Shrugs

[Vortimer]

Vortimer smiled, and slowly stepped around the corner and walked towards the individual who was in the process of stripping of their own clothing. Vortimer stopped standing before the person who had finally noticed them. The person began to open their mouth to yell about something but Vortimer, with a smirk upon his face, pursed his lips and blew on the man's face. This sent the man to his knees, screaming and clutching at his face. Vortimer laughed softly, then stepped aside and gestured at the naked sobbing man on his knees.

"He is all your's Mr. Ten. He will answer any questions you have, with out hesitation. Won't you?"

He reached down and stroked the man's shoulder, sending the man in to a spasm of racking sobs upon the floor. While the man was crying from the pain, Vortimer leaned close and spoke in to Ten's ear.

"His skin is hyper sensitive, and any touch will cause him the most exquisite and excruciating agony. Have fun."

With that Vortimer stepped away and leaned against a wall, watching Ten doing whatever it was he needed to do to get the answers they needed. This was not his forte, extracting information from people or doing anything such as this.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    "Ooh," Ten walked a small circle around the poor serious looking guy, rubbing his chin as he considered what he was going to do. If all it took was the slightest touch, then there probably wasn't much he needed to do. The guy would probably start talking after a couple pokes. The young man walked up to him and poked the guy in the side. The serious looking guy responded accordingly and Ten began his questioning.

    "Where's your buddy and that other guy, you know the one. The shooter," He asked, poking him again. The guy didn't answer.. At least, there was nothing the young man could discern from his incoherent ramblings. "Hey!" Ten shouted, slapping him. "Focus. Where are they? Why'd you take the baby and who're you working for!? Also, did you even take a baby?"

    Finally, the guy broke and started gesturing toward the door he'd been standing outside. Oh. Well, that was obvious. Ten turned toward the stranger. "I think they're in there." He pointed at the door the guy had been standing outside before they'd showed up.

    Upon entering the room, they wouldn't find anyone inside. At least, no one living. The shooter would be lying on the floor, partially wrapped up in plastic, his throat having been cut some time ago. Clearly they'd interrupted the serious types while they were tying up loose ends. A nearby window was open. That was probably how the serious type's partner had escaped. And by the window... A dropped pacifier! And in the trash... A dirty diaper!

    The last serious type was apparently in the wind and he totally had the baby.

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer watched as the stranger, who had given his name as Ten interrogated the man who might have taken the baby. He sipmly stood there, back pressed against the wall and watching indifferently. He waited until his own new found partner got an answer out of the protagonist then when Ten moved inside the room he pushed away from the wall and followed Ten inside leaving the man in the hallway. Stepping inside the room, his eyes moved around slowly taking in the room. The dead body upon the floor (though he was not awarethat it was the original man Ten had followed) half wrapped in plastic, the way the throat had been slit, diaper in the waste basket, and the pacifier upon the floor.

     Walking over he knelt and picked the pacifier up between his thumb and forefinger, standing up slowly and turning it around between his fingers as he eyed the small piece of rubber and plastic. He stopped spinning it and looked up to the other male whom it seemed he was partnered with, then out the window that had been left open while a soft incoming breeze caused the curtain to flutter slightly. He looked at the pacifier in his hand once more, then back out the open window as he slowly tucked the baby's pacifier in his pocket.

     "It would seem, Mr. Ten....that we now have a dilemma indeed. As we will be apparently working in closer proximity for an extended duration of time, you may call me Vortimer."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    "Nice to meet you, Vortimer, despite the unfortunate circumstances we seem to have met under." Pleasantries out of the way, the young man began examining the room. It seemed that the baby had been taken here but he hadn't seen it be taken here, meaning there was at least one other person involved besides the guy who'd left through the window.

    "That's the shooter I chased from the crowd," Jack indicated the dead man lying on the floor. "Must've been tying up loose ends. Mister serious type back there-" He vaguely indicated the direction in which they'd left the screaming man. "I saw walk into the building with the shooter and one other guy who I'm figuring was his partner. Someone must have waited here with the baby while the shooter made sure the woman didn't survive her car crash."

    The room was fairly empty. No one had lived there in a while, that much was clear. Examining the lease would be a waste of time. Most likely, the kidnappers had determined it was empty and decided to use it as a staging point for what had occurred.

    "Why'd they kidnap the baby? Couldn't be for ransom if they killed the mom, right? Just doesn't add up to me."

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer moved around the room, slowly opening cabinets and peering inside them before closing them again slowly. He even opened the fridge, which quickly emitted a stench of rotten food in to the room. He did not seemed disturbed by the smell and indeed leaned further in to the fridge and looked around before closing it again. After he had looked through most of everything, he finally went to the sink and slowly turned the faucet on. The pipes gurgled and shook, but no water came out of them which brought a frown to Vortimer's face. Turning the faucet back off, he turned and looked at Ten who had been speaking and responded to show he had in fact been listening.

     "I believe you are right. It would not make sense to kill the mother if you wanted a ransom, unless the father was exceptionally rich and the mother expendable. They obviously want the baby alive, and even more then alive they want the child in good health as evident they took the time to change a soiled diaper after committing a crime. If you are right, and this was the shoot," He gestured at the dead man upon the floor, " then more then wanting to tie up loose ends they wanted absolutely no witnesses outside of their own group. Hence they hired an outsider who was a criminal and probably some sort of gang member, so that when they killed him the police would say that it was a gang on gang killing and drop the case fairly quickly."

     He paused, reaching up to rub his chin slowly and thoughtfully as he stared at Ten for several seconds deep in thought. His mind was working over the clues, contemplating each of them independently at first then all together looking for a way that they would all add together. He was forming something of a clear picture in his mind, but he was curious because there where clearly some glaring holes like a puzzle put together and missing several pieces in the center.

     "What if....kidnapping the baby is part of a larger plot? I am not entirely sure what sort of plot, but obviously something larger then a simple kidnapping is clearly amiss. I suppose it is my job to get to the bottom of this, to make sure that no rogue supernaturals are on the loose and that no daemons are behind this."

     He looked out the window once more, then walked out of the door over to the man they had interrogated. He picked the male up, and dragged him kicking and screaming in to the room. He pulled the male in to the bathroom, and forced him in to the bathroom and pushed him in to the tub. Vortimer held him down, and using his powers cause the tub to begin to fill with water. He did not turn on the faucet, as there was no water coming to the room. Instead the tub filled with water magically, seeming from no where and stayed there despite the fact there was no drain plug. Vortimer's hand gripped the back of the man's head, forcing his face beneath the water. The water on his flesh made the man scream and writhe in agony, which quickly drown the male who went limp and finally died. Vortimer released the male and stood up and let all the water drain through the bath tub. Using his powers to make sure every last drop was out of the tub, and no longer upon the male he left the room looking as if the man had mysterious drown there with no water in the apartment.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Though Vortimer couldn't see it behind his mask, Jack raised an eyebrow. Why would it be his job to investigate this and make sure no rogue supernaturals, daemons more specifically, were loose and a part of this? The young man's first instinct was that perhaps he was a member of the Council. While Vortimer wasn't carrying a sword, that didn't mean a whole lot. He could've just been an apprentice, after all.

    But no. The specific mention of daemons made the young man wonder if he was, perhaps, an agent of the Daemons of Rome. He hadn't encountered any such individuals just yet, but considering the overlap in their missions it was probably inevitable. Jack supposed it didn't really matter why Vortimer felt it was his responsibility to pursue this. He might fin himself needing the help.

    "We need to know where his partner took the kid," Jack stated grimly before he went back to the man and began questioning him again. It didn't take long, the poor fool having already been broken. He gave up the location of the rendezvous where he and his partner had been planning on taking the baby.

    "Shit," The young man said, standing back up. "I've got the location of where his partner probably ran to but the bad news is it's also a clubhouse for them and some buddies. We might have to drop a few more bodies than expected."

    Jack then watched Vortimer proceed to brutally drown the man. He didn't mind so much, the serious type's usefulness having been expended.

[Vortimer]

With everything taken care of, Vortimer brushed his palms upon his thighs and nodded causing his spiked hair to bobbed slightly. He was not worried about a few people, even if the was not a fighter. He had his own ways of getting around things and working his own special style of magic. Magic in this case meaning special skills and not actual magical abilities or supernatural powers. He supposed they would probably need to force their way in to whatever clubhouse this was, and get the information or find whatever it was they needed to in order to find these people. Vortimer nodded at Ten.

"Alright, let's go. Do you need anything? I have a place nearby that I need to swing buy and pick up something. We can get you something there if you wish."

He figured he would offer Ten anything the man needed. Vortimer had a collection after all, but it was mostly for decoration. They where real weapons....but he just did not use them himself very much. He much preferred his own weapon that he knew and could wield the water he personified.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    "No, thanks. But I appreciate the offer." Jack shook his head. He didn't like to borrow other people's things. And besides, the young man had all the firepower he needed. He'd just run, er, teleport home and grab his murder bag. Jack's murder bag was a bag full of all the nasty surprises he brought along when he was preparing to go kill stuff. His sword, shotgun, knives, silver dust, and a few various things that go boom along with some other miscellaneous stuff that he might require.

    For now, he decided to just retrieve his sword. "Gimme a second," Jack told Vortimer. The young man disappeared, teleporting home. He quickly grabbed his sword and teleported back. "This should be ok, right?" Jack strapped it to his waist and wondered how he looked.

    The young man had done what work he could on the weapon, slightly altering its appearance to better fit his personality. He'd found a beautiful black leather sheath to hold it in and the young man had personally added a layer of metal to its inside so the sword wouldn't accidentally cut through. The hilt he'd wrapped in gummy bear themed grip tape and, combined with a couple other cosmetic changes, the weapon hardly resembled the plain blade he'd  originally been given.

    Jack scratched his chin, thinking. "If there's nothing you need to pick up, we can probably just head straight to the bad guys. Sound good?"

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer watched with interest as the male whom he was accompanying disappeared and reappeared with a bag of...stuff. Vortimer did not know what was inside the bag, but he assumed it was a bag of tricks that Ten was going to use in their attempt to find the child that had gone missing. When Ten appeared just a few seconds more after his disappearance, then asked if Vortimer needed something the male raised his right eyebrow high.

     "I do believe I just said I needed to get something, hence I offered to let you come by my house to get some things as well. Not everybody is gifted in the arts of instant transmission such as yourself."

     Vortimer set off, heading towards his own home which was a simple apartment nearby that he was renting currently. The male reached it in several minutes, and stepped inside him sparse apartment. It was simple, with few furniture to decorate it and even less decorations upon the walls or standing on top of the furniture. He moved through a doorway and in to his bedroom. His bed was a simple bedroll upon the floor, and in the corner a cushion and small set up where he meditated. Between the two spots, his quarterstaff was leaning against the wall. Picking it up, he turned and exited his room.

     Moving to the front door, he stepped out again, walking with his quarterstaff like a walking stick. With it he was ready to go and get the child back, or at least find out what had really happened to the baby. "Let us go."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    "Right, right. Sorry," Jack rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed. He wasn't the best with words, so the young man rephrased. "What I meant to say was, what do you need to get get?" Vortimer took off, presumably heading towards his home or whatever. On the way there, Jack spoke again. "I'm not terribly gifted in anything. Teleportation is really more of a skill I've developed over the years. It makes life easier, I like to think."

    When they reached the small apartment, Jack waited outside, munching on mix of gummy bears and skittles. He didn't want to invade the man's privacy but assuming he'd been invited in. Besides, the young man figured Vortimer would be back out shortly after he entered, having picked up whatever he'd come for.

    "Is that all?" The young man asked, eyeing the stick. It made him feel like they were about to journey to Mordor or something. Jack set off, heading towards the street. "Do you have a car? We'll have to take a taxi otherwise. The warehouse is a bit far."

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer looked at at the other looked upon his staffed and questioned it. It was as if the other was expecting something more then this, but Vortimer was confused upon what more the other could be expecting. A sword, a missile launcher or perhaps a tank...Vort was not sure but he was not going to really correct the man. Instead his response to the query was simple and straight forward.

     "Yes, this is it."

     However, the second question was bought up a more troublesome problem. Vortimer had not expect the other to not wish to walk, or to perhaps even fly. The aquatic male raised an eyebrow, looking towards the other and contemplated the situation aloud to the other.

     "I have no vehicle, I have never had need of one. I simply walk, or fly anywhere I need to go. We could hire a taxi perhaps, but I think two men with a staff and a bag might raise questions climbing in to a taxi cab. However, it is whatever you think would be best."

     Vort leaned against his staff, watching the other closely to see how Ten would make up his mind and go with whatever the other male felt the most comfortable with. Vortimer was fluid, and easily adaptable. He could fly, walk, or ride in whatever vehicle the other thought was best. He had a job to do, and whatever means they accomplished it was what he would do.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Just a stick then. Ok. Jack thought that was a little weird but he wasn't judging. Personally, he preferred to carry a number of bladed instruments and guns with him, especially when he was planning on doing something he knew was dangerous. But maybe Vortimer was strong in magic or maybe he was really good at hitting things with a stick. Oh well, Ten figured he'd find out soon enough once they'd reached the warehouse.

    "You can fly?" The young man asked, raising one eyebrow. "That's pretty cool." Jack had met a few people who could fly but he himself had never gotten around to learning the spell required for flight, since he hadn't been born with wings. There were a couple of other interesting spells he'd been looking at recently but that was neither here nor there.

    Vortimer seemed to be leaving the decision of how they were going to get to the warehouse up to him. Well. Jack didn't care either way. He could walk, run, teleport, taxi. Whatever. Time to pass the ball.

    "Honestly doesn't matter to me," Jack admitted, shrugging. "I personally don't care what some random taxi driver thinks and I'm fully capable of getting there however you prefer. So what do you wanna do?"

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer looked at the male, who clearly was putting off making a decision. So Vortimer made it for him, he simply walked off the steps and began to walk down the road. The other male may not care what some Joe Schmoe taxi driver thought, but Vortimer certainly did. The last thing he needed was to attract attention from the UNSAID who would be breathing down his neck which would in turn have the Demons of Rome haranguing him about attracting to much attention. He did not need either of those things happening, so walking it would be. Besides, it was excellent exercise and would help limber them up for what was expected to be a fight to get back the child.

     Vortimer walked along the side, use his staff much like a walking stick as he moved along though he clearly did not need it because he had not been using it before. Yet that fact was only known to Ten, and nobody else really unless they had happened to be spying upon him for some reason. In which case, they knew he did not need it to really walk, but they still only knew it was a walking staff. Vortimer set a steady pace, moving quickly but not running. He paused for all the lights, making sure that the walking lights where illuminated instead of just crossing whenever there was an opening. He flowed between other people moving, slipping between them fluidly and skirting past them as he headed towards the destination that they assumed and thought was where the child had been taken.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack took a moment to scratch his jaw underneath the mask he wore, thinking. Apparently, they were gonna walk. That was fine with him. Personally, he preferred faster, more convenient methods of travel. But whatever. It wasn't like he hadn't walked much greater distances than this. Hopefully, though, it wouldn't delay them too much. Who knew how long those dastardly criminals would be waiting around in wherever they were going.

    Following Vortimer, Jack didn't have any issue keeping up. Now that they were out in public again, the young man stowed away his mask. It would draw more attention than his regular ole boring, average joe face. Plus other reasons. Anyways, Jack observed the other guy while they walked. He didn't really know anything about the stranger and here he was marching into battle with him. He'd caught a little of what the guy was capable of and it had only made him even more curious. But Jack wouldn't pry. That would be rude.

    "When we reach the clubhouse, how do you want to handle it? Guns blazing through the front door? You take the front, I go around back? Smoke em out? What?"

[Vortimer]

     Vortimer continued walking, never varying his steady pace as they moved along the sidewalks and occasionally crossed the streets. He ignored the occasional strange look cast his direction from his atypical skin coloration and hair tones, having grown use to those by now and not really caring. Most would not even question him about it, though he knew they wanted to by the looks upon their faces and the movement of their bodies. He always was curious why they did not ask him about it, and instead continued to walk like automatons to whatever mundane job or life they carried upon.

     When the other male spoke, Vortimer glanced over at him and noticed that the individual had removed his strange mask opting for his true visage. At least, true visage in so much that the male individual had shown Vortimer so far. For all Vortimer knew, this individual could have shape shifting skills and look completely different. Vortimer highly doubted it for some reason, and simply let it slid for right now. Perhaps he would inquire as to why the individual wore a mask such as that, but it would be a later opportunity. Instead, the male brought up a very plausible question entailing the details of how they where going to go about rescuing the babe.

     "I am not one for simply....what is that American idiom, kicking in the front door? I think a more quiet, subtle approach would serve us better do you not? We would not want them to know somebody was coming for the baby they had just stolen and kill it prematurely. I believe working together, we can eliminate opposition efficiently and quietly enough to get in to place before they decided that there was a thread of high enough. With your kills to fight and mine to hinder them, we will be an excellent team I believe."