Instantly, Josephine was all smiles,

"Ok!" she said cheerfully, nearly hopping towards the alcohol, following his lead. A drink would do her well right now.

To all eyes, Josephine seemed perfectly content now. She'd proven her point. Nobody would question the fire of a Hartley!

Marcus blinks at your sudden change of mood and then laughs. Well I know how to cheer you up don't I?! Alright then he smiles and leads the way.

Soon you find yourselves in a small little bar packed to the brim with noisy jolly patrons. It's not as nice as your mother's bar of course, but it's a friendly sort of place and you feel comfortable there immediately.

As the night and drinks wear on you find out a little more about this Marcus fellow. He's half Egyptian of all things apparently, and he's traveled just about everywhere. From the sounds of it he's almost as talented at magic as Victoria, but he's a bit pleased with himself about it. Still, there's a kindness in his eyes that makes you at ease with him and his concern for Lily is deep and evident.

ooc: Let me know your plans for the rest of that night and if there are any questions you have for him in particular and I'll move you along. Also roll a constitution check to see how drunk you get eh? ;)

Rolled a 10 for the check, though I seriously doubt Jo would get drunk, or even close, given the situation.

Plans: drink enough to relax, and just keep herself there, pressuring Marcus for information subtly. She might like Marcus, but she would be a bit more focused on Lily's safety right now.

Course, that could always be why, with enough liquor, Jo finds Marcus attractive... he genuinely cares too... Hmm.....

You find Marcus to be a very pleasant man and he is attentive and escorts you back to headquarters when all is done before heading back to his home and informing you he'd see you in the morning.

You are slightly buzzed when you find your way back to your mother, but only barely so and as she asks you to fill her in on what happened to Lily you are able to do so without slurring.

Your mother looks a complete wreck. That Victoria woman had a lot of questions for me. she sighs. She took some of my blood to test too. It was...black. Oh Jo! Maybe you should have left me with your father! What have I become?! she looks angry and frustrated and worse. Frightened. You've seen your mother a lot of things, but frightened is an unnatural emotion for the woman.

Patting her mother on the shoulder, Josephine shook her head,

"You have become, and have always been, my mother." she reassured her, "If I don't drink water for a bit, my skin tightens. Doesn't change that I'm your daughter. They're just physical changes. Keep being who you've always been, the strongest woman I know, and you'll pull through." she said, just being there for Ma.

Your words seem to help and you spend a while with your mother, comforting her, and soon enough she's back to her old steely self again, or at least doing a good approximation of it.

Eventually Victoria arrives and tells you to get some rest. The hunt is going strong for Lily and in the meantime she's working on summoning Castiel. You are soon shown to a private room, well furnished with everything you could need. Your mother though, is to be placed under watch. Victoria winces as she tells you this. It is nothing personal, believe me. But until we know more about her condition, I cannot risk anything happening to the rest of the society.

ooc: Any plans the rest of the night/next morning?

ooc Dream of dreamy Castiel, and plan my proposal for him? Hahaha

ooc: Hahahahaha!!

It takes a couple days before anything of note happens. Marcus checks in on you when he can and he's healing nicely. Still no sign of Lily, though it's not for not looking. And your mother, is antsy. Cooped up, not allowed to leave and still confined to her room while Victoria takes endless tests. It's a frustrating situation indeed.

At last though she announces she's found a way to possibly summon the angel and after a ritual that's both long and frightening (the woman's eyes roll back into her head for no less than ten minutes), all the lights in the room go out as the glass in the bulbs break, and some strange breeze ruffles your hair as you sit in darkness with only you and Victoria. She quickly lights a lamp and to your surprise you see Castiel lying in the center of the room. He's covered in blood and looks to be dead but if you inspect him you find he still has a pulse, albeit faint. Victoria looks shaken. Oh no! I was afraid this might happen! she gasps.

Looking at Victoria accusingly, Josephine slid next to Castiel, and tried to prop his head up in her lap,

"What did you do?! You didn't think it was important to mention this possibility before we tried it!?"

She wasn't being very logical, but her emotions had been riding on Castiel fixing everything... not becoming another issue.

I didn't know it would be this dangerous! she gasps. I just thought it would be a little rough for him. I'm sorry! She rushes to him as well, looking at the blood with dismay. From what you can see he's bleeding out of his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and the rest of him is broken and bent at unnatural angles. Mangled, is a good word for it. The poor dear must be in immense pain, or would be if he were conscious. It brings to mind your own experience and it's suddenly hard to look at him. Victoria closes her eyes and concentrates, muttering some spell, but she looks extremely drained and has a hard time with it. His bones seem to be knitting back together but he's still very pale and his breathing is shallow. Still, Victoria presses on, sweat dripping down her face with the effort. The spell to bring him here must have been draining for her too because suddenly she falls down next to you, completely limp.

"Jesus!" Josephine cries out, jumping back from Victoria as her body falls limply next to her.

Looking back and forth in shock, Josephine had no idea what to do, other than try and raise both Victoria and Castiel with pats to the cheeks,

"Wake up! You aren't allowed to just pass out on me!"

ooc: Hahahahaha! You're so funny.

Unfortunately your patting does nothing for Victoria. She's out cold. It takes some time to do any good with the angel, but he eventually starts to rouse on his own, blue eyes fluttering open with a groan. He lays on his back, completely still save the look of pain and confusion. W-What...did....you....do? he manages weakly.

"Don't you dare to start to accuse me of this Castiel... now get up and fix yourself so you can fix her!" she said, hands on hips defiantly.

He groans and tries to roll over onto his side, frustratingly slow and weak. At last he drags himself inch by inch to her and places his hand on her forehead. The barest hint of a spark flows from his hands, it is all he can manage, but it is enough that her color improves and her breathing deepens. Then he lays still again, eyes closed. You are certain he's passed out but a moment later he speaks, startling you. That was very foolish of her. It could have killed us both. Why? Why did you bring me here?

Seeing Castiel pull his magic, Josephine grinned, and crouched beside him, rubbing his shoulders softly, and pulling his back into her lap to massage him better,

"Well, my mother is portraying signs of a devil, even if she isn't one, and she's in trouble. Also, Lily is in huge trouble... she's been captured, and we need to rescue her. Plus, I need direction in general. Can you help?"

Castiel looks bewildered and uncomfortable at such physical attention and he manages to sit upright with a wince, listening soberly. I don't know. I'll try. But I've got to get back to my own time soon. What exactly is going on with your mother? What do you mean signs of a devil? Explain please.

He listens as you do, and to your disappointment he doesn't seem to magically know what's happening either. I will need to test her blood. Talk to her too. Where is she? And if Lily has been captured we'll have to find her, if it's not already too late. There are many who would use her powers. They must have known what she was. he sighs.

Josephine was not accepting such bullshit willy nilly answers from Castiel,

"Castiel, damnit!" she cursed aloud, "You're an angel, who protects good, aren't you? I won't allow you to be lazy, and NOT prevent this all from going down wrong! Lily NEEDS your help, and you have the power of God himself behind you! And my mother is confused... don't be acting all helpless, you own this, and then you get your attractive ass back to me in one piece!" she demanded, feisty as ever, but unable to hide her attraction from the man.

Castiel looks unsure what to do with your tirade, but thankfully he at last gives a slow nod. Alright. Bring your mother to me. I'll see if- Suddenly the door opens and Marcus stands there, looking confused. Victoria left a message for me to join her? She said... he looks over at Castiel with sudden suspicion, then back to the still unconscious Victoria. His hand moves to his revolver. Someone had better tell me fast what is going on, or I'm going to start shooting. Are you alright Josephine? His eyes never leave the angel.

Holding out a hand to calm Marcus, Josephine nodded,

"I am safe, as is Victoria. She summoned Castiel, the Angel here, to help us solve our problems, but it drained her, so she lost consciousness." she hurriedly spit everything out so Marcus wouldn't unload on anybody.

"If Castiel here is supported, and taken care of, he can heal Victoria, he can help my mother, and he can give us direction from above. He is a virtuous man, and will guide us in the way we wish to go." she said, still holding her hands out to calm him.

"We need my mother brought here so that Castiel can determine what is happening to her. This is important, because otherwise we could have a traitor in our midst." she said, specifically making herself sound suspicious of her mother to lend herself an aura of trustworthy distance from her mother, even though inwardly she VERY much was biased towards her mother, and would quickly betray everybody here for her without hesitation.

Marcus hesitates, still unsure if he can trust the situation, but after a moment he nods. Alright. But I'll be back very soon. Don't either of you move. With that he literally runs off, no doubt to fetch your mother.

Castiel sighs and sits down, looking like he very much does not want to be there. Obviously he was doing something important before Victoria summoned him and he seems distracted. He's also not the type to make small talk so he is silent until Marcus returns a few minutes later with your mother in tow. She looks very confused. Jo? What's going on? The angel ignores her question and immediately crosses the room and puts a hand on her head, concentrating. She actually screams at his touch, it clearly hurts her, but he merely grabs her shoulder with inhuman strength and wordlessly continues to concentrate. At last he lets her go and she jerks back so quickly she stumbles and nearly falls, breathing heavily, sweat covering her face. This is bad. They've found a way to make a human demon hybrid. Or close to one. I don't know how stable she really is he shakes his head. Marcus looks at your mother with sudden apprehension. What does that mean? Castiel answers unhappily. It would mean the powers of a demon without the negatives. Or at least greatly lessened. The question is, how free is her will? They'd need some way to control them, human minds would rebel if they were left intact. Either they will get human recruits or they've found some way to circumvent that... he looks at your mother again with interest and she shrinks back as though he'd threatened her.

Looking at her mother's reactions, Josephine spoke openly,

"Ma, relax. Castiel is an Angel... he's here to help. He's not trying to hurt you... they've done something to you that we can obviously reverse, we just need to figure out how." she said hopefully, glancing back towards Castiel for confirmation.

"Castiel, what can we do to ensure her safety, while ensuring she can't be controlled and hurt anybody in the process?"

You will have to restrain her. Even a devil's trap would only slow her momentarily. Her restraints will have to be a combination of human and demon, just like she is. There's no telling if they have some way of controlling her and until we know, we can't risk it. We also shouldn't discount her being a spy, willing or not. We should continue this conversation elsewhere. He informs you bluntly, eyes never leaving the woman.

So you're just going to lock me up? What if I can help? Jo can't you do something?

ooc: Roll sense motive

Sense Motive 13

Biting her lower lip, Josephine turned towards her mom, reminding her of a lesson she had once taught Josephine,

"Sometimes what we have to do for the win isn't the most enjoyable, but we need you to be understanding right now Mom. I'm going to go figure out how to fix this and get you back to normal." she said, doing exactly that, and following Castiel elsewhere.

Your mother looks disappointed but accepting at last. As far as you're concerned she's completely innocent and unaware of what has been done to her, making her detainment all the more painful.

Marcus stays behind to secure her and soon you're in the hallway with Castiel, who looks back at the room uncertainly. We'll have to test her. Thoroughly. If we can understand her limitations we can determine what can be done about the others like her. I'm certain there are more. We won't hurt her he adds reassuringly. But this could be a turn in our favor. Now I must regain my strength. In the morning you'll need to take me where you found her. I must see what has been left behind.

ooc: Ok, finishing up here. Let me know any plans for the rest of the night and I'll move you along.

You know... the usual... Make dinner... Eat and recover a little bit... _{vigorously make out with Castiel all night}... reload weapons... you know, normal stuff... ahem...