Escape and Return
* Jeff_Levitt has, to all intents and purposes, been acting like a normal sloth over the last day or so. The techs keeping an eye on him reported that he seemed a bit distressed earlier, but he then resumed eating with a healthy appetite and quickly fell asleep. Jeff needed all the energy he could get for his plan to work, and since he was currently part *sloth*, that...was going to take some doing.
* Jeff_Levitt is awake now, however, reason returning with maddening slowness. He desperately clings to the fading presence of Soze in the back of his mind, using the faint traces of thoughts and feelings to remember himself. Remember his *plan.* His shoulder hurts like a mother, though from what he has no idea. An injury of Soze's? Maybe. But it's something he can use.
* Marco has been watching the reports and the video feeds whenever he finds a moment in between his other projects and subjects. He's had very little sleep lately, writing up notes on Mr. Levitt and pondering what sort of DNA to try next. When he comes in to check up on Jeff himself, alone, he obviously looks tired.
Marco: *He hasn't slept in a while (and isn't sure when he has, really), but he has a smile for his prized, amazing, wonderful, much loved subject-that-has-never-earned-himself-a-number because frankly, Marco loves him like a son, really. Which begs the question: if Marco /did/ have a son, what on earth would happen to the poor thing? Thank gods the man is gay as a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide, that's what. And another thing---
* Jeff_Levitt yawns widely, stirring. What looks for all the world to be a giant ball of hair unfolds long arms and hooks them around the artificial branch, slowly moving out. A little further...a little further... [Now.] A claw slips, the pain from Soze's shoulder flaring as he tries to put weight on it. He lets himself fall to the floor, landing hard on his back. He lets out a shriek of pain, wincing at how inhuman it sounds.
Marco: Outwardly, Marco is the very essence of bland calmness, slipping over to Jeff's side to check if he's all right. Inwardly, [Oh fuck oh shit oh Jesus oh damnit I shouldn't have left him all slothlike this long, it's obviously done something to his intelligence, damn fuck damn fuck damn]
* Jeff_Levitt whines pathetically, and s-l-o-w-l-y rolls onto his stomach. He seems to favor one of his arms. Perhaps the fall injured the other one?
* Marco leaves Jeff for a moment and thumbs the intercom beside the door. "Need some assistance in here, please. Come with a cart?" A 'cart' being general medical first aid type things, nothing too dreadful. Two people, a male and a female slip inside, businesslike, and the three of them return. "I think he's injured his arm. You see?" says the male, whom the female believes is three lugnuts short of a wheel. Marco lets them do their work while he does his best to soothe Jeff. "You're all right. Don't worry, this'll change soon enough and you'll be able to move better again."
Jeff_Levitt: Marco sees Jeff's eyes flash with intelligence for the first time in over a month. He heaves, getting his legs underneath him, and then they *change*, much faster than Marco's ever seen. The fur retreats back into his skin, which hardens into mottled scales. He uses the momentum of his legs lengthening to charge, lowering his head to deliver a headbutt to Marco's sternum.
* Marco is thrown backwards, the wind knocked out of him as he hits the floor, knocking his head against the tile. The two other techs, not exactly prepared for dino-defense, pull out tasers. The male aims and fires, but likely doesn't hit Jeff at all, as he's moving too damned fast. The female is brighter, backing the hell up and calling for help on her communicator, keeping the taser in front of her.
Jeff_Levitt: Fully changed now, Jeff steps forward, placing his foot on Marco's chest. The long sickle claw is poised less than an inch from Marco's throat. He turns to the techs. "*Stop.*" he snarls, barely understandable through the mouthful of sharp teeth. "Don't...move. You move...I kill."
Marco: The woman backs farther away, holding the taser out but not firing. "I'm not, but there are about fifty people coming down here with guns bigger than this who will. So you'd better let the Doctor go and--" This is when the male tech decides to be Mr. Hero and jump on Jeff's back.
* Jeff_Levitt screams angrily and shakes like a wet dog, trying to dislodge the man on his back. At the same time his hands/forelegs frantically claw at the pockets of Marco's labcoat, heedlessly shredding the fabric. [Where is it? Where is it?!]
Marco: The woman is trying to decide--taze the idiot or taze the dinosaur. Maybe she can taze them both. Therefore, this is what she tries to do. After all, a tazer does have those dart-things and with luck part will go into one and so forth. In the meantime, there are footfalls pounding down the hallway, and Marco is trying desperately to stay out of Jeff's way and possibly wriggle out from beneath the foot (which is astounding and OMG
Marco: (which is astounding and OMG he went from a sloth to the raptor in, like, a second and a half OMG).
Jeff_Levitt: The tazer hits Jeff and he screams in a combination of pain and rage. He raises his arm now and brings it down *hard,* digging his claws deep into Marco's shoulder. "You tell! Stop *now.*"
Marco: "TELL YOU WHAT?" FUCK THAT HURTS!
Marco: The dumbass slides off of Jeff's back and twitches like a dying fish. At least he won't be Hero-boy anymore. The door is opening now, and people are storming in. People with lots of guns and armor and stuff.
Jeff_Levitt: [Running out of time running out PAIN PAIN KILL KILL BLOODSCENT PREYSCENT HUNGRY!] "TELL...THEM...STOP!"
Marco: "STOP! Don't-- don't shoot him, he's my subject and I have this situation TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL." Yyyyeah, sure. They don't really believe him, but they don't advance either. Jeff has about fifteen rifle muzzles pointed at his head right now.
* Jeff_Levitt 's eyes are absolutely mad. He disengages his claws from Marco's shoulder, letting the blood flow freely. Without the idiot to distract him, he concentrates on going through Marco's pockets.
Jeff_Levitt: "I kill before you shoot! No shoot!" Where *is* it, goddammit?
Marco: "What do you want what ow fuck that hurts god, that's amazing, what in the FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?" The guards take a step forward, in tandem.
Jeff_Levitt: "PINPOINT! YOU GIVE NOW!"
* Marco sputters. "My..." His hand instinctively goes to his pants pocket, where the PIN is. "No! You can't go anywhere, you can't go... no no no, please, I can't give you /that/." A couple of steps closer. Marco's voice is shrill. "STOP MOVING CLOSER OR HE'LL EAT MY FACE!"
* Jeff_Levitt catches the movement and moves quickly. His claws simply slice open Marco's pants (and maybe some skin as well. He can feel himself losing control bit by bit and doesn't have time to be delicate). Does he see a PINpoint now?
Marco: The PINpoint is there! Marco scrambles for it, but Jeff is faster. Success!
Marco: "Fuck!" proclaims Marco. This makes the guards take /two/ steps closer.
* Jeff_Levitt hisses loudly. It comes out before he can stop it. But he remains sensible enough to snatch the PINpoint away from Marco and clumsily mash the return button. Jeff disappears with a pop of displaced air.
Marco: The guards rush forward and nearly trample Marco, who screams at them all. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"
* Soze isn't the kind of guy to hurry into chaos-- he much prefers walking, slipping in when he's least expected. He's been searching for Jeff all day as the bond grew weaker and weaker. He was already at the Shop by the time Jeff shifted and took control, but it was that extra surge of -escape- that helped him track down the room. This room.
* Soze only takes a moment to collect himself before stepping inside. He's wearing a labcoat (he had to strangle its former owner in order to avoid detection, it slowed him down) and carrying a gun in his right hand. His left shoulder is still injured, of course, but it's out of the sling for now. It hurts like a bitch, but there's no need for his weakness to be highlighted. Besides, he can use both hands.
* Soze raises the gun. Hi.
* Marco was busy trying to tie up his bleeding shoulder and also attempting not to pass out from the blood loss. It was all he could do because everyone had left him there in the room alone, and he was too stunned to leave just yet. And that is when he turned around, staring at himself. Himself with a gun, looking very angry. He sways, yeesh blood loss. "Yes? You're one of those alternate-things? Why are you here? Don't you know I just lost the greatest work of my life, and everyone seems to be dead?"
* Soze speaks, voice quiet and controlled. "Where did he go?"
Marco: "He? He who?" Marco says in a voice of a man who has lost his wife, his dog, his house and his good ol' pickup truck. His life has turned into a sad sad country song. Go ahead. Shoot him. Marco is a sad panda.
* Soze cracks a humorless smile, stepping forward. He doesn't lower the gun. "Don't play stupid, Doctor Marco," he says. "You know how that'll end."
* Marco sighs. "I won't tell you. I can't let you kill him. Unfortunately, he'll eventually get out and be killed anyway..." More sadface. He might even cry.
* Soze steps forward again-- closer yet-- and darts out his hand to grab Marco by the collar, moving to shove his gun under his chin.
Marco: "What... the PINpoint... goes to my flat... don't kill him, please..."
* Soze hasn't lost the calm to his voice, even as he stands inches from Marco's face, hand gripping his shirt, gun pressed to his skin. "What are the coordinates?"
* Marco rattles them off, as if they're his own. Which, they are. "Please don't hurt him." It's all he can say. He's crying now. Not pleading for himself, but for Levitt. Seriously weird, this guy, no?
Soze: "Jeff is going to be fine," he says, in a way that suggests 'but you won't.' He doesn't have any issues with killing someone who might be some kind of an alternate. In fact, he's been waiting all day for this.
* Marco opens his mouth to answer, but his eyes move to look somewhere behind Soze.
* MrGrey clears his throat. Cheerfully.
* Soze glances behind him and his stomach sinks. He tears the gun away from Marco and steps back, away from the two of them. His shoulder has started throbbing again, the pain flooding back with the loss of concentration. He aims his gun for Grey, but he doesn't shoot. Shit.
* MrGrey smiles. His eyes are golden and weird. "I'm always late for the party."
Soze: "Ha," he says, but he isn't laughing. He uses his bad arm to get his PINpoint out of his pocket (he tries not to wince), keeping his right with the gun aimed at Grey. He may not have the same allergy to Eldritch energy as Jeff, but it still killed him once. It still tore him apart, and though he can't consciously remember it, there's something about it that tugs at his brain. Fear. Maybe. "You were. I'm just on my way out."
Marco: "Grey, is that you or is that Zeller? What're you doing here?" His eyes plead to Grey, /get me the hell out of this, /please//.
* MrGrey tilts his head. "What happened to Mr. Levitt?" This could have been aimed at either one of them.
* Soze very carefully types in the coordinates Marco told him without lowering his eyes. A moment later, and he's gone. Nifty things, PINpoints.
* MrGrey laughs and attends to the very groggy Dr. Marco.
MrGrey: ____
MrNarrator: The flat is spartan; it's obvious the place isn't visited very much. In truth, the cleaning lady visits more often than it's owner does. For whatever reason, she never questions why the basement door is always locked. Lots of people have unfinished basements, and she's asked to skip them all the time.
MrNarrator: The place looks as if it were furnished by an upscale version of IKEA. Leather couches, sharp angles, glass and steel framing. The kitchen gleams with stainless steel appliances and black marble countertops. There is wine and beer in the fridge, and the fruit in the bowl on the cherrywood table is changed out weekly by the same cleaning lady.
MrNarrator: There are no pets. No photographs. Paintings from various local galleries are the only touch of personality in the living space. The bed is a queen sized feather bed, a beautiful dark blue, down filled comforter covering it. The bathrooms are also spartan, soap and shampoos barely used. It almost looks like a high-class hotel bathroom, complete with Jacuzzi. Big fluffy towels and throw rugs, heated floors. But no one home
Jeff_Levitt: There's a broken PINpoint on the floor, and carnage radiates from it like an explosion. There's not a single surface that hasn't been scratched, shredded or broken. Jagged shards of glass are *everywhere* as furniture was overturned. The paintings are ruined scraps of canvas. From the enraged, bestial sounds coming from the next room, whatever did this is both still home and not remotely finished.
* Soze arrives without ceremony, hand still around the PINpoint. He can hear the noises in the other room and knows in a sort of vague way that it's Jeff, though the bond is so weak now that it's all he can get. Still, he doesn't need any special connection to know that Jeff is -pissed.- He stares at the torn up flat with wonder, removing the labcoat and resting it on a counter.
Jeff_Levitt: The noise from the kitchen stops as it senses that it's not alone. A single jump has it perching atop the marble countertops, another and it's in the doorway regarding the intruder with a predatory gaze. It's humanoid, but the resemblance to Jeff ends there.
Jeff_Levitt: It's covered in scales of mottled green and brown, a crest of striped brown feathers running down it's back all the way to the tip of its long tail. Its legs are digitigrate, with long claws, including a very distintive, long sickle-claw on each foot. More long claws tip its fingers, and Soze would notice that they're caked in dried blood. The head is narrow and sleek, full of sharp teeth, and eyes with slit pupils glare at him.
Jeff_Levitt: It lets out a bizarre, trilling snarl and advances with a slumped over, birdlike gait, teeth bared. Saliva drips from its jaws.
* Soze 's first instinct is to grab his gun (also on the counter), but then his first thought is 'but it's Jeff!' and his second is that the gun probably wouldn't help him anyway. Slowly, he raises his hands, surrendering. His PINpoint is between his thumb and index finger. If he needs to get out of there, maybe he has a chance. "Jeff."
Jeff_Levitt: It hesitates at the sound of its name, tilting its head first to one side, then the other. "You..." it manages, just barely, through all the teeth. "You..." It turns its head slightly, uncertain. And then it sees the labcoat.
Jeff_Levitt: Its posture changes immediately, from uncertainty to anger. It opens its jaws and screams, closing the distance between them.
Soze: "Jeff, I'm not-- oh -fuck.-" He isn't thinking when he slams his fingers down on the PINpoint. Not typing specific coordinates isn't the best idea, though-- in his haste, he hit the 'last place visited' button, disappeared, and then reappeared... three feet to the left. Oh.
* Jeff_Levitt 's claws land right where Soze was standing, and he screams again, this time in frustration. Oh. Wait. *There* you are. He whirls on Soze again and he's about to advance when...waitasecond.
* Jeff_Levitt makes a weird trilling noise, sniffing the air. Something's...not quite right here. He advances closer to Soze again. This time much more curious than aggressive. It advances another step, making something that sounds almost like a chirp. If...said chirp came from the throat of a six-foot-tall dinosaur.
Jeff_Levitt: "...Friend?"
* Soze flinches back at the first advance, but it doesn't take him long to realize that the aggression is gone, that Jeff -recognizes him- and isn't interested in making him lunch. "Yes," he says, taking his own step forward. "Friend."
Rassilon: "For a given value of the word." *Says a voice from the background that was ... apparently there the whole time.*
* Jeff_Levitt is not in a state where he likes surprises. He pivots quickly toward the sound of the new voice, hissing, and then...stops. "...Wark?" He cocks his head to one side, and blinks. He takes a step towards Rassilon, then another, Soze apparently forgotten. This close, both Rassilon and Soze can see that he's covered in tiny cuts and bruises, probably from the rampage that caused all this chaos.
Jeff_Levitt: "You..." He blinks, standing on one leg, birdlike. He claws at the floor in frustration. Tricky things, words. "...friend." No question in his voice this time.
Rassilon: "Yes." *He looks an utter wreck and is wearing grey, but is still recognisable.*
* Soze shifts his gaze to watch Rassilon, the clear relief gone from his face now that there's someone else observing, replaced by his usual emptiness. "He can't stay like this." In other words, Rassilon, he hopes you're here to make yourself useful.
* Jeff_Levitt , on the other hand, is only recognizable by the presence in both their minds. Rassilon can sense just how far he's gone. Jeff is *there*, but buried underneath a flood of animal instinct. Foremost in his mind is hunger, the need to hunt, to *kill*. He recognizes the two in the room with him, only keeping himself under control with rudimentary pack instinct. It takes the utmost concentration to think at all.
Jeff_Levitt: He closes the distance to Rassilon, nuzzling him and taking in his scent. "...mate," he says. *There* was the word he was looking for.
* Rassilon hesitantly reaches up to touch Jeff, shaking.* "Jeff ... gods... gods, Jeff, where have you been...? What's happened to you?"
Soze: "Gabriel Grey kidnapped him." (Funny, he can almost feel...) "He had him used in human experiments. Four months."
Rassilon: "...What?" *His eyes flick to Soze, then return to Jeff. Carefully, very carefully, he takes a peek at Jeff's mind, as though tenderly inspecting a loved one's wound.*
Jeff_Levitt: "Jeff," he repeats. "Me...Jeff." Glad we have that established. He struggles with the words, the meanings. Rassilon can catch flashes of memory. Waking up in a hospital bed. Marco. Injection after injection. Change after change. Feeling his mind degrade until all reason was lost completely. Panic. Flight. Bones breaking between his jaws. Blackness followed by a fog of animal instinct. Then, somehow...Soze in his mind. Old connections, old thoughts returning, if just for a while.
Rassilon: "Yes. Yes, you're Jeff...." *His eyes tear up and his voice chokes.* "I'll find who did this do you... but you're safe, now. You're with me, again."
* Soze doesn't really care for sentimentalism. He's glad Jeff is out, sure, but... now what? Why did he do this? Why did he take this -risk-? What's going to come out of it? If he's getting this close to people again, it's a setback-- it's-- it's... something.
* Rassilon slips his arms around Jeff and then goes still.* "... Someone else is here."
* Jeff_Levitt pulls away from Rassilon suddenly, sniffing the air. His lips pull back from his teeth. "...bad," he agrees.
* Soze takes his gun off the counter. "Gabriel."
MrGrey: "Not really bad. Except maybe to you, Soze." He still hasn't revealed himself, although Rassilon can likely 'see' him.
* Jeff_Levitt makes a questioning noise and shakes his head. "...*not* bad," he says.
Rassilon: *squints painfully* "Show yourself."
* MrGrey steps out of a shadow--literally. He looks the same as he always has, save for the tie, threaded through with subtile hints of gold. "Sorry for the headache, Lord."
* Jeff_Levitt 's tail thrashes in agitation, the feathers along his back standing on end. "*Bad,*" he whines, backing away from Gabriel.
* Soze doesn't say a word as he watches him. He holds the gun, but doesn't raise it. No. No, he's definitely different this time.
MrGrey: "I'm not here to interfere. I was actually just leaving. I wanted to make sure you got out all right, Jeff." He's dead serious.
* Rassilon definitely looks like he's swiftly approaching Migraine Territory.* "You're the one who put him there...."
MrGrey: "I had no choice. I'm sorry."
Soze: "That's a load of bullshit." Perfectly flat.
* Jeff_Levitt whines again. There's something about Grey that scares him out of what little mind he has left. He shrinks suddenly, claws retreating, tail thinning, fur, ears and whiskers sprouting. Suddenly very rat-like, he dives behind Rassilon's robes, cowering on all fours.
* MrGrey tilts his head. "If Lord Rassilon would like to take a look, he'd see the truth." Which is an invitation to take a look in his head. If of course, he can get past the yellow bits. >:D
* Rassilon looks at Jeff in startlement, then back at Gabriel. No, thank you, his eyes are already turning funny colours.* "You are very unwise in your dealings ... Mister Grey...."
MrGrey: "Which ones? Where I was brought back to life by a lonely Eldritch being, or the bit where I was saved from being turned into a mindless mess by a short guy with webs in his head? Hm?"
* Soze sort of wishes he could punch Hastur in the face without losing his mind, thanks. For a brief moment, he clenches his jaw.
* Rassilon looks like he's trying to keep his lunch down. His eyes are almost entirely black, now, his face rurning red. He twitches a few times, and then a diffuse green glow surrounds him.* "St... stay away from us."
* Jeff_Levitt looks longingly at the various cubbyholes that are still intact. Under the bed, in the kitchen cabinets. All trace of predatory instinct is gone from his mind, only to be replaced with the desperate need to *hide.* Enough of Jeff is left that he doesn't leave Rassilon, however. Instead he crouches behind Rassilon's legs, shaking.
* MrGrey sighs. He's beginning to understand why Hastur doesn't get much time with anyone. Not that this is anything new. "There was a time when I'd have really enjoyed you saying that to me, Rassilon. It doesn't seem to mean much anymore." He looks at Jeff. "I'm sorry." Then to Soze. "Don't piss me off." And then he's gone.
Soze: "Fuck," he whispers.
Rassilon: *Hisses at Soze* "What do you know of this?"
* Soze lets his gaze travel back to Rassilon. "What do you want to know?" he asks, voice dull.
* Jeff_Levitt relaxes noticeably once Gabriel disappears, and he ventures out, sniffing the air cautiously. "No bad? *Safe?*" Yay, new word!
Rassilon: "What was he brought back /from?/"
* Soze absently touches the discarded labcoat. "It's called the Shop. But if I were you, I'd be focused on helping him, more than anything else. It's less about the story."
Soze: "The story is always for later."
Rassilon: "Don't prattle to me about stories! And do not presume to tell me /when/ is an appropriate /time/ for /anything./" *He snatches up the PINpoint, or what's left of it, and then turns to look for Jeff.*
* Jeff_Levitt is right behind him, ears flattened and patchy fur standing on end. Eeeee, yelling. Yelling bad.
* Rassilon takes a deep breath and approaches him calmly.*
Rassilon: *Or, at least, tries to.*
Soze: "But you're going to help him," he says, almost smiling. There's a hint of mocking in his voice. "That's good."
Rassilon: *quietly* "Of course I'm going to help him. Only a fool would think otherwise." *To Jeff* "We're going home, now."
* Jeff_Levitt is still shaking, rodent instincts screaming at him to RUNRUNRUNHIDEHIDE. But he *knows* this person. He knows Rassilon is here to help, even if he can't articulate it. He lets him approach.
Jeff_Levitt: "Home?" He...sounds like he might cry, actually.
Rassilon: "Yes. Home." *He reaches toward Jeff very carefully.*
* Jeff_Levitt reaches out and clasps Rassilon's hand with both of his. "*Home.*" And behind it a flood of relief.
* Soze scoops up the labcoat (evidence, after all), takes his PINpoint, and disappears. He doesn't want to admit that he's jealous. He wants to think that he's busy and needs to get out, but he doesn't know what happens after this.
* Rassilon steps closer.* "Let's go home."
* Jeff_Levitt chitters happily and curls around Rassilon's legs. "*Home.*"
Rassilon: *They vanish in a swirl of green.*
* Jeff_Levitt is awake now, however, reason returning with maddening slowness. He desperately clings to the fading presence of Soze in the back of his mind, using the faint traces of thoughts and feelings to remember himself. Remember his *plan.* His shoulder hurts like a mother, though from what he has no idea. An injury of Soze's? Maybe. But it's something he can use.
* Marco has been watching the reports and the video feeds whenever he finds a moment in between his other projects and subjects. He's had very little sleep lately, writing up notes on Mr. Levitt and pondering what sort of DNA to try next. When he comes in to check up on Jeff himself, alone, he obviously looks tired.
Marco: *He hasn't slept in a while (and isn't sure when he has, really), but he has a smile for his prized, amazing, wonderful, much loved subject-that-has-never-earned-himself-a-number because frankly, Marco loves him like a son, really. Which begs the question: if Marco /did/ have a son, what on earth would happen to the poor thing? Thank gods the man is gay as a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide, that's what. And another thing---
* Jeff_Levitt yawns widely, stirring. What looks for all the world to be a giant ball of hair unfolds long arms and hooks them around the artificial branch, slowly moving out. A little further...a little further... [Now.] A claw slips, the pain from Soze's shoulder flaring as he tries to put weight on it. He lets himself fall to the floor, landing hard on his back. He lets out a shriek of pain, wincing at how inhuman it sounds.
Marco: Outwardly, Marco is the very essence of bland calmness, slipping over to Jeff's side to check if he's all right. Inwardly, [Oh fuck oh shit oh Jesus oh damnit I shouldn't have left him all slothlike this long, it's obviously done something to his intelligence, damn fuck damn fuck damn]
* Jeff_Levitt whines pathetically, and s-l-o-w-l-y rolls onto his stomach. He seems to favor one of his arms. Perhaps the fall injured the other one?
* Marco leaves Jeff for a moment and thumbs the intercom beside the door. "Need some assistance in here, please. Come with a cart?" A 'cart' being general medical first aid type things, nothing too dreadful. Two people, a male and a female slip inside, businesslike, and the three of them return. "I think he's injured his arm. You see?" says the male, whom the female believes is three lugnuts short of a wheel. Marco lets them do their work while he does his best to soothe Jeff. "You're all right. Don't worry, this'll change soon enough and you'll be able to move better again."
Jeff_Levitt: Marco sees Jeff's eyes flash with intelligence for the first time in over a month. He heaves, getting his legs underneath him, and then they *change*, much faster than Marco's ever seen. The fur retreats back into his skin, which hardens into mottled scales. He uses the momentum of his legs lengthening to charge, lowering his head to deliver a headbutt to Marco's sternum.
* Marco is thrown backwards, the wind knocked out of him as he hits the floor, knocking his head against the tile. The two other techs, not exactly prepared for dino-defense, pull out tasers. The male aims and fires, but likely doesn't hit Jeff at all, as he's moving too damned fast. The female is brighter, backing the hell up and calling for help on her communicator, keeping the taser in front of her.
Jeff_Levitt: Fully changed now, Jeff steps forward, placing his foot on Marco's chest. The long sickle claw is poised less than an inch from Marco's throat. He turns to the techs. "*Stop.*" he snarls, barely understandable through the mouthful of sharp teeth. "Don't...move. You move...I kill."
Marco: The woman backs farther away, holding the taser out but not firing. "I'm not, but there are about fifty people coming down here with guns bigger than this who will. So you'd better let the Doctor go and--" This is when the male tech decides to be Mr. Hero and jump on Jeff's back.
* Jeff_Levitt screams angrily and shakes like a wet dog, trying to dislodge the man on his back. At the same time his hands/forelegs frantically claw at the pockets of Marco's labcoat, heedlessly shredding the fabric. [Where is it? Where is it?!]
Marco: The woman is trying to decide--taze the idiot or taze the dinosaur. Maybe she can taze them both. Therefore, this is what she tries to do. After all, a tazer does have those dart-things and with luck part will go into one and so forth. In the meantime, there are footfalls pounding down the hallway, and Marco is trying desperately to stay out of Jeff's way and possibly wriggle out from beneath the foot (which is astounding and OMG
Marco: (which is astounding and OMG he went from a sloth to the raptor in, like, a second and a half OMG).
Jeff_Levitt: The tazer hits Jeff and he screams in a combination of pain and rage. He raises his arm now and brings it down *hard,* digging his claws deep into Marco's shoulder. "You tell! Stop *now.*"
Marco: "TELL YOU WHAT?" FUCK THAT HURTS!
Marco: The dumbass slides off of Jeff's back and twitches like a dying fish. At least he won't be Hero-boy anymore. The door is opening now, and people are storming in. People with lots of guns and armor and stuff.
Jeff_Levitt: [Running out of time running out PAIN PAIN KILL KILL BLOODSCENT PREYSCENT HUNGRY!] "TELL...THEM...STOP!"
Marco: "STOP! Don't-- don't shoot him, he's my subject and I have this situation TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL." Yyyyeah, sure. They don't really believe him, but they don't advance either. Jeff has about fifteen rifle muzzles pointed at his head right now.
* Jeff_Levitt 's eyes are absolutely mad. He disengages his claws from Marco's shoulder, letting the blood flow freely. Without the idiot to distract him, he concentrates on going through Marco's pockets.
Jeff_Levitt: "I kill before you shoot! No shoot!" Where *is* it, goddammit?
Marco: "What do you want what ow fuck that hurts god, that's amazing, what in the FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?" The guards take a step forward, in tandem.
Jeff_Levitt: "PINPOINT! YOU GIVE NOW!"
* Marco sputters. "My..." His hand instinctively goes to his pants pocket, where the PIN is. "No! You can't go anywhere, you can't go... no no no, please, I can't give you /that/." A couple of steps closer. Marco's voice is shrill. "STOP MOVING CLOSER OR HE'LL EAT MY FACE!"
* Jeff_Levitt catches the movement and moves quickly. His claws simply slice open Marco's pants (and maybe some skin as well. He can feel himself losing control bit by bit and doesn't have time to be delicate). Does he see a PINpoint now?
Marco: The PINpoint is there! Marco scrambles for it, but Jeff is faster. Success!
Marco: "Fuck!" proclaims Marco. This makes the guards take /two/ steps closer.
* Jeff_Levitt hisses loudly. It comes out before he can stop it. But he remains sensible enough to snatch the PINpoint away from Marco and clumsily mash the return button. Jeff disappears with a pop of displaced air.
Marco: The guards rush forward and nearly trample Marco, who screams at them all. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"
* Soze isn't the kind of guy to hurry into chaos-- he much prefers walking, slipping in when he's least expected. He's been searching for Jeff all day as the bond grew weaker and weaker. He was already at the Shop by the time Jeff shifted and took control, but it was that extra surge of -escape- that helped him track down the room. This room.
* Soze only takes a moment to collect himself before stepping inside. He's wearing a labcoat (he had to strangle its former owner in order to avoid detection, it slowed him down) and carrying a gun in his right hand. His left shoulder is still injured, of course, but it's out of the sling for now. It hurts like a bitch, but there's no need for his weakness to be highlighted. Besides, he can use both hands.
* Soze raises the gun. Hi.
* Marco was busy trying to tie up his bleeding shoulder and also attempting not to pass out from the blood loss. It was all he could do because everyone had left him there in the room alone, and he was too stunned to leave just yet. And that is when he turned around, staring at himself. Himself with a gun, looking very angry. He sways, yeesh blood loss. "Yes? You're one of those alternate-things? Why are you here? Don't you know I just lost the greatest work of my life, and everyone seems to be dead?"
* Soze speaks, voice quiet and controlled. "Where did he go?"
Marco: "He? He who?" Marco says in a voice of a man who has lost his wife, his dog, his house and his good ol' pickup truck. His life has turned into a sad sad country song. Go ahead. Shoot him. Marco is a sad panda.
* Soze cracks a humorless smile, stepping forward. He doesn't lower the gun. "Don't play stupid, Doctor Marco," he says. "You know how that'll end."
* Marco sighs. "I won't tell you. I can't let you kill him. Unfortunately, he'll eventually get out and be killed anyway..." More sadface. He might even cry.
* Soze steps forward again-- closer yet-- and darts out his hand to grab Marco by the collar, moving to shove his gun under his chin.
Marco: "What... the PINpoint... goes to my flat... don't kill him, please..."
* Soze hasn't lost the calm to his voice, even as he stands inches from Marco's face, hand gripping his shirt, gun pressed to his skin. "What are the coordinates?"
* Marco rattles them off, as if they're his own. Which, they are. "Please don't hurt him." It's all he can say. He's crying now. Not pleading for himself, but for Levitt. Seriously weird, this guy, no?
Soze: "Jeff is going to be fine," he says, in a way that suggests 'but you won't.' He doesn't have any issues with killing someone who might be some kind of an alternate. In fact, he's been waiting all day for this.
* Marco opens his mouth to answer, but his eyes move to look somewhere behind Soze.
* MrGrey clears his throat. Cheerfully.
* Soze glances behind him and his stomach sinks. He tears the gun away from Marco and steps back, away from the two of them. His shoulder has started throbbing again, the pain flooding back with the loss of concentration. He aims his gun for Grey, but he doesn't shoot. Shit.
* MrGrey smiles. His eyes are golden and weird. "I'm always late for the party."
Soze: "Ha," he says, but he isn't laughing. He uses his bad arm to get his PINpoint out of his pocket (he tries not to wince), keeping his right with the gun aimed at Grey. He may not have the same allergy to Eldritch energy as Jeff, but it still killed him once. It still tore him apart, and though he can't consciously remember it, there's something about it that tugs at his brain. Fear. Maybe. "You were. I'm just on my way out."
Marco: "Grey, is that you or is that Zeller? What're you doing here?" His eyes plead to Grey, /get me the hell out of this, /please//.
* MrGrey tilts his head. "What happened to Mr. Levitt?" This could have been aimed at either one of them.
* Soze very carefully types in the coordinates Marco told him without lowering his eyes. A moment later, and he's gone. Nifty things, PINpoints.
* MrGrey laughs and attends to the very groggy Dr. Marco.
MrGrey: ____
MrNarrator: The flat is spartan; it's obvious the place isn't visited very much. In truth, the cleaning lady visits more often than it's owner does. For whatever reason, she never questions why the basement door is always locked. Lots of people have unfinished basements, and she's asked to skip them all the time.
MrNarrator: The place looks as if it were furnished by an upscale version of IKEA. Leather couches, sharp angles, glass and steel framing. The kitchen gleams with stainless steel appliances and black marble countertops. There is wine and beer in the fridge, and the fruit in the bowl on the cherrywood table is changed out weekly by the same cleaning lady.
MrNarrator: There are no pets. No photographs. Paintings from various local galleries are the only touch of personality in the living space. The bed is a queen sized feather bed, a beautiful dark blue, down filled comforter covering it. The bathrooms are also spartan, soap and shampoos barely used. It almost looks like a high-class hotel bathroom, complete with Jacuzzi. Big fluffy towels and throw rugs, heated floors. But no one home
Jeff_Levitt: There's a broken PINpoint on the floor, and carnage radiates from it like an explosion. There's not a single surface that hasn't been scratched, shredded or broken. Jagged shards of glass are *everywhere* as furniture was overturned. The paintings are ruined scraps of canvas. From the enraged, bestial sounds coming from the next room, whatever did this is both still home and not remotely finished.
* Soze arrives without ceremony, hand still around the PINpoint. He can hear the noises in the other room and knows in a sort of vague way that it's Jeff, though the bond is so weak now that it's all he can get. Still, he doesn't need any special connection to know that Jeff is -pissed.- He stares at the torn up flat with wonder, removing the labcoat and resting it on a counter.
Jeff_Levitt: The noise from the kitchen stops as it senses that it's not alone. A single jump has it perching atop the marble countertops, another and it's in the doorway regarding the intruder with a predatory gaze. It's humanoid, but the resemblance to Jeff ends there.
Jeff_Levitt: It's covered in scales of mottled green and brown, a crest of striped brown feathers running down it's back all the way to the tip of its long tail. Its legs are digitigrate, with long claws, including a very distintive, long sickle-claw on each foot. More long claws tip its fingers, and Soze would notice that they're caked in dried blood. The head is narrow and sleek, full of sharp teeth, and eyes with slit pupils glare at him.
Jeff_Levitt: It lets out a bizarre, trilling snarl and advances with a slumped over, birdlike gait, teeth bared. Saliva drips from its jaws.
* Soze 's first instinct is to grab his gun (also on the counter), but then his first thought is 'but it's Jeff!' and his second is that the gun probably wouldn't help him anyway. Slowly, he raises his hands, surrendering. His PINpoint is between his thumb and index finger. If he needs to get out of there, maybe he has a chance. "Jeff."
Jeff_Levitt: It hesitates at the sound of its name, tilting its head first to one side, then the other. "You..." it manages, just barely, through all the teeth. "You..." It turns its head slightly, uncertain. And then it sees the labcoat.
Jeff_Levitt: Its posture changes immediately, from uncertainty to anger. It opens its jaws and screams, closing the distance between them.
Soze: "Jeff, I'm not-- oh -fuck.-" He isn't thinking when he slams his fingers down on the PINpoint. Not typing specific coordinates isn't the best idea, though-- in his haste, he hit the 'last place visited' button, disappeared, and then reappeared... three feet to the left. Oh.
* Jeff_Levitt 's claws land right where Soze was standing, and he screams again, this time in frustration. Oh. Wait. *There* you are. He whirls on Soze again and he's about to advance when...waitasecond.
* Jeff_Levitt makes a weird trilling noise, sniffing the air. Something's...not quite right here. He advances closer to Soze again. This time much more curious than aggressive. It advances another step, making something that sounds almost like a chirp. If...said chirp came from the throat of a six-foot-tall dinosaur.
Jeff_Levitt: "...Friend?"
* Soze flinches back at the first advance, but it doesn't take him long to realize that the aggression is gone, that Jeff -recognizes him- and isn't interested in making him lunch. "Yes," he says, taking his own step forward. "Friend."
Rassilon: "For a given value of the word." *Says a voice from the background that was ... apparently there the whole time.*
* Jeff_Levitt is not in a state where he likes surprises. He pivots quickly toward the sound of the new voice, hissing, and then...stops. "...Wark?" He cocks his head to one side, and blinks. He takes a step towards Rassilon, then another, Soze apparently forgotten. This close, both Rassilon and Soze can see that he's covered in tiny cuts and bruises, probably from the rampage that caused all this chaos.
Jeff_Levitt: "You..." He blinks, standing on one leg, birdlike. He claws at the floor in frustration. Tricky things, words. "...friend." No question in his voice this time.
Rassilon: "Yes." *He looks an utter wreck and is wearing grey, but is still recognisable.*
* Soze shifts his gaze to watch Rassilon, the clear relief gone from his face now that there's someone else observing, replaced by his usual emptiness. "He can't stay like this." In other words, Rassilon, he hopes you're here to make yourself useful.
* Jeff_Levitt , on the other hand, is only recognizable by the presence in both their minds. Rassilon can sense just how far he's gone. Jeff is *there*, but buried underneath a flood of animal instinct. Foremost in his mind is hunger, the need to hunt, to *kill*. He recognizes the two in the room with him, only keeping himself under control with rudimentary pack instinct. It takes the utmost concentration to think at all.
Jeff_Levitt: He closes the distance to Rassilon, nuzzling him and taking in his scent. "...mate," he says. *There* was the word he was looking for.
* Rassilon hesitantly reaches up to touch Jeff, shaking.* "Jeff ... gods... gods, Jeff, where have you been...? What's happened to you?"
Soze: "Gabriel Grey kidnapped him." (Funny, he can almost feel...) "He had him used in human experiments. Four months."
Rassilon: "...What?" *His eyes flick to Soze, then return to Jeff. Carefully, very carefully, he takes a peek at Jeff's mind, as though tenderly inspecting a loved one's wound.*
Jeff_Levitt: "Jeff," he repeats. "Me...Jeff." Glad we have that established. He struggles with the words, the meanings. Rassilon can catch flashes of memory. Waking up in a hospital bed. Marco. Injection after injection. Change after change. Feeling his mind degrade until all reason was lost completely. Panic. Flight. Bones breaking between his jaws. Blackness followed by a fog of animal instinct. Then, somehow...Soze in his mind. Old connections, old thoughts returning, if just for a while.
Rassilon: "Yes. Yes, you're Jeff...." *His eyes tear up and his voice chokes.* "I'll find who did this do you... but you're safe, now. You're with me, again."
* Soze doesn't really care for sentimentalism. He's glad Jeff is out, sure, but... now what? Why did he do this? Why did he take this -risk-? What's going to come out of it? If he's getting this close to people again, it's a setback-- it's-- it's... something.
* Rassilon slips his arms around Jeff and then goes still.* "... Someone else is here."
* Jeff_Levitt pulls away from Rassilon suddenly, sniffing the air. His lips pull back from his teeth. "...bad," he agrees.
* Soze takes his gun off the counter. "Gabriel."
MrGrey: "Not really bad. Except maybe to you, Soze." He still hasn't revealed himself, although Rassilon can likely 'see' him.
* Jeff_Levitt makes a questioning noise and shakes his head. "...*not* bad," he says.
Rassilon: *squints painfully* "Show yourself."
* MrGrey steps out of a shadow--literally. He looks the same as he always has, save for the tie, threaded through with subtile hints of gold. "Sorry for the headache, Lord."
* Jeff_Levitt 's tail thrashes in agitation, the feathers along his back standing on end. "*Bad,*" he whines, backing away from Gabriel.
* Soze doesn't say a word as he watches him. He holds the gun, but doesn't raise it. No. No, he's definitely different this time.
MrGrey: "I'm not here to interfere. I was actually just leaving. I wanted to make sure you got out all right, Jeff." He's dead serious.
* Rassilon definitely looks like he's swiftly approaching Migraine Territory.* "You're the one who put him there...."
MrGrey: "I had no choice. I'm sorry."
Soze: "That's a load of bullshit." Perfectly flat.
* Jeff_Levitt whines again. There's something about Grey that scares him out of what little mind he has left. He shrinks suddenly, claws retreating, tail thinning, fur, ears and whiskers sprouting. Suddenly very rat-like, he dives behind Rassilon's robes, cowering on all fours.
* MrGrey tilts his head. "If Lord Rassilon would like to take a look, he'd see the truth." Which is an invitation to take a look in his head. If of course, he can get past the yellow bits. >:D
* Rassilon looks at Jeff in startlement, then back at Gabriel. No, thank you, his eyes are already turning funny colours.* "You are very unwise in your dealings ... Mister Grey...."
MrGrey: "Which ones? Where I was brought back to life by a lonely Eldritch being, or the bit where I was saved from being turned into a mindless mess by a short guy with webs in his head? Hm?"
* Soze sort of wishes he could punch Hastur in the face without losing his mind, thanks. For a brief moment, he clenches his jaw.
* Rassilon looks like he's trying to keep his lunch down. His eyes are almost entirely black, now, his face rurning red. He twitches a few times, and then a diffuse green glow surrounds him.* "St... stay away from us."
* Jeff_Levitt looks longingly at the various cubbyholes that are still intact. Under the bed, in the kitchen cabinets. All trace of predatory instinct is gone from his mind, only to be replaced with the desperate need to *hide.* Enough of Jeff is left that he doesn't leave Rassilon, however. Instead he crouches behind Rassilon's legs, shaking.
* MrGrey sighs. He's beginning to understand why Hastur doesn't get much time with anyone. Not that this is anything new. "There was a time when I'd have really enjoyed you saying that to me, Rassilon. It doesn't seem to mean much anymore." He looks at Jeff. "I'm sorry." Then to Soze. "Don't piss me off." And then he's gone.
Soze: "Fuck," he whispers.
Rassilon: *Hisses at Soze* "What do you know of this?"
* Soze lets his gaze travel back to Rassilon. "What do you want to know?" he asks, voice dull.
* Jeff_Levitt relaxes noticeably once Gabriel disappears, and he ventures out, sniffing the air cautiously. "No bad? *Safe?*" Yay, new word!
Rassilon: "What was he brought back /from?/"
* Soze absently touches the discarded labcoat. "It's called the Shop. But if I were you, I'd be focused on helping him, more than anything else. It's less about the story."
Soze: "The story is always for later."
Rassilon: "Don't prattle to me about stories! And do not presume to tell me /when/ is an appropriate /time/ for /anything./" *He snatches up the PINpoint, or what's left of it, and then turns to look for Jeff.*
* Jeff_Levitt is right behind him, ears flattened and patchy fur standing on end. Eeeee, yelling. Yelling bad.
* Rassilon takes a deep breath and approaches him calmly.*
Rassilon: *Or, at least, tries to.*
Soze: "But you're going to help him," he says, almost smiling. There's a hint of mocking in his voice. "That's good."
Rassilon: *quietly* "Of course I'm going to help him. Only a fool would think otherwise." *To Jeff* "We're going home, now."
* Jeff_Levitt is still shaking, rodent instincts screaming at him to RUNRUNRUNHIDEHIDE. But he *knows* this person. He knows Rassilon is here to help, even if he can't articulate it. He lets him approach.
Jeff_Levitt: "Home?" He...sounds like he might cry, actually.
Rassilon: "Yes. Home." *He reaches toward Jeff very carefully.*
* Jeff_Levitt reaches out and clasps Rassilon's hand with both of his. "*Home.*" And behind it a flood of relief.
* Soze scoops up the labcoat (evidence, after all), takes his PINpoint, and disappears. He doesn't want to admit that he's jealous. He wants to think that he's busy and needs to get out, but he doesn't know what happens after this.
* Rassilon steps closer.* "Let's go home."
* Jeff_Levitt chitters happily and curls around Rassilon's legs. "*Home.*"
Rassilon: *They vanish in a swirl of green.*