Chiyoko smiled politely. "Nukekubi," she stated. "They caught me as I was feeding and Lily took an interest in me. I probably would have been disposed of if that hadn't been the case." She sipped from the water. "I've seen some come and go, and my suggestion is to just cooperate with them. It's not so bad when you do. But since you're agents, I'm sure you'll be treated well. I offered to work for them, but so far they haven't gotten back to me about that."
She only glanced briefly at the dragon woman taking the boy with her - that was still something she didn't understand. Why was a boy here? It didn't seem like anything Lily would take an interest in.

---

"We're in town, I've been hunting vampires." He examined her for a moment. "You look like shit, what the hell happened? When you left you looked like you were going to murder people." He was about to say something about Steph and Gaia, but he decided Harriet was better off focussing on herself now.

He didn't notice agent Barrow walking away from the group and take his phone to send a text to the boss that Harriet had returned and seemed in a confused state of mind. Agent Morrison stayed with them and just watched Ethan and Harriet with his arms crossed over his chest.

Rose gave a bit of a frown at the mention of them capturing her while feeding, "That's..." She bit her tongue, she couldn't talk bad about these guys, they worked with the agency right? They wouldn't do anything dangerous to others if unneeded, and surely it was just for research. But the idea of her being disposed sat wrong with Rose.
"They wouldn't... kill you would they?" She asked after a moment, her mandables fidgeted under her lips before she caught Chiyoko looking at Gaia and Sam. "That's Sammy, he's the son of another agent... Turns out she's a siren but she ran before they could catch her to study it seems. They have her son for... some reason, she's told me in the past and I don't exactly remember." She frowned slightly, moving to rub the back of her head with one of her hands.
"I think Lily likes us, she's taken to Steph but she doesn't seem to dislike Gaia, which I think is nice since Gaia wasn't liked back at the agency."

Gaia had sat down with Sammy in her lap, carefully wrapping her tail gently around him as she summoned a small flicking flame in her hands to make it dance around her fingers. She changed the colour of the flame as it flickered around, Sammy's eyes wide and focused on the flame itself.

Steph felt a shiver as she touched the dance pole, moving to grip it with both of her hands. A wave of energy washed over her and she slowly pulled herself up onto the pole properly and used her core strength to keep her upright. She closed her eyes, breathing in slowly as she tried to focused on what she was doing rather than the people watching her.
She moved nimbly, swinging herself from the pole; side to side to start with before she pulled herself upside down, lowering her legs in a T shape as she stayed upside down. She felt her breathing hitch, was it fear or the thrill of being back on the Pole; of course it was strange to do it in her female body. She wrapped her legs around the pole and let go with her hands, noticing her tail coiled around as well, she pushed her torso out so she was horizontal from the pole.

---

Harriet shook her head as he spoke, before she nodded slightly and looked up to him with a weak smile.
"I feel like shit." She said with a laugh, "How's hunting going?" She almost ignored the mention of her wanting to kill someone before she gave a bit of a sigh.
"I... went off to fight Daz, he... Attacked Duncan and I. I think I just... Snapped, I don't remember much of the fight, my heads' just woozy. I'm sure I'll be fine. I haven't really eaten though, despite being up this... gunk." She looked at the black in on the ground before she shuddered, "I hope that's not any organs. I need to contact dad immediately, he'll know what this is."

Chiyoko laughed softly at the question if they wouldn't kill her. "That's what your agency does: dispose of demons that are a threat to humans." She had a cold look in her eyes. "Humans are my prey, so I have no ill feelings towards your agency for seeing me as a threat, but I value my life and I will defend it. Or bargain for it. In this case the latter happened." She smiled as she turned to look at Steph who had gone to the pole. "But you situation is different from mine," she added. "You are an agent, I was always an enemy. I don't doubt they wil dispose of me as soon as I have no use anymore, so I will continue to be of use for them."

---

Ethan offered a hand to Harriet for support. Why she reacted so lightly to the black goo - seemingly not even worried about the possibility of those being organs - was beyond his understanding.
"Where can you contact your father?" he asked her. "The old base is evacuated, but I don't know what happened to your personal belongings."

Rose's eyes widened at Chiyoko's words about being disposed after her helpfulness. Something seemed to twist in her head, was the agency not as... Good as she had thought of? Sure, they were helping humans but even humanoid creatures needed to feed right? And surely they could find a way to...
Rose hadn't realized that she dropped her paper cup of water she had gotten herself, she kind of stood there in confusion before she blinked.
"They're going to kill us." She uttered under her breath, "They're going to study us and then they'll kill us."

Steph was no longer focused on the fact everyone could be watching her, especially since she couldn't see Lily watching her either. She kept herself up and did a few more swings on the pole, hanging outwards with her arms and wrapped her legs around the pole before she hopped off and blinked when her feet hit the ground properly.
"Wow!" Sammy said as he looked up at Steph, who jumped and puffed her wings out slightly before she looked towards the child. "You're really good at moving!" He said, Steph glanced up as Gaia came to scoop up the child in her arms.
"He means excersizing." She said, Steph gave a small nod. She felt her face deepen in red, her horns flooding with the same soft pink colour.

---

Harriet used Ethans hand to pull herself up, to Ethan, she felt unnaturally light in terms of her weight, but maybe that was just her alien genetics?
"Evacuated?" She asked, confused. She glanced over to the other agent but looked back to Ethan. "Why... What happened? Is everyone okay?" Her breathing hitched, she realized she couldn't contact Gaia, how far away was she? Was she safe? Were the boys safe?

"There's no reason to assume the worst," Chiyoko replied calmly, with an amused sound to her voice. "Study you, yes. I think they will do that. Kill you? No. Only if you are a threat. And even then I think they will feel a little remorse for killing you because they knew you when you were human." She gracefully reached down to pick up the cup. "They won't feel that for killing me, but I can't blame them. I will feel no remorse for killing any of them either. And trust me, I will try to kill them at the first opportunity." Despite her dark words, she smiled a friendly smile as she handed Rose her now empty cup.

---

"They didn't give us the official reason," Ethan explained. "Just that the base was compromised. They never said by who or how, just that we had to leave. The mansion is still there if you want to go back, but the agency has probably abandoned it by now."
Was Harriet always this light? He wasn't sure, but he hadn't helped her up before either. Either way, she seemed capable to stand on her legs. "Can you walk?" he asked her.

Agent Morison cleared his throat to get their attention. "It's scheduled for demolition to get rid of all the evidence we were ever there." He turned to Harriet. "If you have personal things to pick up, you should do that now. The scheduled demolition will happen soon."
"Gas leak, huh," agent Barrow added as he brought a cigarette to his lips. "The most common explanation. I suppose they will burn anything they want to dispose of at the same time."

Rose stood still as Chiyoko spoke to her, she blinked slowly and looked towards her friends momentarily before she realized her cup was now empty.
"Oh." She said as she looked to the splatter on the ground with a small frown, "Damn they're not going to like that mess.." She trailed off before she tried to pull her head back to what she was originally thinking.
"But, we're apparently their enemy now. I... I don't think there is a way for me to go back to being human." She seemed to have slowly clicked, "Gaia was never human! She came to the group as how she was now."
Gaia glanced over to Rose as she heard her name, before her ears flicked and she moved to carry Sam off away from Steph and sat down with him in her lap.

Rose's mind slowly seemed to overload and she noticed her breathing had picked up. She stepped away from Chiyoko for a moment, feeling the hard wall almost slam into her back as she hit it wit her pack. "I... I don't think they'd even want us? I heard whispers of Gaia being dangerous and Steph... Steph is a demon too! They'll try and kill her, won't they?" Her panic started to rise as she slid down the wall.

---

"Compromised?" She repeated, before she nodded to Ethan. "I think I can walk, thank you." She said. Harriet's mind tried to reach out and find someone she knew, but nothing was connecting. Was whatever happened to her severed her connections? She glanced to Ethan for a second and tried to link to his mind, a small spark of pain bounced through her head and gave a bit of a grumble.
"Yeah," She started softly, "I think my... Things might still be there?" Harriet said before she moved her hand to trace a bit of a circle in the sky before a small inky portal appeared where she drew.

To the boys, the portal was completely inky black; but to Harriet she could see the inside of her room with ease. She looked it over with narrowed eyes before she popped the portal and shook her head. "My things are gone." She said almost solemnly. Where had it disappeared to? She asked herself before sighing. "Are we... able to go to the base anyway?" She asked Morison, before she glanced towards Barrow and winced slightly at his cigarette.

Chiyoko held her hand against her lips. "I didn't scare you, did I? You're here, so they don't want to kill you." She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were cold. "If they wanted to kill you, they would have. There's no need to worry. Why would they try to accommodate you all and put effort into nice rooms, if all they want is to dispose of you? Did you see mine? It's almost as if I'm home. I even get prey every now and then."

As calm as she was as she entered the place, she went to where Rose set and held out a hand to help her up. "Do not stress, there's no need for it."

---

Ethan watched Harriet check the ink-black circle, apparently she saw more in it than he did, as he couldn't see a damn thing but she was able to determine her stuff was gone. He accepted a cigarette from agent Barrow and lit it. "That sucks," he stated as reply to her comment her things were gone.

Agent Morison shrugged a bit. "You mean the old base> We can do that. With us gone it's the perfect moment for enemies to be there, so we might as well hunt for vampires and other intelligent monsters there now. But I don't think you'll find much. If you're talking about the new base, that's just on the other side of this city."
Agent Barow nodded to his fellow agent's words. "I'll get the car," he offered. "Either way we'll have to drive."

Chiyokos' words didn't get heard as Rose started to go into a full blown panic attack. Her breathing hitched quickly and her brain started to spiral, her head felt like it was spinning as she pulled her knees to her chest as she felt her stomach in her throat. She clenched her eyes closed as her body started to quiver, she wanted to be home, she wanted to go back to the farm she grew up on; she should have listened to her dad, the city wasn't for someone like her, but of course her curiousity obviously got the best of her.

As Chiyoko stepped towards her to try and help her up, she could see she was physically trembling with her head tucked into her knees and her spider legs curled up around her carefully and protectively.
"I'm gonna die." Rose uttered under her breathe, breathing heavily between sobs, "They're wanting to kill me. If they just wanted to study me they would have just done it at the agency." She hiccuped, her voice keeping low as she continued to panic.

---

Harriet scrunched her nose as Ethan took a cigarette but she didn't properly comment on it. She gave him a small smile as Ethan replied to her saying about her things being gone.
"It's alright." She waved her hand slightly. "Sadly worldly possessions disappear, I can easily replace what I've lost. I carry the rest with me at all times." She gave a soft grin before looking to Morison about the bases, "Either one really." She said, "I'd like to look and see if I can find things that I couldn't see; of course if that is okay with you." She smiled as she felt something bubble under her skin on her back, it was unsettling but she ignored it for now.

Chiyoko frowned at Rose and grabbed her arm to shake her. "Did you not hear what I said?" she asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Do you really think they would give you pretty rooms if they wanted to dispose of you? At the agency they can only observe how you behave in that environment, when you're not out on fieldwork or something. I'm not saying there won't be any tests done on you, but there's no need to panic like this. Beasts they want to study and dispose of because they are dangerous are usually kept in cages. I was in a cage until they decided they wanted me alive instead and I got moved here. You should be glad you are here."

The small woman put her arms in her long sleeves again as she watched Rose to see if her words had any effect. If not, she would just leave; there were better ways to spend this time than to fruitlessly talk to someone panicking over nothing.

---

Ethan blew away some smoke, in the direction the wind was going, away from the non-smokers. It was admirable Harriet was so cool about her stuff missing. He didn't really have any personal things of value at the base either and all the standard stuff was indeed easily replaced, so he could understand the reaction, but if he recalled correctly she did have some special stuff in her room.
"We can have a look at the old base, yeah," Ethan said. "See what creatures lurk there with everyone gone, and see what things were left behind. I guess any stuff that is still there is free to take?"

Agent Morrison agreed by nodding as he inhaled some smoke and blew it out. With nothing to do, his mind wandered to Carl and Jase. Where would they be? The last thing he heard from them was a message that the agency wanted them dead and that they would destroy the phone. And moments later Rudrig had come to him showing him a text they had to be brought in. And that happened after those beasts from this girl's team had been relocated to the examination facility.
An eventful day for sure, and the night was still young.

Rose flinched as Chiyoko shook her, pulling her out of her panic before she breathed in and out slowly. She was still slightly panicking, but the demons words definitely got to her, either her words, or the annoyance in her voice.
"I.." Rose started, moving to wipe her eyes as she noticed that tears had started to flood down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I... I didn't mean to panic." She straightened herself up and stepped to give Chiyoko a tight hug.
"I'm sorry they put you in a cage. I'm sorry they caught you." She continued, pulling away as she held the womans arms with a soft smile, "I can only offer to try and get them not to kill you, or... At least make your last days good. In any way I can." Rose said, her eyes changing to a caring look.

"They put us in... Boxes, when we got here. Before they gave us really... Personalized rooms." Rose said, mainly to calm herself down. "They... Care about us. Enough to keep us comfortable while they study us." She took a glance towards Sammy and her mind was brought to Freya. "Will... They kill the boy?" She asked with a frown.

---

Harriet smiled to Ethan as said they could go back to the base. The idea of beasties possibly being there made her body tremble in excitement, but an excitement that would normally scare Harriet if she wasn't so focused on being around people she trusted.
"Are we allowed to hunt them if they're there?" She asked with a tilt of her head, "They could have possibly stolen my things."

---

Jase grumbled as he sat up from the bed he rested in, looking around to realize it was a heartshaped bed. His face flushed before he looked over to see Carl asleep with his back to him, his soft silver wings wrapped closely around his body; he could see some bare skin of his hip, which caused him to look down at himself and realize he was naked and had a few fresh looking marks on his body.
"Oh god what did we do." He asked himself, shuddering as a feeling of warmth flooded over his body. "Fuck what did we do."

Chiyoko blinked when she was suddenly pulled in a hug. While say had a thing or two to say about this woman's misplaced care or worry, she decided to hear her out instead.
When the boy was mentioned she followed Rose's gaze and shrugged. "I don't think so. This place is not the waiting room for executions. If they had wanted to dispose of him, they would have."

She glanced at the clock and stepped back a little. "I'd love to chat, but it's time for a meal." She grinned. "I hope they have someone tasty for me. If you happen to see a head float around without a body, don't be alarmed. It's just me."

---

Agent Morrison turned to Harriet. "Any beasts or creatures harmful to humans can be hunted," he stated, nodding to emphasize his words. "It's our job to keep humans safe and if something dangerous lurks there we can take it out."

A car pulled up, agent Barrow was behind the wheel and he gestured to them to enter it. The two agents put out their cigarettes and went to the car. Morrison went to the passenger seat and Ethan lingered a bit to see if Harriet was following, with whom he would share the backseat.
Going back to the abandoned base, this was going to be interesting.

Rose nodded to Chiyoko's words before she was about to ask about something else, before Chiyoko said she had to leave.
"Of course." Rose nodded gently, "Please enjoy whoever they end up giving you and.. If you ever need to socialize, we're here.. Or at least I am." She offered with a small smile, bowing her head slightly before she headed over to see Sammy and Gaia.

"My apologies Gaia." Rose started, moving to lift Sammy up from her grip, the Dragon woman simply watching her carefully- but not fighting her doing so. "I need to talk with Sammy." She said as she carried Sammy away from Gaia, who seemed to let out a rumble and closed her eyes.
The little Siren boy was helping her keep her mind off being trapped, keeping her mind off- Ethan. Gaia sighed as her ears flattened, moving to lie on her side and curl up into a bit of a ball, using her wing to cover her body with ease.
I hope Ethan is okay. He is a good human. Gaia thought to herself, her breathing rumbling through her body before she winced at her own mental pain, not realizing she projected her next thoughts to Ethan. I want Ethan back. I want him safe.

Steph felt warm in her shirt, she moved to grab a drink of water as she tried to calm her body down from whatever was happening. Whatever Gaia did to her, definitely made her feel something, but she couldn't understand if it was anything good or not. She shook the feeling off before she looked around again, the Pole was nice and so were the weights, but she wanted to see if there was any punching bags- apart from Gaia if she hung from the ceiling- that she could burn energy on.

---

Harriet looked to Morrison as he spoke, she gave a small nod before she looked over to the car as the agents got in. Harriet felt something move under her skin as she started to walk to the car, she gave a small smile to Ethan. She headed over towards the other side of the car to take the seat beside Ethan, making sure to give him enough room as she settled into the seat.

Part of her wondered if the agency saw her as a threat, a new part that was slowly bubbling up from her conciousness. She didn't want to have to harm Ethan if it came to it, she could take down Barrow and Morrison with some hardship, but she'd have to knock out Ethan to make sure he doesn't try and get himself killed by attacking her.
From here it was where her brain seemed to linger onto her groupmates, "Gaia..." She mumbled slightly under her breath, her head shaking as her eyes got a soft spark of her old personality back. Her body tensed in her seat before she suddenly relaxed, her eyes returning to their normal sheen as she looked over to Ethan with a weak smile. "Are the boys safe?"

"What a very unhuman thing to say," Chiyoko muttered to herself as she sauntered away, smiling as she did. But then again, the spider woman didn't look that much like a human. A recent change, she had heard. But an interesting woman for sure, she'd enjoy talking with Rose.
She left the room.

---

After Ethan and Harriet had settled, agent Barrow started driving and he and agent Morrison chatted amongst themselves. Ethan didn't really pay much attention to it and watched the city pass before his eyes.
He blinked when he thought he heard Gaia.
I want Ethan back. I want him safe.
Where had they taken her? He had asked Barrow and Morrison about it, but they weren't sure where Gaia was. It wasn't their department to lock creatures up to study them, their department was extermination. Girl, I'll figure out where they are keeping you, and I'll come and get you he thought to himself.

Harriet's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned to her. "Mike and Ben? They were grabbing a movie last I heard. TKnowing them they'll go to bed straight after. They're fine. I'm meeting them at sunrise."

Steph watched the other demon leave, surprised that she didn't try to come see her and try to talk demon to demon but she didn't really care. She walked over to the punching bag she found and hooked it to the ceiling without an ease.
Her body was getting hot again, Steph felt like her shirt was sticking to her body as she finished setting it up. She glanced to the other two in the room, ignoring the child before she shook her fear before pulling up her shirt from her body, tossing it aside as she moved to wrap her hands.
She breathed in, she knew training was probably something she didn't need to do, especially if they weren't going to allow them out in anyway anytime soon, but she wanted to keep herself in shape.

Steph stepped back from the punching bag, readying herself. Her wings slowly drooped down her back in relaxation, revealing large scars over her back in different places.
Steph readied herself and stepped forward to strike at the punching bag in rhythmical strikes, slowly picking up speed.

---

Harriet watched Ethan as he thought to himself before he spoke about the boys. She closed her eyes and let out a bit of a breathe before she smiled a bit more.
"Good." She said calmly, "I was worried about those two." She opened her eyes and looked to Ethan with a bit of a smile.
"It's not that I think they won't be able to defend themselves, I'm sure they can. But you're the only one with real gun experience from what I can guess. Plus those two aren't exactly in the shape to fight anything physically." She continued, moving her eyes to her hands before looking out the window. "Would you be against me joining you at sunrise?" She asked softly.

Ethan gave Harriet an incredulous look when she said the other two could defend themselves.
"Sure, you can join us. I don't think they'll have something against it." He watched through the window at this side. "You're wrong though, about them being able to defend themselves. They have no skills to do that. What can they do? Ben can see invisible things and Mike can leave a vulnerable body behind as he becomes one of those invisible things Ben can see." He sighed. "It'd be best for them to leave this agency. This isn't the right place for them."

While he didn't like that idea, he hated the idea of them getting hurt even more. And he couldn't be with them all the time to keep them out of harm's way. Not if he wanted to do the things he liked to do.

Harriet gave a small hum with a nod as she listened to Ethan as he explained that Ben and Mike couldn't defend themselves, "Just being hopeful for them of course." She continued with a glance towards Ethan before she looked out the window as well.
She blinked as her reflection flexed a bit, a pair of twisted horns appearing for a brief moment before disappearing. Harriet flinched at the sight of that reflection before she felt a strange tingle through her body.

"They have strong people protecting them currently." She spoke out loud as she tried to ignore what she saw, she moved to pull her phone out and moved to flick a couple of texts off.
"How far are we from the base?" She asked after a moment, lifting her head up to look at Ethan with a small smile. "I think Gaia likes you, by the way." She said with a bit of warmth in her eyes, "She won't tell me of course, but we'll only know if a mental link forms." She looked back out the window with a soft mumble, "I'm interested to see how powerful Stephanie actually is, I suspect she's hiding something she doesn't even know."

"Almost there," agent Morrison replied. "You'll be able to see it soon."

Ethan didn't respond to the mention of Gaia liking him, and he certainly didn't feel like admitting he thought he had heard her a few times. Sure, Harriet would know if that was that link she talked about, but he didn't know Harriet that well. Not well enough to discuss personal shit with. Least of all about whether or not he liked a dragon lady or if the dragon lady liked him.
For him to consider someone a friend, that took time. He appreciated Harriet; she was strong and kind and good colleague. Nothing more.

The car slowed down and agent Barrow pushed on the key to open the gate. It opened as it should.
The building behind it was dark; the lights were out. It was evacuated from the human agents, but who knew what was here.
"Everyone, be on the lookout," agent Morrison instructed as he parked the car. He decided not to drive over the gravel, it would draw too much attention to them.

Harriet looked to Morrison as he said they were nearly there, she was about to speak before she felt a pulse of pain trickle through her body. She hid her cringe of pain as the car started to slow down, looking up out the window and noticed her reflection was different in her eyes; a pair of horns stood on top of her head.
"There is something here." Harriet spoke after Morrison mentioned to be on the look out, "I can sense it."

She stepped out of the car carefully, her eyes focusing on everything around her as the shadows seemed to twist.
"Come out." Harriet hissed into the shadows as she started to walk towards the old base. "Where is the new base?" Harriet asked as she looked towards Morrison and Barrow, "Assuming I'm allowed to be at the new place, as you took my team mates elsewhere." Her voice was calm and showed no signs of anger or hatred.

Something in the shadows froze at Harriets hiss, crouching in the darkness in fear.

Agent Morrison glanced at Steph and shrugged. "The new base is back in the city, looks like a lawyers office. But I don't know anything about you or your team mates. Different department. I only hunt things, I don't decide over what happens to teams and who is or isn't allowed clearance at what facilities." He checked the ammunition of his gun and did a quick equipment check. Then he locked eyes with Harriet. "You're with me. Ethan, you'll go with Barrow. We go left, you two go right. Stay off the gravel. We meet again at the other side of the base."

The gravel driveway started at the fence, but to the left and right were flowerbeds next to the fence. He nodded to Barrow, who nodded back and started going right. Ethan looked at Harriet for a moment, before following agent Barrow.

Harriet gave a nod to Ethan as they separated, she barely acknowledged Morrison as he spoke for her to stay with him. "Be safe." She spoke to Ethan before she headed on the left path, she kept her eyes out for any movement- Acutely aware that something in the shadows was watching them.
"Two." She said loud enough for Morrison to hear, "There are two." She kept her eyes on the shadows and felt a surge of power flood over her.

A figure watched the two groups split up and glanced over to its associate hiding in the other tree. They were stupid for coming here, a place where Hunters used to rest and live, but they were starving and expected easy prey; of at least the dead bodies of fellow kinds that may still have flesh and blood still in them.
But this was better, fresh, living, breathing humanoids. They could live off of them for days if they managed to take all four down...
The figure in the tree remained motionless, watching Harriet carefully before signaling to the other to move on.

The figure figure, tall and lean, slunk into the shadows carefully; making sure not to stand on the gravel or any loud leaves of sticks. They clambered over fallen tree trunks and kept low to the ground. Their crimson eyes narrowing as they watched Barrow and Ethan, trying to contain themselves with their bubbling hunger.
One meal to last a week. They thought to themselves before they tried to sneak closer to the two men before a branch snapped underneath their feet.