Owner	Pose
Marc Spector	Following Jake Lockley wasn't hard. The man didn't seem to care who saw him as he walked the streets. Frenchie had supplied Lydia and Jon with his last known address and sure enough travelling there allowed them both to watch as he walks the sidewalk to the run down brownstone in East Harlem and enters it. Ten minutes pass before he comes back out in different clothes. He still has the flatcap and the brown jacket. But his jeans and his shirt look more worn in; less fresh.     He gets in a grey car parked a block down the street and sets off down the road. Where he's going is anyone's guess, but it was clear enough, he had something he wanted to do tonight. Only time would tell if his watchers would get the opportunity to stop and maybe talk some sense into him.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia is good at stealth, especially at night. When she turns her ectoplasmic field black, she's nearly invisible in the night sky as she flits from rooftop to rooftop, always keeping a respectable distance away from Jake. Having supernatural sight means that she doesn't have to be all that close to see what's going on.     "He just changed and is headed out," she says quietly in the com's earpiece. He's in a grey Accord and heading East." She picks herself up and floats after the car, careful not to get too close. "Any idea where he'd be headed?"
Jonathan Sims	Jon is /terrible/ at stealth, which is why he just walks along the sidewalk in his normal clothing a little ways back, trusting Lydia to keep a direct eye on Jake. He's got his shoulders hunched a bit against the night's chill, and his hands tucked into his cardigan pockets. Not a normal look for East Harlem, but he walks along like he's not going to have any problems.     "Alright... hmm. Probably to work? He's a cabbie, and one of the most senior at the company. So he might just be... going to pick up his cab."
Marc Spector	Jon's assumption isn't wrong. Jake drives the Accord to a small office building. Walks in and walks out with a deivce that looks like a portable fare meter. He installs in his car and takes off. He picks up two patrons before he unplugs the fare meter from inside the car and drives a bit out of his usual route. The streets get dirtier and the people shadier as he goes.     Finally he stops and parks on the side of one of the dark and secretive roads. Most of the buildings lining the street are boarded up and a number of homeless sleep in small clumps openly on the street. He steps out of the car and looks at the meter. It's broken from the look of the bent pole and smashed readout. He shrugs and reaches back into the car. He comes out with a gun in a holster. It's on the larger side of for a pistol. Bigger than a 9mm that's for sure. Maybe a .45. He clips it to his waist and starts to walk with heavy purposeful steps toward what might've been a storefront a year ago but is just a ruined husk at the moment.
Lydia Dietrich	"Yeah, it looks like he's going to work," Lydia says when she sees Jake come back out of the building with the meter. "Might as well make yourself comfortable. Grab some tea. I'll keep an eye on him and will let you know as soon as anything happens."     Tailing Jake isn't particularly hard, but it's not exactly the most exciting thing she done. She follows him as he picks up and drops off his fairs and it's only when they get really deep in the heart of the bad parts of Harlem does she begin to suspect that something is amiss.     "Jon. He's stopped on the corner of 5th and 130th," she says over the comm. "Oh God! He has a gun! A big one, too. What do you want me to do?"
Jonathan Sims	Jon rolls his eyes. "'Grab some tea,'" he mutters. "Wonder what I'm bloody here for, then." It's good natured grumbling, though. He goes ahead and heads into a coffee shop, though, in one of the gentrifying areas of Harlem. He picks up a latte and a croissant, munching on the latter while he leans against the side of the building and waits for an update.     When Lydia says 'he has a gun,' Jon straightens and frowns. "I'll be right there. Keep tailing him. I want to see what he's up to." He opens a portal in the side of the building and focuses not on the /people/ but the /place/. This works as intended--he pops out about a block away from Jake, missing the exact spot by enough to not alert their mark.
Marc Spector	Jake reaches the storefront and pushes open the plywood board that serves as the place's door. There is a commotion and a few gunshots ring out with the accompanying flashes of muzzle flare within the building. A number of weary looking kids emerge followed by Jake. He hands a wad of bills to the kids and nods up the street. "Get home and steer clear of this place for a few weeks" he mutters to them, the Chicago in his accent coming through strong.     He holsters the gun and looks back into the building. "Fucking hosers..." he mutters under his breath before he moves to a bench and sits down, taking a breather to consider what just happened perhaps.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia flinches when the gunshots go off. When the kids emerge unharmed she's relieved that Jake didn't murder any of /them/, but she can only imagine who it is that was murdered. Drug dealers? Gang leaders? Something like that. Jon had said that those are the kinds of guys that Jake likes to go after.     "Jon..." she hisses. "What now?"
Jonathan Sims	"I think... now we confront him and try to talk him into letting Marc back out. Or get Marc to wrestle him away." Jon's coming up near the bench. "Try not to startle him? I don't think the gun could really /kill/ me, but it'd hurt like hell." That a vampire isn't likely to be killed by gun is kind of a given.     He walks on up near the bench, giving Jake plenty of time to notice him. "Hey Jake," he says, voice calm and even. "What're you doing out here?"
Marc Spector	Jake looks up at Jon's approach with a start. His eyes narrow. "You tailing me, Doc?" he asks, suspicion plain in ever fiber of his being. "I don't like being followed." He looks at the building. "Taking care of some business. Drug dealers. Bad stuff. Heroine and ketamine...," he shakes his head. "I would've probably let 'em be but they were using kids as runners. Can't have that..."     He shrugs and pats the gun at his hip. "Done now. The kids are free from their influence and going back home and no one has to die for their greed. We finished our talk back at the church... why you tailing me?"
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia hops on down from the rooftop she had been perched on, gracefully landing on her feet. She makes sure to do this out from Jake's line of sight so it only looks like she rounds a corner when she comes into view.     She's dressed for stalking the night, for the most part. Black linen slacks, black flats, and a black button up blouse would make her hard to spot in the sky, yet she manages to look more fashionable and less black ops.     She keeps her fingers tucked in her pants as she walks up to them, finally settling to stand behind Jon and a bit to the left. She's got her ectoplasm still set to black, though, to keep with theme, thousands of tiny black holes popping into and out of existence around her. She's standing with an air of ease, trying to be as unthreatening as she can, for being a mutant vampire, letting Jon do all the talking for now.
Jonathan Sims	"I was not directly tailing you, no," Jon says. Every word true, and yet the /feel/ of it is deceptive. It makes his skin crawl, and he shift uncomfortably, and goes on, "We're worried about you. Seeing things, hearing voices. It's... well. Worrying."     He holds up a hand. "I'm not trying to get you to go anywhere or do anything. I'm just... I want to make sure you're okay. Making the right decisions." He glances at Lydia. Does she have any vampire powers that might... help here?
Marc Spector	Jake turns to regard Lydia. "I know your face... author right?" he asks the vampire. "Church takes all kinds I guess" he replies. Then he shakes his head. "I'm fine, Doc. I told you. Your church is just haunted... that's on you. not on me." He pushes himself to his feet. "You two both look like money... this isn't the best part of town for that sort of look."     He looks up and down the street. "Nothing right now, but that doesn't mean that something won't come for--" He stops and stares at a surprisinginly intact window of the store. "No..." he says, hsaking his head and taking a step back. "It's not the church it's you!" he says looking at Jon. "I've told you Doc, some of the shit you get into... it's going to come back for you and now you've got a ghost attached!"
Lydia Dietrich	Jakes recognition of her causes a raise of an eyebrow from Lydia. "Yes," she says. "I'm surprised you recognized me. My work is rather niche." She gives him a lazy shrug, "I can take care of myself."     Her golden eyed gaze gets drawn to what Jake is staring at, and seeing nothing more than their reflection in it she turns back to him, shaking her head. "No ghosts here," she says. "I'm a mutant and one of my powers is being able to sense them." That sounds... awfully convenient, but it's true regardless.
Jonathan Sims	Jon sighs. "It's not me, Jake, and it's not the Mission," he says gently. "Like Lydia said, no ghosts--and she would know." He looks at the man with compassion, but he's quite firm. "What you're seeing, what you're hearing, it isn't a ghost."     A pause. "Think for a moment. Why would you read Lydia's books? How do you know the 'shit' I get up to? We've barely spoken in /months/, Jake. So how do you know /any/ of that?" He quirks a brow. "I mean... tell me, what /is/ it that I'm doing these days, hmm?"
Marc Spector	Jake's eyes are still focused on the reflection only he can see. The one that doesn't move as he does. The one that just stares at him with dagger like eyes. He shakes his head. "I... I don't know, Doc. Spooky shit? Weird shit?" his breathing grows sharper, more panicked. "If it's not a ghost then it's.. something else."     He draws his gun and points at the window. "A demon. And maybe this won't kill it... but it'll buy me time to get the hell out of here. Leave it to you two." His hand shakes with fear and worry and he jerks one from the grip to press to the side of his head. "What the fuck!" he grits out, pain twisting his face into a grimace.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia holds up her hands in a placating manner when Jake pulls out the gun. "It's not a demon either," she says softly, gently. She looks at Jon as if trying to get his approval on what she says next. "It's not something you can escape from. It's part of you, but not a bad part."
Jonathan Sims	Jon nods encouragingly to Lydia. "It's attached to /you/, Jake. I know you know that, on some level. That's why you're panicking. You know damn well it's not a ghost, or a demon. It's... you. It's just you."     He sighs, and shakes his head, stepping forward, hands spread, eyeing the gun, hoping Lydia can maybe grab it before Jake fires. "Please, Jake. You're not well. Come back with us, let us help you."
Marc Spector	The figure in the window steps foward of it's own accord and Jake almost fires but the pressure in his head explodes and another wave of pain washes over him. "No!" he says, resisting whatever effect threatens to drag him down. The gun falls as he lets it go and his other hand goes to his head gripping either side. "It's not... I'm not... It's..."     He drops to a knee and shakes with muscle spasms as he tries to keep ahold of who he is and what he is and attempt to fight off the psychic assault from within. "You might get me here but I'll be back.. I swear I'll be back..." he snarls before he starts to shake once more this time more intensely.
Lydia Dietrich	An ebony tendril swiftly reaches out and catches the gun before it can hit the pavement. It wouldn't do for the gun to accidentally go off. The tendril pulls back and deposits it into Lydia's waiting hands.     "It's okay, Jake," Lydia says gently. "You won't lose yourself if you let go. Just..." she winces as it's obvious Jake is in physical pain. "Just don't fight it."
Jonathan Sims	There's something like relief on Jon's features as Jake starts to spasm and fight. Once Lydia's caught the gun, he steps forward and kneels down next to Jake, not reaching out to touch him, but just... there.     "I'm sorry, Jake," he says quietly. "I... really am sorry. For everything. But this is for the best." He bites his lip and looks up at Lydia.
Marc Spector	The look Jake gives Jon is full of anger and pain and betrayal before his eyes roll up and he shakes against before collapsing to the ground, his hands catching him before he hits the sidewalk. The spasms subside and his breathing calms once more. "Thanks..." comes a voice not like Jake at all. It's Marc's. "Hate that..." he says softly. "Hate that you had to see it, Lydia."     He pushes himself up fully and rises. He's a bit wobbly but he steadies himself quickly. "I'd forgotten how... trapped it feels. On the inside. Unable to really see or affect any of it..." He holds out his hand to Lydia. "May I?" he asks, presumably asking for the gun to be retunred.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia gives Marc a small shrug. "It is what it is," she says. "I'm just glad you're alive and in one piece." She blinks. "Well. In a manner of speaking." She gives Marc a faint smile and steps forward to hand him the gun. "Here you go."
Jonathan Sims	Jon frowns as he watches the gun transferred. "I don't think..." He hesitates. How can he take away a /superhero's/ weapons?     Then again, Marc's not /entirely/ a superhero just now, is he?     "Marc," Jon says slowly, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to have unfettered access to weapons just now." He frowns. "Although... I suppose Jake can clearly get his own guns. Still. Frenchie told us he's been... killing people pretty indiscriminately. I'm worried. I don't want to have to..."     He sighs, and rubs at his face. "You know I don't think places like Arkham and Ravencroft really do all that much good. But if it'd keep you from hurting anyone..."
Marc Spector	Marc takes the gun but stops before he holsters it. "You're right and... I don't want to go to Arkham." He holster and unclips it from his belt before offering the entire package to them. "What did..." he looks around, taking no7te of the less than savory air of the street. "What did he do?" he asks, looking at the pair. "Did he hurt anyone?" he asks. "Did he hurt either of you?" he adds his expression wary and haunted.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia shakes her head and folds her arms. "We're fine, but I'm pretty sure there's a couple of drug dealers in there that won't see the light of day again." She nods her head to the abandoned building where Jake had done his deed.     "I want to call it in so the bodies in there aren't left to rot in the heat but..." She looks about herself and sighs, "The cynical part of me says that the call will just be ignored." She sets her jaw and says darkly, "Maybe if I sound white and scared enough they'll come."
Jonathan Sims	Jon sighs and takes the gun and belt from Marc. "I'll have Frenchie handle taking away the keys and changing codes until this is over." He nods to the building. "There were kids doing the drug running. I can't say I blame him, but... his judgement's compromised." A sigh.     Then he regards Lydia thoughtfully. "That just might work. Best we be long gone by the time anyone shows up, but I suppose that's what portals are for, hmm?"
Marc Spector	Marc sighs and removes a set of keys from his pocket. "His.." he says, before pressing the unlock and watching the yellow flash not far away. "This is also his..." he says tugging at his clothes. "Like I'm back in the marines" he mutters. "Alright." He sighs and nods to Lydia.     "Do it... just for due diligence." He runs a hand through his hair. "Let's get back hime..." he says. "It's going to be rough for a while."