The Morning After (attn: beat up wolves)

'Your mother is sleeping still.' Hammer shrugged, walking back over to the couch and heavily plopping back down onto it.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' He twisted a bit and lifted his sizable arm, looking at the tender, soft skin where the silu had sliced him. 'Tender but healed. The Pipers have been debriefed - apparently Ringo's presence was because of the bodies that vampire left behind. Four of ours, no telling how many of theirs.' He said referring to the VR's.

Ringo's presence and subsequent declaration of payment for the life of his one for their females still annoyed Hammer. A female wouldn't break rank like that, especially a Nakubili, for anything less than something extremely precious.

Grunting, Hammer added, 'It's only a matter of time for Ringo to figure out why his female protected ours. And that female silu knew Nikhila. This has shit storm written all over it.'

He looked over at Xeph who still looked tired and very angry. 'What about you and Nikhila?'

Xeph nodded as Hammer spoke. He would look in on his mother before he left; she'd been knocked out twice, and while it worried him their regenerative capabilities were such that he didn't think she was in any danger. He scowled at the idea that the vampire had killed four of their kind; seven if they totaled the Vyusher.

"He made his point," he growled, regarding the jackal. "It just pisses me off though."

He shook his head. "It's not safe for Nikhila to leave the grounds anymore. Even with the Pipers, who knows - if she runs into the wrong person, or more than one of them..." He bit off the sentence, not wanting to voice it out loud. One lone vampire had done a number on them last night. Sure, if he hadn't had backup at the last minute they would have had him, but Xeph doubted he would be caught alone the next time.

If one or two of them showed up where Nikhila was, the outcome could be bad.

"She's resting. She feels guilty," he said. "Like she's not useful. It'll be all right."

He knew Nikhila. Between knowing her and having a good wolfish insight, he had an idea how she felt this morning. But Xeph could set her to rights. Nikhila struggled with herself like this; she thought that because she wasn't a fighter, she wasn't worthwhile.

He lifted a shoulder with a wince. "We're beat up," he said. "We'll live though."

Xeph was pretty sure he wasn't going to be playing tackle football today, but there was no damage done that he wouldn't recover from. His eyes, nose, and throat remained irritated and red from the silver shavings thrown into them, and probably would for some time, but everything else was on its way to mending.

He glared at Hammer, angry at he circumstances. "We can't back down, you know," he said, voice quiet with anger.

Hammer listened to Xeph, his anger apparent. It was the steely tone of vengeance that tainted his voice, reminding Hammer of a Samuel Jackson quote - "Revenge is the act of passion, vengeance is an act of justice.". With a deep sigh, he looked over at his brooding son and nodded.

'Of course not.' Quietly he added, his eyes looking at the bedroom door where Lily lay in his bed, 'The Pipers are ready and waiting; rebuilding to the full twelve would take two weeks at the most. We've hesitated to replenish Piper 5 (Michael's dead squad) since they were put on...suspension.'

The thrill of reactivating the Pipers ran up his spine, but he waited patiently for his Alpha to respond.

Xeph returned Hammer's nod. The mention of the Pipers had him thinking once more, and he remembered his musing from the night before.

"The Pipers are off suspension. As of last night's heroics." He eyed Hammer suspiciously. "I want to know what they're up to, though. Regularly."

The Pipers' previous actions had endangered the Pack when they'd engaged in activities slightly outside the realm of Pack protection. Or at least, somewhat more proactive than Xeph would have preferred.

"Surveillance," he said then. "I want information. Intelligence. Times, names, dates. Find me what you can about the vampires who were there last night. All of them."

It was a start. Xeph needed to know who they worked for, what their business was in Nachton. The jackal, of course, he knew. But he was bound by some sort of vampiric mind-meld voodoo and couldn't elaborate to Hammer.

"They want to hit us, we'll hit them back."

The Pipers could only provide so much information, detailed though it would be, but there was a better resource.

'Marthinus would be a better source of who those vampires were.' Hammer bristled at the thought of contacting clan Tacharan. 'I'll have him look into it with his resources.'

The Pipers would be up and running in full strength in less time, he'd see to that. At least he could inform Brig of that before dropping the bomb of himself and Lily.

Xeph nodded at Hammer again. It had crossed his mind to seek Marthinus' assistance.

"I don't know how much help he can provide," Xeph said thoughtfully. "I know the vampires are split into Clans the way we have our Packs. Beyond that," he shrugged. "If he can help, if he's willing, then fine. But let's keep a close eye on him, too."

Marthinus' integration into the Kadzait had not been smooth, nor, in Xeph's opinion, was it anywhere near complete. The man still had mixed loyalties and conflicting interests. Xeph wasn't at all sure of how far they could trust any information from Steyn. But it was worth a shot.

Lily heard most of the conversation, soft as it was, from within Iov's bedroom. As she rolled over and sat upright, she lifted a hand to her head. It was tender, as if there were a fading bruise there, and she could feel a tiny knot of scar tissue from the silver-inflicted wound. She was hardly vain, but she was glad it felt small.

Her dressing gown was nearby and she slid from the large bed and wrapped herself up in it, padding softly toward the living room as she belted it around her waist.

"Perhaps I can help," she said.

Lily crossed the room to Iov and stood on tiptoes to brush his lips lightly with her own, then leaned gently against him and looked at Aidan expectantly.

"If you want someone working with Marthinus and you can't spare the Pipers. I'd be happy to," she offered. "You have all of Stafford's resources as well. That goes without saying."

She raised her brows at Aidan as his first reaction was to bend close and examine her head. Lily put up with it patiently, without pointing out that she had the same regenerative capabilities as all of their kind. Sons would be sons. He was surely thinking on the matter as he did, too.

'I think Marthinus is looking to be helpful after the incident in the park.'

Hammer was referring to Marthinus breaking rank and going after Piper 5 without the Pipers - the incident that ended up putting the Pipers on suspension. Hammer suspected it was a thin line he walked between helping his new family and his old one.

Lily entered the room just then, fluttering quietly across to him and kissing him gently. Hammer felt something closely related to a blush rise up in his cheek when she kissed him in front of her...their son. He was still struggling with their public display so he awkwardly grinned and looked away from the both of them. The soft knocking at his door could not have come at a better time.

Standing quickly he excused himself and grabbed a shirt that hung on the back of one of the other chairs as he answered the door. Nikhila was standing shyly at the door, no doubt looking for Xeph. Stepping away from the door, he held it open for her.

'Good morning, Nikhila. He's in here.'

Xeph straightened up from looking at Lily's head when Hammer admitted Nikhila. He held his hand out to her and pulled her close, circling one arm around her.

"Morning, how are you feeling?" That was a question Nikhila was probably going to have to get used to hearing a lot of. She looked all right; a little tired maybe, but otherwise fine. In the back of his head he lazily noted the small scar she had that almost matched Lily's and filed away the fact that whoever the mysterious woman was, she was right-handed.

Finally, he looked back at Hammer. "Will Steyn work with my mother?"

He didn't really relish the idea of Lily getting more involved, but it was her Pack too, and he didn't realistically think she'd sit by on the sidelines and do nothing.

Between her feelings of guilt from last night, and being slightly embarrassed at being so transparent about seeking Xeph out, she had a little trouble meeting Hammer's eye when he opened the door to let her in. But she did look up briefly and smile as he let her in.

"Thank you."Â?

Without thinking she took Aidan's hand and let him pull her to him. It just felt better than staying alone in their rooms. More important he wasn't saying she shouldn't be here, so Nikhila relaxed just a little. Still standing she softly kissed the top of his head.

"I'm fine. You?"Â?

She'd been quite worried for a bit. Those damned silver filings had done a number on him and breathing was important, as was being able to see. While the others also seemed to have recovered, at least mostly with a quite slightly worried look she extended that inquiry to both Lily and Hammer as well. Perhaps especially Lily as she had very clearly been injured because she tried to protect her.

Apparently they were already working on some ideas. Whether for pure defense of some sort of retaliation she didn't know and didn't ask. Either she would be told or she would find out as the conversation continued.

She gracefully sat down on the floor next to Aidan hoping that the morning sickness she'd started to develop would keep to its usual pattern and not bother her until late afternoon.

What Marthinus would or would not do wasn't relevant. Hammer would tell him to work with Lily whether he liked it or not, but he suspected his pup wouldn't mind working with her.

'I doubt he has a problem working with your mother, it would just be the level of information that he'd have a problem with, but given the circumstances,' and he'd have to tell him everything, Hammer knew this, 'I'm sure he'd be helpful.'

"Doing fine," Xeph reassured Nikhila as she came into the room. He brushed a wayward strand of hair from her face and smiled at her, trying to ignore the little scar that continued to leap out at him.

Xeph's eyes grew hard at the idea that Steyn might have any sort of issue. "I hope so," he said, the words light but his voice as unbending as metal. He didn't want to have to force Marthinus' cooperation, if such a thing was even possible. Xeph didn't want to try to find out. It was hard enough dealing with these outsiders, without adding one rebellious ex-familiar Kadzait into the mix.

He turned to his mother. "Do what you can," he advised her, "but try to stay out of danger. If you find anything unusual, or if anything at all looks dangerous, let us know right away."

Xeph knew he didn't have to tell her that... and yet, he had to tell her that. Lily hadn't been born yesterday and she'd handled plenty of dangerous situations in her time.

Lily was glad Aidan didn't try anything silly, like telling her to stay out of it. Or stay safe. Of course, she wasn't going to do either. Nor, however, would she knowingly put herself in danger. Oh, she could fight, but she wasn't on a level with Iov or her son and she knew it. She would do her work behind the scenes where she was the most useful, deploying resources where they were needed and obtaining other items or information with money when appropriate.

"Of course, dear," she said placatingly. Yes, sons would be sons.

And mothers would be mothers. Lily offered Iov a smile and glided toward the kitchen of his small apartment, fully intending to make breakfast. After all, they were all here, and with a night like they'd had food was a requirement. No one was really dressed to go down into the greatroom of the Den, and considering how slowly they were moving it was unlikely they would be ready any time soon.

Loathe as she was to revisit the fight, she assumed it would happen sooner or later, so she kept her ears tuned as she pulled out various items from the refrigerator.

"Why not begin now," she said, with a little shrug. "Did any of you recognize any of them?"

She looked to Nikhila, especially, for the female vampire had seemed to know who she was.

Those two little words did reassure her slightly and she relaxed a bit as he smiled.

Nikhila didn't know this Steyn that they were speaking of. However, that was hardly surprising, she didn't know the whole pack by name. She tried, but naturally being slightly reserved she hadn't managed yet.

Nikhila cast an anxious look at Lily, worried that she would be again risking physical harm. But Lily was smart, Nikhila believed she wouldn't let herself get in over her head.

Noting Lily had headed to the kitchen she quietly spoke up.

"Do you need some help? I do have some steaks in our fridge."Â?

She had no idea what Hammer's dietary preferences were, but she knew Xeph's.

The question of familiarity with those creatures made her cold. The look that Hoang had given her had been frightening and she had no doubt it would find its way into her nightmares.

Nikhila nodded slowly though, pleased that she might be able to help a little bit.

"The second male, the one who came in as back up. His name is Bao Hoang. He is the legal counsel for the backers of the blood sample project I've been working on."Â?

She had told Xeph about him once. Especially about the fact that he'd made her nervous and she'd seen far too much negative energy about him. Apparently her intuition hadn't led her too far astray.

Lily smiled at Nikhila's offer and took a look at what she'd found in the kitchen. There was plenty of meat there and a few vegetables along with eggs, bread... everything she imagined they'd need for breakfast.

"I think we're set but I wouldn't turn down another pair of hands," she said. She didn't really need the help, honestly, but Nikhila might need something to do. Like Aidan though, Lily was fairly primitive in her tastes. She had already spied a package of bacon that might need to be consumed, and two flank steaks.

She found an assortment of appropriate pans and set them atop the stove, already planning a menu for those who liked things cooked and those who just wanted the good stuff.

As she arranged things to her liking she kept her ears tuned to the conversation in the living room. The name of the second man they'd run into didn't ring a bell, but she would look into it. She kept quiet on the topic though; she didn't need to cause Iov or Aidan any undue worry.

"Bao Hoang?" Xeph wrinkled his nose as he tested out the unfamiliar name. "What about the girl? Any idea?"

The female vampire had come upon them quickly and had managed more than all right. Hell, she'd killed one of the Nakubili and then gone right through Lily to Nikhila as if there'd been almost nothing in her way. Granted, she'd had the element of surprise - barely.

"We have to find her. We have to get as much information on those three as possible."

He was burning to tell them what he knew of the jackal. Even though he didn't know the man's name, he had sufficient information on him to cause trouble for him, Xeph thought - but he couldn't. There were steel bars across his mind, imprisoning certain things. The light of the full moon had allowed him to get around them and unleash his rage, but even with that behind him the jackal still lived.

"Make them your priority," he said to Hammer.

Hammer blinked slowly as he listened to Lily fuss in his kitchen, but turned back to Xeph as he relayed his command.

The Pipers had been researching the VR's in the area, trying to pin point where their hierarchy was hiding. Ringo would have to be put on the back burner, for now.

'Done,' Hammer replied softly. Leaning back into the couch, he entwined his fingers in his lap and considered the female vampire.

'I have never seen her before. Again, maybe Marthinus might recognize her description - or his other resources might.'

And it circled back to the Duban woman. Hammer felt his nose wrinkle with disgust at the thought of her, but it would appear that they were now in a position to test out the truce, tenuous though it was. Still, Hammer hoped he would not have to rely on her.

Lily busied herself with preparing an omelet and dicing potatoes, glad for Nikhila's company.

"Aidan and I will eat the same thing," she advised the younger woman, "and Iov, maybe an omelet, some scrambled eggs, and coffee."

She saw the water Nikhila set out to boil and rummaged around for the tea bags she knew were there; Iov had served her tea once before. Nothing special, but any port in a storm.

She raised her voice and added her thoughts to the two mens' conversation. "I thought you said once the vampires were organized into families of some sort. If these were from a different family than Marthinus' then would he be able to give us any information at all?"

His mother had brought up a good point. "One more thing we'll have to ask him," Xeph said, putting it on sort of a mental list. "I got the impression the Clans of vampires didn't exactly cooperate with each other all the time."

He would have to hope for the best though; Steyn was their best shot, for now, unless they found other resources.

"We have to be on our guard," he said, more to himself than anyone in the room with them. "I don't know how they interact, who gets along with who."

He sat on the couch at the opposite end from Iov. "We just don't know enough. I hate doing this to Marthinus. I don't want to set him against his family. But we need more information than we have."

Hammer was momentarily distracted by the smell of eggs wafting in from the kitchen. He looked back up at Xeph and nodded again.

'Only way to know is to ask him.' He stood gingerly, still wary of his ribs and shrugged slightly. 'I'll call him in now and get it over with, if you like.'

Nikhila was glad for the simple dishes; she didn't think her mind could have worked out anything complicated this morning. At least not without a repeat of the eggplant fiasco and she didn't think Hammer would appreciate his kitchen going up in flames. You'd never know that under ordinary circumstances she was a good cook. At least she could manage scrambled eggs and an omelet or two (one of which was very veggie heavy in deference to her own tastes). She also started some bacon, figuring on cooking it to different values of done from nearly raw to crispy should cover every one.

The smell of food over came any reluctance to eat and Nikhila found she was really quite hungry.

Keeping at least half over her attention on the conversation she couldn't help but wonder about this Marthinus. It sounded like he had family ties to vampires. Was it even possible for one of the Pack to be tied to them?

"Who is Marthinus?"Â?

She asked Lily, very quietly, as she helped load up plates with food as various things finished cooking, or not cooking in Xeph and Lily's case.

Breakfast was quickly made; it was no great difficulty to assemble several styles of eggs and raw meat. Nikhila made food for herself as well, and before long they had a decent meal to lay out on the small table. As they did, Lily answered Nikhila's question as best she could.

"Marthinus is one of our newest brothers," she said. "He has some unique connections to our... well, hmm. Adversaries." She chose the word carefully. She didn't know that Marthinus had any link at all to those who attacked them in the park. They could possibly find out though.

"Come and eat," she called to Iov and Aidan. As they did so, she asked Iov, "Is it wise to ask Marthinus to come here now? Would he not feel slightly intimidated by all of us being here?"

Marthinus, as far as she knew, still struggled to find his place within the Pack while not betraying his friends outside of it. If they were going to ask for his help in gathering information, he might be most cooperative if he felt he weren't being forced to it. Iov knew him best, though. He would know what setting was the most proper for this sort of questioning.

Xeph was about to answer Hammer in the affirmative when Lily's question reached his ears and gave him pause. If he'd been Changed his ears would have flattened. Part of him didn't care at all for what Marthinus thought; his Pack needed this information. Lily was right to ask, though. If it was within his power to secure Marthinus' help voluntarily that was best.

As they made their way to join Nikhila and Lily, Xeph also looked at Hammer expectantly. "Whichever way gets it done with the most cooperation," he said grudgingly. "If you think he will at all, that is."

There were other ways.

Hammer hadn't considered Marthinus feelings - well, not with any real compassion. He shrugged, more to himself, when both Lily and Xeph asked if Marthinus would feel comfortable with everyone present. He really did not know - but if he had to guess - he'd say 'no, he would not feel comfortable'. However, Xeph's response seemed off, definitely not as considerate as Hammer usually thought he was. Last night's events had apparently rattled him to the core, of course his pregnant mate had been in danger...Hammer would concede that he would probably act no different, but Xeph seemed more determined to gain information, regardless of anyone's feelings. Was Hammer guessing...yeah, but he learned to trust his gut instincts since they were usually right.

'I'll talk to him first then.' Half snorting, he corrected himself. 'I'll have Brig or LT approach him about it.'

As Lily called them in, he drifted toward his scrambled eggs and inwardly giggled like a little girl. With a wrinkle of his nose, he gave Nikhila the most grateful acknowledgment he could muster.

'Thank you,' he grumbled hungrily.

Lily's answer puzzled Nikhila a great deal. You couldn't Gift a vampire, so Marthinus was either related to or working for them. How did one become Kadzait with those kinds of ties? Wouldn't it have made more sense for the vampire to take him in, to make him one of them? How very odd. Perhaps at some other time she might ask for more information or possibly, she would get to meet him. Nikhila filed the idea away for future consideration. As, apparently, her curiosity about this man would have to remain unsatisfied as Lily thought about his feelings.

Nikhila set a plate of steak and bacon down in front of Aidan. She had a feeling he was still weighing options regarding the information that this man might have, but she also thought food might temporarily distract him. And he did need to eat.

That was down right cheerful for Hammer and Nikhila half smiled, glad some one enjoyed cooked food from time to time.

"You are quite welcome."Â?

She nibbled delicately at a bite or two, waiting to see if she was going to go queasy before she ate too much.

Lily shot a glance at Aidan. Not just any glance but A Glance. His tone was brusque, almost unfriendly. She understood. He didn't like having things run out of his control, and the previous night had been just that. He didn't want to involve Marthinus either, she knew that, but he didn't have much choice.

"That would be best," she said, speaking for Aidan, who seemed oblivious as he sat down with them.

She bit into her own steak, which she'd quickly seared on either side but left raw throughout, and gave a little 'mmm' of happiness as she took dainty bites. Everyone, even Aidan, seemed content at least to be eating.

"If you think it would help for me to ask him, too, I'd be happy to," Lily offered. She hadn't spoken much to Marthinus since his arrival but their few interactions had been enjoyable and she liked him a great deal.

Hammer hungrily dug into his mountain of eggs as Lily suggested helping with Marthinus, perhaps talking to him. It had been over a year since Marthinus had been gifted, but Hammer knew he wasn't as close to him as he should be, much less the Pipers. He'd have Brig approach Marthinus first. Hammer paused over his eggs, looking at them thoughtfully. No, he'd have the young LT do it. If Marthinus was to be included with the Pipers, the relationship between he and his LT would need to grow.

'I appreciate that, Lils. If necessary, I'll let you know.'

It wasn't as awkward to call her by his nickname for her that time, even in front of his son's mate. Maybe he was beginning to relax a little. He permitted her a small grin and continued consuming his protein.

((OOC - Hammer out!))

Helping to prepare the food had given her something to do and had helped Nikhila regain a bit of focus. Thus far her rather calm appearance had been more practice than anything, she was still dealing with worry fear and guilt and that was effecting her observations. As she ate though a few things started to slowly click. First, Xeph's handling of Marthiuns seemed out of character, almost too abrupt. Lily seemed to have picked up on that too judging by the look she gave him.

The other things was, no one had even mentioned the vampire that started all this. Not one word. They had said something about Hong and about the woman but not a thing about the armored silu that had started all this. Perhaps they had discussed him before her arrival, but even so it didn't seem right. While it was obvious that both Hong, and especially the woman, were dangerous -he- was probably the worst of the lot.

Too many questions. Some, including the Vyusher, would just have to wait until later.

Catching Aidan looking at her Nikhila slid a piece of only barley cooked bacon on to his plate. Keeping her eyes down cast, seemingly on her food, she said very -very- quietly.

"I am sorry."Â?

And she was. She still believed she shouldn't have been captured and that it was her own fault. More importantly what if somehow someone should have been hurt or killed because of her mistake? God what if it had been Aidan? Nikhila didn't think she'd be able to live with that.

Nikhila had no doubt that Aidan would understand most of this without being told. She also was certain that especially with all this talk of what could, should and needed to be done that he would know she was anxious to help as well. Doubly so as she'd been the greatest liability last night. But she also knew that this was not her greatest area of expertise and she would not push for a job. If something needed to be done that she could help with, Nikhila knew she'd be told.

Guilt or no, she allowed herself another small grin as Hammer seemed to be quite enjoying his eggs.

Lily smiled when Iov used his nickname for her; no matter how grave the situation he always managed to somehow make her smile. Not a personality trait anyone would normally attribute to him, but then Lily had spent so much time in his company.

"Thank you," she said to him. She knew if Iov said he'd do a thing, it got done.

In the meantime she pretended not to hear Nikhila's soft apology to Aidan. No one blamed Nikhila for anything that had happened under the full moon, but it was for Aidan to disabuse her of the notion that any wrong had been done. And perhaps it would give him something new to focus on; discussing Marthinus didn't seem helpful.

Xeph raised his eyebrows at Nikhila as she apologized. He took the offered piece of undercooked bacon and snapped it down, giving her a quick shake of his head as he did. He would discuss this perceived wrongdoing with her later, when they weren't in front of his parents.

He wasn't happy, overall. He wasn't looking forward to having to request that Nikhila stay very close to the Den. He didn't like pushing Steyn, or dragging him into this. He didn't like this jackal vampire or his pals.

Xeph growled under his breath. The sooner they started to gather information on all of them, the better. It could hardly happen too soon.

((ooc: All out, with permission!))