CLOSED ♔ guilty by association

[behindcloseddoors]

♬ i gave you all - mumford & sons

WHO || Buffy, Spike, Kat, Jaka.
WHAT || The Knights bust into the morgue to recover microchips that they saw on the bodies of the beings who attacked them backstage at the concert...
WHERE || Chicago, IL
WHEN || July 17th, backdated
HOW || Actionspam

[ the team's almost getting kind of good at this.

almost.

kat's finally got the police hq blueprints on lock and tapped into all the security protocols, so it should be a simple in and out tonight. of course, they are breaking into a police station of all places, but kat's confident they've got this shit on lock.



buuuut then there's that whole thing where she slams the trunk closed on all their weapons and gear, dressed head to toe in black like the other two, only to find Jaka standing on the opposite side of their car, one eyebrow raised behind the sunglasses he's sporting even at night. he smirks and says: ]

Isn't this a familiar sight.

Comments

[slay]

He played us.

[ buffy's voice is distant, distracted, like she hasn't fully rooted herself out of her thoughts and can't believe what's just played out before her. she doesn't need the details, the video's all too clear. mark was responsible for letting roger james into the concert - and by the looks of it, knew exactly what he was there to do.

mark was the reason rafael was going to prison, that jade was dead. ]

He played all of us. [ she snaps her jaw shut, blinking hard and moving past shock and into a plan. a decision. ] Des and Rafael can't see this. We'll deal with Mark ourselves. [ she turns her eyes on jaka. ] Or you can. Screw the insanity plea; you've got the guy responsible right there, what jury is gonna need to see more than that?

[bigbad]

"Family business" my arse. That bastard. [Yeah, Spike realizes none of the others got to be a part of his conversation with Mark and have no idea what he's talking about but he doesn't care rn he is busy wanting to bite Mark. He hasn't ruled out the plan actually....

He looks up at the others.] He gave me some sob story about his family, about needing to prove something to them. Suppose betraying your friends is one way to accomplish that.

1/2

[lawofsurvival]

I'm impressed by your willingness to sacrifice your ... 'friend'. [ jaka's silken voice sounds entirely pleased by the turn of events. ] I didn't expect you lot to be so ruthless when it would count. [ it's clear that to him, 'ruthless' is a positive adjective. ]

[shootfirst]

He doesn't deserve to go sit in some cushy jail cell. I'll kill him. He was one of my best friends.

[bigbad]

[Spike's still staring at the screen and scowling, thinking things through (wis 19).] Probably been in the works for months, if not longer. It explains why he'd dump..... someone.

[slay]

We were his family. And he turns his back on us. [ because that's not mafia-esquea at all. she shakes her head, looking away from the screen and to jaka. ] Will it help or not?

1/2

[lawofsurvival]

Well, there's certainly a case to be made to put your teammate in as an accessory. I don't think it takes any of the heat off from Giovanni, however. They could have been collaborators, in the eyes of the law.

2/2

[shootfirst]

[ meanwhile, kat's back on what spike said. ] Dumped who? [ wait a minute. he sure sounds bitter... ] You and Mark?

[bigbad]

[Oh my god Kat just because you're in lesbians with Gar doesn't mean everyone else is having secret gay romances.]

Not me and Mark. Mark and someone else, and does it really matter right now?

[slay]

No, it doesn't. Can we focus, please?

[shootfirst]

You're right. We need to take this to him, show him we know and find out what the hell he was thinking.

[bigbad]

If he happens to get punched a few times in the process, no one'll complain. [Spike, you get headaches when you hit humans, THIS PLAN IS NOT A GOOD ONE.

It's worse because Spike kind of gets where Mark was coming from. He talked to him enough to know that Mark does feel really bad about this and did stress over it. Doesn't make Jade any less dead though or Mark any less a traitor. Just makes Spike want to punch things all the more.]

[slay]

Eager though I may be to hear his cheap excuse, that has to wait until we hear what we came here for. [ she turns to jaka. ] The tip.

[lawofsurvival]

Is in your hand. [ he gestures to the disc he indicated. kat swipes it and slams it into the laptop, and another video pops up. this one seems to be taken off a camera phone, and is recorded across an outdoor cafe. on the far side is a table sheltered by an umbrella where roger james sits speaking to a familiar curly headed figure. rafael glances around, and removes an envelope from his jacket, sliding it across the table. james glances at the contents, nodding a few times, clearly listening to instructions. finally, rafael stands, slipping on some shades, and clears out, leaving james there. ]

[slay]

[ she watches, eyes growing darker as pain fills them. this doesn't make sense. nothing makes sense anymore, it hasn't since the concert. she knows rafael, he wouldn't hurt jade, he couldn't possibly. but she feels dizzy and overwhelmed and confused all the same. she has to keep her words clipped and business-like in order to keep her emotional response from becoming too apparent. ]

Can you save these to your computer? We need to go over them further, and if it goes missing, they'll know someone was tampering.

[ she steps away, getting space, and turns to glance toward the door. ]

We need to get out of here.

[bigbad]

Seems wise. [Spike's watching Buffy almost as much as he's watching the video. It sure looks like Rafael. It can't possibly be him, and they know a pretty easy way the bad guys could have made it look like him, but even so. It's pretty damn convincing.

He looks over at Kat.] Can you find out whose phone it came from? Use the... url number or something?

[Spike is not a computer whiz. (int 12)]

[shootfirst]

"URL" number? Really? [ she rolls her eyes and lowers the lid ] I've already got them on this computer, I didn't take any-- [ she stops suddenly, eyes going wide. a listen check of 14+ is enough to hear the footsteps moving around out there. ] Shit.

[slay]

[ listen 15 aww yeah barely. buffy catches a brief sound from outside, and whips her head toward the door. ]

Later. How's about another round of that inviso-magic?

[shootfirst]

I ... can't. [ she shifts the laptop closed quietly, glancing uncomfortably at the door ] A break-in requires lots of spells, I had to prep for getting in, disabling the cameras, reading the computers...



I only had one.

[slay]

Is now an inappropriate time to point out Wynn's sent a dozen knights after us for help and not a single one who can remind us to plan a way out?

[lawofsurvival]

Knights? Well, isn't that... charming. [ jaka moves past them to the door, which he listens at for a moment before whispering: ] He's on the side of the room by the door we came in. Our best bet is to utilize the cubicles on the opposing side to head out the lobby.

[ without giving them any time to protest said plan, he slips out, silent as a fucking panther. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike really doesn't like Jaka.

But it's not like he's got a better plan. He glances back at Buffy and Kat, shrugs, then creeps out after Jaka (move silently 21).]

[slay]

This is the worst plan I've ever heard of.

[ she says it to kat because seriously trying to scooby doo sneak out of a police station full of officers??? luckily buffy is a fucking stealth machine because she got a nat 20 move silently check to follow jaka and spike out. ]

[shootfirst]

[ for the first time in the history of ever, kat rolls a 20 move silently and the ENTIRE TEAM MOVES LIKE A WHISPER IN THE WINDS out into the cubicle jungle. the police officer, with his listen check of 4, is over by the printer scratching his head about something and entirely oblivious as they creep from desk to desk like some sort of well organized unit or something, jaka in the lead.

they finally reach the small hall that leads out into the lobby area, where the lights are all dim. no guard sits on duty at the front desk, because the security for the evening is wandering other halls for nightly checks. freedom lies in sight across the expanse of the lobby floor where the glass exit doors sit. ]

[bigbad]

[HOORAY SWEET FREEDOM. Spike pokes his head into the lobby, glancing around quickly (spot 15) and listening (listen 16) for anything that might be amiss. If everything seems normal he'll just saunter his way out towards the doors.]