Old Scores

[Sojourn]

Maryse Lambert



Maryse and Marcel hadn't wanted to worry their children at all. Instead they told them that the only reason they hadn't said they were all going to Amy and Orin's new home for a while with Grandpa and Grandma was because it was supposed to be a surprise. Maryse and Marcel told the kids that Amy and Orin had came to France for a honeymoon. It surprised them that they'd plan it the same time as they were supposed to be going on vacation to Russia but since they were so young, they didn't question it much. Maryse nodded her head to Amy.

"Yeah, they can't wait to meet their new cousins in person."

The kids hadn't gotten a chance to meet Gavin or Holly yet. Remy and Bethany were looking forward to meeting their new grandchildren too. Although they wished it hadn't been for this reason. Maryse hugged Amy and Orin.

"Please be careful."

[Optimus Prime]

Amy Diamant



"We will."

Amy told her sister and returned her hug. She just wanted to find Dante and find out the hell why he was hunting her for her. Not that Amy said that out loud. She didn't want to worry her sister any more then she wanted to worry her kids. Her parents told them to be careful too and the kids said bye before heading to the airport with Flynn so he could get them all safely to the community's new home in Russia.

[Sojourn]

Jasmine Sinclair



Jasmine had tried to collect money from Thierry before Nathan killed him. If he or Nathan had dealt with Dante Costantini, she wasn't sure. She hadn't kept tabs on that and Nathan usually killed his enemies. Even if the man had nothing to do with Nathan, Jasmine and Bruno were happy to help. Both could speak Italian from the time they had lived in Italy with Nathan and they also knew some French from "missions" Nathan had sent them on. Although they had never been to Nice before. Which was good, since their last trip to France hadn't been for a good reason. With Bruno standing out in a crowd whether he wanted to or not, it was good that Amy's family was from another city so that Jasmine and Bruno didn't have to deal with some questions about what had happened in a hotel in Paris. Turner was trying to find out what he could about Dante but it wasn't much. Once Flynn had Amy's human family in a van and heading to the airport, Jasmine said.

"He's not making himself easy to find. Although if you throw enough money around in the right parts of the town, someone will talk."

[Monkey Kitty]

Orin and Asif

Orin nodded his agreement with what Jasmine said, and added, "Or once word gets around that Amy's in town, he may come find us. Even if he's lying low, if he's really trying to shake down people connected with Thierry, he'll have to make himself known sooner or later."

Not exactly a pleasant thought, but he figured some sort of confrontation was inevitable. Better to stay on their guard and get it over with.

Asif had initially agreed to come along on the trip purely to provide some extra muscle, but as it had turned out, he now had his own reasons for traveling to France. A short time earlier, he'd received an e-mail out of the blue that claimed to be from Lina's sister.

He was surprised - partly just to hear from her, since Lina's family hadn't really kept in touch with him after her "death." They had approved of him as a son-in-law, but the relationship wasn't particularly close. And in fact, Asif had lost contact with most of the humans in his life when he became a widower; the depth of his grief had been too much for them to bear, so they had drifted away. That made it easier to adjust to being turned, and after centuries of war with the Vampires, his Lycan friends understood bereavement all too well.

How would Lina's sister know she was alive, after all this time? But the e-mail made it sound like she did know.

It also struck him as odd not just that a member of Lina's family would get in touch after so many years, but also that they would get in touch with him instead of Lina. Wouldn't sister naturally trump brother-in-law as the missed party? Asif told himself he was overthinking it. The explanation was probably something as simple as his e-mail address having somehow proven easier to guess than hers... although hers was on the website of the business she owned...

Still, he responded to the request for a visit by saying that the girls couldn't miss school - not entirely true, it could have been arranged with their teachers, but he didn't want to put them in danger by taking them out of the safety of the community just yet, and he couldn't outright say it was because they were immortals - but that he would talk with Lina about the possibility of a trip for the two of them.

The response put him very much on guard; the sender wanted to see him without Lina. The invitation was just for him. Asif could think of several different scenarios for why that might be, and none of them were anything good. Still, apparently someone, whether really the sister or not, had tracked them down. He and Lina had decided that, particularly since he was headed for France anyway, it was best for him to set up a meeting and figure out what was going on.

He hated to leave. Asif knew he would miss Lina and the girls. Shazia, Samira, and Charu called them Uncle Asif and Aunt Lina, but only because in their experience parents were horrible and aunts and uncles were kind; they were as close to him and Lina as daughters would be. And Taara - their sweet baby girl - was growing every day. Before she was born, Asif had worried that she would somehow sense her origins and question why he was present instead of Baqir, but that hadn't been the case. Taara knew who loved and cared for her, and that was all that mattered. She was happy to snuggle in her daddy's arms.

Yes, he would miss them. But there were loose ends to be resolved on this trip, and Asif knew his family and his community wouldn't be safe until they were sorted out.

[Optimus Prime]

Amy Diamant



Amy knew that there were always people willing to talk, if the price was right. She wanted to find this Dante person as soon as possible, though. Even if she didn't like the idea of making herself be bait to draw him out faster. She nodded her head at what Orin said and told him.

"What we can do is spread money around but you and I can just act like we're on vacation. One way or another he'll know I'm here."

[Sojourn]

Jasmine Sinclair



"That could work. Bruno and I can hit the streets while you two are on 'vacation'."

Jasmine replied. Although Amy making it know she was in back in France was dangerous, sometimes it was the only way to make someone come out of hiding. Especially someone who was trying to hide himself very well. Egor, who had also came along for back up, asked Asif quietly.

"When did you want to look into Lina's sister?"

Egor personally found it very odd that the woman only wanted to talk to him, not see Lina or the girls. Especially since everyone thought Lina was dead for forty years.

[Monkey Kitty]

Orin and Asif

"Sounds good," Orin said. "Although I don't think we should split up too far. This Dante guy may not be working alone. I think we should stick close enough that we can back each other up if we need to."

Asif replied to Egor, "I think the best thing to do is simply arrange a meeting when we have some time free, and see who shows up. Turner already traced what he could, and it could still go either way - the e-mails were sent from a hotel room registered under the correct name, and the credit card information matches too, but there's no guarantee it's the person really staying there. It could be a case of stolen identity or an extremely good forgery, and that would take far too long to untangle. I'll be able to tell if it's her or not if I can get a glimpse or a scent. If it is... I suppose we sit down and talk. I realize it's risky, but we seem to have hit a dead end in terms of what we can do without just playing this at face value."

[Sojourn]

Jasmine Sinclair



Jasmine nodded her head to Orin.

"Of course, we shouldn't go too far apart."

There was safety in numbers, especially one someone was after someone in your group. Egor nodded his head to Asif.

"I understand. You should do it after we find Dante."

It wouldn't be wise to look for Lina's sister while they were tracking down Dante. Plus if she waited this long to talk to Asif, she could wait a little longer.

[Optimus Prime]

Amy Diamant



"Let's find this asshole."

Amy told everyone. She wanted to find out what the hell he wanted with her. But even more importantly, she wanted to make it very clear to him that he couldn't just get away with threatening her human family. Amy took Orin's arm.

"I'll show you where Maryse and I went to school."

Her sister lived in the same city that they had grown up in. Amy had always wanted to show Orin where she grew up but she wished it hadn't be in this type of situation.

[Monkey Kitty]

Orin and Asif

"That sounds good to me," Orin said. It would be fun to see the places that had been significant in Amy's childhood. Not that he would ever show her the haunts of his own youth. 'This is where my stepfather beat me' or 'this is where I first stole money to get high' back in Budapest didn't really have the same magic as strolling through a French town with his beautiful wife. Even though the circumstances weren't ideal, Orin would still enjoy himself while he could.

Orin briefly put his hand on Amy's where she held his arm, and as they walked, he reminded her, "Just so you know, I'm with you no matter what. Not that it should come as a surprise, but... a reminder never hurts."

Whatever they found, he wasn't going to be like Thierry. He would never abandon Amy. He'd die for her first; he'd already proven that. No matter what, Orin would stand up for her.

Asif nodded in response to Egor's suggestion. "I think that would be for the best," he agreed. "If this truly is just a social call, it's better to get business out of the way first. And if it's someone with ill intent, better to wait than to provoke two enemies at once." He was curious - he was worried by the fact that somebody might mean harm to his family - but he would focus on the task at hand and help keep his friends safe.