Another Day, Another Dollar {OPEN}

[Anita Blake]

Bert really did a number this time. Why he takes some of these cases is beyond me. No it's not. He's all about the money. I can only imagine the sum this lady was coughing up to get me to raise her great-great-great grandfather. Hm....I may have left out a great. Though, at this rate, it wouldn't much matter.

I sat there, behind my desk, trying to seem interested as this too-rich-for-her-own-good forty-something woman sobbed out her tale to me. When all I could really think about was that my coffee had gotten cold.

"Look, Ms. Arlington. I can't very well guarantee that I will be able to raise your great-great-great grandfather. The bodies deteriorate after so long, that even my abilities might not be enough to bring back something resembling your ancestor." This was why animators didn't raise zombies that were over a century old. There was a time when it was deemed impossible to do so, but I have proved that wrong more than once. Thing is, it zaps alot of my energy, and being part of not one, but two triumvirates I risked other lives as well. "Great-great-great-great grandfather Arlington, Ms. Blake." She corrected me. So sue me, I left off a 'great'. "He's the only one in the family who really knows what happened back then. If the Montero's owe our family money, if they really stole our property, then I want to do something about it. But I can't without great-great-great-great grandfather's word!"

I leaned forward and rubbed my temples. All the great's she kept tagging on to Gramps was sounding more and more like a broken record to me. "Ok, I'll see what I can do. But, like I said, I can't guarantee a reanimation of a corpse that old. No animator can. I'll have Lisa draw up the tentative contract. Wednesday night, 9pm, I'll meet you and your lawyers at the Elmwood Cemetery, Aurthur Arlington's grave." I was somber about this no doubt lucrative promise. She beamed at me, a thousand watt smile. "Thank you so much Ms. Blake. I'll leave the check in reception." She shook my hand briskly and sauntered out of my office.

I sat back in my chair and breathed out a deep sigh when my intercom buzzed. "Yeah." I spoke into the little machine. "Anita! Great job, you just made us a ton of money. Haha!" Bert. Ugh, that money-grubbing bastard would have me animating bugs if the pay was good. "You already know how I feel about these cases Bert. This is the last one, I mean it." My voice held that cold edge it does when I'm tired, frustrated, or angry. "Oh, Anita, as long as the money's worth it, you'll keep raising those zombies." I sneered at the box echoing Bert's voice. "No Bert, I'm known well enough now that I could go into private practice and run you and every other god-damned animator's business into the fucking ground. You send another case like this bullshit my way, and it'll you whose counting their losses." I cut him off, disconnecting the intercom. I wasn't in the mood for his shit. I closed my eyes, resting my head in arms on my desk, and tried to focus on something other than the newest pain in my ass. Thank God that was my last appointment of the night. Would it be too much to ask for a nice, quiet, normal evening? Yeah...it would.

[ericnorthman]

"Tough night, Miss Blake?" Eric asked gently, his voice slipping over the air of the office like cold liquid. He'd been standing in the corner of the room, slipping in effortlessly while the little vampire huntress had been talking to her boss. She was skilled of course, maybe more so than Sookie and that definitely intrigued him but Eric was over a thousand years old and very good at hiding his presence, vampire hunter or no vampire hunter. Eric's eyes flickered to the guns that the woman was obviously hiding, and what a woman she was, he could not help but let his eyes linger on her womanly figure.

"Do not threaten me with your guns or you shall regret doing so." Eric said calmly, moving slowly towards the chair in front of her desk. "I am the Sheriff of Area Five. Further south our system of vampires is a little different. Much like there is a Master Vampire here, in Louisiana we have a Sheriff of vampires. Both hold virtually the same powers." His voice was captivating, as though every word that left his mouth was important.

Eric inspected the chair before sitting down carefully, his posture was straight as was his face. "It is, of course, against etiquette to go across state lines without formal invitation by the Master Vampire but you must tell Jean Claude that this is definitely not a declaration of war." Eric's mouth twitched slightly as though amused by such a thing. He was amused though, he saw no reason to ever declare war against anyone. Sometimes vampire etiquette made little sense to him.

Eric had paused of course, while thinking, resembling the look of a statue. His blonde hair glinted under the strong office light and his skin was as pale as paper. He didn't seem to move a muscle and if he did, he moved too quick for a mortal to see.

"My name is Eric Northman and I need your help, Miss Anita Blake." He added, perfectly poised. "You would be paid handsomely of course, for your troubles and this job would include a free vacation to Louisiana." He paused, with a grim look. "I do take it that you still hunt vampires?" He had one leg crossed to lay on the other, looking very laid back.

[Anita Blake]

I nearly jumped out of my damn skin, at the same time reaching for my Browning. What the hell? How did he get in here without me sensing it? I was a necromancer, I was able to feel the dead, that included vampires. I knew I'd been shielding harder than normally, trying to keep Marmee Noir out of my head. But, obviously, I needed to let those shields down just a bit more, if I wasn't noticing a vampire in my personal space.

I quirked an eyebrow, pulling my hand back away from where my gun rested. "Then don't give me a reason to shoot you, and I won't have anything to regret." He moved casually to the chair previously occupied by Ms. Arlington, across from my desk. He sounded all business. "I've heard about the Sheriffs.", was all I said as he sat down. I had no idea what this was about, and no warning either. Did Jean Claude know an Vampire Sheriff was coming to town? Surely he'd have said as much. At the very least, it was customary for a vampire of stature, be it a Master of the city, or an Area Sheriff, to let the other know when they were in their territory.

He sat, and judging from his words, he certainly knew about the vampire etiquette, but decided to ignore it. Not the wisest of things to do, but hey, he wasn't me. My expression stayed, the eyebrow still raised. I made an effort to force it back down and remain neutral. "I can tell him as much, but I know it'd go over a hell of a lot better if it came from you."

Finally, he gets around to the introductions, though he evidentially knew who I was already. That's what you get for being The Executioner. Infamy. "Nice to meet you, Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area Five in Louisiana." Oh great, the mention of money. Not that I can't use it, but it's not my main priority. "Well thanks but," I didn't finish declining fast enough before he asked if I still hunt vampires. "That's one way to put it. Except for the fact that you make it sound like I'm a mercenary. I'm a Federal Marshal. I "hunt" vampires when I have a warrant. I'll take a shot in the dark here, figuratively speaking, and say that this little proposal has nothing to do with a warrant." I relaxed in my office chair, still a little pissed over the cold coffee sitting in front of me. Crossing my arms under my chest, because I was too 'endowed' to cross them over my chest, I eyed Eric. "Ok, I'll hear you out. What's this about then?" I glanced up at the clock. jean Claude would be awake, but this wasn't something I could just tell him with a quick phone call. I should at least hear what Eric had to say first.

[ericnorthman]

"You do not need a warrant in Mississippi." Eric stated abruptly, the humans in Mississippi didn't particularly care about the unlawful deaths of vampires, they would turn a blind eye to it even if it was a high up vampire. "If anything, it's vampire law you should look out for. Though I have no intention of any vampire finding out."

"I want the Vampire King of Mississippi dead." Eric noted stonily. He had come to the conclusion that the only way to get rid of this vampire, was to go out of the state and find some one to help him. "He kidnaps my vampires, sends out werewolves to capture them, sends out werewolves to attack mortals which in the process attack me when I attempt to stop them. He is a danger to my area. I wish for him to be gone."

"This of course is treason which would be why I'm looking for assistance outside the state." He paused, noticing how her crossed arms only boosted her breasts, he wondered whether she realised this. "The last attack left me gravely wounded." Eric slowly lifted his black tank top, revealing a ripple of pale muscles but it was what was on those muscles which were shocking. Thin white lines and marks ripped across the perfect skin. "I am a thousand years old, the fact that these marks still have not disappeared must give you an idea of how severe it really was."

He studied the young woman for some sort of a reaction before standing up from the chair, walking around the room, studying anything he might come across while he talked further. "You probably are wondering why you should 'give a damn'. What's really in this for you? Why is this worth your time? You are unfazed by money and yet I could give you enough so that would never have to work again if you did not wish to." He said glancing over at her with his stormy bright blue eyes. "I would be forever in your debt, if you ever needed assistance I would come to you. Also, does this not give you the chance to study other types of vampire? I assure you, there's more than one type."

Eric briskly walked up to Anita and with a smirk, placed hand against her full chest. What lay beneath his hand and above her skin was a cross, a gold pretty looking cross which did nothing to him, brushing his hand over it, his eyes connected with hers, he picked the little cross up between his thumb and finger and rubbed it. "What would happen if you were made to execute a vampire, a vampire which you thought was just another like the others you had killed, what you held that cross up to them and they just merely ripped it from around your neck and tore your throat." Eric said softly with barely any distance between them.

"Holy objects are useless, I'm not sure why they affect some vampires and yet not others but one thing that vampires do have in common, is that we definitely do not like silver." He flicked the silver coated pen off the table.

[Azazel]

-moments before the proceding conversation began,when Eric N. had been riding in the back of the UV protected limo which had parked in the sunless environment of the underground parking garage,the driver had been stopped at a red light and confusedly rolled down the drivers side window when a very average looking man,average meaning someone you'd not expect,like a homeless person,to come knocking on your window,and the driver rolled down the window to the smiling mans face

when the window was down far enough to allow for physical contact the smiling window knocker simply reached in,without saying a word,and touched his fingertips to the drivers hand,which still rested upon the button to roll the window down,and then stood up with an extremely confused expression stamped on his features before walking away and the driver smiled wickedly as he rolled the window up.


all of this,of course,took place in the amount of time it took the red light to turn green and,without missing a beat,the now possessed driver drove along toward the address Mr. Northman had given him and arrived a short time later then took the instructions from the 1000 year old vampire with all the respect one such as him expects then watched as the former Norse warrior strode away to the elevator

after sitting there for a few moments,getting rather bored,the driver saw a armed security guard pass by the front of the limo,glancing over with curiousity and locking eyes with the driver,then moves over at the drivers beckoning and leans down to see what the man wants.That,as per usual,was all it took and the entity Azazel took possession of the security guards body in the blink of an eye and left the driver blinking,wondering how he got there,while the security guard walked away whistling softly the 70s tune "Time is on my Side" as he made his way into the same elevator that Eric had recently occupied and stabbed at the button leading to the floor where Animators Inc. was housed on then rode the elevator up and stepped out into the hallway and through the glass door with the companies logo stencilled on the door

immediately after he entered the well trained secretary looked up from her computer screen and smiled at the security officer she'd seen nearly every day for going on three years straight then asked how she could help him.Smiling at her but not saying a word the officer,danny roland by name,drew his gun and aimed it right between her eyes then casually pulled the trigger,blowing a spray of gray matter and flecks of white bone and blood out of the back of her head,then turning and beginning to make his way down the hall to the office of the owner of A.I. while all hell broke loose around him because of the loud gunshot in the small,intimate,office-

[Anita Blake]

I was getting defensive, but I had rights to be. He'd pulled some ninja type shit by just 'appearing' and not even making a blip on my radar. "Hey, I know enough about vampire law, but being technically human, I have other laws to look out for as well." I was pleasant enough, even if I was wary of this whole situation. What if this was some conspiracy against Jean Claude? If so, it was the last thing I wanted to be involved in. "You are aware that I'm Jean Claude's Human Servant, right? It's not like he won't find out if I take you up and kill this vamp King. Even if no one says a word." He could read my emotions, at times we shared dreams, being part of a triumvirate we could at times read each others thoughts. I couldn't keep something like this hidden forever.

"Sounds like you have good reason to want him dead. But you're right. Why should I give a damn? And why me? There's plenty of vampire hunters and Slayers out there. Why not rally one of them for your cause?" Okay, I knew what the answer would probably be close to. I was legally allowed, by the federal government, to kill vampires. But with a warrant. "I may not need a warrant, as you say, but if I'm to remain a Federal Marshal, I have to have one. I'm not losing my badge and for one badass vamp King with a bug up his ass. Nothing personal." It wasn't like I hadn't done it before, or even that I was really against killing a vampire that was out of control. Sometimes it took too damn long to get a warrant anyway.

I listened to his pitch, and really, he had some valid points. Most of them were as plain as the scars he wore. It made me think of my left arm, and the myriad of scars that I wore there. For a vampire, and an old one at that, to still bare scars after an extended period of time wasn't usual. He wasn't lying. The attack had to have been bad. Really bad. I also couldn't argue that having him lend his assistance if I ever needed it would be a bad thing. In my line of work, hell, in my personal life, additional assistance was necessary more often than not. Unfortunately. I also knew there were more than one 'strain' of vampires. I hadn't been surprised when I'd heard. Especially considering that I carried multiple strains of the were virus myself.

I inhaled sharply as he moved before me, the closeness, and nearness of him reaching for the gold cross that rested just barely beneath the opening of my blouse. Yes, blouse. I was at work, I needed to look professional at least. Though I'd rather be in jeans and a t-shirt. Most likely one of Micah's t-shirts. Thinking of one of the men in my life helped distract me from Eric's intimate actions, least the arduer rise. He hadn't rolled me with his gaze, which as old as he was, could have been a definite possibility, but his voice was like velvet. I found myself drawn to it. My cross didn't glow in his presence, but he wasn't fond of silver, those were damn good indications that he was definitely a different 'breed' of vampire.

Before I could reply to anything else Eric had said, let alone done, a gunshot rang out. Most girls would have ducked for cover. There's times when I would have too. But this was close. Almost too close. It was in the office, the lobby from the sounds of it. "What the hell?!?" I had my Browning in my hand before I'd even thought of it, using my own preternatural speed that seemed to nearly rival that of a were or a vampire. "You didn't happen to bring a friend did you? Or maybe an enemy?" I edged around my desk, gun raised in a two handed grip. My back to the wall I reached next to me and grabbed the doorknob. I opened it quickly, ducking as I pivoted out, aiming low. There was blood everywhere. Lisa was dead, the victim of the gunshot. My eyes narrowed as anger filled me.

The perp's back was to me, and he walked confidently, casually toward Bert's office. I recognized the uniform. I raised from my crouch, keeping my aim at his head. "Danny! Drop your weapon NOW! Do it Danny, or I'll shoot!" With all the rumors and stories about me, he'd damn well better believe it. I wasn't one for talking without the actions to back it up. "Danny. This is your last warning. Drop the gun and turn around, hands up." See? I sounded professional. Guess working with the police long enough wears off on you. I wasn't worried about Eric. It was rare to find a vampire that couldn't take care of himself. Still, this didn't concern him. Danny had apparently lost his marbles. Maybe, hopefully, I could talk him down If not, I didn't have many other options aside from using my own gun. "Eric, stay out of this. We'll finish up our 'business' discussion another time." I didn't take my eyes off the security officer who'd snapped. So much for a nice, quiet, normal evening.

[ericnorthman]

"Your human servant status means little to me, Miss Blake, I take what I want regardless of who owns who or who bites who." Eric stated dryly. "It is not a 'conspiracy'. I just don't pay attention to such ridiculous laws." They were below him, Eric was arrogant enough to think that he could have anything he wanted, it wasn't that he wanted to offend anyone, in fact he was indifferent. The other vampires meant nothing to him, why would he waste any physical or mental effort to purposely annoy them.

Eric looked at her sharply. "You only intrigue me. Nothing more." The gunshot seemed to little concern him, he barely even moved. "No one of mine. I only brought my assistant Pam. She has gone shoe shopping." He said this with a straight face as though this was what a tall blond ancient vampire said every day. He didn't add that if Pam was to murder someone, she would just rip off their head.

He eventually followed the gun brandishing woman, standing impressively behind her, his height towering over hers. The vampire merely smirked down at her. The girl had the audacity to order him around, telling him to stay out of it, she obviously really didn't know him. Ignoring her, he decided to glamour the insane man. "You shall put that gun down now. I demand it." Eric was a little shocked when he met some kind of force within the mortal man's body, it caused him to blink a few times with a frown while quickly thinking this development over.

"Something has possessed this man." He informed Anita, his fangs protruding from his top gums, his lip curling as a threat towards the possessed human. Though Eric did not move forward or attack, he merely stepped slightly in front of Sook... Anita in case she wasn't wearing a bullet proof vest. Eric had taken many bullets in his eternal existence and they did little. He was also too fast to let someone shoot him in the head or heart.

[Azazel]

-With slow,steady,progress danny,or his body at least,made his way down the narrow hallway toward the door at the end of it,the one marked "Bert Vaughn",while people both in front and behind him either peeked out of their door,seeing what the uproar was,or hid behind furniture within their offices,those that knew what a gunshot sounded like at least,and danny ignored them all...-

-it wasn't until he was most of the way to the door that the only three things that he even acknowledged happened.-

First.

-Anita Blake,whom Azazel had heard of,stepped from her office and ordered the man she knew as danny to stop and put his hands up,sounding very authoritive and angry all at once,then gave him one last warning.He'd stopped his forward motion at the warning,the .38 loose in his hand at his side,and was poised to turn when the second thing happened.-

Second

-Azazel felt more than saw or heard,having to rely on pathetic human senses,the presense of a creature very very old in it's own right,though young compared to Azazel,then this vampire used it's,considerable,mental powers to try and Glamour the human he was in control of,which failed of course,and it was then that he turned dannys body around,smiling,just as Eric told Anita that something was in possession of the human.Then the third,final,thing happened.-

Third

-the thumping of heavy footfalls from behind him made that smile even wider and he locked eyes with Anita,not paying attention to Eric on account of him seeming to stay out of it as told,and winked at her while showing absolutely no fear of the Browning she has pointed at the security guards head then Bert,stupidly,opens the door and begins to say something but,before he can,I make danny begin to lift the .38 and aim it at Berts head as his eyes go wide and whatever he was about to say dies on his tongue-

[Anita Blake]

It almost goes without saying that when you tell a vampire NOT to get involved in a potentially life threatening situation, they inevitably get involved. Then again, you can say that for most any preternatural being. Hell, you can say that about me. "Danny, Danny...." I stopped mid-sentence to listen to Eric. "What? Like a ghost? Or something worse?" I dropped my mental shields, letting my power reach out, trying to get a bead on what kind of thing I was dealing with.

It wasn't something dead, it didn't even register with my necromancy. He certainly hadn't been rolled by a vamp. He just seemed....not himself. Crazed. Danny was usually pretty composed. Not one for small talk, but not 'shoot-the-boss' crazy. I shot Eric an irritated look as I raised myself up slowly, keeping my aim dead set on Danny's head. "Get out of the way Eric." I hated someone blocking my shot, I liked hitting my target, not someone trying to protect me. Or, I can't believe I'm even saying this, a potential client. Vampire or not.

"Danny...or Danny's, uh, body snatcher, listen to me. You don't want to take this any further. Drop the weapon and get away from Bert's door. Do it now." I tried to keep my voice calm and even, and I managed, even though I was a bit shaken up. I'd seen plenty of dead bodies in my day, and more than enough blood. But when it's close to home, like literally in my home, or in this case, in my work place, it always seems a bit more upsetting. I'd known Lisa for a long time, and now she was splattered all over the office. I'd known Danny just about as long, and might not get the chance to know him any longer, if this situation got worse.

Oh shit. I thought as I heard Bert's heavy footfalls in the heavy silence of the office. He was coming out, undoubtedly to check on the commotion, but he had no idea what was waiting outside his door. "BERT! NO!" I managed to yell just as he opened his door to come face to face with the end of a .38 in his security officer's hand. "I could see the wheels turning, Bert trying not only to comprehend that he had a gun aimed at him, but that Danny was aiming said gun.

I had a split second to make a decision and I did. I just prayed it was the right one as my finger squeezed the trigger. I adjusted my aim at the last second to Danny's knee. The shot rang out, more blood sprayed as the bullet ripped through skin, muscle, and cartilage. Danny's other knee buckled with the impact. Possessed or not, he was still human, and I didn't want to kill him if I didn't have to. Scratch that, I didn't want to kill him at all. I was fast, super-humanly so, but nowhere near as fast as Eric. If Eric could make it to Danny and the gun, I could get Bert out of the office. I said another prayer as I shot Eric a look, hoping he'd decipher for himself what I intended to do. I ran for Bert, all out. I passed Danny as he was hunched over and shoved him to the ground with my shoulder as I barreled toward Bert. I ended up tackling him like some linebacker and we went rolling back into his office. I was back on my feet quickly, between Bert and his door, gun back in a two handed grip as I aimed back in Danny's direction.

[Azazel]

-I chuckled,actually chuckled,at the inevitable interferance of Eric in the situation thenlistened to the commanding words Anita said,choosing to ignore them,and take aim at the forehead of her boss and,just as my finger is tightening on the trigger,I hear the loud retort of the handgun Anita wields and feel the round fired from it tear its way through the skin and cartilege and muscle of my hosts leg and falling to the side as it buckles,not feeling the slightest bit of the pain as I'm not linked in with my hosts nervous system at all,and Danny,deep within,cries out silently in pain then I smirk as the lady in question barrels past me and tackle/spears her,bigger,boss back into the office he'd opened the door for just seconds ago and slide along the floor and aiming her handgun at me.-

-I knew she'd attempted to discern what,exactly,I was by sending her power out and inwardly smiled as I felt,or sensed,that she withdrew her power without any useful information at all,just that she knew what I WASN'T,then relax my hosts face and reach out my hand while crawling the best I can,with a shattered knee,toward her and bert closing to within touching distance of them,no longer feeling the very old vampires presense so not worrying about him,and groan out in a pain filled voice-

"Ugh...ouch...why Miss Blake?Why'd you shoot me?"

-before you can respond,however,I close to within touching distance of Bert and grip his ankle,where his pant leg had hiked up exposing the bare skin,and transferring from Danny to Bert in the blink of an eye,no long crippled by the gunshot to the knee,and "Bert" stands and glares at the confused and terrified and hurting Danny as he sits there on the floor looking very lost,then stride over to you and unexpectedly snatches the gun from your hand then aims it at Danny saying...-

"sonuvabitch tried to shoot me!"