"No," Liam agreed. "Not tonight."

"I'll give it some thought also. I don't know that I can show my face in the sole regret again this evening without taking a punch. I'm going to try to get to Jim while its still early. Wish me luck."

Unless Pockets had more to discuss, Liam made his way down into the basement to retrieve a phone from her tote. After the events of the night before he decided to take the striker in his shoulder holster. After that he was headed back out.

The trip to Rosewood was thankfully less eventful than the previous evening's escapade. Mayor Gordon's street was fairly quiet, although a military HMMV up the road did give Liam pause. It seemed as though the occupants, three red-band Redwatch and their ghoul, were busy torturing some other family on the block.

No longer trusting the anonymity of the skies, Liam descended into one of the many grand old trees dotting the old moneyed neighbourhood of Rosewood to watch Gordon's house from afar. Jacob had said there was a man on the door. If that was still the case Liam wanted to know which door, and whether he'd been joined by anyone else in the interim.

Liam spied the Gordon family through their dining room window. Their security detail was eating with them.Moira had been given the demeaning task of preparing dinner for their overseer as well. Unless, of course, the Gordons had an unrelated dinner guest.

Liam heard loud R&B music blaring from the HMMV up the street. They had ordered a family out of their house, and were making them dance on the road. The three vampires laughed and taunted the group - two husbands and three late-teens children - as they were forced to caper for their amusement.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:19, Fri 04 Sept 2020.

Liam put the Redwatch antics out of his mind with difficulty. He was here with a purpose and had to remind himself he could not intervene in each and every instance of the Camarilla's continuing aggressions on its enslaved fiefdom. To do so would only invite further aggressions if for no other reason than to bait him out. Winning this war required a slow game, though it grated on him at times.

With the Gordon family ensconced in their meal along with their minder, the house itself was unwatched. He put the majestic old building between himself and the HMMV and sought out a lourve vent or ageing window casing to 'mist' through.

Will spend 1 BP to activate mist form to get inside

A drafty old building like this was easy to get into, especially with the early thaw. Many of the windows were wide open. The most convenient form of egress was the bathroom window to the upstairs ensuite. This placed him as far away as possible from the dining room and the Gordon family. Dinner was wrapping up. Moira and the kids, of course, were left with the cleanup. Liam heard footsteps heading up the stairs to Jim's office. He also heard the backdoor opening and closing. Through the window he heard the flick of a lighter and caught a whiff of cigarette smoke.

Old Victorian homes were riddled with loose floorboards and warped doors and Liam was content to leave nothing to chance. Flowing along the floor for any length of time was tedious so instead he adopted the guise of a short haired black cat to navigate the upstairs. When he came to an obstacle he could not slip around he quietly drifted under it until he reached Jim's office. Only then did he regain his familiar guise, and only if Jim was indeed alone.

Liam found Jim alone in his office, signing a stack of declarations and permits. It was a simple matter to spray him with the miracle cure, and to his credit, Jim handled the experience admirably. Being the husband of a werewolf afforded a measure of resiliency. The fact that he knew about the fugue and entered it voluntarily couldn't have hurt, either.

"I... what's going on? Liam? How did you-"

Liam put his finger up to his lips and quietly closed the door behind them. "Are you allowed to have a radio on so we can talk?" he asked quietly.

Jim nodded quietly, and turned on the TV in the corner. He turned up the volume on the news.

"There's a cure, Jim," Liam said quietly, as soon as the news anchor's voice filled the room. He waggled the bottle in his hand. "And it comes in a spray bottle."

"A remarkably clever witch figured it out. We're working on how to get it out to the whole city. In the meantime we're fighting back."

"Moira," Jim said. "The kids. Are they themselves yet?"

Liam shook his head. "No," he said. "Everyone reacts differently. Ten years of trauma is alot to process all at once. Some people panic. I wanted to make sure I got to you first."

"Good idea," he replied. "Maybe it's better for you if I did them myself. Moira's a tough cookie, but my worry is about what happens if she sees you before she's cured."

"The thought did cross my mind," Liam admitted. He reached for his backpack and pulled out the burner phone just in case they got interrupted. "Courtesy of Pockets. Hide it someplace safe."

"Jacob wants to talk when you've had a chance to process everything."

"So I'm staying here, then," Jim said with a sigh. "I suppose it's for the best. Gonna be hard holding my tongue with that smug sonofabitch downstairs, though."

"I could get you out, but they'll know about it by tomorrow. Jacob was hoping you'd be willing to stick it out. I know its a lot to ask but you're uniquely positioned to know whats going on."

"We have very limited windows into the administration, most of them blown open by gunfire and closed just as quickly. You might just be window-dressing to them, but at least that puts you in the room."

"But its up to you. God knows you don't owe us anything and you did everything you could for the city before while you had the chance. No one will fault you if you want to bundle up the kids and get out of town."

Jim shook his head. "No, I want to get back at these bastards however I can," he said. "Everything on the books goes through my office. Building plans, permits, bylaws, you name it. I don't know how much use that information will be to you, but I also have a keycard for the Alhambra. They're pretty confident in their little Fugue."

He slid the card across his desk. "I rarely am called to visit, but I'm sure you have the means at your disposal to duplicate this and get it back to me."

“I sure do,” Liam said, picking up the card and turning it over. “Speaking of, we should probably agree on some kind of sign so I know when to steer clear. Maybe something in the office window? I’ll always use my best judgement before coming but if you let me know it’s a bad night I’ll stay well away.”

“Do you need anything besides the phone? Firearm?”

Jim stepped over to a corner of his office and switched on a reading lamp. "I hate this lamp, and I never have time to read anymore," he said. "If it's on, stay away."

Liam nodded. “If I have to do a dead drop and leave something without being seen, where do you want it?” He said, flopping the swipe card in his fingers but it could equally be a handgun or a brick of twenties, whatever Jim might require.

"The tool shed," Jim said, pointing to the small shed behind the garage. "He never does any mowing. Or shovelling. Plenty of room up in the rafters."

"Sounds good to me." Liam handed the spray bottle to Jim. "This stuff packs a lot into just a little bit of mist. One spray is enough to break anyone out of the Fugue. It'll break a ghoul from its bonds too."

"Do you want me to be here when you release Moira?"

"That's... Probably a good idea just in case she decides to frenzy," Jim had to admit. "We're going to bed in about an hour. Been a long day. You can wait around and stay hidden, or come back."

“No, I’ll curl up here,” Liam said. “The skies aren’t friendly any more. I won’t fly unless I have to.”

“Can you request blueprints and schematics from the city or is that going to get you into trouble?”