Deep in the Wilds of Suburbia
Many thanks to my lovely interim beta, Pepper9873 :)
Fandom: The Gates
Title: Deep in the Wilds of Suburbia
Pairings: Canon
Rating: Call it PG-13
Summery: What if the paranormals had no more clue about each other's presence in the Gates than the Monahans do? Devon gets into some bad Juju and Nick and Dylan team up to track down a rogue vampire.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I'm just borrowing it, and when I'm done I'll put it back where I found it.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Block Party
The Saturday afternoon sun shone brightly on a sparkling flotilla of cars, trucks and SUVs parked around the Monahan house. Distant voices mingled with music as Dylan found an empty spot across the street and parked. He glowered up the slight rise at the house as if it was to blame for the fact that the sun was angled to hit the back yard with full force.
"You could just drop me off," Emily said. He glanced over at her, in her cute little bathing suit and shorts and had to smile.
"No, I've got to talk to Mr. Nick so I might as well come in." With one last fortifying deep breath, Dylan climbed out of the car. "Now, you know the rules. You are not to go in the deep end of the pool. No jumping, no diving." He pulled a case of beer and a brightly colored bag of summer bric-a-brac, out of the car.
"Dad!" she whined. "I never get to do anything. All the other kids'll be in the deep end.'
"Consider yourself lucky I'm letting you go in the pool at all."
Emily pouted but Dylan stood firm. With his limitations in daylight, there were too many things that could go wrong in a pool. By the time they hiked up the steep driveway and reached the Monahans' front door, Emily seemed to have more or less resigned herself to three-feet-deep doom, and chattered about how wicked sweet it would be to drain the thing instead and use it as a half pipe. Sarah answered the door and gave a start when she saw Dylan. He held up the case of beer tucked in one arm.
"Hello, Sarah. I wasn't sure what to bring, but I thought I would spare everyone and not cook anything myself. So…" He stopped, noting her large, frightened-rabbit eyes and the way she hugged herself. "He told you." Hell.
He should have expected that. They could not keep secrets the way vampires could. It was only a matter of time before Nick gave in to his instinct to tell someone, and Sarah, being the closest adult, was the obvious choice. Still, when Nick had called the day before yesterday with a second-hand story about werewolves fighting in suburban streets, he might have given Dylan a heads-up. By the way, you should think of something to say to Sarah…
Sarah nodded once and stood back.
"Come in," she breathed, then frowned. "Do you need to be invited in every time? I don't…"
"The once is fine. Em? Go out back and play."
Emily went reluctantly, knowing she was being sent away so the adults could talk, and resenting it. The slap-slap of her sandaled feet faded as she left the two of them alone in the foyer with only the muffled sounds of music and voices to cover the awkward silence. His first instinct was to frighten her off - I'm dangerous, leave me and mine well alone. The way she stood hunched in on herself and staring at him with the wide eyes of cornered prey told him it would be easy. Then again, he had tried that with Nick, and look how far it got him. A niggling little discomfort at the prospect of sweet, harmless Sarah, who needed rescuing from gossipy bleach-blonds, being frightened of him tipped the balance and he gave her a reassuring smile. See? No fangs. Just the friendly neighborhood vampire here for the pool party.
She returned the smile briefly before covering her face with both hands and laughing self-deprecatingly.
"Oh, my God. I told myself I wouldn't be all weird, and here I am, making it weird." Her hands slid down to press palm to palm under her chin. "It's just a little-Thank you."
Dylan frowned and glanced down at the beer.
"No," she laughed again, more freely this time. "I mean, you saved Nick's life and probably mine and the kids', too, so… thank you."
"Well, it was…" He shrugged.
"But Dylan," she continued, her voice firmer. "Don't ever take him on another… whatever you two were doing Wednesday. That might not be any big deal to you, but his shoulder is still hurting him and the last thing we need right now is a medical bill or for Nick to get arrested or, God forbid, killed. His job is already dangerous, he doesn't need you making it more so."
"Of course. You're quite right. The whole thing's over now, anyway," he said, trying to be as vague as possible without knowing exactly what Nick had told her about the escapade. He cleared his throat. "Ehm, Sarah… You know, Claire and I aren't the only ones here. There are a few others who would not be pleased that I've exposed us all. Your family and mine will be safer if no one else hears about all this."
"Right. Yeah, Nick said something about that..." Sarah coughed once and Dylan wondered what Nick had said about vampires to make her so nervous. Probably nothing but the truth. She straightened her back, gathering the ragged edges of her composure together. "Anyway, I understand the need for confidentiality. Nick's outside. I think he wanted to talk to you, come up with a game plan or something." She led Dylan toward the back of the house. She seemed eager to end the conversation and he was unsure how to feel about that.
"Are any of the…" He waved a hand. "Werewolves here yet?"
Sarah nodded. "Outside."
"How many?"
"Two that I know of, Zach and Charlotte. Karen couldn't make it, obviously."
A dozen people at least had already arrived and arranged themselves around the patio. He spotted Vanessa Buckley lounging by the pool in a tiny bikini, and he had to stop and stare. She looked for all the world as if she were sunning. Unbelievable.
The adults had control of the pool and sat and floated sedately while Emily and the other children played tag on the lawn. Most of the women seemed reluctant to get their bathing suits wet and, like Vanessa, lazed about in the sun, chatting and drinking blended drinks.
Peg stood on the grass and talked with neighborhood acquaintances while throwing breadcrumbs to two dozen or so black birds that swooped down from their perches on the roof and fence to gobble down her offerings. She and Dylan nodded at each other across the patio.
Nick stood in front of a smoking grill and waved a pair of tongs in greeting. Dylan joined him and plunked his belongings down nearby. He stood in the shade of the roof overhang and watched Charlotte, since he was unsure who "Zach" was, where she sat with her legs dangling in the water and a drink in her hand.
He had an idea the mystery wolf might be the rather large black man who sat in a deck chair behind her and half-listened while she, with failed subtlety, pointed to various partygoers and told him and everyone nearby their life's story. The large man watched the rest of the party with a focus Dylan recognized. It was the same way the vampire had once scanned a crowd of humans to pick out the most likely meal. More than once the man's eyes focused on Dylan, but flitted past quickly enough that the vampire thought it might be only coincidence.
"I want your thoughts on something," Nick said. "I'm thinking I should take the direct route with these guys. What do you think?"
"What, just call them up and tell them you know their secret identity?" Dylan shook his head. "That's a terrible idea."
"Why?"
"Because there are few things more frightening than policemen implying they know more than they should." He gave Nick a pointed look, thinking of Markus's visit to his home not to long ago. "They might panic."
"They might panic any second now anyway. You got a better idea?"
"Unfortunately, no. Not at the moment. Give me a little while, maybe I'll think of something." He turned his attention to the grill. "Explain this to me. What's the purpose of cooking outdoors on this thing?"
Nick shrugged and began assembling bits of chopped up meat and vegetables on skewers. "It's a long standing tradition, my friend. Every American male must know how to cook meat over an open fire or he can't hold his head up in public."
"Ah. Just in case you happen to get lost in the woods or something?"
"Exactly."
"Hm. One might wonder, then, why the actual hunting of the meat isn't a prerequisite."
"One might, but one doesn't," Nick observed. "Now what do you want on yours?"
Dylan opened his mouth to refuse - the vegetables did not appeal and none of the meat in evidence was fresh enough for his taste - when Nick opened a cooler and the scent of relatively fresh blood wafted out.
"What is that?" Dylan asked.
"Venison. The uh… first basemen brought it."
"I'll have that, if you don't mind." He tipped his head. "First basemen? I think team mascot might be more appropriate, don't you?"
"Nah. Not weird enough for this league. I'm saving that for the flying purple people eater when it shows up." He held up a skewer full of venison. "Rare?"
"Rare implies dangerously over cooked, but I suppose I'd attract more than a few stares if I tucked in as is." The vampire shrugged. "As you please."
"Living dangerously, huh?" Said a voice behind Dylan. He turned to face the speaker. Probably-Zach stood, beer in hand, not three feet behind the vampire. He moved quietly for someone so big. He tipped his longneck at the grill. "Brought that down myself. It's wild. Most people would cook it all the way through." He shrugged massive shoulders. "You never know. I'm Zach Ross by the way. Don't think we've met."
Dylan introduced himself and tried to catch the man's scent over the charcoal smoke while Nick greeted him. Yes, there was an unmistakable canine odor about him. The police chief and the werewolf chatted over the grill and Dylan tuned back into the conversation when he heard his name.
"…not as action-packed as you might think, but it's a real back-to-nature adventure you can't get anywhere else, 'cept maybe camping. What about you, Dylan? You ever hunt?"
"Hm? Oh, not recently."
"But you have?"
"Years ago. Before Emily." At the thought of his daughter, Dylan scanned the yard for her. Apparently she was 'it'.
"That reminds me, Charlotte was hoping to see Claire today. Is she going to come by later?"
Dylan gritted his teeth. Damned nosy bitch. Claire could no more stand Charlotte's company than she could Karen's, and everyone knew it.
"No," he managed, and turned his warning show of teeth into a smile. "She's out of town. Visiting family. An Aunt Edna something or other."
"Oh." The werewolf sipped his beer. "She's been kind of under the weather lately, hasn't she?"
"A little."
"When will she be back?"
"I'm not sure. Within the week, I think."
"Yeah? She go all the way to England?"
"Cincinnati."
Zach looked unnecessarily pleased with himself and Dylan supposed his irritation was showing. He forced a bland smile onto his face, which froze into a grimace at the sight of Devon Buckley emerging from the house and onto the patio. Noticing his stricken expression, Nick and Zach turned to find its cause.
The witch stepped out through the glass doors in something gauzy and green, heels clacking. Enough heads swiveled in her direction that conversation stilled in a ripple across the patio. Even the children paused in their game to peer curiously at the adults and the apparent object of their attention.
Devon smiled and preened, making a production of greeting Sarah warmly, ignoring the hostess' obvious discomfort at her as yet not fully understood faux pas. While Devon helped Sarah make room for her punch bowl and made small talk in a too-loud voice, Peg caught Dylan's attention and hiked her eyebrows significantly at him - watch out. He sent her a predatory grin in return.
Devon turned a smug smile on the partygoers, and everyone dropped their eyes and resumed their former conversations in a more subdued tone.
Nick shook his head. "That woman can make an entrance," he observed.
"Hmm," Zach said, and it sounded almost like a growl. He looked out across the pool and exchanged a look with Charlotte that Dylan could not interpret.
Devon scanned the patio and, seeing the three men standing in a knot, smiled like a snake and slinked over to them, somehow making the green gauzy thing she wore blow open and closed around its waste tie, giving teasing little glimpses of how very little she wore under it. She toyed with the cap of a Dasani bottle on the way.
"For what we are about to receive," Dylan muttered blasphemously, "May we be truly grateful."
"Dylan!" the witch exclaimed as she approached. "I didn't expect to see you here. Where's Claire? Not still sick." She untwisted the cap of the bottle and swirled the liquid inside.
"No, she's quite got her strength back. It's very kind of you to think of her. I'll let her know to keep you in her thoughts as well."
"You do that. Can you believe how hot it is today? And here it is, nearly October." Devon spilled some of the water from the bottle onto her fingers and flicked droplets toward Dylan's face. "I'll bet the water's cool, though."
The vampire threw up his arm and ducked the water, backing away and snarling a little as he did. The witch turned her attention to Zach, who stood, kabob in hand, frowning down at her. She glanced at his meal.
"Venison?" she asked. "Isn't that a little obvious?" She lifted an eyebrow on the last word and glanced at Nick, inviting him to share in a joke the cop suspected he was not supposed to understand. Zach grumbled something about Charlotte and backed away, not quite showing his teeth. "Anyway, Nick, I wanted to ask you about reporting a break in."
"Well," Nick said, turning back to the grill, "You can call the station and talk to Markus. I'm sure he'd be happy to help you. Did something happen at the spa?"
" No, my home. The door handle was broken almost completely off, and a few things are missing. Nothing very valuable, thankfully, just some items of personal significance. As a police officer, if someone broke into an apartment and left the television and computer alone, would you say it was someone the victim knew, who perhaps had some kind of personal vendetta against the victim?"
"Yeah, could be. Go ahead and call the station," Nick advised. "Markus'll file a report for you and we'll look into it."
Having apparently concluded her business with Nick, the witch drifted away to a group of friends where she expounded on the wonders of online dating and at one point recommended it loudly to Peg, to the great amusement of her audience. Cruel observations on Charlotte's rather plump figure provided more hilarity for the group. Sarah cringed and valiantly continued to play the good hostess despite her guest while her husband watched from a safe distance.
"For someone who experienced a break-in, she doesn't seem to upset," Nick observed as he arranged hot dogs and hamburger patties on the grill.
"Mm," Dylan agreed, still fuming from the water incident, but glad that at least it had not caused any real harm. Only a few drops had hit his arm, but he rolled his sleeves down to cover the damage.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about what happened to her stuff, would you?"
"As much as I would love to wreak a little havoc on Devon, I couldn't possibly have done it. I am very much not invited into her home. Neither is Claire, if that's what you're thinking."
"Right. She's got a point, though. If it's the way she describes, it sounds like she's got enemies, and not just you two."
"Zach the first baseman didn't seem too-"
An outraged screech followed by a splash cut Dylan off mid-sentence. Devon, eyeliner running and glaring hatefully up at Charlotte stood hip-deep in the pool, her stylishly quaffed hair now plastered to her head and neck and dripping in her eyes. Charlotte smirked victoriously down at the witch as she continued on her path to the house, having hardly missed a step hip-checking Devon into the pool.