So, We Meet Again [IC]

[Avenger Assembled]

"Can you find him?" Jack asked Taylor gently, giving her a searching look. "I can call Elena if you'd prefer. We need to make decisions fast before I have to go deal with everyone else," he commented, pointing back at the closed door behind them. The room still smelled of blood, and surely the owners would want to come back soon. "Once you find him, I can deal with him for you. For all of you."

[Electra]

Stesha climbed down from the table and sat in one of the chairs, collecting the pins and flowers falling from her hair. "So we're not at your house, then?" she asked, concentrating on that rather than that she'd been a few feet away from the man who had tortured and nearly killed her friend, that she'd had him wrapped up, but had let him get away. That was something to think about later, preferably when she had Derrick to snuggle with and make her feel better. "We could go there, it's safer. Unless... why were you talking about moving earlier?" she asked Taylor.

[alderwitch]

Taylor glanced around as she scooted off the table herself and shook her skirts out with mild curiosity. She knew of Jack's work, of course, but by tacit agreement Jack rarely talked about it and Taylor almost never asked, "No, this isn't our house. It's one of the places Jack works, which means we probably should head to the apartment as it won't be long before someone's back in to see if Jack's been deposed. We'll go back home and I'll scry out the target. I'm going with you, though, to deal with this problem. I'll find someone to watch the baby once I get home, too."

Taylor's tone made it clear that she wasn't going to get left behind on this one. She held her hands out for the baby and grinned at Jack, her smile turning playful, "You want me to toss you around the room for a few minutes so that it looks like you struggled to subdue us?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh, I don't know," said Jack with a smirk, putting his arms around her. "I was thinking maybe I could tie you up and..." He caught Stesha looking at them and coughed. "Erm. Erm, why don't I just tell them I wiped your memory and sent you home in disgrace?" He smirked. "Let them think we did whatever in the meantime. It'll be great." He paused, then added. "Find Zealot, if you can. And I'll stop him for good."

[alderwitch]

Taylor snuggled into his arms for a moment, her grin a little wicked. Her fingertips traced over the chain around her throat thoughtfully but she only leaned up to press a kiss on the corner of his lips. "Don't worry, I'll find him. I'll call Scarab if I have to. Between the two of us, there's no way he'll be able to hide. I love you, you know."

When he released her, she glanced over to Stesha and in deference to the stress of the evening, asked, "How about we travel your way, you can drop me by my place, right?"

[Electra]

"Sure, no problem." Some of Stesha's color had come back in the form of a blush at the byplay she really hadn't needed to hear. She scraped by in her dealings with Jack mainly by not thinking of any of that stuff. Ick. Standing up, she cradled the uncrushed flowers from her hair in one hand and went over to Taylor and the baby. "You haven't killed your plant off yet, have you?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I'll leave you two to your work," said Jack with a quick, hard smile. "We'll find the enemy, and we'll deal with him. Together." With that said, he ducked under the door as if it wasn't there, leaving the ladies and his son alone in the big conference room as the sounds of a frantic conversation were soon filtering through the door from the other side. It sounded like they needed to clear out in a hurry!

[alderwitch]

"Yeah, its still clinging to life. Its a hardy thing..." Taylor said a little guiltily and gathered the baby close, offering her other hand to Stesha. She glanced towards the noises and frowned. Taylor had her own blind spots she preferred to keep about her husband. "Let's get out of here."

They'd tumble out in the living room from a very droopy looking plant that was really hanging to life by sheer will alone. "Thanks so much, Stesha. Do you want something to drink, maybe? I'm going to get the baby settled down in the nursery and then start scrying this... monster out. I don't suppose you and Derrick would be up for watching the baby once we do track down his current hiding place?"

[Electra]

"I think I might get your plant a glass of water and sit down for a minute, if that's all right. It's been an exciting afternoon." Stesha matched words to act, and by the time Taylor was done settling the cranky, sleepy baby down in his bassinet, she was sitting on the couch with a glass for herself, and making a more successful effort to do something with her hair. "Derrick and I can watch him whenever you need help," Stesha promised. She managed a smile with no more than a little strain in it. "Besides, now that we're getting married, I want to start getting him used to the idea of babies, kinda slow."

[alderwitch]

"You think that Jack Jr. would be the best one for that? At least he's definitely hearty." Taylor laughed a little and brought Stesha out a refill from the kitchen that she set on the coffee table. "Hopefully I'll find him tonight. I know Jack will want to strike quickly. I think Derrick will make a wonderful father. The instincts are pretty strong. I mean, I had my worries how Jack would adjust but he's so good with the baby. Its a little amazing honestly."

[Electra]

"I know he'll be a wonderful father," Stesha said with perfect certainty, "but it doesn't hurt to build his confidence beforehand. You remember how I told you he reacted when he saw your test and thought it was me who was pregnant. I'm not worried about it, really, I just think it would be nice for him to get practice, after all these years away from children and babies." She grinned. "And the good thing about Junior is that he could make our future child look like a piece of cake. Want me to give him a call?"

[alderwitch]

"Ohhhh, I'd forgotten about that debacle." Taylor said with another laugh and nodded, "Sure, call him on up. It'll give you someone to talk to while I do my scrying. If you see Jack when he comes in, just tell him I'm in the library."

Of course, it would be even odds that they'd actually see Jack. He did have a tendency to lurk around even in his own house. Taylor ignored it the same way she ignored the fact that she hadn't yet got him to take his shoes off every time he walked in the door. Marriage after all was about compromises.

[Electra]

Stesha stretched out on the couch, which was long and comfortable even if it was a bit of a fashion disaster, and called Derrick. "Hi honey, I'm over at Jack and Taylor's place. We had... sort of a disruption here earlier, but everything's okay now. Taylor wants to know if you and I can keep an eye on the baby tonight while she's getting some work done. You busy?"

[Cyroa]

Dark Star might have been a half a world away but for Stesha, he'd drop everything and be there in a heartbeat. He was holding a bridge up, reconnecting the beams. "Is everything alright? Of course, I'll be there in ten minute if you need me. Sooner if its important. I just need to finish here. I'll make as much time as we need." He melded the two beams together, fusing them. It would hold until the proper authorities could take care of it.

[Electra]

"Don't worry about it, he's sleeping now anyway," Stesha told him, the smile audible in her voice. "And he doesn't move around much yet, so he's pretty easy to keep an eye on. If you can get here, oh, within an hour or so, whenever you're done with what you're doing, that'll be fine. Taylor just wants some backup while she's working this evening, and I sort of volunteered us for the job. I'll see you when you get here, love you."

[Cyroa]

Dark Star smoothed the pavement out a bit. "It's alright no. Everything is alright. Thank you for you patience," he said addressing the people on the now-safe-and-not-collapsing bridge. "Have a good day everyone."

He floated back a moment, just to make sure no one was injured or been overlooked before responding to his love. "Alight. Would you like me to pick up something to eat on the way? I'm just about done here."