(Untitled)

[npcz]

At 3:00 in the afternoon, there's quite a crowd gathered at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. Most of them look pretty much like any citizen of Chicago - all races, all ages from early teens up to the smattering of grey-haired but stalwart protestors, people from every apparent profession and walk of life. A few have shown up in their work

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[gotbottle]

Rachel is in the crowd, listening. And scowling, though she's doing her best to make it seem a thoughtful scowl, and not an I-oughtta-punch-somebody-in-the-testicles-for-this scowl. Even though that's really what she wants to do, hearing and seeing all this. It reminds her too much of what was going on at home, before she came through the Rift. She didn't like it there; she sure as hell doesn't like it here.

She sees one of the t-shirted volunteers roaming a bit away from where she's standing. Rachel murmurs a few polite words to get people to move and begins to cut through the crowd on an intercept course, intending to get a pamphlet, and some more information.

[astrongerbeacon]

Martin couldn't very well ignore the fliers put up all around the city, and if there's one thing archangels are drawn to - other than demons, that is - it's trouble. He didn't really expect to see Rachel here. In retrospect, that was kind of dumb.

He weaves through the crowd neatly, doing his best to look innocuous, nothing for anyone to notice... Until he reaches Rachel, and then he falls into step beside her, remarking quietly, "Are you sure you should be here?"

[gotbottle]

Rachel stops. She looks up, and tucks her hair behind her ears, shrugging.

"No," she admits. "But... I wanted to learn more, you know?"

She pauses a moment, considering what she's going to say; then, for the benefit of anyone that might be listening in, she explains, "You know how it is: the more you understand about what seems to be going on, the better you can protect the people who need protecting, right? That's all I'm doing. Trying to understand."

Truth of the matter is, she's angry about this. But it's the first real emotion she's felt, strongly, since the carnival, and she'll be damned if she just ignores it.

[astrongerbeacon]

Martin grimaces a little. Much as he'd rather she not be here, much as the tension in the air is making his hackles rise, making him want to let his wings out before something goes wrong here, and as much as this seems like a terrible place for a wanderer to be right about now...

"I guess that's fair." He grabs a pamphlet from a passing volunteer and glances at the front cover, wrinkling his nose at it scornfully. "It's... not really your job to protect them, though, is it?" She's a wanderer. If anyone's in danger here...

[gotbottle]

Rachel sighs. "No. Probably not," she admits.

"But... here's the problem. If we all think like that? Who's left to do it?" She surveys the crowd, and then gives Martin a defiant upturn of her chin. "Besides... it's nobody's job to take care of me, to protect me, more than it's my own. And ignorance doesn't help me do that."

She reaches over and puts a hand on Martin's arm. "Promise I'll be careful."

[astrongerbeacon]

"I didn't say it was no one's job," Martin says, grimacing a little. He hands the pamphlet over to her, on the off chance she wants to see exactly what horrible things wanderers like her are doing to this city, according to the CLF. "Just that it wasn't yours. It's mine, and it's the an-"

He chokes off the word angels before anyone can overhear him. Thaaat's not the sort of thing you go saying in front of people on the lookout for freaks.

"It's ours," he finishes awkwardly after a moment, trusting she'll know just what group he's referring to.

[gotbottle]

"I apologize if I implied that you said it was no one's job," Rachel says, looking down at the pamphlet. The look she gives it would set it ablaze, were she a pyrokinetic. "I didn't mean to. And I hope you understand that I'm not implying I don't trust or like or have faith in you, with what I'm about to say."

She slips the brochure into her messenger bag, and turns to face Martin, keeping her voice low. "You'll have to forgive me, Martin, but I'm not the kind of girl who can just leave her fate in someone else's hands. Even if those hands are pretty powerful. I understand it's your job, and I won't stop you doing it. But I also can't just sit back and hope for the best."

She pauses, and then shakes her head. "Back home, it was the elected officials' jobs to keep us safe, too. The Senator from my own state, New York--he started leading a charge to have us all locked up," she explains, her voice near a whisper now. "I'd rather feel like I had a little more control over my fate, you know?"

[astrongerbeacon]

"Yeah." Martin sighs, but he understands what she means, and he respects it. Rachel doesn't strike him as the archangel type, but she reminds him of a few AoKs he's known... who are often more terrifying than any archangel, given the right circumstances. And knowing the type, he can see that there's really going to be no dissuading her.

"Just... be careful," he says finally. "Demons and armies, those are easy to fight. This sort of thing... People get crazy. And I'm not just talking in general, I mean right now... This many angry and scared people in one place is never good." People are scared of strangers and scared of each other, scared of wanderers and the CLF and the police and the guy next door. This is just asking for someone to pull a gun, throw a bomb... Martin knows all the signs.

[gotbottle]

Rachel's not upset with Martin, not at all. She knows he means well, that he means to look out for her, not to doubt her or anything. She offers him as much of a smile as she can muster, and reaches up. One hand goes to his shoulder and she leans up to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you, Martin. I promise I'll be careful." She glances around and nods knowingly. "These people almost want a reason to start something, you know? I'm not going to give them one."

She's keeping her speech vague enough to keep from arousing suspicion, getting the two of them noticed.

"But if something starts I'll avoid it as much as possible. Unless, you know, I have to protect myself. I want you to be careful, too. Okay?"

[buzz_me]

It takes Daniel a while to find Rachel; he's been keeping quiet a few days, waiting and assessing the world that he's found himself in. The disorientation is going down, and about time for it, too. He's about ready to start putting a new plan into action.

"Hey," he says, easing beside her in the crowd. "What'd I miss?"

[gotbottle]

"You missed a lot of that gasbag up there trying to 'rally the troops'," Rachel replies, scowling. "I hate it. And, hi, Daniel. It's good to see you again."

She shakes her head, looking around. "It's like they're trying to blame everything on the new arrivals, whether that's fair or not. And I mean everything--like the crime rate? Missing people? I have a hard time believing that."

[buzz_me]

He frowns, a little, at the crowd. "People like having a scapegoat," he shrugs. "Besides, the unknown is always frightening." It certainly was back in his own world, especially with those privileged few he had managed to locate with supernatural abilities.

As, he had subsequently discovered, his own self-control was supernatural.

"Oh, and it's quite good to see you," adds Daniel.

[gotbottle]

Rachel nods thoughtfully, so intent on the crowd, and on her own anger, that she doesn't quite realize the words that are coming out of her mouth. "Yeah. They were afraid of us back home, too. Wanted to round us up like we were terrorists or something. It sucks."

She sighs again--at herself, this time, softly--and reaches over, touching Daniel's arm. "Sorry. I'm too busy being mad to, you know, remember my manners or anything. It really is good to see you. Are you settling in okay? Can I do anything to help?"

[buzz_me]

"Oh, no, I'm just fine," Daniel assures her. "Been a bit of a recluse, but so it goes."

He falls into a silence as the crowd cheers particularly raucously.

"Round you up like terrorists?" asks Daniel, allowing a hint of appalled concern into his tone. "Was this in your own world?"

[gotbottle]

Rachel grimaces as the crowd cheers; the sound of their approval makes her stomach turn over.

"You don't have to be a recluse," she says absently. "We could always hang out."

She pauses, summoning up the nerve to tell him--though, she imagines, with his nerves of steel and his unshakable composure, this is likely to go a lot better than it ever has with anyone else.

"I'm... different. I don't mean because of the Rift. I was different before I ever got here."

[buzz_me]

Daniel pauses.

The crowds around make this a rather inconvenient place for confessions.

He indicates, to her, that they should head for the outskirts of the crowd, and find a spot more suitable for a private conversation.