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DanielBio2

Page history last edited by tonyp 14 years, 11 months ago

Daniel Chesterfield – Mage

 

Back to Daniel Chesterfield

 

Back to Rayne

 

Daniel Chesterfield – Mage Part 2

 

“… these aren’t the droids you are looking for.”

 

The Date – Part II:

 

Daniel arrived at the bookshop a few minutes early.  He walked in, scratched Zeus on his head (it turned out that Martina actually did have a cat) and headed towards the counter.  He waved to Mischa, one of the stores employees he had come to know who was pulling books from one of the shelves across the room, as he leaned against the counter and gave a friendly tap on the “ring or assistance” bell sitting there.  Martina came down from upstairs, smiled, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and grabbed her purse from under the counter.  She grabbed Daniel’s hand and led him to the door, waving at Martin who had peeked his head out from the back room.  Daniel thought he detected a slight wink from Martina but he couldn’t be certain.

 

“So, what’s the surprise?” he asked as she led him down the street.  Martina just smiled and walked on in silence for a bit.  As they approached the Dunkin Donuts, Daniel started to slow, ready to grab the door for her as was his custom.  She chuckled and kept on walking; past the door, across the intersection, continuing down the block.  Daniel picked up his pace and caught up, giving her a questioning look.

 

She glanced up at him, said something about a real dinner and a real restaurant.  Apparently Mischa had agreed to stay late to make sure Martin was okay so that Daniel and Martina could go somewhere other than Dunkin Donuts.

 

The two walked in silence for another 6 or so blocks.  Daniel tried in vain for the first few blocks to start a conversation.  Seeing that it was hopeless he settled into the comfortable silence they shared.  Every so often Martina would squeeze Daniel’s hand and give him a quick sidelong glance.

 

The two finally arrived at a nice little Greek restaurant nestled between a hair stylist and a dentist.  It was a cozy place, small, intimate with tables set only in twos.  They took their place at a table in the back; Martina ordered a bottle of wine, some appetizers and finally starting talking.  She explained that this place was owned by a friend of her fathers, it was the best Greek place in the City; high praise considering that he himself owned a restaurant.

 

The two talked for several hours, drank several bottles of wine and ate heartily.  At one point Daniel felt the wine start to affect him but he was having such a good time that he didn’t care.  As they were ordering dessert, he leaned over to Martina, kissed her on the cheek and whispered into her ear “I can do magic, you know.”

 

Martina’s eyes shot wide and she spun to face him.

 

“No, it’s true” Daniel said, mistaking her surprise for disbelief.  “Watch, I can make your forehead colder than it should be, like you had an ice cream headache.”  He then proceeded to Influence Heat on her forehead, pushing the heat away so it got cold.

 

Martina gasped a bit, pushed his hand down and told him to stop it.  She went on saying that she knew it, that Martin’s supposition was correct and that she bet Stephen was a mage also.  Daniel smiled like an idiot and nodded, exclaiming that not only were they mages, but they were Raijnes as well.

 

Martina gasped again, looked around and spoke quickly and with great emotion that he needed to be brought up before the Council and accept their judgment.  She went to say that if he didn’t turn himself in, she would.

 

Realizing that he had made a mistake, Daniel tried to backtrack.  Martina wasn’t buying it.  She pulled out her cell and quickly dialed a number.  Daniel reached across the small table to try and snatch it back, but she pulled away and he didn’t get hold.  He leaned over further to try again.  Martina spoke a single, quick word into the phone before Daniel was able to get it and snap it shut, disconnecting the call.

 

“Forget it,” Daniel whispered.  “I wish you would just forget it.  I didn’t say anything.”  As he said that he felt a surge of power well up and push away from him.  It was very similar to the feeling he had when he felt the magic being used in the bookshop so many weeks ago.  He saw Martina look surprised as that small bundle of energy hit her, making her body spasm slightly.

 

She blinked her eyes once, then twice, and then asked Daniel why he looked scared and pissed off at the same time.  Stumbling over himself for a bit he explained that it must be the wine; although the fact was the he was cold sober now.  She shrugged, said something about the quality of Greek wine and what were they talking about.

 

Daniel said they were discussing leaving since it was getting late and he needed to get up early to travel to Wisconsin in the morning with Stephen.  Martina looked at her watch, agreed that it was getting late and waved the waiter over for the check.  After a short argument on who was going to pay Daniel handed over a couple of hundreds to the waiter, told him to keep the change and they started walking back.

 

Martina was unusually chatty on the walk back and Daniel was unusually quiet.  He was still mulling over what had happened back at the restaurant.  As they entered the bookstore Daniel, still preoccupied by his thoughts, didn’t notice until after the door had shut that the shop was more crowded than it should have been after closing.

 

Both Daniel and Martina looked surprised when they saw Martin standing there, arms folded, along with Mischa and a couple of other regulars Daniel recognized but did not know.  Martin had a familiar looking glow about his eyes, the same glow Stephen sometimes had when he was looking at things magically.

 

Martin looked from Martina to Daniel and back, stating that he got her call and that he has confirmed what she said by looking at Daniel.  Martina looked worried and commented that she didn’t know what Martin was talking about.  She turned to look at Daniel and he saw that she, too, had that same look in her eyes.

 

Daniel knew that the time came now to do something to try and calm everything down before something happened that he, or someone else, would regret.  He put on his best smile, the one that allowed him access to places he shouldn’t, and started to speak at the same time he activated his Onmivision.

 

“Now let’s everyone be calm about this,” he started to say when he saw, through the magical field, someone coming up behind him with a raised hypodermic needle.  As the person behind moved to grab Daniel and, presumably, inject him with the contents of the syringe, Daniel spun, did a quick forearm locking block, knocked the syringe from the man’s hands and twisted him around, sending him forward into the woman who was approaching quickly.

 

Daniel is not sure exactly what happened after that, things moved rather quickly.  He found himself being attacked magically as well as physically.  He could tell the attacks were not meant to hurt but to subdue.  Daniel fought quickly, reaching out with his mind the same time he defended himself with his hands, arms, feet, whatever was available.  There were, however, too many for him to overcome and he found himself finally restrained.

 

He indicated his submission by relaxing in their grip, ceasing his struggles to free himself.  He then waited as both Martina and her brother approached him.  He seemed to recall that in the midst of the melee, neither one of them participated, but rather were talking in hurried, hushed tones.  It amazed him that even as preoccupied as he was, he was still able to pay attention to Martina and what she was doing.  It was either love or some magical ability he was unaware of.

 

When the siblings stood in front of Daniel, Martina reached out and slapped him across the face, asking in a hurt tone why he did it, why did he keep this from her.

 

“What was I supposed to do?” Daniel asked.  “You reacted so suddenly that I panicked.  Obviously I am not sure just what the hell is going on here, but both you and I, and everyone here, is not what we want people to believe.  I just want to make sure that when my secrets were shared they were done so on my terms.”

 

Martina raised her eyebrows a bit as if she was amused by Daniel’s statement.  Martin seemed less than pleased, calling him a few choice words in Greek.  He motioned and someone came forward with another hypodermic.  Daniel had just about enough.

 

“Stop” he commanded the woman, who stopped dead in her tracks.  “Stop, all of you,” he almost shouted.  Daniel felt the power rush out of his body spreading out in a ripple that reached everyone.  As with earlier that afternoon time seemed to slow and Daniel found himself being held loosely by hands that didn’t resist when he twisted free.  A couple of quick tests informed Daniel that he now had them, essentially, under a control similar to that of a hypnotist.  Daniel quickly relieved the woman of the needle and shoved it into his pocket, being careful not to stick himself.  He then did the same with the one he had knocked free earlier.

 

He then looked quickly around to see if there was anything noticeable that would indicate what had, or was going, to happen.  Finding nothing he whispered a few suggestions into people’s ears and they resumed a more natural setting.  Using all of the skills he learned in class, he arranged everyone as if it were a stage set.  When everyone was positioned to his satisfaction, he went back over to stand next to Martina.  He mouthed the word “sorry” to her as he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

 

He then turned back to the room as a whole.

 

“This never happened,” he spoke in a clear voice.  “Martina and I arrived back from dinner, chatted a bit with everyone.  I had just told a clever little joke and everyone had a laugh, except Martin, of course.  I had just said that I should probably be going since I had to leave for Wisconsin tomorrow and we were about to say our good-byes.”

 

Having given the stage directions, Daniel mentally released everyone and a couple of them even “finished” chuckling a bit.  The man who had tried to grab him earlier told him to have a good trip and he’d probably see him around.  Daniel gave a wave to Martin, who inclined his head slightly, and then Martina walked him to the door.  As they stepped outside Daniel sighed a bit and relaxed his shoulders which, he realized, he had tensed up.

 

Martina, sensing this, asked him if everything was all right.

 

“Yeah, things are fine,” Daniel lied.  “I’m just a bit tired and am not looking forward to getting up early tomorrow.  Stephen has this crazy idea that he wants to be on the road by seven.”

 

He stepped a bit closer.

 

“Well, I should be going.  I had a good time tonight l we should do that more often.  Who knows, we might even abandon our place down the street.”   Martina chuckled, as did Daniel.  “Who am I kidding,” he added, “what could ever replace coffee and donuts?  I’ll give you a call when I get back – should be a couple of days.”

 

He leaned in and gave her a kiss, which she returned with a bit more commitment than Daniel felt was appropriate, given what had transpired.  Then again, he was, he hoped, the only one that knew what had happened.

 

He got into his car and sat there for a bit, feeling exhausted.  He put the car in gear and headed straight for the theater.  He needed a refill of Mana.  He wasn’t sure how much he used, but he could tell it was quite a bit – more than he had ever used before.  After that, home and bed, although he suspected he wouldn’t be able to sleep much.

 

He was right.

 

The Confession:

 

There was no real time after returning from Wisconsin to give Martina a call before the group was summoned to the crime scene.  Once it was determined that it was a demon possession and that the group had no idea really what to do, Daniel decided to see what help the bookstore could be in a real situation.  He left the others and drove over to the shop, blowing by a couple of cops (and stop signs) on the way.  No one knew he had done anything … it was getting too easy.

 

At the shop, Martina was out but Mischa was at the counter covering.

 

“Afternoon, luv,” Daniel said, using a really fake Cockney accent that elicited a chuckle.  “I need a book on demonic possession, especially how to counter it.  It needs to be “real”, if you know what I mean.”

 

Mischa looked at him a bit and then pointed him to a section in the back under religious rituals, advising him to look closer to the top.  As he walked back to the spot indicated he heard the bell at the door ding.  He did not notice Martina return nor get flagged over by Mischa, who talked with her in a whisper.  A frown appeared on Martina’s face as she walked back to where Daniel was flipping through a book.

 

He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up, ready for anything.  Seeing Martina he smiled, closed the book over his finger to keep his place and walked up to her, kissing her briefly on the cheek.

 

“Afternoon, luv,” he drawled, continuing the accent.  “Hoped to see ye here.  Got a bit of a quandary, actually – see, I need to exorcise a demon.  Figur’d if there was a spot to learn how to do that here’d be it.  Seems as if I might be right.  Can you tell me – is this a good book for that?” he asked showing her the book.

 

Martina, more than slightly stunned, looked at the book and nodded saying that in the right hands it was a very good book.  She then stood there, hands lightly rested on her hips, giving Daniel an opportunity to explain.  Daniel, having learned over time to read women a little bit, picked up on it.

 

“Listen,” he started, dropping the accent and being completely serious, “I have an idea what you are thinking.  Unfortunately, there really isn’t time right now, nor is this really the place, to discuss it.  There are some things we need to talk about, some things I need to explain to you … later.  Right now it is very important I get this book and leave.”

 

Leaning in, he gave her another kiss on the cheek and whispered, “Please trust me on this.  I’ll pick you up hopefully tonight, if not tomorrow, and we’ll go someplace and talk.”  He smiled a charming smile and left, telling Mischa to have Martina give him change later as he tossed her a couple of hundreds to pay for the book.

 

Later that day, after completely screwing up the ritual Daniel thought that he probably should have asked for a little help before they did what they did.  As powerful as he was getting, he had to admit that there were some things he still did not understand.  And now there was another one, or the same one, on the loose.  Time to confess.

 

He drove to the shop just before closing time.  Martina was the only one there.  As Daniel entered she looked up with curiosity and, Daniel detected, a little bit of annoyance in her face.  She glanced at the clock and then went back to finishing the work she had at the counter.  Daniel understood that he had to wait.  Giving her a smile he picked up a book to browse while she finished up, then put it down blushing as he realized he had grabbed one on occult sexual rituals.  He missed that Martina smiled ever so slightly as he walked over and starting scratching Zeus behind the ears.

 

Martina finished up, walked over and stood there, waiting for Daniel to notice, which he did rather quickly.  They left the shop, locked up behind them and Daniel walked her to his car.  Martina started to protest but Daniel opened the door for her, said “It’s important” and waited for her to get in.  She did, glancing up at the windows above the shop quickly.  Daniel caught the movement but didn’t register that he noticed.  If they were going to be followed he would just deal with it later.

 

Daniel drove them to the same diner he and the others ate at on that first night, as well as where they met the professor a few weeks ago.  Taking a booth by the window he ordered coffee and settled in, waiting for the waitress to return.  He absently played with his spoon while he waited.  Once served the coffee, he looked around and mentally diverted everyone is the place’s attention from this particular table.  Except for the waitress, he altered her instructions slightly so that she would continue to check in for coffee, food, etc.  He didn’t want to be that ignored.

 

Martina was quiet during this whole time.  If she gathered that he had just done something then he she didn’t register it.  He took a sip from his coffee and began.

 

“Thanks for your patience and understanding in this.  As I said earlier, there are some things I need to tell you, some things I need to explain to you.  First off, I like you … quite a bit.  There is something about you that I can’t really put into words, something that draws me to you.  Because of that I need to be completely honest about things.”

 

Another sip of coffee, and Martina still watched him, saying nothing.

 

“I am pretty sure I know how you will react to what I am about to tell you,” he chuckled to himself slightly at this.  “All I ask is that you wait until I finish before you do or say anything.  Please give me at least that.  Once I am finished then whatever happens well … happens.”

 

Daniel settled in, pushed aside the coffee cup and began.  He told her about Erica’s disappearance, about her friend telling him to go see Gordon, about the night here in the diner and the werewolves, about his visions, the assault on the warehouse and his retrieving Erica.  He told her about Awakening and signing the book, about Randall and the vampires.  He left out the bit about Gordon having been a vampire, Hendricks and Valkyrie, that Michael was a werewolf and that Gordon and Cater were now Scions.  He didn’t hide that Stephen was a mage since he suspected that she already knew that.

 

He told her about the trip to Wisconsin, the attack on the Pure, the demon summoning and it happening again … everything.  He explained that he seems to have a special talent in mind manipulation and that he has taken it upon himself to make sure that no one notices what the group does, as best he can, since he doesn’t want the attention of those that have a grudge against the Raijnes (in general) on him or the others.  To her credit Martina said nothing during the whole time, although she did raise an eyebrow at the part about Daniel making her forget that he had told her some of this already.

 

When Daniel was finished he took a sip of his coffee, which had stayed warm during the entire story.

 

He put his cup down, looked Martina in the eye and spoke softly.

 

“Well, that’s about it.  The big question now is … what happens next?”

 

The Aftermath – Part I:

 

Martina fiddled with her napkin a bit and set it down.  She picked up her water and almost as quickly set it down, hard, onto the table.  Martina’s eyes went white as she snapped and sat up straight in the chair. 

 

Son of the seal breaker, favored by the gods, the old ones come.  The blessings asked for have come to pass but the promises need to be kept.  Father Wolf must be protected.  The signs of Ragnarok must be heeded.  The walls crumble.  Water comes to air.” 

 

Martina’s voice was a whisper but Daniel could hear every word clearly.  She took a deep breath and continued. 

 

“Things happen and they don’t.  The past comes to haunt the present.  The present destroys its creator and is not unmade but reborn.  Blood thickens before it thins.  The hunt comes but looks in the wrong places.  Kings are unmade.  Power corrupts.” 

 

Another pause for air and then Martina, or whatever was in front of Daniel, continued speaking in the same harsh whisper. 

 

“Repairs are made.  One dies.  The pharaohs fulfill their part.  The center falls apart followed by the right and the left.  Builders come back.  Luna cries.  The ladders are climbed.  The new towers join the old.  And then things are as they were but not yet come.” 

 

Martina slumped in her seat a bit as she bowed her head slightly.  Her eyes came back and she looked up at Daniel as if nothing had happened.

 

 

The Aftermath – Part II:

 

“Wow.  That’s a lot to take in.”  She paused, staring at Daniel who stared back in mute astonishment.  “Don’t stare at me like that!  I should be mad.  I should be very mad.  I think you are lucky I am still sitting here talking to you.”  She looked a bit unnerved as Daniel continued to stare at her.  She picked up her glass and started to take a sip, which turned into a long drink, which seemed to snap Daniel out of his trance-like state.

 

“My throat suddenly hurts.  Weird,” she muttered to herself behind the glass, but Daniel caught it.  Martina had this habit of talking about things to herself when she was nervous; something Daniel noticed a lot of at the beginning, but not as much recently.  In fact not at all, until now.  However, this time Daniel sensed there was anger in there as well.

 

“I don’t mind that you didn’t tell me about your . . . gifts right away.  Not many do.  It’s tough for those of us Awakened into an established Tower to trust each other, let alone someone Awakened outside of the fold.  The Exarchs have made that hard, as have their followers, the Seers.  We never know who we can trust.”

 

She paused again.

 

“And that’s the strange part.  I feel like I can trust you.  I don’t know why, especially after the memory crap you pulled … twice no less.  That scares me more than anything.  I would hate to think that who I am now is not who I have always been.  So, you do need to promise me that you won’t change my memories for any reason!  If you can do that, I think we can work past all of this.” 

 

She picked up her glass, placed it to her lips and, watching Daniel over the top of the glass, waited.  Daniel knew he needed to speak now – that was keenly evident.  What to say, however, was more difficult to reason out.  He should definitely apologize, that was not only warranted but something he wanted to do.  The troubling part was if he should mention the trance; the strange whispered message, first.  He decided that, at this particular moment, an apology was the more important.

 

Daniel put on his most humble smile.  “Trust me, pulling any of that mind stuff on you is the last thing I would do.  At the time it happened I didn’t have total control over the ability, it sort of happened when I got scared.  Well, at least the part at the restaurant was accidental.  The bit at the shop was more deliberate, but in my defense you were trying to have them stick me with a needle filled with the Gods know what.”

 

He smiled again, took a sip of coffee and, when he noticed that she was still uncertain, he became serious.  He reached across the table, took her hands in his and looked directly in her eyes.

 

“I swear, by all that I hold sacred, to never again alter your memories in any way, nor to ever compel you to do anything you would not want to do of your own free will.  I cannot, unfortunately, say the same of any others that try and come after me with intentions that are anything but congenial.  That would include Martin.”

 

Martina studied Daniel for a long minute and then smiled.

 

“I believe you, and I can accept that.  For now.  Depending on how things go, I will want to revisit that pledge and expand it to include the others, or if not everyone at least Martin.  But for now …”

 

She trailed off and took a drink.  She started to say something but then stopped and thought some more, idly playing with her napkin as she did so.  Daniel could see a small change come over her face as it appeared her thoughts changed from contemplation to something more businesslike.

 

“The others, those not in my cabal, are going to be a problem.  I think we need to introduce you and Stephen to them.  Probably Carter, Michael and Gordon as well, although as non-mages they are not governed by the same rules as we are.  Yes, the others will need to see you and you might need to reassure them as well.  And some of them won’t be happy about it.” 

 

She sighed and thought some more. 

 

“Actually, I have to admit, I don’t exactly know what to do.  And that’s scary from someone who sometimes sees the future.  Right now, though, I am not seeing anything.  In any case, the others; some of their reactions will be political.  Once they learn you are a descendent of the Raijnes, and realize how powerful you are, they will think you want to take over Chicago and claim it as your own.  I guess I will need to think on that some more.”

 

At that statement, Daniel suddenly remembered the strange words from before.  Was that what she meant by “see the future”?  Did he just witness a foretelling of some sort?  He opened his mouth to ask when Martina started again, apparently not noticing that he was about to talk.

 

“So, let’s say this: if you can keep your promise to me about not messing around with my memories then I think we can work through this.  Knowing that I have your promise I can then think about what I, or more probably what we, should do about the other groups.  I don’t think we can wait much longer, though.  Several have already mentioned that they have felt magic being used.  I assume it was you?” 

 

Daniel was a bit taken aback by all of this.  The first time he had mentioned he was a mage she had gone ballistic.  This time she was more matter of fact about the whole thing.  That made him uneasy and relaxed at the same time.  “It probably depends when it was … and where,” he started.  “We have used some magic … okay, quite a bit of magic in the city but also on the trip to Wisconsin.  Most of it was done to try and keep a lid on what was happening.  I could say something like ‘you wouldn’t guess what my friends are capable of’ but I have a suspicion that you do, at least somewhat.”

 

He took a drink of coffee and added slyly, hoping to infuse a little levity into the conversation, “Perhaps we can compare notes at some point, say at my place, and see when others felt the magic being used.” 

 

“Okay,” responded Martina, who had heard what Daniel said but decided to, for the time, ignore it.   “I don’t remember the different times and places off hand but I have my notes back at the shop.”  She paused, obviously becoming hesitant, slightly fearful.  “I really don’t look forward to talking to my cabal about this, especially Martin.  A few did wonder about you and wanted to turn you in.  At first I was inclined to believe, but I let my feelings cloud my judgment and said we needed to wait.”

 

She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  “I am not sorry I did and I am hoping you prove me right on that.”

 

Daniel smiled a wolfish grin.  He dropped back into the fake Cockney accent he had used at the bookshop.

 

“Don’t worry, luv,” he smiled, “I won’t let ya down.”

 

He cleared his throat and continued.  “Now, about that whole “being able to see the future” thing … what does it look like when it happens?”

 

“Why do you ask?” she started, seeming to get nervous.

 

Daniel realized that she was becoming less relaxed, so he decided not to push it.  “No reason,” he chuckled, “I just figured that if it was anywhere close to the Oracle scene in the movie “300” I might want to be around for one.”

 

Martina rolled her eyes at this, which made Daniel laugh out loud.  His levity seemed to have an affect on her and she laughed as well.  The unspoken tenseness of the earlier situation was somewhat broken, and the two enjoyed a late dinner in relative ease.

 

Daniel dropped Martina off at the bookshop and, after repeating his promise to never alter her memory, and saying that he would talk with the others about meeting with Martina’s cabal, he left.  When he started driving off, his mind raced.  He drove around the city pretty much all night thinking over what had happened.  He knew that he should tell the others, about the vision and about what he had been doing.  But how and when?

 

The Steam Tunnel and Beyond:

 

All that morning Daniel paced around the house, waiting for the right time to talk with everyone.  Never one to be shy or nervous he found himself downright freaked.  He was not quite sure how everyone would react, but he knew that there would at least be swearing … likely lots of swearing.

 

Despite his waiting, the opportunity never really came up where he could tell them.  There was never a really good segue into a “hey guys, guess what; my girlfriend had a freaky vision and, oh by the way, we need to go visit with her and her cabal before they turn us into the local mage big-wigs” type conversation.  Daniel was almost beside himself when the call from Persephone came; and then the call from Julie.

 

So Daniel found himself in a position where the conversation with Martina and the vision she had were not as important as they had been.  Facing down a claymore mine tended to do that to a person.  Then with the chase and fight with the titan-spawn Daniel momentarily forgot about trying to tell everyone.  The need to “clean up” after the group, Carter especially, was becoming a full time job.  Luckily Daniel had started to learn that his ability to manipulate a normal person’s mind was as easy as breathing, especially in situations where normal human tendency is to not want to see what is really going on.

 

Daniel felt rather more relaxed as they left the fight scene and headed towards Persephone’s to dispose of the bodies.  He had been so intent on the fight and keeping normal people from seeing it that he had forgotten to scan the area for ‘special” minds.  One such person had, in fact, noticed the use of the magic, had seen what had happened and, when the group left, clicked open a cell phone to make a call.

 

The next day Daniel was back to trying to find the right way to tell the group what he had learned, and what he had promised to do.  When the group started talking a making a list of who in the City were after them, Daniel was about to come clean when the inevitable follow-up call from Julie that there had been another body found, all matching the MO of the previous rituals, came in and interrupted them.  She also had a surprise that some wolves from down by the Science Museum were coming to visit, hurt and in need of sanctuary.  The group obviously obliged and when the wolves arrived, they were not alone.  The group pursuing them was close and took a couple of pot shots at the house.  Carter, of course, caused a bit of a ruckus in the street as he (and others) pursued and captured the bad guys who turned out to be closely related to the demonblooded the group tangled with in Wisconsin.

 

The group was in the midst of deciding what to do with the demonbloods when Stephen got another call from Julie – an urgent call saying that they (the cops) had been pinned down in Jackson Park by some “gang” activity.  Within minutes Daniel was again acting as a fuzz buster as the group broke all sorts of traffic laws in an effort to help out.  Daniel also decided it was time to use his ability to a use other than clearing the street or making people forget.  He contacted Julie who was not at all surprised to have Daniel’s voice in her head.  Stephen must talk about it during pillow time.  Julie directed Daniel to where in the park she and the other cops were located and the 2 vehicles skidded to a halt, shot the hell out of the bad guys and then rushed away to the scene where Julie had found the other body.

 

And of course no one remembered that they were there or that Carter did anything bizarre.

 

At the ritual scene, the group was able to determine that the demon summoned this time was more powerful than the other; that it had been summoned by the other.  Michael was able to trace it to McCormick Place, and the group headed off.  Since it was broad daylight and McCormick Place a bit more populated (and controlled) than other locations, the group approached cautiously, that is to say with only half of the normal arsenal on their persons, including the Crusader Sword that Michael had taken from the bank’s safe-deposit-box in Wisconsin.  Daniel wasn’t exactly sure where Michael hid it, and truthfully he really didn’t want to know.  It was lucky that Gordon had worked there before as a security guard and knew of a couple of places they could gain access relatively unnoticed.

 

It was at this point that Daniel heard in his head Martina’s voice reciting a line from the vision, as if the events before them were fulfilling a portion of the prophecy.  It took a minute for Daniel to realize that it was Daniel remembering hearing Martina recite the vision and not that Martina was actually in his head.  Daniel realized that fate had given him an out and that his opportunity for relaying what the vision said was at hand.  Calling upon what he remembered the others telling him of the time, way back when they were rescuing Erica, when he seemed to have had a vision, Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, rolled his eyes forward and telepathically relayed to everyone the vision just as Martina had given it.

 

When he was done he started walking forward again, glancing back and pretending to wonder why the others had stopped.  Confused as all hell, the others stared at Daniel for a moment, who stared back.  Stephen mumbled something about “crazy mage” and Carter decided that the vision was better left until later and moved forward to catch up to Daniel, flexing his steel hand and he went, an act that made Daniel cringe since he knew what it meant – memories to erase.  Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small kitchen magnet and, unnoticed by Carter, stuck it on his arm as he passed.

 

The group was able to gain access to McCormick Place easily enough, with Daniel having to only make a couple of security guards forget about them.  The group followed Michael has he tracked the demons to a large electronics exhibit hall at the south end of the building.  The group was able to see the entire place from a mezzanine level and from there were able to spot the two demons, who had taken over a couple of nobodies.

 

Once the group realized that these were the two they were after, and that they were completing a summoning ritual, all hell broke loose as Carter did what he does, and everyone else followed suite.  Daniel attempted to hide the goings on and, after realizing that there were just too many damn people here to be effective, changed tactics.  Instead of not seeing anything, he projected a mental image to everyone in the area close enough to see details that the people shooting and running around were not Daniel and the others, but the guys who had given chase to the werewolves currently relaxing back at the house.

 

The two demons completed the ritual, thanks in part to Carter who helped spill some of the blood needed as a component, and physical beings from who knows where were able to come through the opened portal.  The crowd at the show panicked, fled and made a fairly large commotion.  The group was able to destroy the 4 creatures, with some help from a few security guards that Daniel was able to “commandeer” into helping.  Having saved the world once again, Daniel manipulated a couple of more minds into forgetting that the group was involved and it was the security guards that were the heroes.  Daniel didn’t even try to make people forget that there had been demons loose in McCormick Place.  He’d let the media cover that one.  Luckily the bodies had turned to ash after being destroyed so it was only a couple hundred eye witnesses that could talk about what they saw.

 

As the group left the way they came, Daniel realized that this attack, as disturbing as it was, held another key for him.  He knew how to get his group introduced to Martina in a manner other than “these are my friends”.  Now all he had to do was convince the group that they should listen to him.  Daniel hoped he was going to be able to do it without any manipulation.

 

As the group headed back towards the house in the trucks, Daniel sent through the link “Hey guys, I’ve got an idea …”

 

 

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