Bearer of Bad News

Manhattan - Donovan Residence

The top three floors of a five floor mansion on Fifth Avenue, the Donovan home is quite large. The outer walls are a beautiful white limestone with a wrought-iron gate blocking the entrance. The home has eleven large rooms and has wonderful details throughout including the original staircase, elevator to all floors, 11-foot high ceilings, hardwood floors, three wood burning fireplaces, a solarium with skylight and a great south facing terrace. There is a grand foyer on the main floor, a beautiful living room with three large windows overlooking Central Park. Other rooms include a formal dining room, powder room, a service kitchen and a staff room and bath. The next floor is the sleeping floor with 4 bedrooms and baths, including a spa like master bath. On the top floor there is a wonderful den that opens into a windowed eat in chef's kitchen that over looks the 400-square foot south facing terrace with views of the Empire State Building, a powder room and a solarium also looks out to the terrace. There are also two large storage rooms.


Characters

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Chance Harper Jenna Donovan Rhett Harper

When his father calls to ask him if he's at Jenna's, Chance doesn't think anything of it. When he asks Chance if he can stop by to 'go over something with him,' a vague sense of unease sets in. When he can't get any answers over the telephone, the alarms begin to quietly sound.
He asks all the questions: inquiries about his grandparents (both sets) and near relatives are met with positive and affirmative answers. The same with questions about his father's health. That means that he's added confusion to worry, and is finding it difficult to focus on anything while waiting for his father to arrive. The television is on, he's curled on the couch with Jenna, but his mind is elsewhere.

~*~

It's difficult for Jenna to concentrate on anything at the moment. Usually, she doesn't feel Chance as well as she does others; he's got natural barriers. Today is different. He's definitely worried about something, and she's getting a bit of unfocus from him as well.
Leaning against him, she does her best at sending positivity his way.
"Preston took me shopping earlier… or maybe I took him. I bought plenty of things to wear for you later. Maybe I'll do a fashion show for you even."

~*~

Chance forces his attention to his girlfriend. She's more interesting than the show on the television, and she's a good distraction. "You and Preston went shopping? What for?" He has an idea, but he wants to hear her say it.
~*~

Rhett sits in the car for a good twenty minutes before he finally exits to make his way to the front door. He takes the time to let out his own worries: about Brooke, about Robert and Dawna, about Siobhan, about how he's going to deliver this news to the two young people inside.
He rings the bell and waits for an answer.
~*~

"Lingerie. Just like you asked for. Plenty of it just for you." Jenna leans up and kisses the underside of his jaw. When she hears the bell, she stands and goes through the main room toward the door.
"I think your father's here."
Opening the door with a smile, she invites Rhett into her home. "Come on in. Chance is just in the living room. Can I get you something to drink?"

~*~

Chance looks up at the sound of the bell. The wariness and worry come rushing back, banishing images of Jenna running around in all sorts of skimpy lingerie. Jenna might think that he has nothing to worry about, but this really is a little out of character for his father. Especially lately.
He follows his girlfriend to the door, hands shoved in the pockets of his pants. "Hey, Dad."
~*~

Rhett gives Jenna a soft, fond, paternal smile. "Evening, Jenna. Chance." Stepping inside, he closes the door behind him and nods at the couple. "No thank you, I'm good. But you can feel free to get yourself something." He looks to his son and gives him a faint smile, "Sorry to have interrupted your evening unexpectedly."

~*~
"Chance? Did you want something to drink? It'll only take me a few seconds at the bar." Jenna motions the men toward the living room. "Please make yourself at home," she tells Rhett with a smile.
She can't help but be in 'hostess' mode, it's just how she is. At work, or at home, she likes people to feel comfortable.
Even so, her smile falters just a little when she's getting worry from Rhett too.

~*~

"Yeah," Chance says, distractedly. Normally, he likes to watch Jenna when she's all hostessy and domestic. It's cute and hot at the same time. "You can surprise me, though."
He leads his father into the living room, and returns to the couch. The television is still on, so Chance grabs the remote and turns down the volume. "You've got me worried, you know that right?"
Beat.
"You weren't just sugar coating it until you got here, right? No one's died?"

~*~
Rhett takes a seat in the arm chair, leaving the couch open for the couple. "I know." He doesn't apologize for it, because short of telling Chance a lie, there was no way to come over like this and keep his son from worrying.
He can't help but give a soft chuckle, though it's not all that upbeat and doesn't reach his eyes. "I assure you that I wouldn't have withheld that on the telephone."
Giving a quick look around, Rhett asks, "Preston isn't here?"
~*~

"I think he went out to Cooper's, or he's upstairs with Cooper." Jenna hasn't seen him since he got the call that Cooper was not only back in town but really wanted to see him.
"I can run up and check," she tells Rhett as she hands a glass of scotch to Chance. It was the first thing she managed to grab. "It might be a bit awkward, but it's not like I haven't seen him in that state before." Shrugging, she glances at her boyfriend, and then back to his father.
"I think Chance might have an aneurysm soon if you don't tell him what's going on though. He's been worried since your call."

~*~

"It's awfully quiet for them to be upstairs," Chance points out. "Though I suppose that stranger things have happened." Preston and Cooper being quiet, however, would rank really high on the 'stranger things' list.
He takes the glass of scotch with a gracious smile at this girlfriend. With his other hand, he takes her hand, and drinks a swallow of the scotch. "Yeah, Dad, what's going on?"

~*~
Rhett looks at the happy couple and automatically glances toward the staircase when they mention that Preston might be with Cooper. As much as he doesn't want to leave it to Chance and Jenna to tell Preston, that's not something he wants to interrupt. "I think we can leave them to their reunion."
Folding his hands together, he sobers. "Why don't you sit down, Jenna?"
~*~

That worries her more than anything else. Jenna moves over to Chance's side, but just sets her hand on his shoulder. "I'm alright," she says quietly. Her first thought is that something's happened to her parents. Chance never did ask about anybody in her family.
"I think that's a good idea, though Chance is right. It's quiet. They're likely at Cooper's."
~*~

"Jenna, please sit." The little quiet alarms have turned into klaxons, and Chance knows his father wouldn't ask her to sit down if it wasn't going to be bad. Though he immediately goes where her mind went, and says, "I'm sure this isn't about your family."
Beat.
Blue eyes snap to his father, and he asks, "It isn't right?"

~*~
That's a tricky question. Is it about Jenna's blood family? No. On the other hand, Siobhan is technically her family. "I assure you that your brother and your parents, and even your grandparents are perfectly all right, Jenna."
He waits a moment, giving the girl the opportunity to sit or not, and then continues. "I'm not going to go into a lot of background detail because I don't have a lot of it. Recently, there's been a rash of disappearances of supernaturals. Mostly visitors to the city and drifters. Until today. Sometime this afternoon, unidentified people entered Brooke Bishop's apartment and kidnapped her and Siobhan, who was with her at the time."
~*~

When Chance asks her to sit down, she does so without even thinking about it. She doesn't normally do that, but there was something in her voice that told her she had to sit down.
"It's Siobhan," she says, as soon Rhett confirms that it's not her immediate family. It's the only other family she's got left, and it's the only person he didn't mention.
When Rhett verifies that, she takes Chance's hand and squeezes it tightly.
"Does… does Harper know? Are there people looking for her?"

~*~

"Of course there are sweetheart," Rhett reaches out and presses her hand and Chance's between his. "Do you think that Robert and Dawna would have it any other way? The Priory has taken this as a top priority. Brooke is an old friend of Bryn Blackwell, and I hear that your boss is ready to tear the city apart to find her. Which means that they'll find Siobhan too."
Beat.
"Robert and Dawna were going to talk to your parents about Harper. I think that they were leaning toward not upsetting him with this until he's clear of exams."

~*~
"He's going to know something's wrong," Jenna points out quietly. "I'm a good actress in person, but not so much when he can sometimes feel what I'm feeling, even at a distance." She does agree that it's best not to upset him, and he does only have a few exams left so she'll try to keep her thoughts light, and not let them wander.
"Mr. Collins will understand then if I decide to bank a few sick days." There's no point in going to work when she's worried and not able to focus on the customers.
"What can we do to help?"

~*~

"I don't think that Mr. Collins will notice if you take a few sick days," Rhett admits. Collins is protective and possessive, and he suspects obsessive as well.

"I think the best thing the two of you can do is support each other and the Knights. Robert put on a good show when I spoke to him, but I know he's probably only hanging on by a thread for Dawna's sake." Rhett lets his gaze linger on Chance. "I know how angry, helpless and frustrated I would feel in his shoes."

Beat.

"Brooke is my friend, and I know how I feel right now. It's so much worse when it's family, or a child."

He pauses, giving both their hands a squeeze. "If you can think of anything. Anything no matter how little, that can provide a clue, that would be helpful too."
~*~

Chance frowns. He's been quiet because he's taking it all in. This isn't something that happens to real people. This happens in books and movies, and on television. Real people don't get kidnapped and disappear without a trace.

"How do you know for sure that Shiv was there?" Chance glances at Jenna. "We hadn't seen her so we thought she went to Boston. That was … two days ago. It just happened today?"

~*~
"She slept with Cooper. It was a magical roofie, or wild magic, we think. Neither one of them can remember anything but waking up together." At least, that's what Preston told her. "She wouldn't cheat on Harper, not on purpose… but maybe she was avoiding actually seeing him in person. They've been separated so long…"
There's a bit of a twinge in Jenna, and she takes a deep breath. She's trying not to let her emotions bleed through the twin-bond, but at the moment, she can't help it. Worst case, if Harper calls, she'll try to pass it off as missing a really great role on Broadway. He can fuss at her later for it.
"That, and she hasn't been home since they came back from tour. I didn't even know she was back until Cooper called and said the tour was over."
~*~
Rhett blinks at Jenna, shocked. It gradually fades to understanding and he nods his head. In other circumstances, he'd laugh about it. He's heard of spells that can have such an effect, though they'd have to be pretty damn powerful. "She might have been staying at Brooke's then." It makes sense. Siobhan might have wanted some place to go that wasn't home where she'd have to face her friends.

Rhett will pass that information onto Bryn. It might be useful, it might not, but it's more information. "Right now, the assumption is that Brooke was the target and that Siobhan was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That she was either taken for leverage or because they realized her value."

Beat.

"The important thing, believe it or not, is that they did take her. That means that they wanted to keep her alive." Rhett doesn't know that for one hundred percent certainty, but he's brushed shoulders with the seedier side of the supe world. It's much easier and faster to get rid of 'dead weight' than it is to carry it around. "Anyone after supernaturals would be interested in one of the few known hybrids in the city."
~*~

"Maybe."
Rhett did say he wanted any information, and really, that's the only new information Jenna has. She hasn't really seen Siobhan much since their birthdays in Sin City, but they've kept in contact. She's not unsurprised that she heard the news about Cooper from Pres, rather than Shiv.
"There's more than just Shiv and Christian?" Blinking at that, Jenna looks over at her boyfriend as though asking him 'did you know that?'.
~*~
"There is one other here in the city," Rhett isn't going to reveal his suspicions about Brooke. He knows what he's sensed from her, and that's likely the reason these people wanted her. Either that or getting back at Collins. "Obviously not as well known as Siobhan and Christian."

~*~
Chance looks as surprised as Jenna by that reveal. Something tickles the back of his mind about getting that feeling from someone else, but he can't chase it down. "What can we do, Dad? I don't just want to sit here on my ass doing nothing. Not if we can help them."
~*~

"Oh. Okay. I didn't know there were more than two in the entire world, really." So that there's a third in the city is a surprise. Once Siobhan is back, Jenna fully intends on teasing her bestie about not being so special after all. After, you know, giving her a great big hug and anything else the witch needs.
"He's right though. We can't sit and do nothing. All I'll do is worry, and that's not any help to anyone."
~*~
Rhett almost tells the pair that unfortunately that's all that's left to do. He stops himself before the words are out of his mouth. His suggestion is going to be a long shot, and it might just be busy work, but it'll keep them occupied. If it pans out, all the better.

"Pool your resources." Rhett sits back and taps the arm of the chair. "Jenna isn't a magic user, but she can read. Your cousins like to show off. Contact them and see if there are any spells for long distance communication. Usually they require a connection to the person previously, or blood, or get on the dark side, but there might be something that's not so dark."

Blackwell didn't mention anything like that, but he's got his hands full managing the case. He might also know that there is nothing that isn't dark, or it may not have occurred to him.

"If it's dark blood magic, though, I don't want you attempting it on your own. Bring it to me and I'll take a look at it or get Blackwell to go over it with me to see how dangerous it might be."

"I'm going to get back in touch with Blackwell and The Priory and see what else could be helpful."

~*~
"We can do that," Chance agrees with a nod. They can also go to the Undercity. His cousins are all younger than him, but he might be able to wheedle something out of one or two of them with the right leverage. Barring that, if he catches his one uncle drunk enough that might work as well.

~*~
"We've got a werewolf, Chance. We can ask Quin to see if he can scent anything by the apartment too. And… once it's safe to tell Harper, then he can try to connect with Shiv telepathically." That's a long shot too, and Jenna well knows that. But if it gives them all a feeling of helping, then it's what she's going to do.
"I'll… tell Preston once he's home… and I'll make up some meals that can be freezered for the Knights. That way if they want to be more involved and leave Christian home, then at least he can just warm something up…"
~*~
"All very good ideas." Rhett stands and walks over to the couple, drawing Jenna into a familial hug. She and Siobhan are closer than friends, and were more like sisters before the witch married her brother. "I have faith in the people looking for them. We'll get them back." After a moment, he pulls his son into the hug as well, but he knows that despite how put together Jenna is, she needs this more than Chance does.

Stepping back he nods to the pair. "There may already be some wolves working on it, although I'm sure Quin will have no trouble coordinating with them given he probably works with a few of them."

He gives Jenna a wink. "Your boss is far more connected and knowledgable in the supe world than you might think." There's an understatement. However, he won't betray Kieran, if only out of respect to Brooke and Sera.

"The Priory has a few people using Brooke's as headquarters. They might like some dinner too. Food helps. Empty stomachs make for distractions."
~*~

"I know we will." Of that, Jenna is going to remain confident until someone tells her differently. She is doing her best not to let it show, but she's quite shaken by the fact that her friend, her best friend, her pseudo-sister is missing. Not just missing, but taken for some reason they haven't figured out yet.
There's a choked noise as Rhett hugs her, and she almost breaks. Instead, she closes her eyes and tells herself that she can't let herself get too emotional at the moment. She'll let herself break down when she talks to Preston.
"I'll call him and get him to coordinate with them and the Pack." Maybe they can help, at least in the city.
"I guess he is."
Beat.
"I can't cook that quickly, but I can send food over to them regardless. I know the best deli in the city." She can have several platters of food delivered for tonight, and send over something homemade tomorrow.
~*~
"I'll be in touch with you both," Rhett promises. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything." He can make that promise because he knows that Blackwell will be in touch with Robert and Dawna, so he can be a point of contact for Jenna and Chance.

~*~
"Yeah, you're good at keeping people fed," Chance says fondly. He leans over and kisses her temple.

Beat.

"Thanks, Dad. We'll both keep our phones on and nearby."
~*~

"Thanks, Rhett. I…" Jenna hugs the man again, because she can. She'll go up and see her parents after the Knights have finished talking with them, but for the moment this will do.
"If you need anything, let us know too, alright? I need to keep busy."
Beat.
Letting go of Rhett and leaning against her boyfriend, the little empath closes her eyes. "I'm quick with the dial finger. You'll stay until Preston gets home? I can tell him, but I don't want to do it on my own."

~*~

Rhett returns the hug, giving the young woman a tight squeeze. "I know." He does. It's not words, but the sentiment behind them. "I'll call if I need anything too."
~*~
Chance nuzzles her hair. "I'll stay as long as you want or need me to," the sorcerer tells her. He strokes a hand down her back, and doesn't point out that Preston might not come home until tomorrow, or the next day.

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