[Kinkerbell]

Goodnight is too far gone to hear him. She thrashes, clearly furious but also shattered, years of healing undone in an instant and her cries are horrible, lovely in pitch and tone but full of pain. She claws at her sister, trying to throw the slender banshee off of her, but to no avail. As Victoria tries to pin her down there is a frisson of power and the smell of ozone and she throws her hand in Nitro's direction. Victoria shouts and grabs her sister's fingers, and her magic wars with Goodnight's. She stops the spell, barely, shuddering at the effort it takes. Then, her face anguished, Victoria draws back her hand and hits her sister, a vicious blow that wrenches the dryad's head around and knocks her out cold. Vicki slumps, then stands and pulls her skirt back down from where it rode up her thighs. Kneeling, she picks up Goodnight's shoulders.  "It was you. The 'runner that left her with the Vory. The one that kidnapped my sister in the night." Her voice is sad but not angry, and she looks down at her sister. "You can't hold it against her anymore than I could hold it against you. She knows, intellectually, that you couldn't have saved her. But..." Vicki shakes her head. "She had a hard life after that night."

[ScytheKnight]

Nitro rubs his face a little, the emotion in him starting to fade again. "Ya, tha 'as me. One o' me firs' runs... an' pro'lly tha mos' si'ways I'e 'ad a 'un go. Fi'e o' us wen' iina tha el-cee-zee, I onlyjuss ba'ely ma'e i' ou' mesself... a con'ussion, in'ernal bruisin', inclu'in' a ki'ney a'n hai'line frac'ures o' se'eral bones. Tha place... iwassa fuckin' wa'zone, annall I 'ad wassa Remin'on 990, so I ran... an I saw'ha loo' onye sis'er's face when I turne'... issa loo' I 'een spen'in' se'en yea's t'yin' te for'et." the human rigger picks up his shotgun again, looking at it impassively like he would a piece of a puzzle. Finally he lets it swing down shaking his head. "Isstrain'e, I hanna thou' o' tha' nigh' in yea's... a' ye' ba' 'ere, innose ca'acombs.. I reme'erd i'."

He looks at the two, flickers of emotion crossing his face, but not as strong this time without the weight of shock behind them before he werdlessly offers to help with the other shoulder.

[Jack_Spade]

Isaint had just upgraded his map when Al had his little say. "Thanks, that hotel looks good. But I too agree with Al: No more splitting up."
To Solo he said: "As enticing as it sounds, but there will be no alcohol for me before this whole thing is done and under wraps. But feel free to have one for me too."

With a few mental commands he informed his supplier where he should send the ordered equipment by courier drone. When he checked his balance he cursed audibly: "Verdammte Halsabschneider!"
Too a quizzical looking Solo he just said: "My other life catched up with me and the ADL has already taken its cut from my earnings. I'm lucky I kept my balance up, otherwise we could have added tax investigators to our growing number of visitors."

His train of thought was derailed as Goodnight's sister appeared. He couldn't help himself but reach for his gun when the blur crashed into their guide.
Then the whole drama with Nitro and Goodnight unfolded. As Vicky called for someone to stun her sister he instinctively reached for his taser only to remember that he had lend those to the family. His Savalette was still loaded with APDS and the other one... no. He had just drawn and reloaded the semi-automatic with gel ammunition when the banshee solved the problem with her own kind of tranquilizer.
He put the gun away and shook his head: "Like walking through a fucking minefield."

This was entirely to public for his taste: "OY, as hard as it might be for you, but we need to get out of the public here. Get yourselves together. Once we have our rooms at the hotel, we can continue this conversation.

Oh, and by the way: Hello Victoria, I am called Isaint - Goodnight has told us much about you, pleased to make your acquaintance."


#120

[Kinkerbell]

Vicki shakes her head. "No, Nitro. Its not that I think you'll hurt her, but if she wakes up before she gets home and sees you, she'll try to kill you again adn I don't think I can deck my sister twice. She's too good for me to get away with that twice, and if she goes back to what she was I'm not sure I can take her." She looks down at her sister, damning her inability to cry without shedding blood and says in a low voice, "She was broken. It took four years to make her human again, and she's still not...entirely stable." She looks back up at the team, her expression defensive. "You can't judge her for this. You don't know what it was like. She's just scared."

Goodnight's face is still twisted in pain, grappling with nightmares even while unconscious, and her face is turning a violent purple where Victoria struck her. Victoria strokes Goodnight's hair, and dots of red well up in the corners of her eyes. Looking back up at Nitro, her youthful face is calm, even supportive. "This place does strange things to people's memories. Just...remember that its not your fault, sir."

She straightens up, cradling her sister in her arms, lifting Goodnight's fifty-odd kilos with no apparent effort. Its good to be a magical vampire athlete, sometimes. As she stands, another woman comes out of the crowd with her arms out. With long, gently curling hair the color of new shoots and eyes of a sunflower yellow, cheeks flushed with peony pink and lilac-painted nails, this must be Girl Flower. Her aura, for those that can see it, confirms this hypothesis, warm and vital and utterly inhuman. She's wearing a rose-red peasant blouse and synthdenim jeans the color of good soil, and she takes Goodnight from Victoria with a gentle smile for Vicki, who opens her mouth to speak but shuts it again as Flower shakes her head slowly. Vicki nods and Flower withdraws.

"That was flower, Fee's best friend. She'll take Fee home and patch her up." Vicki says. "I'll talk to her later tonight, while you guys are asleep. Hopefully by morning she'll be back to normal. In the meantime..." She pivots on one booted toe in a graceful pirouette. "I'll cover my sister's debts. You wanted to go to Nacht, right? The hotel?" At Natasha's nod Vicki says, "I can take you. But first, introductions." She steps closer to Isaint and holds out her hand. "Pleased to finally meet you, sir. Goodnight CC'ed me on her message to you, so I don't think I need to bother hiding." She glances down at his holster and back up at Isaint's face, her expression neutral, then softly asks, "Do they all know what I am?"

[Jack_Spade]

"Exactly. I don't know how much your sister has told you, but we need to lay low for a little while with this family over there. Also there might be a hit-squad on its way now that we have resurfaced at a semblance of civilized society. So be aware that you might get into danger by associating with us - not that I'd suggest you weren't capable of defending yourself. Just a headsup."
Isaint added hastily 'Yay, you are learning...'

[gilga]

"Poor lady" Said Solo softly as he watched the drama. He held his gun but was reluctant to shot. He watches Goodnight on the floor and say. "Vick, your sister seriously need help you cannot deal with this alone. I fear for her." Solo levitates Goodnight, not wanting to touch her to further traumatize her. As much as he can tell now, anything is a mask to her. There is no idea who is hidden inside, and that person inside is suppressed so deep.

He say to Vicky "Come Vick, lets find someplace soft to put her, she will be in a world of pain when she wakes up. Goodnight mentioned an hotel nearby where we are taking the family, we'll rent a room for her and you can watch her if you want." While they are walking he adds:

There is also something you should know, like Isaint told you, we are in the middle of a run... a very dangerous one. Bad stuff may happen - now i know that you are a lot more powerful than most mortals - possibly even more powerful then us. Still, if we get attacked I want you to lock the door and lay low.  Protect your sister and yourself. No matter what it is, we can handle it. But your sister will not make it without you.  Do not risk your life for her job.
During the road.
On a completely different topic, so you are not going to school? what are you doing every night?

[Kinkerbell]

She nods at Isaint and Solo. "Thanks for the warning, but I'm a banshee. Hit squads are an unfortunate fact of my life." She says drily, then glances around. "You might actually be safest in the market for a little while. Nobody starts anything in Nightside. I know you don't want to split up, but you're a big and noticeable group. Why don't you split into two groups, one dogging the other one and do a little shopping? Not much, just enough to look like you belong while you go through the market. Browse a little. I can make sure there's rooms waiting for you at Nacht, if Goodnight hasn't already." She looks at the family. "And then you gotta let me go get better clothes for them. They'll stand out like a sore thumb down here, and good-time Sally there is going to freeze her hoop right off." Natasha's clothing is reverting back to its previous clubbing state now that Goodnight is unconscious. "Let's get you to Nacht first, and then we can hash out specifics. I'm guessing you guys are on a short fuse and under a ton of stress."

She turns to face Solo fully and shakes her head. "Believe me, sir, I know that she needs help. I live with her." She looks in the direction of the departing inhabited spirit and her unconscious cargo. "She'll be safe with Flower, who can heal her and keep her under. If anything comes after them, Flower will grow raspberries out of its corpse. Trust me. She's the only person I know that literally everyone fears, even though she's, like, crazy-nice and sweet." Her tone is perfectly conversational, but its clear she knows from experience. Apparently Below is a violent place. She sighs. "I do go to school. I have tutorsofts and a matrix relay. I'm taking college courses online. Can't really go outside the way I am. I'm hoping to transfer to a real university next year."

[gilga]

Solo answers "Shopping can be nice and there is some stuff we need, but lets first get them to an hotel see our rooms establish some sort of defensive perimeter, and then decide on our options. Al has some balls rolling and we need to be on our toughs the risk is especially high right now, so Natasha will have to do AR shopping and we'll pick it up for her. "

"Do you prefer to take Goodnight to Girl Flower, than the hotel? I was thinking of waking her up soon using my medic kit. I just wanted to make sure that we are in a more secure place before we keep drawing attention to ourselves."

"What do you want to study then?"

[adamu]

As the whole new drama unfolded, Al just stood and watched.

He was standing near the family now. He was always standing near the family.

"Thanks, Solo, that's perfect. Skip the cafe, straight fer this hotel. Shoppin' by proxy or AR. An' as fer bein' conspicuous, reckon between clown showdown an' this joyful little reunion, anyone down here lookin' fer us already knows we's here."

He nodded at the Doc and put a protective hand on Rachel's back, guiding her forward.

"We stick together, an' we move now. No more stops."

Watching Goodbye get carried off by Super-Hippy, he made a mental note: that one was never getting left alone with any of the family members.

[gilga]

Solo type on his comlink and show Vicki >> Do you need to feed?  with GN unconscious we might need to think about another solution if you do. He quickly delete it after she sees it.

[Kinkerbell]

"Hold up a second there, grandpa." Victoria says to Al with a wide smile and cheerful teenage sass. "Now, you're probably right about not stopping, but hear me out right quick, 'kay?" She ticks on her fingers. "First, you're a damned large, damned suspicious looking group. You're going to attract attention moving all together. Down here, if you look like you have something you're trying to protect, people will jack you just to find out what it is." She holds up another finger. "Second, if you go marching straight through, you'll attract even more attention. The confrontation didn't happen inside, but there's hundreds, maybe a thousand people in there. Thirty probably saw what happened out here. You're, ah, widening the observation people." She smiles cheerfully. "Third, do you even know what they use for money down here? Its not all wire transfers. Reception is too bad."

She folds her fingers down. "My way will only cost you a few minutes and a few meters. Let the family go ahead, maybe with Nitro and one other. I can pose as the young lady's friend from school, since most people don't know me down here." She nods at the food court. "You'd have to come back anyway if you want food an' all. This place don't do delivery without hazard pay. Take a look around, watch each other. Get some chow, maybe a couple quick outfits and some bathroom stuff. The shopkeeps here will turn your nuyen into corp scrip for you if you buy something, and then you can get your hotel rooms. And, if anyone is looking for you and they're clueless about Below, they'll draw down in here and security will turn them into krill-filler." She lays out her case in the pleasant tones of someone who is both experienced and a born teacher, rather than using the invective of her sister.

It probably helps that she is entirely of the school of "nice because I can be, not because I have to be."

While Al and the others think it over, she turns to Solo. "I hear Wellesly has an M.M in dance for adepts and mystic adepts, and they've got a great art department. I'd like to double major in dance and theatre and get minors in psych and music." She catches his eye and replies to his message <<Yes, I do. But I can wait a few days if I'm a little careful about how much I use what I have. And don't worry about Flower, she'll carry Goodnight home and keep her safe. Its out of our hands. I can bring you by there later if you like.>>

[Jack_Spade]

It's always clothes and shoes with the girls, isn't it...
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand: You say security is good enough here to prevent a hit-squad from acting, but a large armed group is in greater danger to get engaged then a small group with four clearly vulnerable looking people? I'll give you that we'll draw attention, but I'm not convinced that this equals people trying to attack us. I am not acquainted with the customs here, could you explain this seeming contradiction?"

Otherwise I still say hotel first. We can do the splitting up when the family are safe. One part of the group stays as bodyguards, the others go shopping. And no, even if the girl wants to go shopping, the family stays together. It was hard enough to assemble them."
As the group finally moved on, Isaint made sure that his loadout wouldn't cause him confusion again: APDS in the rifle, gel in the gun.

Quietly, he texted to Victoria: <<Yeah, your sister mentioned your condition.
She also mentioned that she feeds you exclusively. I am curious, how do you avoid damaging her magic and how does she replenish the lost energy? Your method could save a lot of lives.>>

[Kinkerbell]

"Yes, actually." Victoria says. "If people see an armed group protecting someone, then they will plan to attack once you leave the protection of Nightside. There's two hundred meters of tunnel hetween Nacht and the market. A family and a group of friends wont raise any eyebrows, but a shadowrunner team protecting an extraction certainly will."

She pauses. "Questions are good and feel free to ask them, but if you were using uninformed reasoning- that is, knowing nothing about Below and assuming you are on firm logical ground- on Fee, I can see why she's pissed at you." She shakes her head. "Ditto this putting your foot down thing. Explain. Reason. Ask questions. But the minute she was hired as a guide she became part of the team. If you try to give her orders, she'll frag you harder than a trog on novacoke. She doesnt take orders from anyone since the Vory. Me, Im not part of the operation. Im just a convenient proxy for a few hours so I cant do that, nor am I inclined to. But if you want her to be nice, you cant try to push her around or make her feel like just help, babe. That reminds her of being a joygirl."

<<Yes, I mind. Its nothing personal, but what she does to sustain me is her cross to bear and her story to tell. It involves magic and spirits and is impractical for widespread use. That's all I will say. Sorry.>>

[ScytheKnight]

Nitro thinks it over a little before nodding. "Icca' see 'er poin'... we nee' a gui'e 'own 'ere 'acouse we dunni tha 'ules 'ere. We prolly canna'o mu' abou' no' loo'in' li'e runners, bu' wa canna leas' do som'in' abou' mas'in' why we're 'ere. Frommasoun' o 'is pla'e we shoul' 'e a'le te ge' a lo'a gea' usually har' te ge'... I mesself a' 'onna ta'e a loo' a thi' clini'. Summon li'e mesself goin' to a pla'e li'e 'is ferssom o' tha boo's 'ware wnna d'aw too mu' aten'ion." There's a few clicks from above as the Bumblebee locks its weapon mount and Nitro gives the evish vampire a grin, even if the others can see he's still looking a little shaken and the gesture lacks some of the rigger's usual bravado and flare. "No' 'en, I 'sal nee' a repu'able pla' te s'ore an re'arge me drone, annaif thi' clini' is onna tha pla'es tha' dunna wor' wi' Nu'en a pla'e te 'ange fer wha' they will wan, assi'e fro' wha issal 'e lea'in' behin' occourse." he finishes the comment my giving one of his cyberears a flick.

[gilga]

She pauses. "Questions are good and feel free to ask them, but if you were using uninformed reasoning- that is, knowing nothing about Below and assuming you are on firm logical ground- on Fee, I can see why she's pissed at you." She shakes her head. "Ditto this putting your foot down thing. Explain. Reason. Ask questions. But the minute she was hired as a guide she became part of the team. If you try to give her orders, she'll frag you harder than a trog on novacoke. She doesnt take orders from anyone since the Vory. Me, Im not part of the operation. Im just a convenient proxy for a few hours so I cant do that, nor am I inclined to. But if you want her to be nice, you cant try to push her around or make her feel like just help, babe. That reminds her of being a joygirl."

" About the family there is no question, we are taking them to the hotel and establish a perimeter. Then we see what we can do about using our manpower to enable shopping or any other secondary goal. This is not for discussion - we are here on work and so far we erred on the side of safe rather than on the side of cation."


>>If that changes and Goodnight cannot do whatever it is she does. Do not be alone with this cross. I will help you figure it out.


That said, we could obviously use some extra firepower so if you know a good place for some reagents it will be very helpful to visit later. I will be able to bind some spirits. We already lost two mages since this gig started. I am trying to cover that spot as well although I am not completely comfortable in that position.

He then texts Vick>>
Vick it is more than do not piss her off. She is part of a world where being a mage is a death sentence.  She is so volatile she almost killed herself - she is powerful and can handle stuff, but is dangerous to her own well being.  We already lost two powerful mages, they were a lot less lucky although a lot more careful.