Its a quiet night and there is a light snow falling over Seattle Sound. Wind flows through the night, bringing a new chill that makes you pull your coat a little tighter around you.

Jaw's phone chirps at him, a call is incoming.

Grizzly leans closer to the Tri, watching some beauty pagent show, and mumbling about the women. "Back in my day.... you show that much flesh, they'd have put you right back in the trailer yard you got pulled from. Course, back then you could tell which one was the pet..." he mumbles again as some Catlike Surge victim started walking down the platform to the sound of whistles and over exagerrated clapping. In disgust he turns off the Tri, and heads over to the kitchen to grab something cold to drink.

Jaws is enjoying a nice dinner of real chicken, soyveggies and soycaf home in Bellevue. The phone rings.

"Excuse me, friends, I'll be back shortly."

"Hello?"

Leo's familiar voice comes over the line in a rush of words, "Ok. Ok ok. I got somethin' for ya and your boys. Do you love me or what? Lets get together and have breakfast in the morning. Let you get some sleep before going on the job, nice of me, eh? Yeah. So, tomorrow, Alice's Cafe, 10am. Capishe?"

"Yeah, gotcha. What kind of job is it gonna be this time? Tell me a little bit right now real quick so it's gonna go faster and easier tomorrow..."

After trying to get some information out of good'old Leo, Jaws calls the rest of the team to let them know about the meeting:

"So here's the deal ... ... ... I also thought that we should all get together beforehand. So, tomorrow at 9AM, at the Olde Cafe, we're gonna talk about this while getting something to eat, and then we'll go. See you there."

Waking these days was like swimming to the surface of an ice cold lake: the shock of dry air lifting water from skin already hypothermic pulled him gasping from Death's door. Shark wept, eyes empty and staring at the darkened ceiling above him. His hearing, amplified a hundred-fold since the accident, brought him the sounds of activity: Erik watching two trid shows at once in the security center, the half dozen other rack mounted screens silently switching through external camera views, security drones humming softly to themselves as they kept the guard, and the rhythmic pulse of life support machines.

Shark stood and reached for his clothes. His body was gaunt and ragged, skin shrunken on his wiry frame until every muscle, every scar was clearly outlined. The weight of the Manhunter on his hip helped settle his body, but his mind still spun through a concave spiral of despair. He would live this same moment, over and over again, until the world itself died.

Erik glanced up at his approach. "Hey, boss."

"Anything going on?" Shark let his gaze linger on the newsfeed that his subordinate had running before glancing across the remaining screens.

"Quiet day. We going out tonight?"

Shark glanced over at the locked door at the back of the lair, loathing the eager tone he heard in Erik's voice. Blood sang through his veins, and he felt an even greater surge of self-loathing.

"Yes. Sundown. Be ready."

Erik nodded, already calling up information on one of the MFDs to plan for tonight's hunt. Shark stood and stretched, delaying the inevitable. Unable to avoid it any longer, he moved to the door, which opened in response to his thumbprint.

Inside were three hospital beds, only one of which was occupied at this time. The young woman in the last bed stirred as he approached, her eyes opening slowly. Life support machinery surrounded her, keeping watch on blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. IV drips filled her veins with fluids and nutrients, while an oxygen tube lay pale beneath her nose. Shark stood over her in the harsh surgical light, watching her chest rise and fall beneath the thin blanket. The week had not been kind to her, dark circles showed beneath her eyes, and her skin, once healthy and athletic, was now a ghostly sallow.

"Please..." she rasped, throat raw from the oxygen. Shark reached over and turned off the narcotic drip into her IV before turning off the oxygen supply and lifting the tube from around her head. He turned off the monitors, disconnecting the sensors from the fingertips of her right hand. The haze began to clear from behind her eyes as he worked, replaced by fear. She pulled futilely at the restraints holding her to the bed, weakly at first, but with a greater frenzy after he withdrew the IV shunt from her left forearm.

"Please, please just let me go. I won't tell anyone. Oh, God, don't hurt me!" She begged, her voice swaying from beguiling to tearful frenzy with bewildering speed. Shark turned to look at her, tears still flowing down his cheeks. So surprising was it, that she lay silent for a moment, hope blossoming in her eyes momentarily. Gently, he reached up and undid the clasps on her hospital gown, pulling the thin material away from her body. The young woman began to shake her head, slowly at first.

"No. No. God, no!"

Shark threw back the cover on the tray of surgical instruments, selecting a scalpel from among them.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice terrifyingly clear," but I have to hurt you. Now, if you would scream for me, please." Shark bent to his work, a soft inhuman smile on his face as the woman threw her head back and howled in despair.

Thump, thump, thump echoed in the one room apartment as Sahara snapped of rapid fire blows against the punching bag.

The room apartment was small, consisting of a sleeping area, a kitchenette and a couch. She didn't have a lot of money these days. Sydney was sprawled on the couch watching her daily dose of news an info.

Thump, thump, thump, came the blows again. Sahara was working in a groove now. The swinging of the heavy bag moving in time with her feet and her tail as she circled. A punch there, a knee, followed by a back hand. She was dressed simply in tight shorts and a tank top. The outfit stuck to her fur and was accumulating a light sheen of seat.

Thump, thump, BEEP, the trid caught her in mid swing, distracted for a moment her fist slid of the bag instead of impacting it directly.

"Ouch, dammit. Get the phone will you Syd?"

She pushes herself harder than I do...

"Got it!"

Sydney rolls off the couch with the practiced grace and poise of a ballerina. Her blue jeans and loose blouse fit comfortably and were reasonable for a day with a close friend.

Hitting the button for voice and video, Sydney puts on her friendly face.

"Chica's place, Chica two speaking."

Grizzly grumbles over the vidphone in his head, "9am? Is the sun even up that early?". He scratches his head, muttering to himself for a bit about how much the world has changed, and how bad he needs to get back to the days when things never changed, then realizes the vid is still live, grins at Jaws mentally, and shuts down the phone with a wink. He floats over to the bed, a strange contrapton with a mattress both above and below to rest between, and curls up for the night.

Come Morning, he's up at 8:00, and after a quick shower and a honest to goodness egg and ham (some things never die, they just get made out of tofu and salt...) breakfast with potatoes, he casts his Improved Invisibility onto a focus, then leaps out the 32nd floor of the building, heading straight towards the Ole Cafe to get a 2nd breakfast, this time with fresh Orange Juice, made right in front of you with powder and water.

When the call came in, Darien was in the middle of uncovering the latest scandal at Seattle City Hall. He didn't plan to expose it yet...blackmail material could be invaluable. At least it could back in the old days. Things had changed. He was no longer a big name shadowrunner. Now he was just a no name bounty hunter, working his way back up. Oh well...that's the price you pay for not having people paying not so friendly visits in the middle of the night.

Finishing his download, he jacked out and answered the phone. "Hey. Leo found something?" he asked. When he heard the meet time, the smile turned to a frown. "He doesn't appreciate the fact that some of us keep vampire hours, does he? Oh well...he's the one with the info. I'll see you then." With that, he hung up, and turned his attention back to the file he had obtained. Lindsey would love to see this...

Sydney nods as she processes all the information from the call. With a toothy smile, the changeling ends the call.

"Hey chica, don't hurt your hands too much. We've got work to do in the morning."

She tosses her furry companion a towel and settles back down in front of the news. With any luck she'll find out when this front is going to blow over and the city will get what meager sunshine comes in the winter.

When the phone rings Gun is already up and bright eyed, "9 am, that's not a problem." ah yes the wonders of a sleep regulator, but with all that cyber Gun wonders once again about his own lack of humanity. With the damage done will he ever be truly normal. Standing up from his seat, Gun could fell and hear the creaks of protest as his metal skin slid together. Another job means the pay I need, and another job means another person behind bars. Walking accross the living room, if it could be called that, of his spartan apartment Gun begins to go through his work out. Running through the forms that have now become so much a part of his body. Plow cuts to roof, roof crooked to ox, slip back, squitning to ox, passing step back, parting strike. Each step a part of his body, each step allowing him to relax his mind.

For hours he continues his dance of destruction, finally ending after reaching the end of his forms. Sliding his sword into its sheath after cleaning it he begins to set up for the next day. Sliding into his short night of dreamless sleep Gun runs through his list of needed materials.

Waking up the next morning Gun put on a decent set of clothing, long sleeved and with pants covering all of his legs. Sliding on a pair of gloves Gun was able to cover most of his cyber. Reaching under his pants Gun slid his preditor in the inside of his pants. After putting in his cellphone and pocketing his P-sec gun, headed towards the cafe.

After making all the phone calls, Jaws joined the prayers of his three friends in the living room.

"... may our Father protect us and keep us strong in order to defeat injustice ... may He from the Sky guide us for nothing can hide from his sight ... may he be there for us when we most need him ... may .... "

Then, Jaws climbs up the stairs to his bedroom and meditates on the next day to come. With the strenght of Father Sky on our side, we shall be able to accomplish our task, whatever it may be. Now, what I should do is go to sleep right now because I will need to be in top shape tomorrow. Then he started thinking about the different beasts he had destroyed and it made him even more confident about what was ahead. He fell asleep while thinking about a burning vampire.

Sahara paused for a moment, catching the bag with her chest and upper body. The work out had been hard, but worth the effort. She still felt the pain of the scar where the Plazma had gotten a piece of her last month. She didn't push herself hard enough and that was the price.

She went to the kitchen, her cat like grace swaying her body on the balls of her feat. The water felt good on her parched throat. She downed the liter and tossed the bottle in the bin.

"So," she said breathlessly, "what did Jaws want?"

"Looks like we've got a job. Jaws is bringing the team together in the morning at Cafe Ole."

Sydney moves off the couch and into the small kitchen. Tapping her claws lightly on the tile counters, she ponders for a moment.

"The weather report said there's only a seventy percent chance of snow tomorrow, which means we may actually get a little bit of harsh winter sun for our run before breakfast. Figure we do five miles, then clean up and meet with the boys?"

The sun comes up briliantly the next day, gleaming off the snow covered city.

Downtown, ouside of Alice's Cafe (an old 1950s style eatery) a dark towncar pulls into an empty spot. Leo Getz climbs out of the ride and slowly makes his way through the snow and into the diner. A girl on old fashion roller skates meets him at the door, "Hey Leo! Normal booth as always?"

"Yeah, sure thing toots."

She rolls her eyes, but gives him a smile to go with it and leads him back to the large booth in back.

Ariving at the Cafe Gun imediately heads towards the backroom, same as always. Shivering slightly as the wind gusts around him as the door behind him opens up. Job time, now I become the weapon, now I become aimed. Stepping briskly into the area of the booth Gun remains standing, same as always. "Hola Leo, we got another job?"

"Push it!" Sahara howled as the two women charged up 6th avenue. The street was covered in snow and ice. The two girl were on mile four of their run and were sweating hard. Their run was not a jog, but a full blown run for your life dash.

Twenty minutes later Sahara was leaning against the door jam waiting for Sydney to finish in the shower.

"C'mon Syd, we only got a half hour to get there."

After a good cup of soycaf and small talk with the team, Jaws walks out of the Olde Cafe, and crosses the street, covered with dirty brown snow, to get to Alice's Cafe and finally know what the job is all about. They all walk up to Leo's usual booth.

"Good morning Leo. We're here as planned. Please go ahead and tell us what you've got for us."

"Hey, hey, hey! Lets wait for everyone to show up, besides I'm waiitin' on someone for myself. Get yerself something ta eat, they got great pancakes here!"

His face splits in half with a smile and he shoves some into his mouth.

Sydney opens the door, still toweling her hair dry.

"Bite me!"

The same playful line she's used on an almost daily basis since her conversion. Freshly brushed fangs gleam in her smile. She tosses the towel over the bar and pulls her hair back into a ponytail after a few quick brushes. Two minutes in the bedroom for a reasonable wardrobe and she was ready to blend in with corporate drones everywhere.

"Alright, I'm ready when you are."

Grabbing their coats as they walked out the door, Syd and Sahara got on the road.

Waking up hadn't been a problem. Sleep regulators were handy little things that let the day be stretched out further. Parking, however, was an issue. By the time Darien found a spot, he was already running late. Hurrying to the cafe, he missed a spot of ice, and was sent tumbling on his behind. He waved off offers to help him up, saying "I'm fine...nothing injured but my pride." With that, he continued on, albeit at a slower pace to meet the others.

Grizzly, who has been sitting there eating a large breakfast when Leo walks in, almost doesn't notice Leo. However, it only takes a few moments before EVERYONE in the restaurant notices Leo, and even Grizzly wakes up from his 2nd breakfast, to see the friendly face. He slids out from behind his table, grabbing a last piece of meat to eat on as he crosses the old diner, and walks up to Leo, grabbing a seat across from him.

"Leo.... you're looking good, been working out I see.", then turns and growls at a man who looks like he was about to get an attitude with Leo over his loudness, snapping his teeth at him in the process.

Sahara waves at Jaws through the window as the two girls approach. For whatever reason she seemed upbeat this morning. She swung the door open for Sydney to walk through and followed after her.

She got a few disgusted looks from patrons as the two unusual girls stepped in. Sahara was dressed casually in long cotton pants and short toed heel boots. Her shirt was a matte black affair with a white double underneath. Over all of it she wore her armored trench coat. The wind caught it as the door closed and reveled the grip of her Five-seveN.

"Hey Jaws, leo."

"Hey ladies! OK, ok ok, lets get this thing rolling... without further ado..."

Leo gestures to a man seated at the bar, who picks up his coffee and walks over to join the group. He has a well scupled body, a completely bald head, and is wearing mirrored glasses.

Taking a seat, he smiles cooly to the group gathered, "Good morning. My name is Murrey. I've lost someone and need him found."

He pauses and tosses a few datachips onto the table.

"You'll find all the info we've got on those chips. The man in question goes by the name Shark. He was a data courier for some very powerful people. On his last job, he dissappeared. He had two bodyguards with him. One made it back screaming about vampires before he died from blood loss. We need to know what happened to Shark. But mostly I need his head back, or rather, what is inside it. If you can get him back to us alive, the pay is double, as it makes getting the data out of his head much easier. If he is dead, get his head to us and I'll give you ten grand for each of you. Twenty alive. Interested?"

Jaws looks at every member of the team in the eyes as if asking Do you want to do this?

Thinking about it, the dwarf finally speaks up, with a deep voice. "I definitely think that this is the kind of job for us and we have no intention of killing any metahuman, so rest assure that we will try to keep that guy Shark - whoever he may be - out of harm's way as much as we can. That is, if he's still to be considered a metahuman."

"On the other hand, the pay seems kind of low and the risks - especially if there are vampires involved - could be quite high...", turning to his friends: "What do you guys think about this job??"

When Jaws turned his gaze to Darien, the response was noncommital. "Hmm...vampires. Those are nasty enough. In addition, are there others who would be interested in the data this Shark fellow is carrying?"

A shiver ran down Sahara's spine. Vampires. Dammit all. Why vampires.

"I think this is certainly something we can do, but there is no way I am going after a possible vamp for ten kay."

"I'm going to have to agree with Sahara. From what I hear, they've got fangs like me and a slew of mumbo jumbo that I don't."

Sydney begins to tap her claws nervously on the table. Then realizing what she is doing, picks up her coffee cup and holds it to keep her hands full.

Grizzly looks stoic, "I'll do it, I won't tangle with the Leech, but I'll find out what happened to your boy and bring him back if he's alive. And I mean alive. If he's moving and not alive, I walk. "

gun looks almost unfazed by the mention of Vampires, He's seen blood magic rituals, and Cybermancy, plus his loss of part of his humanity helps.

"I'm willing to do it, but for the kind of risk you're talking about we may need a little more encouragement."

Ok, this is kind of touchy but I have to do it for the team.

Jaws looks straight into Murray's eyes and calmly says:

"Well, we're willing to help you, Murray, as long as the pay makes more sense. I don't think that we're gonna be willing to do this unless you at least double the pay. You have to understand that what you're asking for is tough to do and requires professionnals like ourselves. You will find very few groups specialised in the paranormal like we are, and on top of that, we're quite good at it. Because what Shark has in its head is obviously quite valuable and could probably be used by some other party as well, a pay of 20k is definitely more reasonable since with us, you are sure to keep this quiet. I think Leo will agree with me on that. So, twenty kay each for the head, forty kay if he's alive. Take it or leave it."

"As I've mentioned before, dealing with vampires is chancy stuff. I'd rather keep vampire hours by choice than by necessity. Add in to the fact that our mark here is a courier. I've done my share of courier work, and couriers are generally employed when there is someone you don't want getting their hands on your data. 'Over my dead body' can become rather literal... as such, even with bodyguards, he'd have cause to have combat skills of his own, or other ways of evading capture, making capture even more of a challenge, let alone bringing him in alive. Plus intervention of whoever else might have an interest in the data." Darien commented.

Sahara's pointed ears perked up at Dariens well thought out, well articulated litlle speach.

If that doesn't get us more money, nothing will.

She smiles at Darien subtly, throwing in a wink for kicks.

Murrey sighs and spreads his hands on the table. "Fine. I'll toss in an extra 10k, I'll even give it up front. So thats 10k up front, 10k for the data, and 10k if you can get Shark alive. Deal?"

Jaws says with a grin "Well that's not exactly what we had in mind .... but it seems reasonable. Deal."

"Could someone look over the data in the chips so that if we have questions we can ask them right now?"

30k total...not bad. Though the last 10k was far from a sure thing. 20k would be good enough if the target proved difficult. But first things first, they had to find him. Taking the chips, he slotted them in his pocket secretary and read over the data before sharing it with the others.

after giving Darien a minute or two to check over the chips Gun picks them up and slots them in his own Psec, running a cursory check for any viruses first, and then begins to leaf through them.

Sydney flashes her fangs in a smile as she looks over to Sahara. She wasn't in for this unless her friend and mentor was in for it as well, but twenty or thirty thousand could go a long ways towards their pro bono work for the changelings.

Sahara gave her friend a nod, a subtle 'I'm in'.

"Is there anything else you need to tell us?" She said to the Johnson.

Grizzly leans over grabbing a chip, and slids it into a hole in his inner-wrist. half a second later he slides it out and hands it to whoever hasn't chipped yet. He plugs a computer he has strapped to his inner wrist into the now-empty hole and begins scanning the data now stored in his Internal HeadMemory, using his Image Link. He nods while perusing, "I'm in. Let's see what kinda area we're looking at...", he says as he correlates the data with the NavDat GPS to get a rough idea of where the guy came up missing, and what sort of terrain and buildings are in the area. Without missing a beat though, he continues the sentence, "and then I'd like to finish my breakfast if nobody objects.", he says with a gruff morning voice.

There isn't as much data as you'd like to start out with. There is a picture of a fairly non-descript man in his mid 20s, but he could be anyone in this city. There is a LTG number, but there is a note next to it letting you know its been deactivated. The attack happened at the corner of 10th and Walnut in eastern Tacoma.

There is a second file attached for a man named Hopps. He was the bodyguard that didn't make it back from the attack. You have another picture of a man build like a brick and another deactivated LTG number.

Murrey glances around and stands. "If there is nothing else, you can reach me at the following number."

He tosses a few bussiness cards on the table.

Grizzly nods at the gentleman abstractly, as he continues to finish his breakfast. "Kinda weak info on the target, though highly detailed info on his last known locale. Anyone wanna take a walk with me to 10th and Walnut and see if there's anything overly obvious there? My internal comparisson with that location and other points of local interest in that area hasn't appeared to turn up ... " *swallow* "anything.", he says with a food filled mouth as he finishes up the remnants of his meal.

"I agree.. let's do that when everyone's ready to leave. "

"Leo, we'll keep in touch with you as well if there's anything we need. Right now, it would be great if you could check what you can find on this guy, it would really help us out."

"Whenever you have a chance, you should definitely verify what you can find on the matrix, Darien. And we'll all ask around for info on this Shark... ", kind of to himself he adds, "I've always hated sharks so much ... and now I have to find one... damn."

"I think that's it... Is everyone okay with that for now?"

Gun nods curtly after Jaws's assignments. "I'm more than willing to go with Grizzly to check out the attack site. But, I'd want to do it in full combat gear. Although that may mean we have to wait till dark, or else we'll have to be slightly mre discrete in our approach."

"Sounds good to me. Where do you want me? Clean up detail at the site or pounding the pavement looking for answers from other people?"

Syd knows that she's still new to this game and waits to be given instructions on where to proceed.

Leo slides out of the booth, having already finished his meal. "Ok ok. Got it. I'll be in touch!"

"You guys can go on ahead. I'll do my poking around in the Matrix, and drop a note with some friends to see if they've heard anything about the two."

"Jaws, Syd and I will hit the streets, see if we can't dig up any info from our contacts, soka?" She gave a nod to Sydney as she started sliding out of the booth.

"I'll give you guys a call in a few hours and we can touch base about what we found out."

The diner door swung shut with a 'ding' as she exited the building. The cold wind outside bit deep causing her to wrap her coat around her tightly.

"Well Syd, what do you think?"