roadrunnermuses | meme } { open rp post

"Sam Winchester," she repeated, testing the name out on her tongue. A good, solid name.

And a good, solid grip.

She slid her hand free, hoping he wouldn't pay too much attention to its temperature.

"You have working hands. Not like the men of letters that I recall."

"We're a little more hands on than the ones in the past." He doesn't want to say hunter outright, because he and Dean aren't really, not anymore. None of their cases are the small time, picking off monsters here and there like they used to be.

"We like to be prepared."

Artemis gave him a soft, approving grunt. She had no doubt in her mind that the soft hands of the last wave of men of letters had been responsible for their destruction.

At least someone was trying to learn from the past.

"Good," she said. "In that case, you can help me get this," she nodded to the corpse, "to the car. Leaving it out here will only inspire another wave of big foot hysteria."

He nods a bit, because no one really wants that, but he is awfully curious about one thing. "Sure. But, uh. Is that a microchip?"

She glanced at the slip of metal in her hand. "It appears to be. I'm not much of an electronics expert, but I'm sure the people back at the lab will be very, very eager to examine it."

That's right. She had a lab.

Artemis slipped the chip into her pocket, then nodded down to the werewolf corpse. "Come along, then," she told the boy. "We have a lot of work to do."

And with that, she started to slowly limp down the alley, toward the street.

Sam would very much like to meet these lab people. And hope they don't have a Winchester bias to boot. So he does as he's told, trying to shoulder more of the weight if he can, to take some of the pressure off her leg.

"Is that the first one you've found?"

"Third," Artemis replied curtly, looking from side to side for sign of unwelcomed guests. "First one I've gotten with the chip completely intact. At least I think it's intact. I can't really say for sure."

Around the corner was a bright, red Camry hybrid. It was Diana's car, but Diana wasn't going to be in any condition to drive it any time soon, so Artemis had helped herself. She liked the car. She liked that it was a quiet as a stealth-bomber.

And that it had an automatic trunk, which she was able to open from across the street.

Sam follows her in the direction of the car that was opening it's trunk all on it's own. Got to love modern technology. "Why would someone be microchipping werewolves?"

It just doesn't make any sense.

"I suppose it depends on what the microchip does," Artemis replied. "Although I rather doubt it's anything wholesome. And I rather doubt it's being done with the wolves' permission."

Werewolves weren't exactly fans of technology. It went against nature far too much.

She used one hand to shove aside all of Diana's crap, clearing a space in the trunk. "The fact that they're invading the territory makes me think that the chips are somehow feeding suggestions into their cerebral cortexes. LA is not a werewolf stomping ground."

Edited 2013-10-06 18:44 (UTC)

Sam can draw some pretty specific conclusions from that. He frowns as she makes space before starting to edge the corpse into the back of the trunk. "So either they're like electric dog collars and someone's trying to drive them out of territory they want, or ... someone's using them as a weapon."

Artemis stepped back, wiping off her hands on her jeans. "Those are the two logical conclusions," she sighed. "But either way, it leads to a far more disturbing question: Who would be capable of actually corralling werewolves?"

For a moment, she stared at the corpse, her focus going soft as she tried to see invisible dots to connect. No picture as of yet. Pinpoints of light danced around her head like fireflies: Green and yellow and white.

She was silent a full two minutes before snapping back into laser focus.

"Get in," she told the boy, taking out the keys and unlocking the car.

There are actually a lot of different answers to that question, though Sam can't really think of any that would use technology to do it. All the same he did as he was told and climbed into the car, reaching for his phone to send Dean a quick text to check in. The last thing he needed was his brother to run into this guns blazing.

"How far are we going?"

"Not far," Artemis replied, a little intentionally ambiguous. After all, she didn't know who or what he was texting. And she did have to keep her people safe.

But she felt he was trustworthy.

Artemis had a heavy foot and drove quickly, expertly navigating the twists and turns of the LA streets until she found a sideroad, running along a wooded preserve.

With one hand, she reached over and opened the glove compartment, shoving aside half a dozen CDs of showtunes until she found a gold chain. Hanging off of it was a pendant, a sunburst. She tossed it to Sam. "Put this on."

He catches the chain easily, studying it carefully for a moment, before doing as he was told. "What does it mean?" Just in case it was cursed or enchanted or something.

"It means you've been vetted by Artemis Seth," she said, with the slightest hint of a smile in the corners of her mouth. "And believe me, that's saying something."

As he would soon see.

"Consider it a visitors' badge."

The trees along the lefthand side of the drive gave way to an iron-wrought fence. It encompassed a compound of nearly forty acres. Much of it was forest, but there was a gently curving drive, from where the gates opened, leading up to an enormous mansion, set about half a mile from the road. Artemis pulled up to the gate, lowering her window and keying in a four-number code.

"Who's there?" a rough voice with a Irish brogue asked from the speaker.

"It's Artemis," she replied. "And I've brought a guest. A Mister Winchester."

There was a click and the gate swung open.

Visitor's pass. Okay then.

He stays silent for the rest of the drive until he reaches the mansion and his eyes widen a bit. It's not quite as large as the library from what he can tell, but still, it's a rather impressive property.

"Do you live here?"

The mansion was old Hollywood. The outer facade was old and worn, although a lot of the surface was covered by ivy. To the far left of the circle drive leading up to the front door was a paved basketball court. A flock of teenagers were playing a game of horse, barely paying any attention to the car as it drove up.

Artemis stopped right in front of the entryway. As she got out of the car, an Amazonian redheaded woman appeared on Sam's side of the car, pulling his door open for him. She eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing.

"Take the car to the garage, Elsbeth," Artemis said, walking over to Sam's side. "There's cargo in the trunk for the lab." She pointed to Sam. "He's with me."

Sam climbs out of the car, trying not to look too suspicious, before moving around the car to stick close to Artemis. It seems to be the safest place for him to be at the moment. He also doesn't needle at the fact that she didn't answer his question. He's sure that will possibly come later.

With an obedient nod, Elsbeth walked around the car, squeezing into the driver's side and started it up. She cast Sam one final, mistrusting glare before driving away.

"Don't mind her," Artemis murmured to him, as she started up the front steps. "She doesn't trust anyone. And for good reason."

With that, she threw open the front door. The inside of the mansion was immaculately clean. It was marble and shining wood. Directly in front of them was a winding staircase, leading up to the second floor landing. A third floor's balcony was visible above them.

The entryway was open, leading to dozens of other rooms. There were a lot of people moving around, talking in small groups, gathered around books and file folders. The most striking thing about them was that they all looked young, no one over thirty. The second was that they were all wearing matching amulets, half golden sun and half silver moon.

"Man of letters," Artemis said, "welcome to the Order of the Silver Crescent."

Sam takes all this in as they go, remembering the paths and twists and turns so that he can find a quick exit if he needed to. But once they arrive in the main room, he has to stop and take it all in if he can.

"The Order of the Silver Crescent?"

"Mmhmm."

Artemis stopped, to let him stare as much as he wanted. She never ceased being proud of what she'd built in the middle of a no man's land, with only Liam and Diana to help her.

Where there once were only three of them, now there were more than three dozen. In addition to the children and tweens living in the carriage house.

"Bit of a silly name, really," she murmured. "But I'd rather be laughed at than taken seriously. Better element of surprise."

"What do you ... do exactly?" Sam's never heard of them, and he's been pouring through the old archives, trying to figure out more about what exactly is out there, how much these men knew.

Artemis gave him a Cheshire Cat smile. "We save the world," she replied.

Clucking her tongue, she started to walk up the stairs, gesturing for Sam to follow.

On the third floor landing above them, a tall, dark man appeared. He looked down at the two of them coldly. At the top of the stairs, Artemis turned her face up to him. She rotated her hand several times, before giving him an elaborate and incredibly sarcastic bow. With a grunt, he turned around, disappearing from the balcony.

Sam fights the urge to laugh at that. Sam has saved the world. He has to be curious what this particular group is doing. He almost asked, before he got the cold stare from the man on the balcony.

"He seems fond of you."

Observant. Then again, one didn't become a man of letters by being a village idiot, she supposed.

Artemis folded her hands behind her back, staring up at the balcony, where Liam's shadow lingered still. Dark blue and purple. Royal colors. Sad, lonely colors.

"That," she said, "is Princes Liam Stephens. Benefactor of the Order. He's cross with me right now. Personal. Not business."

And without a moment of transition, she nodded her head down the hall. "Come along. I'll show you the library."

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