Banshee Part 5
He had to be kidding, I told myself for the fifth time as I followed Duo out of the restaurant. No way would Chang be looking to hire me. There was some other reason Chang wanted to see us- maybe he thought I had screwed something up? Even though I was sure that I hadn't. The restaurant system had a bug, that's all- easily found and destroyed- nothing I hadn't done multiple times before on the Grove's systems.
Even if he was thinking of making a job offer- I couldn't do it. I had to get out of town. It wasn't safe for me here anymore.
I shouldn't have even agreed to this evening- but I was glad that I did. It was one good thing to take with me...
Duo caught my elbow again and pointed us towards a small door set back in the wall. "Here's our entrance," he said and I blinked at him.
"You don't just go through the building?"
"Oh no. The outside doors are for the outside businesses- the ones that deal with the mundanes as well as magical. Tech is internal- and so are the residents. We use the side doors."
He ushered me through the door and down a long tiled hallway. At the end was another door, this one had a scanner at eye-level. High tech indeed- the Grove didn't have anything like this. Duo put his eye up to the scanner and a moment later I heard the door click.
As we walked through the door, I caught him watching me out of the corner of his eye- almost as if he was waiting for something. I wondered about it for a moment- and then completely forgot about it as we stepped into the biggest damn atrium I had ever seen. It was like walking into a huge park- easily several city blocks- lit with mage-lights, filled with grass, trees, rocks- and the air damn near sparkled with the scales of all the dragons that were flying, diving and cavorting above our heads.
"How the hell-?"
"Magic of course- bigger inside than outside. We have to have someplace to fly," Duo sounded amused at my reaction.
Closing my mouth, I turned in place, taking in the surrounding buildings, the glass topped roof overhead, the balconies draped with more dragons- and some other beings that I had never seen-
"It's not all dragons-?"
"Course not." Duo nudged me in the ribs. "We take in all sorts."
If only I had come here first and not the Grove... damn it all.
"Where's Chang's office?"
"We have to fly there," Duo winked at me and shifted, sinking low to the ground in an unmistakable invitation. I slid onto his back, resisting the urge to run my hands over his skin. Duo didn't have scales, only a dark pebbled hide, but his dragon form was beautiful all the same. Graceful and sleek, he popped his wings out and took to the air.
I leaned against him, holding on tight as we soared upwards, noting the looks we were drawing from some of the other dragons we passed. Jewel-bright, dark, scaled, feathered- even furred- all so unusual- and so beautiful.
Duo landed on a balcony- no railings here, I noted- and nudged at the door with his foot. It was like stepping from a fairy-tale into a techie's dreamworld. Carefully, I hopped down from Duo's back and he shifted again.
"Chang?" he called into the maze of technology.
"Back here-" We wended our way back towards a corner and found Chang at a desk stacked with files. He looked up at us and nodded towards some chairs. "Have a seat. A little different than the Grove?" he asked me and I couldn't help the laugh that rose up at the thought.
"Very different."
"Well we don't really have the sort of problems the elfkin do with metals and such. So we get to be right in the middle of things."
"I can see that."
Chang leaned back in his seat a little and studied me. Then he began asking questions. What had I done for the Grove? What sort of systems could I work on? Was I familiar with...? It went on for nearly ten minutes. I didn't have time to think about why he was asking me these things- so when he finished with:
"Perfect. Can you start tomorrow?"
I gaped at him in shock. "What?"
Duo laughed. "I told him that you'd want to hire him."
"Hire me?" I repeated.
"Very much so. We're swamped here- and you- Trowa told me you were working in a bakery and a nightclub- your skills are wasted there. We have pretty good pay- here-" he handed me a sheet. "you can see it's easy to work your way up- I think you could start here-" He pointed to a line on the sheet and I caught my breath. It was more than I could make in three months at my jobs- it was more than I had made at the Grove-
The Grove. Damn it all to hell.
"I... I can't. I wish I could, I truly do, but- I'm leaving the city tomorrow."
"Leaving!"
I cast an apologetic glance at Duo- he looked stunned.
"I was going to tell you- I have to go. It's not safe- I mean- I have to go-" Damn it. That didn't come out right.
Chang put the sheet down and frowned at me. "What do you mean 'not safe'?"
"Someone is after you, aren't they?" Duo was out of his chair now and hovering near mine. "Those elfkin on the corner- your car-"
No point in denying it. "Yes- I think so."
"Who?"
I couldn't tell them. "I... It's nothing you need to know about." That sounded cold. I didn't mean it to, but maybe it was better that way. "I- I just got into some trouble- and I can get out of it again. But I can't stay in the city."
"You can claim sanctuary with us," Duo said and I saw the look Chang gave him- and the glare he got in return.
"No," I said, and they both looked at me. I focused on Duo for a moment. "I won't drag anyone else into this- it's my problem." Turning to Chang, I bowed my head. "I appreciate the offer- I truly do. If- if it had happened at another time I would've gladly taken it. But-"
Music- discordant music- chimed in my head and I gasped.
"What?"
"I have to go home." I stood up, glancing wildly around for the exit. "Something- there's something wrong at home-" They wouldn't! The apartment was warded!
"I'll take you-"
"I'm coming too-"
I don't remember the flight back- just a moment of disorientation as we took to the sky- what the hell was Chang? That wasn't a dragon!- and then the sight of my apartment building- quiet on it's corner- no sign of trouble- had I been wrong?
But then we landed on the fire escape- and I saw what they had done-
~*~
I slid in after Heero, Chang only a step behind me. I could feel the anger radiating off of him, and felt it's echo in myself. We stepped over broken plates, past the torn-apart sofa, the shattered TV- noted the trap spell on the front door-
Chang raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded. I knew what he was thinking. Heero's apartment was tiny- it only took a few minutes to determine that we were in fact alone- whoever had done this hadn't stayed in the apartment- but no doubt they were nearby- waiting for the trap-spell to go off.
This looked serious. I could feel the power that had been used to smash through Heero's wards- and the trap spell- only a high ranking elfkin could have done it.
Heero was on his knees, just inside the bedroom, his guitar case in front of him. It looked as if someone had stomped on it- I knew the guitar inside couldn't be intact.
I left Chang frowning at the scribbled message on the wall that faced the door and went to kneel by Heero. He'd opened the case- and the guitar was indeed badly damaged.
"I hid it," he said to me, and the pain in his voice made me hurt for him. "Tried to make sure it was safe- it's the only thing I had left- from home."
"We can get it fixed." I assured him. It wasn't a flat tire and I knew my magic wasn't up for something so delicate, but Trowa might be able to do it- and if not we could find someone who could.
He sighed, closing the case, and I slipped my arm around his shoulders. He leaned into me for a long moment- and then pulled away. "There was something in the other room-"
"They left you a note."
He got to his feet, cradling the case in his arms. I watched his mouth tighten as he read the words on the wall.
Banshee- submit to your fate. He's waited long enough.
Heero gently placed his guitar case on his wrecked sofa and bent down, picking up a huge felt tip marker- obviously the one that had been used to write the message.
Fuck off. He penned neatly on the wall and capped the marker. Turning to us, his lips curved in that not-quite a smile of his, he took a deep breath.
"Thanks for the ride home. I have to leave now."
"And you really think they'll let you leave the city? That they won't follow you?" Chang gestured at the mess around us. "Look around you, banshee. I don't know what the hell you did to piss them off so badly, but this isn't going to end by you leaving."
"Maybe not- but I have to try-"
"There's a trap spell on the door- you won't get far."
Heero looked at the door. "Oh hell-"
Chang snorted and glanced at me. "I'm claiming sanctuary for you. We'll take you back and have you talk to the Matriarch. I'm sure she'll agree."
I knew Heero wasn't just going to agree- but even as his mouth opened to argue, we all heard the sounds on the staircase. Running feet-
Freezing in place, I saw Chang mutter something and gesture at the door. A moment later, we could hear voices.
"...told you! It's still in place! He hasn't gotten back yet!"
"I'm telling you that I can feel presences inside! I think he's there!" Another voice hissed back.
"How? He couldn't have gotten past the trap and inside! Maybe he has a cat or something!"
"We didn't see one in there-"
"So we missed it! Big deal! Come on- we have to get out of sight- he'll be back soon- and we can take him right to Zechs!"
Zechs? I should've guessed.
"Imagine how pleased he'll be-"
The voices faded away, the footsteps moving down the stairs and I turned to Heero. "It's Zechs that's after you?"
He nodded. "Yes. The Head of the Grove. So do you see now why you can't help me?"
Chang growled. "Like we'd let that bastard drive you off?" Heero blinked at him and I nudged him towards the window.
"If anything I think we have to insist on helping you."
Chang studied the street for a moment, before taking to the air. "I'll go ahead, see if she can talk to us now."
"Got it." I maneuvered Heero and his case out onto the fire escape.
"But-" He looked at me, ready to argue. "In the office- Chang didn't want to give me sanctuary-"
"It's a long story," I told him. "And it wasn't you- it was me- ah hell. It's complicated. For now let's just say it's hard to find a good tech and go with that. I'll explain the rest later. It's not a smart idea to keep the Matriarch waiting."
And with that, finally, Heero stopped arguing and let me take him away from his wrecked apartment.
TBC...
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