:: Sophia takes a little extra time carefully transferring Gio to the SUV and Then straps her self into the seat beside him. ::

"Alright, I held up my end of the bargain. We're out without incident, now it's your turn."

Rowan finaly speaks up again, "Do any of you know of a safe street doc? We need somewhere to keep Sophia and Gio out of trouble while we make sure that no one in Gio's family wants him harmed, and that they dont want Sophia harmed as well."

Akuma retreats into the van and slames the door closed. "I don't, sorry. But uhh... can we get the frag out of here now?"

:: Sohpia nods to Rowan, then to Akuma. ::

"Yes, let's at least begin to move...we can discuss destinations once we are safe and far away."

"Mojo, you can drop the spells now. Great work too, that really did the trick."

Akuma watches Sophia for a little while. He seems to be a little distant while he does, as if there is something heavy on his mind. When he speaks, it comes out so stange. The man is usually so cold and distant, yet now he seems almost... timid.

"You are married? What of the problem with you being from different families? Don't those ties get in the way?"

@Everyone
"Will do," Alice responds to the desire for motion. She pulls out of the hospital parking lot and quickly begins to meander through a residential area to help thwart anyone following in another car. She even parks the car for a few moments and watches for other vehicles as she waits before moving on. "I know a good street doc. I'll head to Crystal's and see if she can do anything for Gio while we deal with everything else."

With a slight shudder you see Lex's eyes blink as his eyes start to focus on the passengers in the SUV. "That didn't go too poorly," As he packs up his deck and satlink he notices Sophia sitting there next to Gio, "Seems we picked up an extra passenger. You must be Sophia. I'm Lex. Hey Alice, we heading back to Ana Mia's? I'll call ahead and let them know we're coming." He starts scanning the cars around theirs, "I take it the getaway was clean? We're not being followed?"

@Everyone
"Actually Lex, we were thinking we might want to call Big A and the others might do nasty things to Sophia, so I was heading to someone I trust," Alice answers while she drives.

As she moves in a round-about route through the small, middle lifestyle area of east Bethlehem, things around you look clear. I doesn't seem like anyone has followed you from the Hospital.

:: Sophia visably stiffens as their intended destination is revealed. ::

"We are NOT going to Ana Mia's!"

:: Sophia turns to Rowan with hard accusitory eyes. ::

"Don't forget your promise. You wont like the consequences."

"As Alice mentioned we are going to a doctor she trusts, not Ana Mia's," Rowan glares at Lex, " Lex must have been confused, considering that he only got out of the Matrix a little while ago, he didn't know the plans had changed."

Rowan tries to relax, and then speaks again. "I remember my promise and I owe Gio a lot more than letting him get shot up by his own family. If I fail to fulfill my promise, you can take it out on me any way you like."

"Alice, can you drop me off here, Ill go talk to the family and see whats going on. This way I dont have ot know where you are taking Gio, which is probably for his own good."

<< Changed my mind -- gonna let you guys deal a little more befor Alice acts. NPCs perogative and all that >>

Lex starts fumbling around in his bag, making sure his deck is strapped in. The team (minus Sophia) hears Lex's voice over their comms, "Now just a fragging minute here. We're being paid good money to get this guy back. Our Johnson said not to harm this Sophia in any way, so what makes you think they're just gonna geek her once we get Gio back. What goes on between these two families doesn't concern us. The 10,000 and our reps do! I don't know who this Sophia really is, and honestly, I don't care. We've stayed in this game by not asking questions. This is the mafia's affair, not ours. I say we take Gio back. If his own family wanted him dead, they would have sent us to kill him, not to bring him back. Sophia too. We could have easily geeked them both, but we were specifically told not to. Now I'm not going to let 10,000 slip away. Unless, of course, Sophia's family makes us a better offer, but why would they when they don't even know where she is, either. Either way, we're giving Gio back to somebody and collecting our fee. That's our game."

<<OOC: Hooray for transducers!>>

Akuma doesn't say anything yet, he seems to be struggling with something in his mind. His eyes do some up and glance around, waiting to see what others have to say.

Rowan turns around to look directly at Lex. "Lex, no hard feelings, but this is just a precaution, we will still be paid in full, I just want to check things out so Gio doesnt get doublecrossed, and though that may not matter to you, it does to me, so I'll tell you what, if you shut up and wait, you'll get your money. I'm not one to blow a job, but if you remember, we were told only to try not to geek Sophia, because it might start more problems between the families. If things are safe for them, then we'll return them. If not, I'll find some way to pay you all double and I'll deal with the consequences"

She pauses, hoping she has Lex convinced, and then finishes what she was saying.

"So, even though its hard for you, I just want to make sure things work out, okay?"

Akuma looks reluctant, but he does look at Rowan and nod.

:: Sophia watches Rowan very carefully, consciously, she tells herself that this woman seems to be honest when she speaks about Gio's welfare being her main concern. Unconsciously, her hot italian jealousy smolders with the question as to why this girl is so concerned. ::

:: Her nerves can take only so much and she sighs heavily in her seat as she drapes one arm around Gio's shoulders. Laying her cheek on the top of his head as he rests on her shoulder, she suddenly remembers Akuma's quiet question. Responding in a voice soft with passionate, yet resigned emotion you can hear the toll such a relationship has taken on her. ::

"It wasn't supposed to happen. Love never seems to happen when or where it's convenient. I guess that is the crux of the romantic tragedy. I had no idea who he was and he had just as little clue as to who I was. It's not like daughters or sons of crime lords like to advertise their ties. By the time we discovered the truth, we no longer cared. When Gio almost died, don't think my mind was not on Shakespeare. I suppose if it came to that, I would follow her example."

Akuma turns his head and looks Sophia in the eyes for a long time. There is an old pain there, buried deep, but with strong roots.

His words come out calm, but even the slightly perceptive can tell it is with an effort to do so, "I will do what I can to help make sure you two remain safe."

"I'm all for everyone remaining safe, but I'm not about to doublecross a mafia family here. I don't want to wake up to a knock on my door and be facing 4 guys with a middle name of 'the'." Lex turns in his seat to check traffic again. "Now we've got the King of Hearts..." His head nods towards Akuma, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "...and the Queen of Hearts..." this time he motions towards Rowan, "...looking after the Jack of Diamonds/Queen of Spades." Leaning back in his seat, Lex rubs his temples. After a minute of silence, he chimes in again with a sigh. "All right, this won't work if we're not all in. Rowan, you wanted to talk to them, right? Not that you need my permission, but go for it. If you need, I've got our Johnson's number also, so keep me informed. Looking around the van, his eyes hold on Sophia's. "You're in luck. It looks like Hearts is the trump suit this hand."

:: Sophia cocks her head slightly, and her expressive eyebrows rise up a notch in curious confusion. ::

"Um..k."

Deckers are so damn strange. It's probably all that chrome in their brains.

@Everyone
Alice looks over at Rowan, "I'll let you off up here at the corner, then. Ana Mia's is only a few blocks away. In light of your going solo, dearie, I'm going to cruise the area so we're nearby if or when you need us. Any objections?"

"I dont mind if you keep watch, but its more Sohpia's choice than mine, if you want to leave Akuma to watch my back, that might be okay too, I dunno."

Rowan opens the door and steps outside, waiting to see where things head next.

"Do you think you'll need protection?"

"No, not really, I dont think they want to geek Gio of Sophia, but I want to make sure things go down well, and if they dont, I think Gio and Sophia need more protection."

"You know what... Lex may be the better choise to go with you. He is the one with social skills, not me. We'll stay close to the area, in case you need a hastey pickup. That cool with you, Lex?"

You see lex strap his Browning back to the inside of his coat, "Works for me. If anything, I'd like to know what the frag's going on now." Doing his best Akuma impression, "That cool with you, Rowan?"

Rowan shrugs, "doesn't really matter, but it will be nice to have someone along."

@Everyone
Alice pulls most of the way into a parking space, much to the chagrin of the drivers behind her that raise a finger in salute as they try to get by the back end of your larger-than-she's-used-to van. Shrugging it all off, Alice gives you all a grin in the rearview mirror, "I'm used to a sports car. They should know better than to follow that close!"

<<OOC: Since both Elfie and P.Fogg have posted that they'll go to Ana Mia's, I'm going to move time right up to there. >>

@Rowan, Lex
Trudging through the mid-January cold of South Bethleham, you see Alice pass you heading up the street in the Van. In the back window, you can see Mojo give you a thumbs up as they go by. Over the comms, you hear her say, "If you need us, give a yell and we'll come running."

You walk the few blocks from the drop-off to Ana Mia's. It's an old Victorian looking building nestled between a large, rectangluar bulding housing a Stuffer Shack and a take-out Chinese food joint run by two Pakistani Orks. The building is painted yellow with maroon trim. The sign on the window says that their closed, but Alessandro said he'd have people there no matter what. The lights are off, but the frilly, white drapes on the inside don't block much light.

@Rowan
You don't seem to see much of anything wrong with the picture. Looks like their probably closed for the afternoon. Maybe there's no lunch menu today.

@Elfie
Something seems a little fishy to you. You've been here before and you seem to remember that they had a nice all-you-can-eat soup, salad and breadsticks meal that was to die for on their lunch menu. It seems odd, too, that they would be closed at about 3:45pm when it's approaching the dinner time hours. As you and Rowan move up the stairs to the door, you notice something else --- the lock on the door looks like it's broken. Upon closer inspection, the whole locking mechanism is broken, as if someone put a shoulder (or a foot) to it to force entry and then just pushed the door closed after them.

@Alice, Sophia, Mojo, and Akuma
The good news: Gio seems like he might be comming around. He's beginning to mumble and move around a little, but he's still sleeping.

The bad news: "Hey guys -- we might have a shadow," Alice says looking in the rear-view mirror. "I wasn't sure earlier so I didn't say anything, but that blue sedan about two cars back pulled over when we let Rowan and Lex off and then pulled out again when we moved on."

Akuma turns around to take a good look at the car. He takes out his pistol, ejects the clip of Gel rounds and replaces it with the clip of EX-EX. He then picks his rifle up off the floor and does the same with it. While he works on this, he looks to Sophia, "Take a look out the back window. You recognise any of those guys?"

over the comm

"Rowan, Lex, it looks like we have a tail. What is your situation?"

Lex's voice crackles in your ear, "Doesn't surprise me. It looks like someone beat us here. Stay close, if anyone's here I doubt they're gonna be friendly." Drawing his Browning, Lex moves off the porch, keeping under the windows, and moves around the side of the house. He looks over at Rowan, "I don't think going in the front door's such a good idea at the moment. There should be another entrance in the back. I wanna see if that's busted in too."

back in the van

"Ok, I have an idea. Mojo, make me invisible again. Then Alice can pull over, like you're waiting for something. I crawl out the window, sneak back to where they are, and take them out."

@Those in the Van
Alice replies to Akuma, "I can do that, but do we really want to tip them off to the fact that we know they're there? Plus, I'm not sure we want you too far away if Lex and Rowan radio in for help."

Mojo turns around and quickly locates the sedan that Alice mentioned. Switching on his Astral senses, he gives them a quick look-see. "I don't see anyone with any magics in the car," he reports. "So, if they're going to make a move on us, we should notice it pretty quickly."

@Lex (and Rowan if she follows him around back)
Staying low under the windows has you almost on your knees, but you're able to slink into the backlot area behind the restaurant and you don't think anyone inside would have been able to see you. Behind the restaurant there is an outdoor patio area that provides external dining weather permitting. The area is inclosed with a faux-wood fence about eight feet high to add to the privacy in the outdoor dining area. There is one gate in the fence in the back opposite the building which allows access to a small, paved driveway probably used for deliveries. The driveway leads up to a backdoor. This door doesn't show signs of forced entry and after you peak cautiously into the window next to it, looks like it enters into the kitchens, which are dark.

@Akuma
Using your vision magnification, you're able to bring the car into focus. You can see four people in the car. It looks like the passenger might be a dwarf, but your view is often obstructed by reflections off the windshield as the dimming light of the almost-setting sun makes the glass reflective. When you can see in, it looks like the others are human or elven sized. You see no visible guns or cyberware -- you're view is just not clear enough.

"Don't do anything yet. I'm going to do a little spying."

:: With that, Sophia relaxes in her seat and appears to go astral. Floating back, she takes up astral residence in the car. She takes the time to assence each occupant completely, and stayes to hear if they are speaking with one another. If at any time she detects the presence of another astral capable person, she will return to her body. ::

<< This post sucked. See the new one below. >>

Lex cautiously checks the back door, testing to see if it's locked.
Over the transducer, "Rowan, it looks like whoever it is just came in the front door. Ideas?"

I'd be nice to know if they are still in there, Gio might be in more danger than we thought.

drek, I shoulda' taken my alpha with me

"OK I'm coming back around."

"No, Lex. I'd be best to use a window or the rear door to get in, the front door might be boobytrapped. I dont want to walk into a firestorm. "

::Walking around the side of the building to meet with Lex, Rowan picks a window that she could unlock from the inside, checking to make sure she cant see anyone, she pulls out the glasscutter and suction cup Akuma gave her, and goes to work.::

@Sophia
Relaxing yourself and slipping into the astral plane, you slide yourself out of the vehicle and backwards towards the sedan. As you get closer, you match speeds with it and then slide comfortably into the backseat “between” two humans.

Taking a good look at their auras, you get the impression that they’re bored and a little frustrated. They’re discussing combat biking, of all things, debating the finer points of the “sport” and trying to decide who to place some money on in tonight’s race. They are both mildly cybered, but from their level of attention, you’d guess that they’re probably just hired goons.

Switching your attention to the driver, you see that he is nervous about the fact that he’s following the car so close and very focused on his driving. He is also mildly cybered, and as you look at him you notice that he is not jacked into the vehicle – so he’s not a rigger. He’s showing no overt hostility towards anyone except for the two idiots in the backseat. You can tell from his aura that he’s getting tired of their constant bickering.

And lastly, you turn your attention on the dwarf in the passenger seat. His aura is so scarred it reminds you of a burn victim. There are odd warps and strange ripples throughout his aura that depict not only cyberware but also some bioware implants. As you study him, you take a moment to “sigh” in relief when you see that he might be hugely cybered, but doesn’t seem as divorced from the astral as a cyberzombie would have been. It is then, though, that something hits you: you know this dwarf. He’s a mercenary that generally works for your family named Duster! Skilled with shotguns and a hand blade concealed within his cyberarm, you’ve actually had conversations with this man in the past. It seems odd to you that now you might be trying to get away from him.

He’s focused entirely on a small device in his hand. From his aura you can tell that this is helping him to follow something – he’s aura is almost indicative of a predator following its prey. “You shouldn’t be following this close. We don’t need to keep them in sight, you know, as long as this is still receiving,” Duster says as he waves the device around a bit.

“Look, I know that,” the driver responds. “But, when they dropped the other two off, I thought it was best that we keep them in sight. If they're splitting up, we need to keep track of the target.”

“The fragger’s beat to shit, man. If they unload him, it’s going to take them a while to get him moving. That had to bring him out of the hospital in a fragging wheel chair.”

“I know. You’re here to read that little blip if they get out of sight. I’m here to follow them. Let me do my job, and you two SHUT THE HELL UP!” the drive looses his cool for a moment, his aura flashing red as he yells at the goons in the back seat. “Sorry. I guess that was over the top. I guess I’m just a little nervous.”

@Akuma
Mojo whistles in admiration as he sees Sophia’s astral form slide out of the van and towards the other car, “That’s a lot of woman. You know, Akuma. We may not need to get you back there to deal with them. I can probably incapacitate them from here – or at least some of them. Only problem with that is that after I blast them, they’ll probably end up causing an accident. While that doesn’t really bother me much, it might also draw some attention.”

@Rowan
Setting the glasscutter against the window, you quickly etch a circle ten or so inches in diameter into the glass. Chuckling slightly at how easy this is when you’re not suspended from a window ledge five stories over the street, you peak in the window again to see if anyone may have heard your actions.

The drapes are down and your view of the room is impeded by the frilly, lace curtains. But, you don’t see any motion within, so you carefully, but sharply pull on the suction cup and the circle of glass pops free. Pausing a moment to see if anyone investigates, you reach in, unlock the window, and carefully open it.

<<OOC: Going to continue and assume that you would enter the room since you probably wouldn’t have cut the window if that wasn’t the intent. If you want to do anything outside, just post it and we’ll assume it happens after you open the window but before you go in. >>

Entering Ana Mia’s you are struck by something strange: all of the tables are set and ready for customers, but the building is eerily silent and seemingly empty. As the dust motes dance around you in the light from the window, you strain your ears and can’t here anything coming from anywhere in the restaurant.

Looking around you see a few tables for parties of varying size. There are paintings – mostly Italian masterpieces – on the walls along with very ornate wall lamps that would fill the room with a soft, warm glow if they were lit. As it stands, the muted light streaming into the room through the window curtains gives everything a grey, washed out tone.

There are two doors from this room, one to the left and one to the right. The one to the right is ajar, and through it you can see the kitchens.

Well I'm not staying out here

Climbing in behind Rowan, Lex takes in the art.
needs 'Dogs Playing Poker'

Akuma nods to Mojo. "Thats why I thought we should pull over. That would force them to do the same, so when we take them out, it wouldn't bring as much attention to it happening.

Alice, make sure you don't get too far from Ana Mia's. If Lex and Rowan need backup, I want us to be there as quick as possible.

Frag, why don't we just deal with these jokers following us, quick and effective, then head back to the resturant to back them up?"

:: Smiling slightly Sophia speeds back up again and reenters her body, immediately going over every inch of Gio looking for the tell-tale transceiver.. ::

“Ok, looks like a goon that works for my family and a couple of thugs. The dwarf could be difficult to deal with, but they are using a tracking device of some sort that’s gotta be on Gio. Does anyone have a bug scanner? If we can find it, I can have a spirit move it to another car on the road.”

"Let's not immediately jump into combat. Im sure we can manage without direct confrontation. I have a plan anyway that will definitely make things more interesting. There’s no need to act rashly.”

“Alice, just meander around the club, take side streets and double back a bit, but stay close to Ana Mia’s.”

"Akuma...help me find this damned bug."

Akuma growls at his own stupidity. "Damn, why didn't I remember to do that!"

He reaches into his pack and pulls out his Bug Scanner (rating 6). He runs the scanner over Gio's body, trying to locate it.

@Akuma
You pull out the bug scanner, flip the on switch and hold it next to Gio watching for the indicator to point you in the right direction. From Sophia leans backwards in her seat to see what you're looking at as well while Mojo keeps an eye on the sedan. The indicator tells you that the bug is further below you, "Must be in his shoe," you say to yourself more than to anyone around you. Moving down his body and eventually getting down onto the floor behind him you notice something interesting: he's not wearing any shoes. Looking more closely at the indicator it now seems to be pointing slightly away from Gio's feet. "What the hell?!"

"What is it?" Sophia chimes in.

"I don't think Gio's the one bugged. Here take this and check in front of your seat." you say as you hand her the bug scanner.

"All right." Taking the scanner from you, Sophia climbs onto the floor and scans the floor in front of her seat. "Uhm. The indicator says that I'm directly over the bug," she reports.

The good news: she's found the bug.
The bad news: it seems to be under the driver's seat.

"Where the hell am I," a new voice chimes in. "Hun ... what are you doing on the floor?"

@Lex
Your cell phone rings.

Akuma's face looses some of its color. "Double cross. Gio's dad knows about the marrage to you and had a hit put on him. He is the one who set us up with this vehicle, why else would he bug us?"

over the comm

"Lex! Rowan! Don't move for a sec, we have to figure out whats up. We may be getting double crossed."

then back to the van

"What do you guys want to do. I'm all for pulling over and getting rid of our tail for good."

When Gio wakes up, Akuma looks to Sophia to do the talking.

Rowan listens on the comm, the looks at Lexx, shrugging. She takes a careful step towards the kitchen door, and takes a peek.

"Rowan, what are you doing? More than the door might be boobytrapped!" (over the transducer).

Flipping open his cell phone, Lex quickly plugs it in, keeping an eye on the door Rowan's not moving towards. "Yeah?"

:: Sophia holds up her hands and raises her usually low sultry voice demonstrating the command an italian can possess. ::

"Wait a sec. Everyone calm down. It's not a double cross. I told you that there was a traitor in Gio's family that led to his initial attack, hence why I wasn't going to let you bring him to Ana Mia's. Whoever this spy is, bugged the vehicle knowing it would transport Gio, probably without Gio's dad knowing, and fed the info to the dwarf."

:: Turning a doting face towards Gio, she quickly returns to his side and lays her hands on his cheeks. ::

"Quiet angel...there's little time to explain."

:: Looking back at Akuma, Sophia returns to her commanding demeanor. ::

"The first priority is to get that damn bug off."

:: Closing her eyes, she crouches slightly in her seat and for a moment, looks positively feline. Moments later a small spirit manafests before her. ::

"Ok, this spirit wont be able to understand what the bug looks like. What I propose is for you to head towards that business park over there on the left. See the big parking structure? Get us in there and Akuma, you get that bug off as fast as possible. DON'T do anything with it until I get back to my body. I'm going to go distract our little friends so they aren't able to follow immediately, giving you a tiny amount of time. As soon as you have it, get back in the van and tell my spirit to come get me."

"Any questions?"

"Yeah. Is what you are about to do going to tip them off that we know about the bug? And why don't you want me to take that dwarf out? He is out to get your husband, you know."

@Those in the Van
Mojo chimes in: "If we get the sedan to stop, I think I can take them out with one spell. And, it's non-lethal if that's a priority. Doing it my way removes the need for you to go astral again," he finishes, directing his final comment at Sophia.

@Lex
"Hey, Lex. Alessandro. Don't know how to say this, but we figured out the leak. It's Jimmy. We had no idea I swear." He sounds honest, and perhaps even somewhat concerned.

"Really. Keep talking."

"Yeah. It seems that the Carolettos have been paying him for the better part of three months to get them information on our whereabouts and activities. There's probably a good chance that he gave the make and model of the car to them. We only found him because he wasn't careful enough with where he hid the cash. When we noticed a rather large influx of currency into his accounts we knew something was fishy. Considering that he was somewhat privy to the information concerning our drop-off point, Ana Mia's may not be safe right now. Steer clear of it and let's determine an alternative."

"Uh ... you might be a little late with that warning, big guy. I'm standing in Ana Mia's right now."

"Shit. Well, we need an alternative method for your getting Gio to us either way. Call me back at 610-758-6397 when your safe. Oh, and if you're willing, can you check on my people that have been waiting there for you guys? They haven't checked in this hour."

<<OOC: If you have any other questions for Alessandro, he hasn't hung up yet. >>

@Rowan
Peaking into the kitchen, you can't see much but you can see a row of cabinets that are all closed and just barely make out what you think is the back door. If you want to see more, you'll have to push the door open.