A shot in the dark

[Tanya O'Douette]

"This is it?" Callie grumbled as she drove she and Tanya up to a building that she thought looked just as crummy as the streets it sat on and she certainly had no hope for whatever was inside of it. Tanya ignored her, peering out of the window and up at it. Whatever Callie had to say about it she was most definitely certain it was the right one, close to the ports, the "gentleman's club" Icos called it by the name of "The Siren's Call". She gave it a skeptical look as it certainly looked dangerous enough for a siren, though it lacked that first element where it needed to actually be kind of attractive in some way to entice its victims.

"Your choice," she spoke suddenly to her driver, "you stay here with the car or you come in and keep quiet." Tanya had done a lot of thinking in the last couple of days, holed up in Callie's apartment with her. She thought a lot about how she presented herself, she thought a lot about how she wanted to present herself, and she thought a lot about how her father dealt with these types of situations and how she could make it work for her, too. She wasn't as intimidating as he was in appearance, in fact she probably looked quite the opposite. She presented herself as more delicate in nature, intentional or not. He killed people when he wasn't being taken seriously, and that worked for him. She didn't want to do that and she knew she didn't have to.

Tanya went over the whole thing in her head again, her brain reciting everything she'd prepared to say and just hoped he wasn't going to surprise her with something. What she couldn't even think of and maybe that's what worried her most, though as much as she adored the man like the stupid fangirl that she was she was just as intimidated by him easily and somehow Callie's constant grumbling made her think that maybe, just maybe she didn't have to be. She was allowing herself to fall on her ass instead of pushing back, perhaps this was just another case of the same problem and she too easily allowed the fear of never seeing Hoch again to cause her to give up the fight. She had to think quicker, like her father, that was the smart thing to do. And not knife anybody.

"I'll wait in the damn car," Callie glared, keeping a watchful eye then on a couple of men eying up the blue car as they showed up, "after I escort you inside, that is. You don't look like you work here but you certainly don't look like a meaty thug dressed that way, either."

Tanya didn't dress any different than normal, though perhaps a skirt an inch above the knees and the really tall pumps gave away that she wasn't really a brawler, even with the healing bruise on her right cheek. Perhaps she should have worn something else but then she didn't feel like she could discuss business properly, the suit really made a difference and she personally thought it gave her more of an edge to her look. At least that was one thing she and Morgan had in common. To that she chuckled, unable to deny Calisto the pleasure of walking her out of the car and to the door to be let in.

Having left the girl behind once inside, Tanya took a moment to glance around at her surroundings. Her eye twitched as dirty dancers strode by and the music was a lot louder than she would have imagined. Who was she kidding, she'd never been in one of these before. At least not while it was open!

She took her steps slowly and deliberately, telling herself now she had to be 'the boss' and look more like she knew what she was doing, even if it meant she had no idea where he'd be waiting. She eyed up the tables in one of the corners of the room and began to make her way that way as her first stop.

[Icos El-Elron]

Icos sat in the corner table, his Imperial attire forgone for a simple loose white shirt that sat loosely against his chest, his pants long and black that cuffed nicely over his dark shoes. He casually smoked a cigar, something he normally wouldn't do but the stress of this little meeting they were having was enough to make him bring out his Ellusian cigars for a good round. He wasn't entirely sure if it was a trap, or an absolute waste of his time but being here was unnerving him.

Icos spotted the girl from before approaching him like she had been possessed by a great god or something, he had to admire that she had great confidence for a girl who cried on the phone not two days ago. He waved his hand to gesture for her group to take one of the chairs.

"Pleasure to meet you again," Icos nodded politely, "Were you followed?"

[Tanya O'Douette]

Tanya was actually starting to feel alright about this despite the shady environment. The environment was something that was unnerving and for a moment she couldn't help but think that maybe he did this on purpose, like then he'd have some reason to tell her to get lost when she showed how uncomfortable she really was. She had to desperately fight off the thoughts in her head that here she was, a girl in the middle of a gang war and trying to somehow prove that she could be just as tough as any man in it. Her stomach wasn't feeling too well now but she swallowed hard and fought the uneasiness in it, feeling it come back the moment she'd spotted Icos.

She approached the table slowly, having to actually focus on steadying her breathing. Again, once she thought she had it right that was when he opened his mouth.

'Were you followed?'

I...don't know. Oh for the love of...!

Tanya really hoped he wasn't good at reading a poker face because she took a deep breath and tried to pull one off, sliding herself smoothly into the chair across from him and using those extra couple of moments to try to come up with a clever enough answer that she hoped even convinced herself. She wanted to say no, considering what exactly would have thought to follow her this far but then again it could always happen. Now wasn't the time to miss details like that. She opened her mouth with every intent to admit she had no idea but she quivered, hesitating for barely a second before something urged her to answer with a clear, "No."

She didn't know if that was the truth, though. Somehow with her focused on trying to be the woman that wore the suit she found some kind of odd strength to say differently and without getting emotional over it. It wasn't the only thing that surprised her, though.

"This keeps quiet. You and I didn't meet, Morgan is to never know," she added shortly, focusing her gaze on his eyebrows instead of looking straight into his eyes.

[Icos El-Elron]

Icos raised an eyebrow at this, had he gotten in the middle of some power grab? If her real request was to help aid in overthrowing her boss than this meeting would be over swiftly, Icos had no wish for more enemies. Yet, it was essential that he heard the lady out, "Very well, my lips are sealed." Icos said motioning for the chair, "Shall we get down to business?"

Icos made sure to shade himself in the shadows, making it difficult for phones and cameras to snap a picture of him. He also strategically picked the table so that it was hidden behind the exotic dancers, making it nearly impossible for someone on the other side to get sight of them. The brief time he had dealt with Morgan made him weary of what he was capable of, he wouldn't trust the man at all, trusting him could be equated to trusting a wolf with your sheep. He didn't intend to extend anymore trust to the lady standing across from him.

[Tanya O'Douette]

Tanya sat with her hands folded in front of her, heart pounding as she tried to find the words that she'd earlier planned on saying. She knew how the story was to be spilled to him, though right now she was having trouble remembering exactly where it started and how she was to cleverly go about asking for his assistance with more dignity. Why did this have to be so damn hard?

Her eyes dropped to the table, a distressed frown weighing on her lips.

"We were attacked. By Them," she said frankly, "Morgan is trying to rebuild what we have lost but one of our friends we believe was captured during it. Morgan says...M-Morgan won't..."

She blinked back tears, having to pause herself to breathe deeply and kept her eyes glued to the dirty scratches in the table. She felt okay with her appearance yet, her voice worried her though as she believed if she wasn't yet then it was going to start squeaking on her. She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat was painful and made this feel so much worse.

'I can't do this...'

"M-Morgan has no interest in trying to find our friend. He said it's a death trap waiting for us, our friend is dead, there's no point. I thought differently, thinking if he were still alive, that we...that I, b-because he won't..."

'Just get it out and go home, Tanya.' Her own thoughts slapped her harder than her own father could have. Out of the corner of her eye she took the atmosphere in again and realized she shouldn't be here, she really shouldn't have ever come. She hoped so hard that Hoch was alive and she would find him but it was a horrible truth that when it came down to it, she didn't have a clue where to begin and she didn't understand even the basics of the kind of 'industry' she was toying in. It wasn't even a fair one, it was unpredictable and cruel, and she wasn't either of those in any sense that she knew of to compete in it. That's really why she was here, in the end she was just looking to cry to someone for help again.  And somehow that felt more shameful than crying in public ever would be.

Tanya sighed heavily then and with a numb feeling managed to look into his eyes, giving up on her charade after she'd barely begun it. She just seemed so depressed that she was physically tired from it now, and even sitting here with the very handsome Icos and reminding herself she was in his presence did nothing to change her tune.

"Look, I'm sorry I called you crying. I was upset because this man I'm looking for is a very dear family friend of ours and if Morgan is content to abandon him I wasn't. I couldn't even when I was told it was too dangerous to try, it's the right thing to do. But I honestly don't know where I'm going or what I need to do. I remember things for my father, I see how he does things, but I'm trying to find people who base everything they do off of not being found and if he struggles with that then there's no hope for me. I thought of you because of your interest in Dust, it was the closest guess I got," she spoke slowly and quietly, giving a shrug as she continued, "I just don't want him knowing about it because he's upset that I even wanted to do it to begin with. He gets...out of control when he gets upset. I don't know what to expect if he finds out I went ahead with this without him approving. If my friend is dead I just want his body to be put away properly, and if he's alive then I don't know, I guess my father letting his frustration out on me makes it worth it."

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She'd said too much. At least when they got back to Thelotia she could probably still find some legitimate excuse as to where she'd run off on such a short notice and why for Morgan.

[Icos El-Elron]

"You got hit?" Icos began, "A big hit by your description. Dust is getting bold, aren't they...?" Icos waited patiently for her to finish her long sentences. He found he cared very little about the story, people died all the time and this man she was describing had been captured by the largest crime syndicate in the world - not something that gave anyone a lot of hope.

He snuffed the cigar in the ash tray before pocking it (never leave DNA), leaning into the table he looked at the girl and shrugged, "Can you describe this family friend? A name perhaps - Dust runs human trafficking and we've recently busted a convoy of about a three dozen people being moved from to the Central Zoi region. I've got a list of names and pictures of those we've saved, your friend could be one."

The operation he was speaking of was the third person on the list, while Icos took care of Vras and the Dragons took care of the Financial Minister a team of IIA agents pounced a truck with three dozen people in it - mostly women and children from Proti, so while he doubted the friend she was looking for was in there he decided it would at least be a good idea to check.   He slipped a file that he had by his side, it was thick with many pictures and names, he opened it and waited for her to explain.

[Tanya O'Douette]

"You have no idea..." she sighed as she shook her head. She wasn't sure if even a 'big hit' was enough to describe it but anything right now seemed rough, she couldn't imagine what else an organization that large could possibly do to them.

Hearing that they'd gotten ahold of several missing people admittedly gave the girl some hope, though Tanya immediately tried to squash those thoughts and told herself there was no point in getting excited if it wasn't absolute. Not yet, anyway.

"He's a Dwarv Minor, his name is Hoch Kreatur. I believe you met him once...oh..." she tried to find the best way to describe him to Icos so that he would actually remember, it was probably impossible for him to know from one meeting. Her hand slipped into her coat pocket for a brief moment and out she pulled a couple of photos that she'd had of him. They were all with her family, the one she felt he could get a better look at Hoch was with him sitting beside Morgan, Gillian on the other side. It was someone's birthday, she couldn't remember exactly whose but that wasn't important.

"This is him, see? He's pretty easy to pick out if you have found him, unless they changed his clothes on him he dresses very nicely so."

[Icos El-Elron]

Icos began flipping through the files until she mentioned that he was a Dwarv Minor. He stopped, closing the filed and slipped it away, "Dwarv Minor you say?" It could have been the one he spotted while tracking Vras, I mean a Dwarv Minor in Thelotia isn't something you see everyday!

He bit his lip, looked up at the lady and gave a dreadful look. "I think I've seen your friend." He pulled out a digital camera and slid it over, it was already in review mode so she could look at the pictures taken. "Use the slider to change pictures." Icos directed. The pictures were dark and hard to see, but sure enough it showed a group of men holding a Dwarv Minor who looked unconscious... or dead. "I took that picture four days ago."

[Tanya O'Douette]

She saw the folder close and looked up when Icos mentioned he may very well have seen Hoch. The lighting was dim but even she could see the grim look he gave and she hesitated as she reached to the camera. Tanya had no idea what to expect but when she looked at the pictures and swiped through each one her body language showed it all. Her tense shoulders sank, her whole torso seemed to slump with the weight of defeat. Her eyes stared at the screen slightly widened as though she were confused about something. It didn't seem real, but even in the dark lighting in the picture she felt an overwhelming feeling of dread whisper so clearly to her that she was looking at the right person.

'I guess Daddy was right...'

Being unconscious didn't occur to her as a thought, he looked dead as dead could be. It was surreal and frightening, and somehow she felt nothing but a numbness all over as she slowly set the camera down though kept her eyes fixated on the final image it displayed. She didn't want her father to be right. He was right about everything and she always thought that was such a good thing but right now she didn't want to admit it, she wanted something to tell her clearly he was wrong even for once. She thought he was wrong, at least.

Tanya knew she'd acted quickly enough the night he was attacked. Her father was preoccupied with their house under attack but she'd made the effort to try to help Hoch the moment she knew he was in trouble. She couldn't blame herself and even though she wanted so desperately to blame her father she couldn't do that either, the damn fool had his own reasons. It just wasn't fair. Hoch never hurt anybody. She herself hurt more people doing nothing than he ever did.

Her thoughts bubbled up inside of her, mixing themselves into a cocktail of her seemingly never-ending depression and now with a really, really odd splash of anger. When she looked back up at Icos she gave him a very serious look, something almost deadly as it unintentionally sounded in her voice.

"Where was this?" she demanded.

[Icos El-Elron]

"Right outside a row of compounds, a little wealthy district I suppose, the street goes by the name of Lucirre Road." Icos studied Tanya carefully, interested at where such intensity would have come from. "My partner and I dispatched the man on the right but we did not search the compound, such risk would have been pointless given we extracted all the information from the man himself..."

He opened his mouth and picked his words carefully, "From what we can assume, he was probably handed off to the Fourth Dust Collection Agency that runs To Chameno." Or he was dumped in an alley, it all depended if the little one was alive. "We have many locations of bases in the city but we're lacking the resources to strike them all at once, if we don't we'll end up loosing them all as they pack up and leave."

It wasn't easy rounding up IIA agents to help out, they were all assigned to specific jobs and it was a shit done of bureaucracy to get the men he needed. Icos suspected he would need two hundred IIA agents or Ellusian Special Forces to get the job done.

[Tanya O'Douette]

Ah, information from one of them! That's what she needed! And Icos had that, too. Tanya was too upset to cry, and the anger she felt confused her and her body as well, what was all this? She suddenly had a lot of energy, and hearing that they had so little time to catch these people while they were here only seemed to intensify it.

"What do you need, specifically?" she leaned in, her hands tensing up as she folded them together. She wasn't sure what exactly he had and what he didn't, so she started already going through a list in her head that her father would normally go through, mostly the weapons and manpower.

[Icos El-Elron]

"Manpower, people that can be trusted. I'd get the Thelotians to do it if I didn't think Dust had their hands in them." He made one glance around the area, "I'm working on getting my organization to act but such a large operations requires going through more red tape than you could imagine." His fingers tapped the table as he debated the information he could give out, "Two hundred men would be able to get it done safely, one seventy if we were being risky. Otherwise we point our fingers at which areas we think would yield the best results and attack those..."

He sighed, "I'd prefer to wait, we have enough information to cripple the Fourth Dust Collection Agency. What type of resources can you offer?"

He didn't doubt the fact that she might have enough men to spare, of course he doubted they were as professional as the IIA and Ellusian Special Forces, they might just have to make do. Of course he also reminded himself he was dealing with a daughter who was going behind the boss's back, so she could be all she had to offer, and well one person certainly wasn't enough.

[Tanya O'Douette]

Tanya had to pause and seriously think about what was readily available to her. Morgan and Currie could easily have the numbers met but she had to dig around a bit more herself. Her thoughts even went as far back as the 'gentlemen' she'd had the pleasure of meeting who formerly worked for Ty Digel, and before that a much more powerful face came to mind, someone whom she was certain could easily spare the numbers--Raemos Reheem, a man Morgan had known for many years and used to work alongside with until they branched out on their own. Raemos had under a number of circumstances tried to strike a deal with Morgan and convince him into a partnership, something that undoubtedly could prove beneficial but Morgan for the last four years and currently absolutely refused to have any of it. It didn't help that Currie also agreed with him, their decision was based on the fact that where Raemos Reheem had at least a sound loyalty to Morgan, his connections took him too close to Andrew Lawson, a man they actively avoided. Andrew, or 'Teddy' as his really odd nickname went, was someone who deliberately didn't seem to be too careful and could storm his enemies with force alone. Somehow he had that kind of money and balls to do such a thing and wasn't in jail or dead yet, the man probably spent more time running himself than he did planning any of his own heists--that was probably exactly what set him apart from Morgan, though. Andrew could throw lots of money and his fist into things, Morgan had money and his brains to get him through a situation.

Currently, with the Dust Collection Agency proving to be as troublesome as they were and remembering the talks of leaning towards The Capix, Tanya couldn't see why they wouldn't bring in as many as they could. Surely if Lawson was as destructive as he was Raemos would appreciate better people to work with even for a time. She hadn't seen him herself in all those years though.

"I'm not quite sure what kind of people your organization has but I believe I have a large enough number of people I can get ahold of. And one engineer, if you needed a specific something of a weapon he's brilliant enough to find a way to make it work so as long as he has the resources. And one fast driver, I have one of those," that last part was probably really unnecessary but Callie was useful and willing to help, that's all that mattered.

[Icos El-Elron]

"Rally only those who you believe are free of Dust's reach. If you believe there are significant holes in the loyalty of these people you'll be calling upon than don't call on them... this type of information is exactly what I've been looking for and I'm not going to waste this chance over untrained brutes." Icos wasn't holding his punches here, the painstaking time it took to get here was evident and Icos had little faith in the actions of other street gangs. "So think very hard - can you trust these people with your life? Because I assure you that's precisely what is at risk."

Icos actually needed the manpower, he feared the wait for approval by the IIA would result in them figuring out Vras ratted on them and quickly packing up before they even had a chance to act. The clock was ticking now, Icos needed manpower and people he could trust - a combo most hard to find. 

[Tanya O'Douette]

Well she didn't need to be told that one twice. Ty Digel's old thugs were out. Raemos however she had better feelings about. She hadn't seen him in years, though even if he wasn't happy that her father wouldn't work with him she fully believed there wouldn't be any way that he would refuse now if they were to go to him. He couldn't, he needed the stability that they could provide so even if she were to go to him on her own agenda it would be far too foolish for him to turn her away. If he was grateful enough for it, he might even do better than he would have when he originally spoke with Morgan.

"I have a contact whose loyalty goes many years back before I was even a thought," she spoke carefully, hoping she'd word it in a way that could assure him that she had an idea that would work even though she hadn't seen the contact in question in awhile, "he keeps in touch with us and he's bored, this will be exactly what he's looking for."