Owner Pose
Chas Chandler     Chas tears the goggles off his face and the earpiece from his ear, tossing them in the backseat of the car along with the laptop (which he doesn't toss.) He's done sharing with the mysterious River for now. He takes a few moments to collect himself in silent stillness. "I'm sorry" he says finally. "For having to break my promise to you."

    He sounds contrite and honest enough. "I'll understand if you are upset with me, but it was truly the only way to destroy that thing. Your friend and the woman... they're gone." He closes his eyes and relives the thing he saw in the final room of the store. "That blood creature was... making a person out of disparate parts. Likely they were part of its construction. It needed skin and it would've been complete... or as complete as something like that could be." He shudders, after all it wasn't the prettiest of sights.
Cael Becker     Cael doesnt answer immediately. She's driving above the speedlimit - paying attention to stop lights only when absolutely necessary, and heading out of town by the most direct route possible. She's not necessarily heading back to New York City - not yet. She just wants to get out of the city, and into the closest approximation to the //country// as she can - as quickly as possible.
    "Shit happened," she remarks without taking her eyes off the road. "I'm not happy - but I get it." But this... //This// was why Chas had been so far down her list.
    But if she can't handle the things he can do - how can they ever work togethr in the JLD? "Charlie was never the best agent. He just sort of.... squeaked by, you know? And retired as soon as he could..."
Chas Chandler     Chas nods. "I get that... still doesn't mean he should've gone like that. I'm not sure anyone should go like that..." he swallows. What that thing was doing was just shy of possession and that was a touchy subject for Chas on its own. "You... you did good though... saved my bacon enough with that shot at the end." He smiles over at her.

    "I don't think we can't work together... is what I mean..." He pauses. "I'm not like the others. You should know that. I'm not like Michael, or Uriel, or -any- of them. Not really. When I go that way... I'm still me, mostly and that means I know who my friends are." He adds an example. "I managed to keep from summoning a sun in the presence of Lydia a while back, because I knew it would cripple her if I did. So I'm still Chas... just... Chas with extra bits..."
Cael Becker     "I get that," Cael answers quietly. "I do. I just- I... have a hard enough time looking at your face," she makes a hard, fast right rather than stop at a red light, "when you're human. Let along when you go all... golden light. Don't suppose you could make the light be... //blue// or something? I just- it's the memories it drags up, you know? More than anything else. I'm trying to- to find a way to not just get dragged back into //that,//" she switches lanes abruptly, speeding up to barely make it through a yellow light, "every time. But it isn't easy."
    Focusing on the driving helped, though.
Chas Chandler     Chas opens his mouth to reply. Then he closes it and his expression grows speculative. "I... Maybe?" he says after a moment of contemplation. "I know I can make it silver or white..." He pauses and thinks. "Blue shouldn't be out of the question... I mean, there are blue stars so... sure..." He looks at her.

    "Would that -really- help? Just that?" he asks. "I mean, really just making it a different color? I mean, my wings are silver when they decide to appear. That's not like him so that's a plus, right?" he asks with a wan but hopeful smile on his face.
Cael Becker     "Yeah, I think it would help," Cael remarks - before pulling to a stop. She's trapped at a light - with multiple cars ahead of her, so there's very little she can do about it without being //excessively// reckless. Damn. "The lights- in that room. All the lights were gold. Gold light makes me... uneasy," explains simply, her gaze staring fixedly ahead of herself as she speaks with Chas - forcing her grip on the steering wheel to relax a little so she's not white-knuckling it quite so much.
Chas Chandler     Chas looks at the line before them and then back at Cael. "Do you want to try it? See if it's easier?" he asks. "I mean... it's not like it's hard for me to do, it's more difficult to -not- glow than it is to glow." He shrugs. "Part of the package I guess, but I keep it under to blend better. But we're stopped if it's bad I can just" he snaps his fingers, "and wink it right out."

    "But... I trust you Cael, wouldn't have had you at my back with a gun if I didn't and I want to make sure we can work together in the future. You're a good person and a good fighter..." he smiles. "But we gotta find a way to coexist if we're going to manage to get further than a building going up in flames with a blood monster inside."
Cael Becker     "Not while I'm drying," Cael says in a dry voice. "All that we need right now is for me to have a full-fledged panic attack. No - I'm heading towards Sunray Beach and the Cape May County Park. We can try it out there," she suggests - as the light turns green and she starts forwards again, weaving between cars and cutting some people off enough that they honk at her.
    Not that Cael pays any attention to it.
Chas Chandler     Chas nods and makes a silent 'Ah' with his mouth. "That's probably a good idea. And... sure the park might be a good place to try it out. Plenty of room if it goes south and calm atmosphere to help in that event." He reaches up to grab the handle above the window of the passenger side.

    "Just as long as we don't crash... I'm rather fond of my car and I'd not like to lose my livelihood if I can help it..." he says, there's a grin on his face though. He's not new to reckless driving. There have been too many car chases with demons and the like with Constantine to make him squeamish about driving recklessly, even in traffic like this.
Cael Becker     "Hey, I've only totaled the one car, and that was //not// my fault. They were lying in wait!" Cael protests - but there's a smile on her lips as she says it. "Still. Should've heard what Alis had to say about it. We both loved the Rasper."
    After missing the left turn she wanted to take, she manages to pull a highly illegal u-turn in the middle of a block, and goes back to make a right turn at the intersection - after which, traffic starts to lighten up as they start moving out of the city, and towards the park.
Chas Chandler     Chas chuckles softly. "I am sorry I never got to meet her. I mean, sure I saw her ghost in the bar a couple of times, but a person's ghost--their echo--isn't the same as the living breathing person they would be were they alive." He sighs.

    He looks over at her. "I heard what happened to her. You were both very brave to go through that, you know?" he says. "I can't say that I would've gone the same route if the option was given..." He smiles. "I've always thought that about you. You're an incredibly brave person... no matter what anyone else says."
Cael Becker     "I wish a lot more people could've- got the chance to really know her," Cael agrees quietly. It's a good thing the traffic has lightened up, because she has to hastily blink away the tears that well up in her eyes.
    "She was the brave one. Way braver than me - and she was just a kid. Forever 17, you know? ...and I miss her." God, why is she telling //Chas// this?
    The blow past the last stop light leaving town, as buildings give way to wildlands. This part of New Jersey is actually pretty swamp - but the roads aren't bad for a race or two. It's why she knows this part of New Jersey.
Chas Chandler     Chas focuses on rolling down the window and looks to the swamp beyond instead of seeing Cael crying. "I understand. But it's good to know that she's moved on. It was good for her, right? I mean... I'm not an expert on the Egyptian afterlife... but what I saw when I was... well..." Even he is uncomfortable remembering his time as a door.

    He's quick to move past the thought. "It could go good or bad. I'd like to think it went good for her, yeah? She seeemed like a good kid," he says with a small smile on his lips even as he takes in the night air of New Jersey. It's not good air. Terrible really, but it's real and not as painful as watching someone cry who doesn't want to be seen. He's had practice at noticing other things in his life.
Cael Becker     "They weighed her heart," Cael replies. "And she passed. I didn't even remember at first but- one of Jon's friends helped me. I needed to know. She passed, and she's waiting in the Field of Reeds, so... So someday we'll be together again." There's only a few more turns on the road - and a couple of stop signs that Cael completely ignores, before she pulls over at a turn off - putting the car into park, and killing the engine. Off to their left, the quiet sound of waves crashing on the shore can be heard - with the glow of Gotham behind them.
    With the car off, one hand goes to her neck, her fingers scooping up the little gear she wears there, while her thumb rubs at the tattoo of the broken wrench.
Chas Chandler     Chas gives it a few moments before he turns to her. His eyes fall on the wrench. "That a sign for the memory of it... or something else?" he asks. Hes got of tattoos himself, some mystical, some not. But they all have different meanings. He's curious if knowing the answer for hers will give him a better sense of her as a person.

    "If you want to trade stories for them all... I have my own share of them" he says. "Beyond just this one?" he tugs at his collar and shows the swirling and writhing mystical pattern that is the most powerful enchantment on him and the last gift he has from the Laughing Magician.
Cael Becker     "It's uhh, yeah," Cael confirms, glancing at Chas for a moment, then back out the front windshield. "When, umm, Witchblade heals... There's no mark. No scar, and somethings - when they cut you that deep, when they... change you, there oughtta be a mark. You know? I was shot, and it took my sister from me again." A few more tears streak down her cheeks with those words. "So it's... yeah. It's to remember her. Her sacrifice. Her courage. It's to show everyone that something happened, and I'm not the same, and I'll never be the same. And... it's to keep her with me. A little bit."
    Her eyes flick towards the tattoo on his chest, then away again, before she remarks, "Not exactly a pleasant thing to look at. What is it?"
Chas Chandler     Chas lets his shirt slip back up to cover the swirling whorls of the tattoo. "It's a ward against mental intrusion. Means that something can't get my head without an invitation. The power of whatever tries to go in instead goes to that and it's so shifting and changing that whatever power it is can't gain purchase."

    He pulls up a sleeve of his light jacket to reveal a dagger on the inside of his forearm in all black. "This one is more a memory of my first time in battle. Drove a dagger shaped like that one directly into a demon's eye while it tried to crush my ribs. There are others, some mark my work..." He taps his shoulder. "Got my first cab number on my left shoulder." He taps the side of his right thigh. "A bottle of my favorite beer on my thigh. Things like that."
Cael Becker     Cael closes her eyes for a moment. "I wouldn't mind something like that," she admits softly. "The thought of anything getting in my head... changing it, or playing with my memories - I just can't stand that thought," she admits. "It gets me real worked up." She lets out a sigh, glancing over towards Chas for a few moments, and then away again, her smile tight.
    "You called me brave earlier - so does Jon. But that's really not how I feel - no most of the time."
Chas Chandler     "That's just it though..." Chas replies. "The people who are... don't feel that way. They feel terrified and weak and powerless a lot of the time... but they still fight, despite that feeling. That's what makes them brave." He rubs at his neck. "I can maybe talk to Jon if you really want something like this... I'm not... I can't do some of the stuff Constantine could... but maybe Jon will be able to work something out?" He shrugs.

    "You're a fighter... and that's what's most important" he says looking over at Cael. "Most people would've fled the moment some of that blood fell from the ceiling." He smiles and shakes his head. "You had it fall -on- you and still stuck around to cover me. That's courage, plain and simple. An no one can tell me otherwise."
Cael Becker     "I can talk to Jon about it," Cael answers. "But I'd feel better without people in my head. Ever."
    Her hand finally falls away from her neck, going to rest on the steering wheel instead. Is she really just... sitting and talking to Chas without having a complete melt-down? Apparrently. Even if looking at him still made her feel uneasy, in a stomach-churning sort of way. "Yeah, well - I still needed to find Charlie, didn't I?" she counters. She pauses for a momnt then adds, "Was there any sort of PROOF that Charlie was dead? That he'd become part of that thing?"
Chas Chandler     Chas shakes his head. "But it's something I'm going to do when I track down 'River.' Verification and all. If he ran into that thing... I doubt he'd be able to fight it off. I was able to because I have experience fighting monsters... both with and without my strength." He is a mammoth of a man after all, his base strength has to be pretty considerable even without the angel boost.

    He makes a face. "But aside from going back to the building after it burns down and sifting through rubble?" he shakes his head. "You could go to the other location marked. But I doubt you'll find anything. Occam's razor: monster in the last place he was in..." he sighs. "He likely got eaten. I'm sorry."
Cael Becker     "I know," Cael agrees quietly. "I know. And we didn't exactly train for shit like //that// with the Bureau. And it really is... the most logical outcome, but- it would be nice to have proof. To //know// - instead of simly assumine. Not your fault, though. Not the fault of either of us." She pauses a beat then adds, "He had a kid. I mean, the kid lives with his ex-wife, but still. He had a family. It'd be nice to have real answers."
Chas Chandler     Chas winces. "Well... if you want, we can go see if we can find anything tomorrow. I doubt the building burned down, but Gotham's Fire Department doesn't have the most stellar response time, especially to abandoned buildings." He sighs and looks out towards the water before focusing again on Cael.

    "So we're here to test something, right?" he asks. "Do we want to sit here in the car and chit-chat while ignoring it for a while longer, or do we want to just go ahead and tear off the plaster?" he asks with a small but knowing grin.
Cael Becker     "We'll go back and look," Cael confirms. "The more I know before making that call... the better."
    At Chas's direct question, she winces, her hands tightening on the wheel - before she offers a terse nod. "We should get it over with," she confirms. "And give it a try. But we, uhh... might be out here for a while - if I really lose it. You know? I don't know that Jon can make one of this doors out here."
Chas Chandler     "He can hone in on me and get out here if need be" Chas replies before he opens the door and steps out. He shakes his legs and stretches a bit. It's not easy being over six and half feet tall in a sedan. Even a medium sized one. "Lead the way" he says to Cael. "I'm contemplating how to go about doing this right. Just... where you'll be comfortable."
Cael Becker     Cael stays in the car a moment longer - her hands still on the wheel. She manages to force herself to open the car door, though, bringing the keys with her. She stands by the side of the road - then nods her head across it, and towards the water. "There's a bluff right there. Path down to it leads to the beach. We, uhh... Used to light bonfires and hang out down there after races."
    After that explination, she makes her way towards the beach. It doesn't take her long to find the faint trace of their path down - and she navigates it prety well, even in the dark, making her way down to the beach - and simply standing there with her hands in her pockets, looking out at the water.
    "I mean. Here's fine, yeah?"
Chas Chandler     Chas stops a ways away and nods. He looks over the water and takes a breath that isn't needed. It's a good way to fill the pause while he figures out the last bit of his plan. "Yeah... this is good." He looks to Cael and smiles. "Remember. I'm not going to hurt you... at all" he says before he lets go of the holds in place on his power.

    He's picturing the star Rigel in his mind. The brightest star in the constellation Orion is a blue supergiant. That's the color he fixates on when he lets go of the power and he succeeds. There is a burst of blue light and suddenly the bluff is bathed in blue-white light like a beacon.

    The energy pours off of Chas like slow moving flame engulfing his form and his eyes, always an intense blue seem even brighter with the energy coursing through him. "So..." he says, his apprehension clear, "what do you think?" he asks the woman across from him.
Cael Becker     Even prepared for it as she was - the sight of Chas' power flaring into a visible presence causes her to stagger back a step, as her hands tighten by her side, her fingernails digging painfully into her palms. Her heart rate picks up speed immediately, as does her breathing - but she stands her ground, her posture stiff and her gaze fixed on Chas.
    It takes her a moment to find her voice, but when she does she manages force out, "Believe it or not - better. I think, but still not easy."
    This is Chas, no Michael, she reminds herself. Chas. Jon's best friend. She is //perfectly safe.//
Chas Chandler     Chas nods and seems to feel that's enough for now. Maybe he picked up on her increased spike of fear, maybe he didn't but whatever his reasons he stops the effect and raises his internal walls once more. The fire flares briefly and then is gone and Chas is back to looking like a normal, if large sized, man again. "It's a start, right?" he says.

    He runs a hand through his hair, displacing his flatcap for a moment before settling it back on his head afterwards. "We can try it more another time. It's good to know that it's marginally better and you were able to speak to me, even while looking at me. So... that's good." He smiles.
Cael Becker     "It's a start," Cael agrees, her gaze locked onto Chas for a few moments longer, before turning towards the water. She stares out at the waves lapping gently at the shore for a moment - and tears start to streak her cheeks. "I hate this..." she murmurs quietly - before her voice abruptly changes to a road. "I hate this! I hate being- afraid! I hate not being in control of my own emotions - I hate being afraid of my boyfriend's best friend - I hate this!"
    Moving abruptly, she picks up a hunk of seaweed and hurls it into the waves while adding a loud, adament, "FUCK. YOU!"
Chas Chandler     Chas does his best not to comment that the seaweed didn't do anything. He instead moves forward a bit and says, "It'll get better. It's already got better." He looks out over the waves. "Today we did a mission together and talked about something other than what happened. And then you were able to stand strong and look at me when I was as I am. It's going to be okay, Cael."

    He turns to her. "I believe in you. And you're going to be okay" he says calmly. "Come on. When was the last time you ate? Let's get you some food and head home." He turns and waits for the woman to follow him.
Cael Becker     Cael's gaze remains on the water for a little while longer, a hand reaching up to brush across her eyes. She doesn't answer Chas immediately, but after a handful of seconds, she turns to follow him.
    "I'm still driving," she declares. "I need a bloody fucking steak."