Ezra Bennet's Story

Her ongoing mental mantra of ‘I will not punch my partner’ was not helping. At least the damn mask was off. She took a deep breath, one inch yelling, and then he called Catherine by her first name. Oh hell. It was better she punch him than Catherine punch him.

The junior officer decked his shoulder, just hard enough to bruise, assuming it connected. Either way, she spoke. “Fisher, you idiot.” she snarled. “Don’t call me Molly, Miss Molly, or any derivative of that shit. Call me Bronson. If I wanted you to use my first name, I’d use yours.”

Subtle didn’t work with some men. It was clear that this was one of those men. “And for fuck’s sake,” she whispered to him so the mundane officer nearby wouldn’t hear, “call her Dumitrescu and not Catherine. She doesn’t go by Catherine at work or with her co-workers.” That wasn’t one hundred percent accurate, but it was a good enough rule.

Well, Ezra had tried to keep Fisher from being punched. Fisher just defied protection. Hopefully Catherine wouldn’t give into the urge also.

"Where the hell have you been Bennet?" Catherine asked looking at the other Warden in mild dismay and confusion. "And why are you covered in mud?" Sure shoes would get dirty at a scene like this, but as dirty as Ezra was, she found herself questioning just what he had been doing; other than rolling in the mud. "Go ahead and take Fisher to get a look at the car, if you guys run into anything weird just let us know alright?"

Then turning around to see who had called her name, Catherine frowned seeing it was Fisher. "Don't you mean Warden Dumitrescu..." She said slowly. "Besides, I think you might need that Fisher, I'd hate for you to get tangled in your poncho." She said, her tone polite enough as she refused the use of his jacket. Her own she'd brought with was sufficiently water proof enough, as were her boots; however after awhile nothing would be waterproof enough for hours upon hours of what they did in the field.

"To answer both questions: I'd advise you not to get too close to the river, Warden. The ground isn't as solid there." Ezra should have paid better attention to where he'd been going. He hadn't. "I'll give you a call if we do. Let's go, Paladin." As soon as possible. The eery atmosphere didn't get better on the asphalt road, even if it did help with getting the mud from his clothes.

"I do have to ask, why didn't you just wear a hat? The balaclava seems like an unnecessary risk." Whom's sanity dwindled by it more, he was unsure, and he didn't see it catching on around civilians. Whatever protection they may grant was completely negated by the way they're percieved by the public.

Molly calmly quietly took out her smartphone and took a picture of Warden Bennet once he had turned around. Then she put it back in her pocket and cast out her senses. It came easier this time, her Inhabitant stirring to help out of curiosity. "...Damn." Molly murmured and shook her head. She checked to make certain the mundane cops were far away, before she spoke. "The male is covered in demonic energy, Warden. Particularly his groin. If Bennet is right the demon must have taken near the water." It was either an incredibly stupid move or an incredibly smart one. It was also possible said creature had a kayak or canoe waiting. No one would think twice about it.

She bit her bottom lip and considered the scene, mind whirling. "It makes sense. There was a shoe print, pressumably a stilleto, near the bank." She informed her superior. "If the demon followed the bank, there's enough tree cover she probably wouldn't have been seen." Or Molly assumed a she, by the shoe print.

---

At the other end of the crime scene sat a white toyota corolla, with crime scene techs swarming the place. The front passenger doors were open, and the officer in charge of the scene walked over to greet Fisher and Bennet.

"You the poor saps this case is being handed to? Saw the bodies at the other scene. They were creepy." He shrugged it off. "Come on. We haven't found much. The girl's panties and bra. Men's clothing, a complete outfit. Her purse, and a man's wallet." It was weird, and between the rain and dealing with having to redirect traffic around the potential scene, he wanted this over with.

“Yes, that would be us. This is Senior Officer Fisher, I’m Warden Bennet. The evidence was all found within the car?” Ezra felt terribly rude for feeling more compelled to pay closer attention to the vehicle than the man he was supposed to be speaking to, but something bugged him about it almost immediately. He just needed to figure out what. Until then, Fisher would surely take care of this conversation with his impressive social skills.
The moment he did notice what was off, he couldn't believe it had taken him as long as it did. It was the driver’s seat he kept returning to. It seemed suspiciously close to the steering wheel. “Has anyone moved the seat, to look under it perhaps, or has it been this way when you found it?"

"Officer Fisher, Warden Bennet." He nodded to the two. "And no, it's been that far forward since we arrived." He admitted and then frowned. "Whoever drove it last must have been very short." It would have been too close for him to sit down in the seat even. "And not overweight." Short and not overweight wasn't exactly a great description, but it was something at least.

The officer frowned at this and then shrugged. "Good eyes warden. I'd check that against the victims height. If they aren't short too, then that's pretty helpful evidence." Unless it was some sort of forensic countermeasure, but homicides rarely involved forensic countermeasures, not such clearly passionate ones like this.

“I'll ask someone on scene”, Ezra muttered into his beard, trying to look casual while he typed the message to Miss Bronson at an excruciatingly slow pace. His fingers weren't wide, really, but they looked like they would need keys the size of saucers whenever he used the microscopic touchscreen. His next phone would have actual buttons again.
“Thank you for your help, officer. We'll take a look around, if you don’t mind. “ He was keen on sweeping the scene for the magic residue of the other after jotting down a few notes on the evidence found as well on the licence plate number.

"Go ahead." the officer said, as Molly grabbed the preliminary ME report at the other scene. Hm. She shook her head and then texted back. 'Victim heights: female 5'6", male 5'7".' A moment later and a second text came through. 'Why is everyone so damn short in this world?' That done, she nodded to the medical examiner and he loaded them in the truck. This crime scene was basically finished being processed. She stopped the examiner briefly to go over the man's body and bag a single long hair she had just caught sight of. Sloppy work.

If Ezra continued to look, he would find some residue on the driver's seat. Some lingered at the window of the car, as if magic was done while touching the frame. In truth, there wasn't quite enough to pin point what sort of demon had been there.

Wednesday, December 18, 2015
XTC Cabaret
8550 N Stemmons Fwy
Dallas, TX 75247

A strip club. Molly closed her eyes, and squeezed Ezra's arm. She was at a strip club, and supposed to be looking out for a demon, while she was pretending to date Ezra who lacked certain features that would make him remotely attractive to her. Well, at least there were female dancers, even if they were, um, fully nude here. Her cheeks pinked and she glanced to Ezra, trying to make it look like she was interested in him. "Four stages." she said quietly, knowing that Catherine would hear her, in the line to go in behind them. "Three smaller ones, one large one. We sit at separate tables between two stages so all four are covered." If they could.

She swallowed, rather nervous. It was a nude strip club. Bring your own beer, but nude female dancers, and yes, Molly suspected she was completely screwed. "Not too close to either stage, I think, just in case we're spotted." There was no shaking that cop vibe, even if you were a cop for the supernatural. The woman hoped, rather desperately, that she wasn't so rather obviously bothered by this issue. She really hoped that they found the succubus tonight. The club was dimly lit as she entered, dancers, largely nude, were already dancing on the three smaller stages, and with one hand on Ezra, she pulled him to a table between the largest one and one of the smaller ones. She hoped that he was ready for this, and turned to smile sweetly to Ezra.

"Ezra, coming here for a date was a...novel...idea." and one she was still uncertain of. She was just glad that despite her clubbing clothes, taken liberally from Karato's closet, wasn't quite as revealing as any of the ladies wandering the floor or dancing. It was still a very little black dress though. She had foregone heels for sandals though, given that increasing the height difference between her and Ezra would just be cruel. The music here was at least not overwhelming. The ladies, however, were and hers cheeks became even more red at the idea. It was ladies night, so she and Catherine wouldn't stand out too much. Please, please don't let a dancer offer a lap dance for her. Molly could not handle that. She would faint. These ladies were all, well, very attractive.

Catherine glanced down at her phone screen, checking the time and to see if there were any last minute messages that needed to be taken care of. While she agreed with Molly about sending officers out into the field that could defend themselves, she didn’t like getting paired with Fisher; the man could be unbearable at times. But it was better for her to take the pairing with him than Molly, if only because it kept the two from potentially fighting. “Well this should be interesting.” Catherine commented before stowing her phone away in a tiny silver clutch that matched the strappy little silver shoes she’d worn with her dress for the night.

“Just pick a spot Molly…” She said trying to be patient with the other. But it was hard when you felt like all eyes were on you, and not the entertainment for the night. Finding club clothing hadn’t been hard, but it certainly felt strange to be dressed like she was for the night. The dress she’d ended up with was a very low cut, very tight, red bandage dress. Adding to this uncharacteristic look, she wore more makeup than usual, with costume jewelry and her hair down in carefully created curls.

“So this is your idea of a date Rafael?” Catherine asked switching gears almost as soon as Molly did. She could play the stupid Dallas socialite slumming it at a strip club, but the question would be, was it going to be believable?

This seemed like an excellent time to contemplate all the terrible choices in his life that had lead him to his point. Ezra was so far out of his comfort zone, it had packed its bags and departed for the supermassive black hole in the center of their galaxy. Who knew if it would ever return. He had went out and bought a shirt and jeans for the occasion, shaved his beard and combed back his hair. The intended effect of making himself become someone else never set in, he just hoped he didn't look as uncomfortable as he felt. The… physics in this place were overwhelming, and he now regretted putting in contact lenses - he could have avoided seeing anything just by looking over the rim of his glasses. He focused on Miss Bronson instead, relieved to find her not completely composed as well. Her vice like grip on his arm wasn’t pleasant but unless she started to cut off his circulation, he wasn’t planning on letting her know.

Sometime during their walk over to the tables she must have slipped into character. It caught him off guard for a moment, he swallowed, then drew a deep breath and gave her his best impersonation of a cocky grin. There was no need to rush the answer, instead he leaned closer to her and gave her what hopefully looked like an appreciative look over, letting his eyes linger on her features. Objectively, he knew she was aesthetically pleasing, he just felt no attraction towards her. The dress didn't help, maybe he was misjudging her, however he didn't feel like it suited her personality. Perhaps he was just too used to her work attire. However, her transformation weirded him out less than Warden Dumitrescu’s, although he was unsure about what bothered him about it in the first place.

“Look at it as an adventure of self-discovery, doll. I think you could come to enjoy it.” Later, he would have to apologise profoundly to her for that pet name, his behavior, everything, and probably bring some more tea and hope her disgust at all that wouldn’t outlast his own.

Rafael was more composed thanthe others. He didn't even seem weirded out at all by this. The man looked as if he had done this before with other women who were now not present in his life. His attire was rather formal and dressed up as if he was headed to a regalia of royalty. His full black suit with vest and blood red tie gave him the appearance of a professional.

"I usually wait till I become romantic with my new partner before heading here to drive up the hormones." Rafael said smoothly standing next to Catherine.

"I don't suppose we will end up back at my place after this? Maybe a stroll through the park and a stop at the cafe?" Rafael was grinning while looking at her.

Oh God, he had no clue how much she was enjoying it. Why did this have to be so embarrassing. This was the last time she planned anything with Faust, and if this didn’t pan out she was slapping him so incredibly hard. The woman had barely recognized Ezra when she had seen his get up, but she had a feeling that it was a mutual sensation. And now he had checked her out, and she swallowed and then managed a flattering smile. She’d just pretend he was Lorn, or something. Only Lorn would never, ever call her doll. She managed a giggle.

“Mmm. Maybe.” She ran a finger down his arm. This was so weird. “Maybe one of the girls would give me a lap dance. Put on a show for you.” Oh Gods, really, was that the first thing she could think of to say? That was so embarrassing. She cast out her senses, seeking out some kind of demonic energy. Oh, please let this work. She couldn’t do this one more night. Everyone had orders to try for two hours, just in case. The other locations, at least, were night clubs. The junior officer managed a vacant smile for Ezra. At least it wasn’t hard to fake being aroused. She was absolutely aroused right now.

There were naked women everywhere and they were all incredibly attractive. Not her type, of course, but they were all incredibly attractive, and the ones more dressed were still walking around, soliciting lap dances, and it was incredibly difficult to focus on doing her job right now. Perhaps she should have made it so she went to a club, instead. She leaned in close and whispered to him, trying to looked besotted. “Perhaps I wasn’t a good choice for this location.” She still thought it the most likely option for the demoness to be are. It’s why the fire power was concentrated here. Their best shots, and most powerful players were here. Molly hoped she hadn’t put her eggs all in the wrong basket. Tonight they were just gathering information. They’d head back to MCU to plan out the arrest later. The Council didn’t exactly have a system in place for demons. Two hours. Molly had to be here for two hours. At least Rafael was composed, out of the four of them. She focused on her senses, cheeks rather red.

"Only if you're lucky." Catherine said, her tone vaguely sarcastic, and sweet with no hint of the acerbic bitterness. "But, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" She added cheekily. Rafael was nice enough, but she just wasn't into the one night stand type of thing. It was hard enough not to try and think of Rafael like she'd thought of Izaak when they first dated, nice, good looking, and eager for new things.

Staying in character wasn't difficult, it was going to be the after effects of this most recent night out at the club. Hopefully there wouldn't be any awkward situations, but it was probably to be expected all things considered. Molly and herself were dressed in uncharacteristic risque clothing, pretending to be other people, and drawing a lot of stares towards Ezra and Rafael with them on their arms.

That was a genuine look of surprise on his face at her suggestion. Either she was being extremely bold for her persona’s sake or this was a new side to her he hadn’t encountered yet. Not a question he needed an answer to. Her traces on his skin left him wanting to pull back, neither used nor terribly fond of too much contact. Instead, he tried to detach his thoughts from her actions, offering a curious and pleased expression instead. “I would have expected you to put up more of a fight, if I had known you are into experimentation, I would have suggested this location earlier.” The effort to suppress the disgust at the condescension was a constant battle. Perhaps allowing himself some sort of middle ground in character would help him keep it up longer.

“See anyone you like?” A second passed, then: “Apart from myself, of course.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled, trying to keep the irony out of it. He scanned the area, looking for a woman with hair dyed an unnatural color. A green one had been found on the crime scene but from what he had gathered, those dyes were temporary and frequently changed. It would also convey genuine interest - granted it wasn’t of sexual nature, but it would do better than awkwardly fixing his eyes to the table and wasting everyone’s time.

As she leaned over to him, he suddenly noticed her cheeks were flushed, the ever changing lights in this establishment having concealed them earlier. He thought he understood her worry, feeling unfit for this himself. “We’ll get through this together. Besides, I have complete faith in your skills”, he assured her in a low whisper. He meant it. Her reasoning had been very sound for choosing their teams and locations, her professional competence was impressive and she was certainly handling herself better in here than he was.

"I do hope all of you are ready for a night to remember!" Rafael said as they took their seats at their table. He stopped a waitress walking by standing to whisper something in her ear before slipping her a large tip. She would smile as she walked off to get what Rafael had ordered.

"Drinks are on me tonight and so is the entertainment." Rafael said a sly grin crossing his face, looking to Catherine beside him.

Rafael was laughing internally without letting it spill out over his features but if it was an external expression he would be crying right now almost doubled over from his plan. He had ordered a fine bottle of champagne and three girls. One for Molly, one for Ezra and one for Catherine. He planned to simply sit back and watch while also keeping an eye out as well. This may also lure out the succubus they were after. He would also get a fine laugh out of it.

"Like you said, Dear. There is a first time for everything." Rafael said to Catherine about her earlier statement.

The waitress would explain that the establishment was a bring your own beer place, and thus did not serve alcohol on the premises, but she did bring them drinks regardless, after taking their orders. Molly watched, uncertain. They had been supposed to take separate tables, but it wasn't as if she wouldn't be able to sense the demon from farther away, so they should be good regardless. And besides, this way she could just hide behind Catherine if she needed to. That definitely worked for Molly.

And then the first of the dancers arrived, and Molly's eyes went rather large. Rafael hadn't? He had! He was dead. He was dead and he didn't know it. She was going to kill him for this. The dancer smiled at the table, looking the four over curiously. "Molly?"

Molly squeaked, in the back of her throat. She was going to kill him so very much. At least twice. Brandon could help with that right? That was something he could do? "Yes?" She didn't stutter. She was proud of herself. She was bright red, but at least she wasn't stuttering. The dancer smiled down to her.

"Your friend ordered a dance for you. So how about you just sit back and relax, okay? And remember, no dancing." She teased. Wide eyed, Molly nodded and swallowed. Rafael was dead in ways he could not even imagine, and she was getting a lap dance, and holy shit, there went Molly's ability to sense a damn thing because this was just a bit too erotic to focus on anything else, much less the bell ringing in her head, warning her that a demon was nearby.

The other two dancers approached as well, singling out Catherine and Ezra just as gently.

This was not a good time to panic, Ezra decided, trying to slow his breathing down and calm his thoughts. These were professionals, and he could reason with them. It’s not as if they had some personal investment in his arousal - if they did, they would have to be disappointed. He could do this - and vent his anger later. Whatever amusement fallen Paladin Fisher was getting out of this, he hoped it was worth it. His death would come soon enough, as would the questioning of his work ethics.

The woman that approached him must have repeated his name, and he focused his attention on her. Her hair looked a natural blonde, of course that did not make her less of a suspect, but unless she casted a spell and revealed herself, his hands were tied. And from her reactions, he doubted that their demon expert was paying too much attention to their case. He couldn’t blame her - Fisher on the other hand…

Another breath, then he forced his expression to ease into a smile, looking the dancer over again while he licked his lips - his throat was far too dry. “I hate to decline”, please, don’t let her notice that lie, “but it is her first time”, he motioned towards Miss Bronson, “and I’d hate to miss a second of it.” Winking now would probably be too much, wouldn’t it? He decided to look the woman over again, thinking of the ruined shoes he had had to dispose of a few days ago with the intent of having some regret on his features. “Unless my generous friend would like to call in your service instead, I might come back to it later, if you and her are willing.” He shot another glance towards Miss Bronson, pitying her predicament especially after her whispered reveal earlier - but frankly her loss was his escape. Sorry.

"I can't say this is exactly what I had in mind..." Catherine said as she willed herself not to find a way to strangle Rafael right then and there. His punishment would come later, and it would have to be equally as sudden and creative as what he'd sprung on both Warden's and Molly. For now she'd just have to keep playing the part, and hope that the dancers didn't catch on this last ditch effort to find the succubus. Catherine just wished Rafael realized that getting distracted wasn't something they could afford, especially there.

"But let's see where this goes." She added as the dancer approached. The woman was attractive enough, but didn't really interest Catherine in the least. It had always been difficult to tell just where exactly her preferences lay, and she wasn't usually telling either. But, as the dancer bumped, and grinded through her routine, Catherine kept herself distanced from the awkwardness of it all by plotting Fisher's demise.

Ezra had been able to get out of his, but Molly and Catherine appeared stuck. It would take a great deal of alcohol to try and forget these nonsense.