Can Anybody Find Me?

Dumb Coyote opened the door to the cabin and gestured for the other two to head in first. Rimmon smirked at Gavin and sauntered in, cocky and brazen as always. Gavin followed a moment after, still resisting the urge to attack the Demon while his back was turned. It wasn't honorable, and it sure as hell went against the rules, but his palms itched with the desire to throttle Rimmon while he was mortal. Lastly Coyote walked into his own cabin and stepped to the side, putting a physical distance between him and them. They were all staring at Lone, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, blood dried on her upper lip and a piece of paper in her hands.

"Lone are you alright?" Gavin asked, taking a step forward. The look she shot him, made the Angel take an involuntary step back; there was so much animosity in her glare.

Rimmon smirked again, thinking that she had chosen to discard the Angel's favour for his own. He stepped forward, reaching out to touch the human when suddenly she was on her feet and her fist connected with his face. Rimmon grunted and crumpled to the floor, holding his broken nose as the pain rocketed through his skull. It sucked having to take the abuse while he was forced to be wholly mortal. Normally his body absorbed the pain but now he was forced to feel the full effect of it. His eyes watered and he groaned as he pulled the crumpled appendage straight.

Lone hadn't stood still while this was happening though, no, she'd spun from punching him and kicked Gavin right in the stomach, sending the Angel tumbling backwards. She moved forward to keep raining abuse down on them both when Coyote grabbed her and hauled her away. She was swearing at them all, using every foul name she could think of to label them with. "Lone..... Lone.....LONE.... ELONORE!" Coyote tried to quiet her down.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" she roared at her sensei, twisting in his grip. But despite her strength, he clung on and held her in place. Gavin was wheezing but regaining his feet and Rimmon stood, still hodling his tender face. They stared at her in shock and a little awe as she was finally forced to stand still, glaring murder at both of them.

Coyote pushed her back until she ended up sitting on the edge of the bed, and gestured for the other two to keep their distance. "As much fun as it is to see you bash them around, that's not why I brought us here." Coyote stated with a calm smile on his face.

"There'd better be a very good reason to have them anywhere near me." Lone growled, the hatred on her face hiding the hurt in her heart.

"Lone..." Rimmon tried this time, taking a small step forward with a shy smile. He was convinced her could charm his way back into her good graces.

"If you come near me I will rip your balls off and hang them from my rear view mirror like fuzzy dice, I swear to God." Lone forced herself to talk to him. She looked from the startled Demon to Gavin. "And you, you're no better than he is. You're supposed to be my Guardian Angel, but you pull this shit?" she demanded, shaking the letter that was still clutched in one hand.

"What is it you think I've done?" Gavin asked cautiously. Lone gave a short laugh, not buying his innocence in the least.

"Parasites. You're both disgusting parasites. Tying my soul to yours so you can try and pull me in. Force me to do what you think is best for me. Because you obviously couldn't just talk to me about it, no instead you have to go behind my back and try to consign me to your rules. And you," she turned her gimlet glare on Rimmon, "now you never directly lied to me, which I appreciate, but it's the same bull. You don't give a crap about me, but instead you just want my soul for another gold flipping star from your bosses." she shook her head, anger running out. She wanted to hang on to the anger, it buried the hurt. "You cursed me and he 'blessed' me and you're both so full of it. Get out." her voice was tired sounding.

"Unfortunately it's not that easy." Coyote spoke up at last. She turned her guarded eyes onto her sensei and he realized that she'd lost her faith in all of them. Fair enough, they deserved no less, but running away wasn't an option left for her anymore. "I wish we could just erase their marks and set you free, but there's something must worse happening. And the three of you are going to be stuck working together on this."

All three parties involved stared at Dumb Coyote like he had lost his mind. "You want me to work with them?" Lone asked, voice dangerously quiet.

"There's no way you can expect me to work with that thing" Gavin burst out, jabbing a finger towards Rimmon.

"You're no treat yourself. You're worse than useless!" Rimmon scoffed.

Coyote just watched as all three started to bicker. Rimmon and Gavin taking pot shots at each other and Lone flinging insults at both. He knew they would eventually come around to the concept, but jsut had to get this out of hte way first. So he checked his watch and took a seat, allowing them ten minutes to get it settled. He wasn't too worried, knowing that even if it turned to violence, all three of them were limited to mortal standards so there would be minimal bloodshed. To his surprise Lone stepped away from the others first and settled down next to Coyote to watch as Rimmon and Gavin stood chest to chest, screaming at each other, all but taking swings now.

"You calmed down faster than I expected." Coyote said conversationally, as if a Demon and an Angel weren't about to start tearing each other to pieces in front of them.

Lone looked at him, no humour in her eyes. "Yeah well, I know you. You're a crochety old bastard with a sick sense of humour. But you never do anything without good reason." she shrugged. "Besides, you didn't need to be able to read auras to know that those two are more concerned with hurting each other than mollifying me." and it was obvious that it bothered Lone. She wanted them to be falling over themselves, begging for her forgiveness. It was entirely stupid of her, but knowing that two men had wanted her had made her feel special. So pitiful really. But finding out that they were both just doing a job had hurt something Lone didn't want to admit existed. Her romantic side, the very small part of her that relished the thought of men fighting for her affection. So instead of admitting that she rejected it all completely and blamed it on them entirely.

Coyote read that all on her, even though she was very good at hiding her emotions, but didn't comment. He had no answers that would heal her wounds, and could offer no advice that would solve her problems. "You're going to have to tell me about the creature you encountered." he stated instead.

Lone looked over at him, tracing the grain of the wood in the table. "You know what's sad? I'm not even the least bit surprised that you of all people are ass deep in supernatural riff raff." she stated instead of answering. He smiled softly, not letting her distract from the topic at hand. She resisted his straightforward stare, met his experienced gaze with defiance and attitude, the traits that made her so formidable. But eventually she caved. By this time the Angel and Demon were actually grappling, landing meaty blows against each other, kicking and snarling as they fought. Neither one was trying to kill the other though, instead they were trying to make the other submit first. Their own battle for dominance. Lone stared at her 'suitors' and smirked at their idiocy. Then told Coyote about the creature she encountered. He'd already received a physical description of it from Gavin, but Lone's strange talent to see auras gave him the final details he needed to develop a basic plan. Both men were now laying on the floor, panting and aching. Neither was used to dealing with the pain of wounds in a human body, injuries that refused to heal with their usual quickness and instead reminded both just how limiting it is to be mortal.

"So this creature is hunting something and seems to be trying to catch some powerful prey. Which would indicate that there is a handler on the otherside of his leash." Coyote finished his explanation to Lone. She hadn't interrupted, had taken in everything Coyote had learned and had even asked a few smart questions. It was a lot to take in and given everything that had been happening, Coyote was willing to wait for her to come around to the concept. But she accepted it without arguement.

"So I'm bait." Lone stated, nodding. "For some reason this thing is interested in me. So we see if we can find it, and if not, set a trap." she looked at Coyote in the eyes. "I don't trust them. I can't." she stated softly as both men finally pulled themselves off of the floor. They stood glaring at each other, still oblivious to the council of war going on between Lone and Coyote. It was part natural animosity, a genetic hatred that they had for each other and part personal conflict. Coyote felt suddenly very old as he watched Lone watch them. Her statement of distrust revealed more about her than she expected. Coyote knew that it wasn't the fact that they'd betrayed her that made her relucant to trust them; instead Lone was afraid to trust them because then she risked caring about them. Maybe even eventually falling in love with one or both of them. It wouldn't be impossible, hate was a passion just as much as love was.

"Alright boys, let's go back to the city. We've got a job to do." Lone stood up as she spoke. Her tone was coldly professional, and her body language was guarded. Obvious cues for any of them to tell that she did not want to get physically close to either, and not jsut because both were still oozing blood.

Gavin frowned, looking a little bewildered and lost. Rimmon's face was blank but his eyes flicked back and forth from Lone to Coyote, trying to figure out what had gone on while they tusseled. He refused to loose face and ask though, pride stronger than curiosity. As long as he continued to have hte opportunity to seduce Lone's soul, he didn't particularily care what they were doing. Even if it meant having the blasted Angel around.

"What are you going to tell sweet Belle?" Coyote asked Lone, gesturing to the two battered males. "She's bound to notice something's up."

Lone chewed her lip and followed Coyote outside to the Jeep. The perplexed Angel and the curious Demon followed silently, keeping at least a two foot distance between them. "I don't want to get her involved in all this. She deserves a chance to be happy." Lone stood beside hte Jeep, fighting a shudder at the thought of being confined inside a small vehicle with them behind her. Even worse to be forced to sit next to one the entire time.

"So what's the plan?" Gavin used Lone's hesitation to try and get answers. Rimmon smirked at the Angel, glad it'd been that pansy that looked stupid by asking.

Lone whirled on them, a glare on her face. "It's your turn to sit in the dark, not have a clue what's really gonig on around you. Maybe hten you'll get to see what it's like, finding out that what you thought was real was utter bullshit. Soak it up, the two of you. You'll know what I think you need to know, only when I decide you need to know it!" she snapped at them both.

"Lone, I think you and I need to talk about..."Gavin started but Lone cut him off. By landing a hookshot across his jaw. Here was the violence Coyote had expected ealier.

"I don't care what you want. You're nothing to me and I don't need to have a talk with you. I wish you'd never come into my life at all. Ever since you showed up, everything went to hell." she spat at her Guardian Angel. He gaveher such a strucken look that she stopped talking. Then before anyone could fill the very tense and awkward silence, Gavin grabbed Lone by the waist and pushed her back against the Jeep, regardless of those watching.

"You're right Elonore. Everthing has gone wrong for you since I showed up. But that's because I came too late. I was supposed to save you before it became too serious. You were never supposed to have to go to the hospital, and your mom would have lived. Then your father would never.."

"Don't." Lone interrupted him again. It was soft spoken, but heavy with emotion. "Just don't." she repeated. It was hard to ignore just how safe she felt with his hands holding her, with his aura flaring around them in reaction to his emotions. She had to remember that he wasn't human, and that this was all a job to him, regardless of how he was acting. It was a means to an end. That was all. "I could forgive you being late. Better late than never. I could forgive you doing nothing while he... I could forgive even that.: she stated, looking away from them all. "But you came to me here, and you used me. That I can't forgive. Not from you. You're supposed to be better than that." her voice dropped to a whisper. He'd bee nthe guy she'd compared all others to, her dream man. The hero that rescued her, that stayed with her while all the bad things happened, the one that never judged her. But here he was in the flesh, and instead of fulfilling that role, he lied to her, tied her to him and used her.

"I never meant to use you." he replied. He raised a hand and put it over the mark on her chest, hovering just off of touching. "I truely did not know. And I am so sorry." he apologized, sincere. But Lone still refused to look at him. It surprised him that Rimmon was allowing them this moment and he couldn't resist looking over his shoulder, surprised to find the old man holding Rimmon back. The Demon looked ready to chew steel and spit nails, but Coyote had only needed to tell the Demon to stand still and stay quiet and he'd been powerless to resist. Gavin turned his gaze back to Lone, catching her watching him out of the corner of her eye. "I was supposed to save you." Gavin whispered, despair prickling through his mortal form. "I was supposed to save you," he repeated, "not fall in love with you." he finished. Surprise flooded Lone's face as she faced him. He took a gamble and crashed his lips to hers, letting his hand come to rest on her shirt, over the mark he'd put on her chest. The kiss sent jolts zinging inside his mortal flesh and he felt her melt against his lips, open her mouth to him, dropping her animosity. And then a fist connected to his face, sending him sprawling backwards.

Lone was furious that she'd let him kiss her, and superbly pissed off at herself for kissing him back. It had felt so damn good, and when he touched the mark, even with a layer between their skin, she'd felt something uncoil inside her body, like a flower as it blooms. And then the anger burned that up, making it ashen. "You ever touch me like that again and I'll kill you myself." she warned.

Rimmon was laughing, a deep, full belly laugh. He'd been worried for a little bit, and helpless to stop their reconciliation with Coyote holding him back. But he needed have worried. "That's my girl." the Demon chuckled, freed of Coyote's restraint. He walked over to Lone a the Angel propped himself up, rubbing his jaw. Lone shot him a look full of venom.

"I'm not your anything. The same rule stands for you. No touching. I've agreed to work with you two only because my Sensei has asked it of me. Once this task is done, I never want to see either of you again. Do you understand me?" Lone demanded, fists clenched.

"I understand. There's just one thing I need to do before though." Rimmon nodded. Lone frowned, confused and he used that opportunity grab her hips and kiss her. Fair was fair, if hte Angel got one last kiss, so would he dammit. He was expecting her to hit him like she had Gavin, but it never happened. His hand had landed on the invisible brand he'd given her and it lit his blood on fire. Finally Lone shoved herself away from the Demon's lips and glared at him, but the effect was ruined by her swollen lips. The flush on her face told anyone looking that Rimmon wasn't the only one that'd felt the heat flare between them.

"Coyote, how do I kill them?" Lone asked her sensei, voice sounding a little desperate.

"Off with their heads." Coyote grinned at his protege. Considering the fact that she's found out that Angels and Demons are real, nightmares are hunting her, her soul is at risk and her sensei isn't entirely human all in a short period of time, she was handeling it all rather well.

"Awesome." Lone replied sarcastically. "Alright then. If either of you try something like that again, I'll go guillotine on your asses. Alright?" Lone gave the final warning, then slid into the shotgun seat. "When we get back, Gavin, you distract Belle. As far as she's concerned, your her boyfriend. Romance her, see if this creature of yours is sniffing your trail. But if there is any sign of danger, any sign at all, you get Belle to safety. Or you'll deal with me." Lone instructed. "Rimmon, we're dealing with something from your neck of the woods. Ask around and find out what you can."

The reminded Gavin of something and he finally thought to check his cellphone. There were several missed phone calls and three texts from Roy. "I might already have a lead on that, hang on." the Angel spoke up. He called Roy's number, a little shocked to find the sky edging towards dawn already. The first attempt eventually gave him the voice mail and he left a brief message. Then he tried texting the gargoyle. But by the time the Jeep pulled up outside Lone's apartment complex, the gargoyle hadn't replied. Gavin frowned but put it down to the fact that Roy was probably back on his rooftop, with dawn being so close.

Lone scrubbed her face, exhausted despite having her accidental nap. She felt boiled and peeled like a potatoe, and having the two men who caused those sensations standing just behind her, watching her, was not helping settle the sensation. It was obvious that they both wanted to say something to her, but not with the other one still there. If this wasn't so frustrating it'd be amusing. "Do whatever it is you need to go do, then we'll meet up tonight. Goodnight." Lone's voice was monotone.

"Lone wait..." "Elonore..." they both started, then glared at each other. Lone just gesturedfor them to shut up.

"Go away. Just... just go away." Lone had meant for it to sound firm and angry, unyeilding. But instead she sounded almost pleading, weak and pathetic. She didn't wait for them to reply, just walked inside and to her apartment. This time she made it to her own bed before she passed out.