Post by Jobeth Weston on May 22, 2011 21:02:29 GMT -6
Jo Weston was currently doing something she did frequently. It didn't mean that she particularly liked it. At least this part. Traipsing through the woods in the darkness wasn't exactly fun. But, it was what she did so she sucked it up and kept moving. A little shiver slide down her back as she thought about what could be out there. Especially, snakes. She hated them, they terrified her. Here she was trying to keep a track on a vampire and she was scared of snakes.
She let out a little sigh. Her mind was babbling as she made her way through the trees and brush as quietly as possible. In one hand she was carrying a very large knife. Actually, it was a machete if you wanted to get technical. She was dressed for the job, wearing all black, cargo pants, with a utility belt that had a sheath for the knife. There was also a flash light in another slot on the belt. Black long sleeved t-shirt, hoodie, and boots. She even had her long blonde hair tucked up inside the hood of the sweatshirt. Other necessary supplies she carried in a large messenger bag she had strapped across her body.
"Come on you slippery little bastard, I know you're out there."
Jo mumbled quietly to herself as she kept stealthily moving through the woods.
Damn it all to hell. Why the hell did HE always get picked for these boring information runs? He was a warrior for petesake.. Not some kind of nancy that enjoyed sneaking around in the dark praying that they didn't get caught. Kitten should of known better and let DeVoux do this kind of crap. The wolf was much better at keeping his presence under the radar and Curse was more the "in your face" kind of fighting man. He didn't do stealth as well as some of the others on the team and this shit just plain SUCKED. Instead of going in with both barrels blazing, he was stuck creeping around like some sort of Peeping Tom... A good looking peeping tom if he had to say so himself but .. A fucking peeping tom just the same.
Still mentally shaking his head at his inner thoughts, Lt. Curse Jordan crawled through the lower brush on his stomach as quietly as he could. From his advantage, he caught a glimpse of movement from under the trees and froze. The figure of a tall man stepped from the tree line and cast a furtive look around. Keeping himself completely motionless, the former special ops soldier watched and waited until the mark continued forward. When he was no less that three feet from him, he sprung up from the ground and struck with a speed that was unreal for a mere human. Within seconds, the vampire was down and his wrists were handcuffed with silver manacles. The son of a bitch might have supper natural strength but everyone had their poisons. Silver was his.
With a sarcastic smirk, Curse slapped a gag of sock and duct tape over his new "Friends" lips and then grinned down at him.
"There... Never let it be said I didn't offer you something to bit down on. Although I'm sure its not to your normal tastes.. It'll have to do cause there's someone who wants to have a word with you and I've been sent to fetch you. Capish? No?? Well, no matter.. you will soon enough... Unless you make me accidentally trip you on the way to the car and you end up impaling yourself on one of these dangerous branches laying around.... Don't give me any trouble? and We'll get along just fine."
Reaching down to help the vampire up, the handsome man froze as his senses picked up the approach of someone else. Letting out a low swear word, he yanked the vampire into the darkest depths of the shadows and then moved quickly away in the opposite direction. Whoever it was, he didn't want them finding his prize and if they were one to him... Distance was the next best thing.
This was a little bit different of a mission than what she normally did. Usually, with a vampire it would be a simple kill and move on. But, this one possibly had information she was looking for. Something bigger seemed to be going on lately. At least that's what her research had been telling her and her research was never wrong, OK, maybe not never but at least it was rarely wrong.
Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. She heard something. Sliding up against a tree she took a moment to just listen. There was definitely movement up ahead. She peeked around the tree, trying to see what was going on but it was so dark. The flashlight would only give her position away. What she wouldn't give for some night vision goggles or something.
After a few moments the movement picked up again.
"Damn it," she mumbled.
There were more than one of them and they were moving off away from her. She had no choice but to follow.
Once again she found herself slinking along through the brush and trees. Trying to catch up with them she moved faster. She still tried to be as quiet as she could, but the stealthy-ness wasn't the most important thing anymore. Jo was pretty sure they must have noticed someone was following them. Now it had become like a race.
As she got closer she could see there were definitely two of them. One of them looked to be the prisoner of the other. Gagged and his hands bound. That one looked like her vamp. The other one she had no idea who the hell he was but she was not about to let him get away with her vampire.
Finally, she just started flat out running. The knife still in her hand. She had a flash through her mind about how dangerous running with scissors was and figured it must have been even more dangerous to run with a huge machete in your hand. This was a situation where she had no choice. She needed to talk to that vampire. There was something big going on and she was going to find out what it was. Nothing or no one was going to stop her.
She was gaining on them but not fast enough to suit her. If they made it to the main road and had a car or something, she was going to lose them. Thinking quickly she switched the knife to her other hand. Reaching down to the holster strapped to her right leg she pulled out the .45 auto that was loaded with silver bullets.
Not know who this other person was, she didn't really want to kill them, but she wanted to stop them. So, she fired two shots over their heads.
"Hey! Stop! I can promise you, the next shots won't miss and they are solid silver so it'll take care of the both of you."
Jo was close enough now that she could stop running. Keeping the gun aimed in their direction, steadying it with her other hand that was also still clutching the machete. Yeah, she must have been a sight. She didn't care. That vampire was hers and she wasn't letting anyone get away with him.
So there he was... One minute he was minding his own damned business, doing his own damned work and the next? Bullets were buzzing around him like pissed off bees on a bear who'd tried to steal their honey. Twisting around, the former Navy seal went to dive for cover but felt something rip into his left buttock just as he moved. A foul oath escaped him and he toppled gracelessly to the ground but somehow had the presence of mind to avoid impact on his now wounded area.
What in the SAM HILL was going on??
A fast look up gave him a glimpse of a blond woman running at him and then the gun that was leveled in his direction. Dude? Seriously? Did she think that little pea shooter was going to do trick? All it did was piss him off and make him a really grumpy soldier. With unnatural speed, he pulled his own gun and fired a round that hit the gun and sent it spiraling out of the woman's hand. Then and only then did he give voice to his anger.
"GOD FREAKING DAMN IT WOMAN!!! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?? DON"T YOU HAVE SOME FUCKING COOKIES TO BAKE OR SOMETHING?? GO BACK TO WHATEVER CREATURE HATCHED YOU AND STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY MISSION!"
He fairly snarled as he shot to his feet and then grimaced. Looking down, his eyes fell on his torn trousers and the seepage of blood down one leg.
"YOU FUCKING SHOT ME!! YOU GOD DAMNED SHOT ME IN THE ASS!!!"
In an effort to regain control of his temper before he did something both he and the girl would regret, Curse took a deep breath and looked up at the sky.
"LORD? If this is your idea of a test or some other crap... You better send a rescue squad cause the woman might just end up needing it!!"
He declared before turned his glare on the woman once more.
"I don't know who the hell you are but I'm Lt. Curse Jordan and your interfering with government business. Unless you got a god damned good reason for being here.. You need to get the hell out of my sight!"
Jo froze in place her eyes widening as big a saucers as she heard the gunshot and then her own gun was suddenly ripped from her hands. She stood there blinking in shock as the man started yelling at her. She couldn't catch it all but she heard something about her staying out of his mission. Furrowing her brow she wondered what he was talking about.
When he jumped to his feet her eyes followed his as he looked down. Then the yelling started again. Automatically she took a tiny step backward. Like that was going to stop him from screaming at her. She saw the rip in his pants and the blood. Oh crap, she thought. Really, she hadn't meant to shoot the man.
She could feel his temper rising and she focused herself. Thinking calming thoughts she closed her eyes for a moment to find the anger and push the calm in that direction. Opening her eyes again she took in what he was saying. She frowned and wrinkled her nose as she thought. Lt. Curse Jordan? on government business? What the hell would the government want with a vampire. Did the government even KNOW about vampires?
Continuing to try and send out some calming waves of energy she figured she better answer before he decided to shoot her.
"Ummm, well. My name is Jobeth Weston, you can call me Jo. Everybody does. Uh... I'm not with the government. I was, well... I was out here looking for something. Something important that I need to get some... well, very important information from."
She paused for a moment. Took a deep breath and tried to get a handle on the emotions floating around. Trying to make sure he wasn't going to fly into a rage.
"And... Uh... I'm real sorry that I shot you. It was just supposed to be a warning shot, but I was running and I guess that threw my aim off a little. But... I think you might have or at least you might have seen what I was looking for so I needed to get your attention."
Jo looked again at his rear end and the blood seeping from the tear and soaking his pants.
"Umm... I do have some first aid supplies in my bag. Would you like me to take a look at your... uh... your wound?"
Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly. Letting her eyes rise up to meet his. It was soooo not a good thing for her to be staring at his ass. Not to mention the idea of looking at it to patch him up. But, she was responsible and she felt like it was the right thing to do for the man, or lieutenant or whatever.
Kitten was so going to pay for this when he got back to ground zero. This was the LAST time he was taking on an information run out of the goodness of his heart. Screw that. He'd gotten shot in the ass for gods sake! The things he did for his... Wait, he wasn't even DOING them for his damned country anymore! Oh, yeah... Kitten was going the hear about this for DAMNED sure. Not that it would do any good but it would sure as hell make him feel better.
Opening his mouth to blast the woman further, Curse suddenly felt as if his rage was lessening. Frowning, he glared at her and opened his mouth again but, again, his inner voice seemed to quiet. His temper had always been horrible because of his berserker side but he'd learned to rein it it before it hurt anyone around him. This thought... This was as if something were soothing it. Like a hand on a cats back.
What in the bloody hell??
With a gaze suddenly gone suspicious, the former navy seal took a good look at the young woman and found her surprisingly pretty. She held a knife like she knew how to use it but without any obvious military training. Who the hell was she and what exactly was it that she was looking for? A woman like her shouldn't be out here in the middle of the night hunting for anything. It would only lead to getting her killed.
"Listen, lady... Jobeth... Jo... Whatever the hell you go by... I guarantee there's nothing out here that you need to tangle with. I'm on a mission to bring in a very bad dude for questioning and that's what I'm doing. It would be best if you just turn your pretty ass around and head on out of here before my extraction team shows up and your dragged into something far more dangerous then a midnight run in the woods." he said, trying to keep his tone level and the anger out of it. "As far as my wound... I've survived worse.... I just won't be such a pleasant bastard to be around for awhile."
Wincing as he moved, Curse reached into his pocket and pulled out the satellite phone he was carrying. Two bumps later and static came on the line before Lt. Colonel Derek DeVoux's voice rang out.
"Package delivered?"
Were his only two words. Curse shook his head and then answer.
"Package Picked up and ready for extraction. Tell the Kitten she owes me big on this one... and we've got a civilian on the spot."
For a long moment silence reigned and then Derek's voice came back.
"Civilian? What the hell did you do this time, Jordan? Never mind. I don't want to know. Extraction in three minutes. Chopper inbound."
Jo stood there maintaining eye contact with the man. He seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. That was good. He sure could yell loud. Though, she did see his expression change to one of questioning. Like he was wondering himself why he wasn't so mad anymore. Jo suppressed a smile and chewed on her lip.
Pushing back the hood on her sweatshirt she shook her head and let her blond hair fall around her shoulders. He was talking to her. Trying to tell her she shouldn't be out there. Like she hadn't heard that before. She let out a sigh.
"Before you continue on with trying to tell me I should be in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant. I'm just gonna slide over here and get my gun. I'm not gonna shoot you. No matter how much I might want to at the moment. But, hey. It's part of a matched set of pearl handled, nickel plated, Colt 1911, .45 automatics. They're beauties and I'm not leaving one behind."
Jo side stepped over a ways, keeping her eyes on the man as she went. Moving slowly so he wouldn't shot her. she finally made it to the gun, lifted it slowly and carefully put it back in it's holster.
"Now, I'm gonna put this knife back in it's sheath, so it would be nice if you didn't shoot me."
Sliding the knife back where it belong, she now stood there empty handed. She didn't get the feeling that he was going to hurt her. From what he was saying he was just doing his job. A job that apparently she had interfered with. But, she had a job too. It seemed that their jobs were overlapping.
She watched as he pulled out a fancy phone. She could only hear his end of the conversation.
"Package Picked up and ready for extraction. Tell the Kitten she owes me big on this one... and we've got a civilian on the spot."
Jo crossed her arms over her chest and glared over at the man. Package, extraction, kitten? Civilian?! It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out some of it. Though, Kitten, was gonna be a puzzler.
"Ok, look. Curse was it? And what the hell kind of name is Curse anyway? AND... My name is Jobeth... or Jo, that's J - O. Not to difficult to remember is it?"
Taking a deep breath she paused. Now she needed some calming of her own she focused on that again. She did not want this to turn into a bigger mess than it already was. Sending out energy of soothing to meet the aggression in the air.
"I may be a 'civilian' or whatever, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. I heard you on your fancy smancy phone over there. You have a package to pick up. I have a feeling that's the same 'package' that I was after. If you think I'm gonna let you just waltz out of here with you. You've got another thing coming."
Jo moved forward. Advancing on him, determined but in a none threatening way. She got up as close as she dared and stopped in front of him.
"You're either gonna have to let me talk to 'the package' and get the information I need. Or... I'm going to be like white on rice on your gun shot ass."
So the woman wanted to play, did she? Curse wasn't normally one who spoke harshly to a woman but this one just seemed to be getting on his last nerve. He hadn't been happy about this whole damned thing to begin with and now he had to deal with a hair brained woman with an attitude? Not only no but.. HELL NO! When she moved right up in his grill, his eyes narrowed into green slits and he could feel the berserker inside twitch.
"I hate to inform you, cupcake, but its going to take more than you to stop me. My team will be here stat and your a liability."
He drawled out in a low, dangerous tone.
"And see.. Normally, I would think that a damn shame but in your case?? It would almost be worth it to bust your ass and set you behind a set of bars. However, because i AM a gentleman, I'm going to give you the next sixty seconds to beat a track for those trees before I go with my better judgment and take you into custody."
Even as he spoke, the sound of chopper blades filled the air and the wind around them began to pick up. Curse didn't have to look up to know who it was and a smirk spread over his lips as a spotlight suddenly shined down upon them.
"Well, princess? Whats it going to be? The midnight clock has rung and you aren't home tuck in bed safe and sound. And your pumpkin has turned into a mess..."
From behind him, Curse heard the sound of a ladder being dropped and knew he had just moments to get the hell out of there. Turning on his heels, he headed for the line of trees and found his burden right were he'd left it. He could still feel the woman's presence but he ignored her and flipped the heavy body up and over his shoulders. Starting back towards the chopper, he gave "Jo" a look before arching a brow.
"I'd like to say that this has been a pleasure... but I'd be lying. Its been a real pain in the ass to be honest."
Well, hell. This was not working out the way she had planned. This was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab, and then an interrogation of a one vampire with some possible inside information. Here she was having to deal with this sarcastic, misogynistic, and very grumpy male. She had to admit, that part of his grumpiness was the fact that she had shot him in the ass. Which, she totally hadn't meant to do. But, really... Did she deserve, this?
Jo heard the sound of the helicopter and looked up as it got closer. She just stood there rooted to the spot as he smirked at her. Then he went off to collect his 'package'. Just as she had suspected it was the vampire she was looking for. He was bound and gagged and the cranky dude had just hoisted him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Standing there she took another few deep breaths. Needing to calm herself more than anything. This vampire had vital information she needed. She had no idea what these government types wanted with a vampire. Maybe they were going to do weird experiments on him or something.
Letting out a long heavy sigh she stood her ground as this Curse person, she still wanted to know what the hell kind of name that was, headed toward his ride home. He gave her a 'look' before spouting off what she was sure he thought were his parting words to her.
Shaking her head she gave him a look of her own, one that said, 'Hardy, har, har. You're so NOT funny.' Her feeling bad for shooting him was only going to go so far.
Since he had his hands full with the vampire she made a decision. It was probably one of the craziest things she'd ever done. His earlier words about taking her into custody wafted through her mind. Well, just let him then. At least she'd get to find out something about what's going on. It wasn't like they would actually kill her. Would they? She was going to have to take the chance or lose everything she had been working on for so long.
Her hand moved down to the gun in her holster and she pulled the gun out quickly. Not giving much time for a reaction. Of course, she wasn't fool enough to threaten the man directly. But... if she threatened his prize, it might just be another thing. Of course she didn't really want to kill the vampire, but she didn't want it getting away from her either. So, they would be in a kind of Mexican stand off or whatever they called it.
"Yeah, I don't think so. You've got a couple choices here now. 1. You give me the vampire and we both go our merry way. 2. You kill me and then you'll have cops and everyone else all up in your shit when I don't report in. 3. You take me with you and we all get what we want if you just let me talk to the vamp."
She had the gun pointed at the vampire's head. Giving a good smirk of her own she decided to add.
"Oh... and I am nobody's cupcake or princess. THE. NAME. IS. JO."
Of all the things Curse had expected to encounter that evening... This was NOT it. Just when he thought that shit couldn't get worse, the twit had to go and pull a fucking gun on him. It took all the self control he had not to show her exactly who and what she was dealing with. She had no idea what she was baiting and that was a very bad move on her part. A move that would have gotten her killed had he been anyone but who he was.
Swearing long and low under his breath, the former spec ops soldier heaved the vampire higher on his shoulder and gave her the fiercest look he had. It was one that sent brave men home to their mommies screaming like two year old.
"Lady, you have no clue what you are getting into. I'm not just some soldier out on a lark here... I'm on official business and your really starting to chap my hide. You want your vampire? Come and get him then but I gaurendamntee you that your not going to like where it gets you."
He snarled out just as another shadow seemed to drop down from the chopper to stand a few feet away. A quick glance in that direction showed none other than his commanding officer, Kat Foster standing there with an expression that did not bode well for his immediate future.
Assumptions that were confirmed when she strode forward and glared at the pair of them.
"What is this, Jordan? A Company picnic? What the hell is taking you so long? We don't have all god damned night. Someones bound to notice the chopper."
Sending Jo a glance, Curse made a mocking little bow.
"Kitten, let me introduce you to Ms. Jobeth Weston. She seems to think that John Doe here..." Curse reached up and patted the vampires back. ".. is hers. I bagged him first fair and square though and was just about to put him in the chopper when the lass proceeded to pull a weapon on me. I did warn her of the consequences but she doesn't seem to believe me..."
As the commander turned a look on the blond woman, Curse dumped the vampire to the ground and heard an audible groan.
"Oh shut up, mate. My sister takes harder hits than you, you vampire pansy ass."
Strolling forward, the redhead woman took in the gun and the woman and shook her head. Her eyes were half apologetic and half resigned as she spoke.
"My apologies, Ms. Weston. Unfortunately, you've now become a liability that we can't allow."
Moving so fast that the human eye would have had problems following, Kat knocked the weapon aside and leveled a calculated blow to Jo's jaw. As the woman slumped, the red head caught her and started towards the ladder.
"TIME TO MOVE, JORDAN! NOT STAND THERE GAWKING LIKE SOME KIND OF PLOW BOY.. EVEN IF YOU ARE ONE!"
Shaking his head, Curse picked up the vampire once more and threw him over his shoulder. As Kat took the ladder ahead of him after doing the same, he still marveled at the ease with which the woman handled the matter. That human woman was going to be as mad as a wet cat when she woke up but he was just glad it wouldn't be him dealing with it. Hopefully.
