Another sacrifice to a tormentor your world wouldn't understand... [Locked]

[asoultosave]

This is not the best afternoon to leave the safety of wherever you happen to call home, but Bianca de Luca is not about to let the frigid winter air keep her from a drink and a smoke. She's bundled up in a coat, headed towards Terrence's bar, and lighting a cigarette, not really paying much attention to her surroundings, because she's used to this

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[kineticmachine]

Seeing as Bianca's done absolutely nothing wrong, and neither has her ward, there's no reason to suspect that the young(-appearing) man also heading toward the bar, about a block or so behind the angel, means her any harm at all

[asoultosave]

Bianca pauses briefly to finish her cigarette, because for all Terrence is an agreeable shapeshifter and tends to respect anything from wings-out to the occasional archangel skirmish provided it doesn't do too much property damage, he will throw you on your ass if you smoke in his bar

[kineticmachine]

Arlin waits for a bit, nursing his own drink very slowly at a table a bit behind her. He's watching her out of the corner of his eyes, mentally grumbling about the necessity of close-and-personal hits in a public space (usually he'd prefer to be a building over with his crossbow or sniper rifle), so when she gets up and starts walking away from the bar, he surreptitiously follows.

And catches her in the doorway to the backroom, out of sight of the other patrons. One hand is over her mouth and he's fired a shot into her stomach, through her spine, the incapacitating shot. Messy, but it'll do for now. Then he swings the gun up to her heart, figuring if Cole wants her to deliver a message, Cole wants her recognizable and therefore a headshot won't do.

[bigtimebackwash]

Bianca doesn't know what to think when the hand goes over her mouth- her first thought is demon, but the hand's human temperature, and she has no idea why on earth a human would be doing this. The gutshot cuts off all lines of thinking and her mind is just a haze of please don't go after Vaughn- not my ward, not my ward, because it's a distinct possibility and her own life doesn't even figure into this, and it might have eventually, but the shock sets in and she's not really thinking of much of anything anymore.

And then suddenly, rather than the final bullet what comes is an explosion somewhere in the backroom, strong enough to throw the two of them to the ground. It's meant to be more of a smoke-bomb (with a rather unpleasant kick to it) than an actual incendiary, but it's sufficient enough to provide adequate cover for someone to sneak in, grab Bianca, and make a run for the back.

[kineticmachine]

Arlin knows exactly what to think when the bomb goes off -- or rather, when his head's cleared enough after, which takes less time than one might think. He rolls with the blast, getting back on his feet a little before the smoke clears out of his eyes, but that gives him enough time to see Bianca get dragged off by someone. He doesn't really think, just fires a few shots in that direction -- bar's panicking now anyway, thanks to the explosion, so what little subtlety he had to work with is gone anyway.

And then he's moving for the door after Bianca (and her mysterious kidnapper, though Arlin's got a feeling he knows who exactly that is), muttering a colorful amalgam of curses in about nine different languages under his breath. This was not what he meant by 'creative', the little fuck.

[bigtimebackwash]

The thing about McKenas Cole and probably one of the scarier things is that he's not stupid- he's just fucking crazy, which looks like stupidity in the wrong light. So the person dragging Bianca out who now has a bullet in his shoulder as well as feeling like someone just crammed chili peppers into his organs is Terrence the barkeep who picks up the pace long enough to get out the back door where the smoke is worst and all but throws a half conscious Bianca outside, where she tumbles awkwardly just in front of a black sedan with the door open. Cole's leaning out of it with a silenced pistol in one hand while one of his men leaps out and drags Bianca into the backseat

[kineticmachine]

And as the van's pulling away, here comes Arlin out the back, with an expression of utter rage on his face -- not that it's easy to tell what expression is on his face due to the amount it's blurred now, features shifting around so much that he pretty much looks like a walking impressionist painting. Which, actually, might make the snarlgrimace look a bit more terrifying. He whirls on Terrence, shoving the gun up under the bigger man's jaw. He doesn't really say anything -- this guy probably has no idea what happened and Arlin's sure it was Cole or one of his goons anyway -- just growls an elaborate Czech curse into Terrence's face

[bigtimebackwash]

And in a sedan, bound for the Conrad, Cole is working on writing an entry in Bianca's journal, hopefully her ward's paying attention to the channels or this could get ugly. Bianca, meanwhile, is sprawled across the seat, half-paralyzed and just staring blankly at Cole like she's not sure exactly who the fuck he thinks he is

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn comes rushing out of the Conrad, his heart racing, his mind one big blur because there was someone in Bianca's journal, there was someone who was not her and this can't be happening, not to him, not again, oh god oh god...

And there she is, laying there in the snow. Vaughn can't breathe as he races towards her, no, no she's not moving and this can't be happening.

"BIANCA!" he yells, then comes to a skidding halt next to her motionless body oh god oh god she's bleeding she's bleeding she's bleeding. "Bianca!" He's on his knees, things are coming in snippits now but this can't be happening it can't be happening to him. "Bianca, oh god oh god Bianca can you here me? It's me, it's Michael, it's Vaughn, can you hear me can you hear me oh god." He's ripped off his jacket and then part of his shirt, she's bleeding and he needs to stop that. He puts as much weight on it as he can without squashing her, she looks so small here in the snow. He has to stop the bleeding and someone has to call 911. "HELLO?!" he shouts, because god

[asoultosave]

Bianca's eyes flutter open- kinda hard to stay unconscious with all that yelling. She manages a little smile, because it's her ward and he's there and with all the pain she's feeling right now, it's comforting to know that the bond is still there, strong as ever. She can focus on that

[stillaboyscout]

At first Vaughn is completely relieved, because she's still alive, she's talking to him and oh god where are the people she needs medical attention. He's about to call for more help, when the words actually register.

'Guess I wasn't fast enough this time'? What does that mean-

No. No no no no no no. Shit. "No, Bianca, you have to stay with me, okay? Okay? You gotta stay here with me, do you hear me Bianca?!" He's panicking for real now. He's not going to let her die, he's not going to let her die he's not going to let her die because he can't let her die. He's a Boy Scout--he saves people. This isn't how it works.

When she raises her hand, Vaughn takes the note, crumpling it into a ball as he presses his hand against hers. He can hear the weakness in her voice, and it kills him.

"You gotta stay here with me, Bianca," he tells her, fighting tears as best he can. "You gotta stay here with me." His voice cracks. He's not about to let her go.

He can't let her go.

[asoultosave]

"Skippy, I can't feel legs," she says, laughing hoarsely. Her vision's starting to go dark and the laughter hurts, but she can deal with it. Not like she doesn't have much longer to deal with it. "I was raised by archangels. I know a mortal wound when I get one inflicted on me."

She winces and relaxes a little. Shame she doesn't have an Angel of Death here. That could make this so much easier for the both of them, maybe. "You take care of yourself, all right? Love to stay and do my job properly, but... I don't think that's gonna be..."

Bianca's eyes fall shut as her heart gives out on her before she can even finish the sentence, the youngest child and the only daughter of the de Luca archangel family dead for no reason other than a vendetta that neither she nor her ward really had anything to do with other than by proxy- one more unfair death in a city of many.

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn just sits, stunned. No. No no no no no. Fuck. FUCK.

"Bianca?" he asks, even though he knows she's dead. "Bianca?"

And he proceeds to break down completely, burying his face in her shoulder to supress the sobs. "No," he whispers. "No no no you can't Bianca, you can't I need you here I need you please oh god."

There are words he hasn't said to any one in a long time, the words that hurt him before he came though the Rift, the words he couldn't bring himself to say to her.

"I love you," he whispers. "I love you and I need you and you can't leave me. Please. Not now."

But she doesn't reply, and he knows it's over. With a single sniff, he raises his head, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Slowly, carefully, he takes the crumpled piece of paper from her hand, opens it and reads it.

The rage sets in like ice. Someone's going to pay for this. And he will do it himself, dammit.

But first he has some things to attend to.