A Hard Day's Night [IC]

[Electra]

"What?" Stesha picked up the chenille bathrobe and handed it to Taylor, trying to puzzle out where that request had come from, and what it might mean. "You're not going to die, not for a long time," she tried to reassure Taylor. "Maybe not ever, right? What happened tonight was just a fluke, like you said. It's good to take precautions, but not to get too worried."

[alderwitch]

Taylor plucked at the cuff of her new sweatshirt. That had come out awkwardly but the only way though this conversation was forward, right? Right!

"Well, you see. I regenerate. Everything." She paused and then, after taking a deep breath, added, "Even from, ah, death."

That fell flat in the room and Taylor rushed through the last of it. "But fire, that I won't come back from. So, if someone cremates the body, that's all she wrote. I realized that while dangling from chains tonight. I've never mentioned it to anyone, so, if he had managed to take me out, who knows what would have happened."

[Electra]

That took another moment of quiet thought on Stesha's part. "Wow, you can come back from everything... that would be really weird. Good to know, though, I suppose." She scratched her head, then took a sip of her tea. "If it ever comes up, I'll make sure nobody decides to cremate you, if there's anything I can possibly do to stop it. You should probably at least write special instructions in your will or something, that says you don't want to be burned or buried..." She nibbled on the edge of her thumbnail. "Maybe you could buy a slot in one of those mausoleum things, so you'd be above ground, at least?" Stesha cracked a tiny smile. "Or invest in a walk-in refrigerator at your new place, I guess."

[alderwitch]

"Being able to turn intangible means never staying burried for long," Taylor said with wry, dark humor, "Hopefully I won't stay dead for long. The theory is sound but I have never put it into practive. I also hope never to have to."

Taylor drained the last of her tea and set it down, "I think I'm going to have to scrape together enough to buy a place. It'll hurt and probably means asking my folks for the help, but if I own it, no one's going to complain about me inscribing wards or things like that. Maybe a town house. At least then I'd have room for a library."

[angrydurf]

It hadn't taken Ace long to get to Taylors apartment, though making sure the area was clear of watchers had taken a bit more time. Secure that no one was observing he quickly bypassed the apartments minimal security to see just what kind of damage there was. After being tracked to her home she's likely have to move regardless but he hoped the place wasn't entirely unsalvagable.

Other than the normal level of disarray the apartment looked normal untill he reached the bedroom. Whoever had gone after her was deffinately not too interested in keeping his activities quiet. He set about stripping the bed down and mentaly went over his contacts. This would have to get cleaned up by a pro or else the police would get involved and that just wouldn't do. Once he had given the beddign a once over he pulled out a suitcase and began carefully packing some of the items he remembered Taylor holding onto as favorites that she wouldn't give up the last time he had visited her home. Just enough to get her through the week or so till other arangements could be made, but clean up would have to come before movers.

He set the fedora and bomber jacket, clearly favorites, off to the side to make sure they came as well.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well." Jack was directly behind Ace, having come silently out of the bathroom when the older hero was finished with his initial reconaissance. "Good to know Taylor has so many friends," he said carefully. He had a bag in his hands full of ladies necessities and toiletries, guessing that Taylor would want some of those wherever she was setting up shop. He liked the way they made her smell. "Good to see you, Ace. You can help with the heavy lifting." There, who said he didn't have a decent bone in his body. He headed for Taylor's bookshelf, carefully pulling out volumes not covered in blood.

[angrydurf]

If Ace was startled by Avengers sudden appearance he body language didn't betray the fact whatsoever. He glanced at the bag casually with a sly smirk, he had his doubts Taylor woudl have real need of dipilitory creme for the duration of her convelesence but what harm was there.

He continued to neatly fold Taylors favored outfits and tuck them efficiently into her overnight bag as he spoke, "Well I do try and make myself usefull."

He paused as he folded another shirt before broaching the somewhat less comfortable subject of cleanup, "Ahem," He cleared his throat to get Jacks attention not that it was really necissary, "There is also the matter of cleanup, without police involvement crime scene cleanup can be difficult to arrange." He turned to look at Jack, "I may be able to arrange something but I have a feeling you might be able to do so with greater alacrity." 'There you go Taylor dating a shadowy mobster had to be good for something right?' He thought to himself as he awaited Jacks reply.

[Avenger Assembled]

"I know several people that do crime scene cleanup," said Jack carefully. "I can make sure she doesn't have to worry about dealing with this." He knew enough about magic to know the books Taylor relied on the most heavily, and made sure to neatly store those in with the bathroom soap and shampoo he'd salvaged from the bathroom. Left unspoken was the real reason he'd hidden in the bathroom at Ace's approach earlier; God forbid the man saw him before a mirror! He left Ace to finish packing up the clothes when he had Taylor's books and toiletries in place, heading out to neatly scoop up Taylor's ficus. He wasn't sure how to take care of the plant, so he dumped some water on it to let the liquid soak in and headed into the bedroom, the plant under his arm. "All right, you all done in here?"

[angrydurf]

"Just about." Ace replied as he added the last few things into the case. He took a final look around the room and turned to Jack, "I'll arrange for movers and storage as soon as your cleaners are done. She shouldn't have to worry about such right now." Ace was trying hard to be on his best behavior. He didn't like Jack and thought he was bad for Taylor, of course that was most of his apeal well that and the chiseled good looks couldn't fault her there. He also knew that direct interferance would only drive her closer to him. "Ready when you are." He said to jack as he hoisted the bag he had packed and another containing her schoolbooks and notebooks.

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack led the way down to his car, fighting a momentary urge to break Ace's mind like so much chaff. Be nice, he reminded himself. This night wasn't about his rivalry with Ace; it was about both of them coming together for a woman they cared about. It was a very...human thing to do. "Mine's faster," he commented with a glance at Ace's ride. "And I drive faster." He was in the driver's seat in an instant, looking up at Ace expectantly. Sit in the front, sit in the front...

[angrydurf]

Ace rolled his eyes at the obvios posturing and slipped the bags into the back seat before dropping into the pasenger seat and fastening his seatbelt.

"I'm sure you tell all the girls that." Is all Ace said as he settled in with a wry smile.

[Avenger Assembled]

How adult, Jack thought irritably. As if to prove his words, he sped up and away from the curb, driving quickly down the street. "I'm sure Taylor will appreciate knowing how many of her friends have come to her aid tonight. She's already had a hard time of it." He was conscious of the mistake he'd already made, but at least it wasn't one Ace was aware of. Not yet, anyway. And there were a few obvious remedies. "So I understand the two of you met through her family?"

[angrydurf]

Ace noddded as he explained, "I used to work with her uncle, but we actually met at a bank robbery. Needless to say the attempt was foiled." He chose not to go into the details of the pitched battel that had followed or the strange sarcophagus.

"After that I recognized a piece of jewelry she had as having belonged to my former associate. We got to talking about it and realized the conection." He said with a smile. "I find I meet alot of interesting people in our line of work wouldn't you say?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I'm sure those guys didn't know what hit them," said Jack with a little laugh. "Not with you guys around." Despite the reluctant politeness in tone, Ace was savvy enough to overhear that Jack wasn't actually lying. Jack Faretti did respect Ace Danger's abilities, even if the man himself wasn't his friend. "Oh yes, you'd be amazed at the kind of people I've run into over the years." Jack made his way into a tony downtown neighborhood that wasn't far from where Ace himself lived. Jack prided himself on good location, at least. "All right, here we go." He stopped the car near the side door of a fancy apartment complex. "I don't think we need to bother the doorman on this one," he said with a rueful chuckle, still trying to be polite about all this.

[angrydurf]

Ace shrugged, "If you say so Jack," he said, Jacks need to keep this secret was a little odd to Ace but the man was more than a little secret obsessed. He stepped out of the car and turned to get the bags, "So long as we still can use the elevator." He said with a smile.

[Avenger Assembled]

"I'll give your best to Taylor. Thanks for the help with her stuff. We're just a block from your penthouse," he added, "If you go around the Garbanzo Building. Later, Ace." He was sure Ace had a car there, possibly more than one, to retrieve the one he'd left by Taylor's place. A little belatedly, he'd realized he had no interest in letting Ace Danger know where he lived. And with that, Jack rolled up the window and drove away. On the way he picked up his phone and made a few telephone calls, carefully shutting down a few connection routes between his apartment and anywhere else. For the next little while, for his peace of mind and Taylor's, they were off the grid.

[angrydurf]

Ace had his suspicions Jack was pulling something, one didn't survive as long as Ace Danger without getting a sense for these kind of things. The juvenile prank was really exactly the kind of thing he should have expected form Jack but he honestly was surprised when it was simple as that.

'Fine, Jack you want to play games we can play games.' he thought as he quickly noted down Jacks license plate number and pulled out his cell phone to make a call. "Joey. It's Ace, How're the kids? Listen I got a favor to ask..."

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack knew he'd just bit into a world of trouble, but it wasn't the first time he'd done that. He was confident he could handle whatever Ace threw at him, and was glad he'd protected himself from the threat the older man represented. He pulled into his parking garage, glancing idly in his rearview mirror as a police cruiser and tow truck zoomed by the opening. Huh. Wonder where they're going. He actually did miss Ace in the elevator; even with the strength of the dead, there were a lot of things to carry up to his apartment. But he was as dexterous as he was strong, and between one thing and another he made it back up to his apartment.

[alderwitch]

Both Taylor and Stesha looked up from discussing the various possibilities of possible real eastate options as the door opened. Perhaps she was still more than a little jumpy as she'd gathered a fistful of black energy around her hand and nearly slipped backwards through the couch in the process. Taylor righted herself and banished the crackling eldritch energy from her hands. She could have used the magic to help Jack with his bags but it was probably less threatening to just walk over, which she did, to pluck one of the suitcases out of his hands.

"That was quick. Thank you," she stretched up to kiss his cheek, before she carted one of the bags out of the way of the door. She looked down enough to gauge its contents and said with real pleasure, "My books!"

[Electra]

Stesha rose as well, stacking up the things she'd brought for Taylor and setting them on the couch. "I'll just leave this here in case you need any of it," she told Taylor, "and you can bring it by when you come over. I'll take this guy and give him some attention, too." She plucked the ficus off the top of the stack Jack was carrying, stroking the leaves like she would a pet. It seemed to like the touch, greening a little and turning its leaves in her direction. "Just give me a call if you need anything, all right? Get some rest. Jack," she added stiffly, with one quick nod in his direction, before disappearing, plant and all.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Goodbye, Stesha," said Jack, watching Stesha depart before turning to Taylor. "Sorry I couldn't get here sooner, but I had some stuff to deal with. I saw Ace while I was packing all this up, he was a big help." He set a few things down, then put his arm around Taylor. "He sends his best. What can I do to help?" he asked her, sincere concern in his eyes. "Tell me, and I'm yours."

[alderwitch]

Taylor blinked as Stesha sped out of the apartment, ficus in tow. Well, the plant was probably better off in Stesha's hands than hers. Taylor leaned into his shoulder before twisting to wrap her arms around his waist and let her cheek rest against his chest. She was silent for a moment before she asked, "How's your collection of bad B-horror movies?"

She tilted her chin up at him and admitted, "If I try to go to sleep, I won't be able to. Or worse, I'll dream."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I, um, don't actually watch a lot of horror movies," Jack confessed. "I rented the ones I brought over last time." He headed for his shelf, dug around for a moment, and finally came up with something that he popped into the DVD player. "Here, this is a good one." Everyone likes Young Frankenstein, right? It's universal. He sat her down on the couch with him, his arm around her. "We don't have to talk about it, or think about it, if you don't want to. I'll stay with you all night if you need me to."

[alderwitch]

"I can't go and see them in the theater anymore so I've amassed a collection. I mean, you've seen what happens when something startles me." She tucked in against his side, throw pillow hugged to her chest and her body curved into his side. Clearly the tea that Stesha had poured down her throat had done its work as she had lost that stiffness to her posture. Taylor rested her chin on the pillow as she watched the movie silently for a moment, her eyes on the screen before she spoke up, quietly. "The first time I couldn't sleep because of what I'd seen - what I'd done - that's what I did. I didn't have anyone I could talk to, so I had to find some way to burn the rest of the night. I sleep more on my couch than I do in a bed."

[Avenger Assembled]

Tell her you don't like most monster movies because they're either inaccurate or racist. That'll put her mind at ease. Oh yeah, and that you haven't slept in four years! "There are worse places to sleep," said Jack with a little shrug. "And hey, you've got someone you can talk to now." He reached over and squeezed her hand. "My first time out, some weird super-hooker or something saw me on the streets and solicited me." He grinned wryly. "Maybe that's why I learned to be more careful."