Owner	Pose
Jonathan Sims	The Archivist has not been to the Midnight Mission in days. To say that Jon has been avoiding the place would be generous. He's not even been in Queens. And while one might speak in his defense that, well, there's been a /lot/ going on, between flying to London and murders in Hell's Kitchen... he's barely even been answering texts or calls except to say he's fine, he needs some time, tell him if anything or anyone comes for Agnes or any of the Heliopolitans are hurt.     And as for Agnes? She's been quiet since her outburst. Wary. She hasn't once asked where Jon is, as if she's guessed why the Archivist is avoiding them: because of her.     Fortunately, it only takes him three days to get the hell over himself and come back, calling Mr. Knight and Lydia both to the office off the main temple, so he can explain what's going on with Agnes. He's in the room before either of the others, pacing while he waits, /fretting/. Nervous energy rolls off him in waves. To Lydia he'd smell like scotch and cedar, cigarettes and curry spice, sweat and blood, amber and oud and frankincense somewhere down beneath it all.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia has been checking up on Agnes every evening she could, to make sure that the girl is doing all right. She handles her with patience and grace, after all, working with sullen teenagers was something that she was prepared for as an English teacher. She even bought a Switch and some games just so the girl wouldn't be too bored during the day, and fairly often she would bring home cooked meals. The girl will eventually unfold with persistence and care, both Lydia has in abundance. She was here with Agnes when Jon sends the text to meet him in the office. "I'll be back," she tells Agnes and makes her way back up to the ground floor of the building. She steps into the office to be met with a pacing Jon. "Hello, Jon," she says gently. "Something up?"
Marc Spector	The lights of the office flicker and in that moment Mr. Knight appears seated in the chair behind the desk. "Jon," he says, fondness in his tone. "It is very rare that I am called to my own office, I have to say your power of persuasion must be growing." Despite his words the tone given is amusement, not anger or outrage. It might make sense that he is rather proud of the fact that the Archivist is coming into his own so quickly.     His suit, as always, is pristine and spotless, but to the vampire's senses there is a definite smell of charred flesh and blood on him despite all appearances saying otherwise. "Please" he says gesturing to the chairs before his desk, "What can I--" he pauses and regards Lydia with a nod. "That is... what can we do for you?" he asks before steepling his hands before him and resting his elbows on the heavy desk.
Jonathan Sims	"I said I'd explain about Agnes, didn't I? After her... outburst." Jon looks over to Lydia. "Did you tell him about her outburst?" He wrings his hands for a moment, still pacing.     Then, rather abruptly, he drops himself into one of the chairs in front of the desk. "How is she?" There's a kind of unguarded vulnerability in his tone. He's been worried about her.
Lydia Dietrich	"No," Lydia says. "I was waiting for you to elaborate. It seemed to have bothered you as much as it bothered her. I didn't want to mention it without any kind of context." She moves and smoothly takes a seat, folding her hands in her lap. "It seems it's still bothering you," she says, a hint of concern in her voice. "It makes me worry." She lets out a heavy sigh, "Agnes is... withdrawn. I haven't pushed her and she seems to be grateful of that. I think she appreciates the food and the Switch that I brought her, and I've made several trips to London to pick up various things for her to make her stay more comfortable."
Marc Spector	Mr. Knight looks between the pair. "An outburst?" he asks. He hasn't exactly been neglecting the girl but he has been leaving her care to others after finding his own abilities to give the girl any true solace lacking.     "I admit that when I see her, tending to the temple as she is wont to do she seems less than... aware of it. More going through the motions than truly realizing what those motions mean..." he replies. "I have left her to it though, out of fear that acknowledging her lack of focus would trigger some flight response." He shrugs. "I am not they psychologist. I leave that to you" he nods to Jon.     "But what is this outburst you speak of? What happened?" he asks. "I take it this was after I left when Morrigan and you" gesturing to Lydia, "came to meet her?" he asks curiously.
Jonathan Sims	Jon runs his hands through his hair. They're shaking, his hands, and his own gaze is a bit unfocused. Has he been drinking? "Could... do you think we could get some wine? I think... this is very, very difficult to talk about. I think it would help." He takes a deep breath, stares at a spot behind Mr. Knight.     "Agnes... knows who I am. And her knowing me... means I know her. I... had to think it through, to be sure I was right, but... it's odd, the interference. I should have recognized her immediately. Her hair's exactly the same shade as her mother's." He flexes his hands on his knees. "I... I knew Agnes' parents, you see. They were my best friends in the world. And I knew the man claiming to be her father. And I thought... I thought she was /safe/, but... evidently not."
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia nods, and stands. "I'll be right back." When she returns it's with a bottle of red, and three wine glasses, of which she fills with generous amounts of wine, except for her. She only takes a modest amount to sip on throughout Jon's tale. "She's safe /now/," she says. "At least for the time. We can't keep her here forever, though."
Marc Spector	Mr. Knight considers Jon for a long moment before speaking. "I see..." He nods to Lydia. "You're right. We can't. Not indefinitely, if Mr. Bouchard manages to track her down, he can simply bring the authorities into play and I will be forced to relinquish her. My status as a sanctuary only pertains to those lost... once found, legally I cannot keep them here."     Turning back to Jon he asks. "You're avoiding her because... why? You think she is afraid of you? Or you are afraid of her? Or of her father?" he asks. He quickly amends. "Claimed father? You believe this Elias Bouchard is not her *actual* father?" he asks, the folds of his featurless mask rising at the brow, a clear imitation of his own arching underneath.
Jonathan Sims	Jon /visibly/ flinches at the name 'Bouchard.' He takes the wine and drains half the glass before he speaks.     "When I was 19, I joined a cult. The Eye of Ra. At first I thought it was a... prestigious group of antiquarians with a focus on Egyptology. You get a lot of those sorts of groups around the old colleges, you know? Fraternities, social clubs, drinking clubs. By the time I wound up in the inner circle... Elias Bouchard had me so twisted up and turned around I honestly believed that we were saving the world."     He stares down into his wine. "Elias was--is--a wizard, of some power, and many others in the upper echelon of the cult have power and influence as well. I... never quite understood why I was so highly ranked. 'Priest Legatee,' not technically Elias' second but poised to assume the leadership if he died or abdicated." He swallows. "Whatever... whatever you think when you think 'cult'... you're probably right." There's shame in his voice, and fear. His heart's racing a mile a minute. Worried, probably, of being judged for whatever he might have been privy to.
Lydia Dietrich	"I can see why you compared it to Crowley's Golden Dawn, but hopefully without the drugs, sex and debauchery," Lydia says, thoughtfully. "And real magic, too and not... whatever it was that Crowley was doing." "The biggest question I have is, saving the world from what?" she asks.
Marc Spector	Mr. Knight had taken the wine with enough grace, but he hadn't drank any of it. At the mention of the name, he sets the glass down and sighs. "The Eye of Ra" he says slowly. "You were a part of it." He sighs and nods. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. We all do foolish things in our youth." Jon knows that for Mr. Knight's part,--or rather the man underneath the mask--he was moving toward commiting some of his first War Crimes in his early 20s.     He sits back and gestures. "I've been looking into Bouchard. The Eye has been on my radar for a while now... their actions while not overt are... concerning to Khonshu, for obvious reasons." He focuses on Jon. "The girl is essential to their plans... isn't she?" he asks. "Something that Bouchard wants to achieve is within her? Or she is the key to unlocking something?" he asks.
Jonathan Sims	Jon coughs, cheeks darkening. He looks to Lydia. "I... ahh... /did/ say 'you're probably right.' There /was/ a... purpose though. They... they wanted an avatar of the Sun. Agnes... was the ultimate result. Her mother had fire magic, and her father..."     Jon's heartbeat changes for a moment. He looks to the side. Either he lies, here, or he obfuscates, and he's too drunk to do it very well.     "Her father was, to my knowledge, a normal mortal. They were our best friends. Tim Stoker and Alya Montague. By the time we realized what Alya's baby might be, Martin had infiltrated the cult, and he helped us get out. We all hunkered down in a little house in Oxford, trusting to Martin's veils to protect us." He swallows. "But... Elias wanted that child. A potential avatar of Sekhmet, the final culmination of all his plans. The night Alya went into labor, the Eye of Ra came for us."     His hands shake, and he drinks some more of his wine. "They were there before we realized. They grabbed Alya, put her in a ritual circle, dousing her in gasoline... she was resistant to fire, but they... Sekhmet had to be born of fire, see? We broke into the room, Tim sacrificed himself to get me close enough to break the circle, and the fire escaped. Martin and I managed to get Alya down to the basement."     He's crying now, and he doesn't really seem to notice. "Martin held the basement door and I... I don't... I don't know how... the old pipes down there shouldn't have worked, but I got a tub filled with water. Somehow, I kept Alya alive long enough to deliver the baby. Agnes. I never... I never understood /why/ she wanted to name the baby Agnes, but..." He laughs and shakes his head. "That was her name. Agnes Montague."     "By... by the time the baby was born... Elias had overwhelmed Martin's shields. I had this newborn in my arms, and this powerful wizard coming down the stairs, and my boyfriend was dying behind him... and... and I /prayed/ like I'd never prayed before. And... this woman appeared. Annabelle Cane. We'd met before, she was a servant of Neith. She... offered..."     He holds out his hands. "'Give me the child,' she said. 'You cannot know where she is, but I'll ensure she is well-cared for. In return, your man will live and Bouchard will leave you be.'" He finally looks up. "I didn't know what else to do. If this was the answer to my prayer... what else was I supposed to /do/ but hand her over?"
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia is silent for a long moment after Jon speaks. She's no stranger to people having to make hard decisions about their children. After all, Mystique had to abandon Kurt or be killed herself. "You did what you had to do," she says. "You had no idea that she'd end up back in the hands of Elias." She drums her fingers on the arm of her chair, thinking. "What /was/ his plan? Burn it all to the ground and create a new society in his image? Also, how does the Uraeans factor into this?"
Marc Spector	Mr. Knight listened to Jon's tale with a neutral expression underneath the mask. "And that is what I've been keeping here... at the mission..." he mutters. "Lovely..." He sighs and nods to Lydia.     "Her questions are rather pertinent. What *is* Agnes' purpose?" he asks a frown in his words. "I gather having a lving breathing avatar of Sekhmet would be rather problematic... especially under the direction and influence of Elias... but do you have any idea the methodology of how he plans to bring about this entity? Or how the vampries were supposed to help in that process?"
Jonathan Sims	"What you've been /keeping/ here is a /child,/" Jon snaps, glaring at Mr. Knight for a moment. Then he sighs. "Sorry. Sorry, I just..." He swallows, shakes his head, like he can't quite find the words.     "I'm honestly not entirely certain what his plan was. I mean... we were supposed to be saving the world from, you know... corruption and evil. But how much of that was ever true, and how much of it was just about power... I don't know. I wasn't the Archivist, back then. I had perfect recall, and it helped me get out from under his influence, but I couldn't read his mind."     He frowns. "The vampires... I don't know what was going on, there. Did they capture her, did he give her to them for some purpose...? I... I don't /know/. I'm missing so many pieces of the puzzle. She seems to think they'll come for her, though, doesn't she? The vampires or Elias. And she said... she knows who I am, who /we/ are, and she said her father told her we were horrible. So..."     He frowns and shakes his head. "I'm too drunk to puzzle this out clearly. But if I wasn't drunk, I wouldn't have..." He frowns down at his hands. "Haven't had friends again, until recently. Not this whole time. It... always hurt too much, you know? Sorry. Not important. Agnes. She's not tried to burn down the Mission."
Lydia Dietrich	"Hm," Lydia grunts thoughtfully. "We should find out what /she/ wants, too. And whether or not her father is alive. If he is, then he can legally take custody of her once all this is done and over with." "We should also interrogate one of the vampires when we come across them again, see if we can learn anything else."
Marc Spector	Mr. Knight tilts his head at Jon's outburst to him. "I understand that... but child or no, she is a willful creature and one imbued with power. At her age, that is a very dangerous combination..." He sighs. "But you are right... she is not some object to be worried about, she is a person."     His tone softens. "Jon. Regardless of what you did, or have done, you will always be a valuable member of this team. Nothing will change that barring your own desires." He leans forward his eyes weighing the Archivist. "I chose you as my second for a reason and that is because I trust you. You're not that 19 year old young man... not anymore. You've grown and have become so much more and we're going to get to the bottom of this and free you from whatever shadow this man has put you under."     He leans back again and nods before looking at Lydia. "I think she has made her won desires rather clear. She doesn't want us to be killed. She wants us to let her go into the night and to sacrifice herself for our safety." He shakes his head. "Something we cannot allow. The rest..." He frowns. He's not in the habit of keeping any vampires under the sway of their beast alive for long. Capture would be difficult for him to condone or achieve on his own. But perhaps another could do it and he would be allowed to permit it.
Jonathan Sims	Jon hesitates, and doesn't look at Lydia as he says, "Her father's dead." There's /something/ there, something he's not saying, but he doesn't seem inclined to elaborate. "There may not be an easy legal road out of this whole business--but then again, she may not even /exist/ legally. It's something to look into."     He sighs, then. "We need more information. We need to know what she knows, and we need to find out what the vampires know, and what they wanted. And why they had pictures of us. And... lord, a dozen other things."     He peers at Mr. Knight. "Still not sure you're making the right decision." He waves a hand. "Not inclined to argue about it just now. Maaaaybe... hmm. No, s'pose you'll have to keep the mask on. But. Maybe see what you can get out of her? Or send a patrol to capture vampires. Or both."
Marc Spector	Mr. Knight nods. "I think there are still too many questions left unanswered as well" he agrees. "For the moment, Agnes will need to remain. Her leaving is not an option I'm willing to explore. I am still waiting to hear about what my sources direct and indirect can find on her... once the answers there have been found... we can make our next move."     "Lydia, continue taking care of her... she trusts you and your patience with her is more than I can fathom. I chock it up to your connection with the Great Mother as much as your history in the education system." His tone is approving.     "Jon, if you recall anything at all about Elias' motivations and such that could be of help in answering any of our questions... please do not hesitate to come to me. Or at least contact me... I can come to you in nearly any location you may be, you know that."     He leans back and sighs. "I am working on tracking down the Uraean Brood's lair... the tunnels they escaped through are elaborate and vast. It could take me weeks to find the right route, perhaps capture and interogation might prove beneficial, as loath as I am to let one of their kind persist when I could just as quickly eliminate them." He shakes his head. "Desperate times. Desparate measures."     He looks at Jon again and his tone is that of a friend, not a comrade or superior. "Thank you, Jon. For coming to us with this... I know it took a lot for you to express this aspect of your past. That you were willing to give it to us means a lot. Really. We're going to get through it, together."