses all over his face, dripping hair water all over him.

One moment Alec was striding down the hall, glaring at folk looking to stick him with needles and anal thermometers and give him an IV or offer him a bedpan, the next he was pounced on and being kissed into oblivion by another moist outpatient.

Hospitals are strange like that.

Laughing, Alec stepped forward into the kiss storm. Opting to still the rain with one sudden deluge, he pulled Ginnie close,squeezing the entire length of their bodies together as he kissed her, quite forcefully. One hand on her lower back, the other in her wet hair, he pressed on, willing all of his relief into the expression...too bad it didn't really work that way. Disengaging after what he'd judged to be the right amount of time, he smiled. It looked like they'd manage to slow activity in the immediate area. Expressions ranged from disgust from the doctor he'd threatened to dreamy rapture on the face of some of the younger staffers.

Well, hi there. Of course I'm fine. In an extreme act of chivalry, I hid behind a girl when it all went down. Just went deaf for a little while, though my ears are still ringing some.

Shifting uncomfortably, Alec blushed slightly before continuing.

Uh...and I should get out of the hall before people notice the state of my pants. Scrubs don't leave much to the imagination...shall we?

Ginnie moaned softly into Alec's kiss. She had no idea just how worried she'd been until she laid eyes on him.

"That's alright I hid on the floor and tore my dress off."

She chuckled as he shifted, trying to hide his goods.

"They'll just think we want to go camping." Her laughter stopped as something hot, and hard slid down her leg to plop onto the floor. She looked down and saw a tiny piece of metal shining in a small pool of blood.

"Yeah, we should go."

She took Alec by the hand and made a B-line for the elevators, grabbing a sheet from a stack being carried by an orderly along the way. She really didn't feel like leaving a small pile of blood and Hillhouse debris in the elevator.

Down on the first floor she pulled the blood and glass dotted sheet up off the elevator floor and they hailed a cab. She sat on the sheet squirming now and again at the feeling of blood sticking agaisnt her rear.

"This is really uncomfortable."

((Alec and Ginnie out and heading to the Domicile.))

The doctor continued to pull the bits of glass out of Carol's cheek as Simon and the others spoke. This was Duibne Industries, the facility and everyone in it knew what it meant to leak information. Ellis saw to that. The facility did take the over flow from the main hospital, but only when necessary.

As the doctor finished, he gave her face a final examination and then pulled his gloves off. Quietly, so not to interrupt the conversation going on behind them, said to Carol, 'You should be fine, Miss Hedley. I doubt it'll scar, but if it does, we can take care of that. Good day.' Then he exited.

Carol slid off the table and looked down at her skirt. The dress was completely ruined and smelled of blood. Without looking at Simon, she quietly left.

((ooc out))

Simon watched Carol quietly leave the room. With a nod to Mathias, he made his way out behind her.

She was going to ask what had just happened in that moment during their conversation. He wasn't sure if he was going to tell her or even how to explain it.

(OOC - Simon out))

He nodded to Simon. "You,of course, know the clan far better than I - it seemed an unlikely possibility anyhow." Which still left the question of who....

He stood and bowed when first Carol,then Simon left - shooing the doctor off. He had expected Shay to meet him here.

Leaving, Mathias headed back to the examination room he and Shay had been in. No,the lad had left already he was told. Well then where the devil was she? he thought,growing more annoyed. Stepping outside, he did not see her in the cool Nachton night,nor was she in the car.

Pulling out his cell, Mathias was about to call Shay when he noticed a voice mail. It was Shay...she was allright but had called Tristan to pick her up. She didn't sound happy,but getting blown up might do that to a soul.

Sighing,Mathias got int he car and headed home. Shay leaving was bothersome..he wished she had something,but he was still too troubled by the explosion to focus properly on it.

((ooc - Mathias out ))