A Daily Mail Exclusive [open/closed]

[protagonized]

#herodog trended in the UK for a grand total of forty-eight hours in early March, long enough to spark several articles about the incident in various local tabloids and newspapers, a fifteen minute segment about it on BBC Breakfast (complete with an animal behaviour expert), and two @herodog and @londonherodog Twitter parody accounts. Then the world turned and the sensation died down and few people remembered Maria Mitchell's little brush with fame.

Except Maria herself, of course.

She had been at a low point, but the hero dog ended all that when it dragged her off the tracks and away from danger after she'd drunkenly fallen off the platform, right in the path of an oncoming Circle Line train. The dog had done more than save her life, she'd tell her friends. It had given her purpose, a reason to stop drinking and start living.

She became obsessed with finding the London Hero Dog. If she could find it and thank it, or--well, they obviously shared a bond so maybe she could give it somewhere to live for the rest of its life! Right! The universe was telling her she was meant to adopt this dog.

She just had to find it first. And maybe look at some cell phone video she'd drunkenly recorded later that night...

i - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (18 April - Open to Previous CR)

Simon's phone has been ringing at odd hours since Friday. He's taken to just ignoring the calls, since the number is usually blocked and whoever it is must not want to reach him that badly because they don't leave voicemails or a callback number.

But today is a bit different, because today he gets a text message. It's...huh, who would be sending him a video? This is all really--

Simon pales visibly.

"Oh shit. Oh shitting fucking Jesus Christ."

He hands his phone to his companion. The video is about five seconds long, showing a white dog that blurs and then suddenly isn't a white dog anymore. The only other message is a hashtag: #herodog

ii - How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (21 April - Open to Hillingdon House)

Hillingdon House. Simon's heard of it, of course; he's reasonably well-versed in supernatural politics these days and as a shapeshifter he know that Hillingdon House ought to be his spiritual home. Had things been different and Sylvia Redbright not scooped him up and put him in her school back when he'd been a confused teenager with brand new powers, he probably would have ended up here. Shapeshifters from Hillingdon had been some of his first contacts within the supernatural community; Redbright had just gotten to him first.

But he'd never actually been here until today.

He takes a deep breath. What he's about to do is unsanctioned, potentially suicidal. He's probably just a couple of steps away from ending up a statue in the Night Council chambers, but he will definitely end up a statue in the Night Council chambers if he is the reason that the entire supernatural community ends up being exposed to the normal human one.

Simon doesn't know how Maria--he knows the woman's name now--found out about him, but Maria knows and she's threatening to go to the press about it. The Daily Mail would probably pay thousands for an exclusive on the witches and vampires and shapeshifters and everything else who currently inhabit London. They'd have a field day with it.

"How do I place a bounty?" he asks, approaching a likely-looking person.

iii - The Statute of Secrecy (29 April - Closed to Guardians)

"I've got a stalker," Simon says, and it's meant to be a joke but it's anything but. He looks even more exhausted than usual.

"I saved one person and suddenly I've got a 'hero dog' groupie."

He laughs hollowly. "She's trying to blackmail me into being her boyfriend. Says she'll expose me if I don't."

Comments

ii

[knightscode]

Lancelot's eyebrows loft slowly at that, clearly surprised but not entirely alarmed. He sips his coffee, thinking and studying Simon at the same time.

Expose him. That could mean a number of things, and he doesn't want to assume anything, so better to get this all out.

"Well," he says finally, setting down his cup and leaning onto the table. "What does she intend to expose, and what proof does she have?"

[protagonized]

Simon pulls out his phone and shows Lancelot the video she sent. It's grainy, but clearly shows him changing back from dog to person.

"She says she'll sell it to the papers. I don't have a fucking clue how she got it in the first place."

He's usually so careful.

[knightscode]

Lancelot turns the phone on the table and squints at it, tilts his head curiously then sits back again and reaches for his drink.

"Say she faked it?" He says finally, "the quality is terrible -- on its own she can barely prove it's you. No legitimate paper would run it, it might make a small stir in gossip magazines but nobody would believe it save a few."

[protagonized]

"Might...be a bit late for that now."

Oh god, what has he done?

"Another shifter's gotten involved."

ii - A+ Prompt Name

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl looked the man up and down, squinting at him before leaning in and taking a good sniff of the air between them. Smelled like dog. Actual dog, not wolfdog like a lot of the weres did. Either the man had an overly-friendly pet, or he was a shifter. Equal parts one of the other from what Daryl could tell in his human form without actually shifting any parts of himself.

He leaned back and put his hands on his waist, the southern drawl that marked his origins as American coming out with a little suspicion, "Depends on what kind of bounty you're lookin' to place, Sunshine."

[protagonized]

...Sunshine?

Simon gulped, finding himself suddenly at a loss for words. The man was so very American, in an almost stereotypical dueling banjos kind of way, and Simon felt the full weight of the potentially idiotic thing he was about to do on his shoulders.

"I don't want anyone hurt," he amended, sounding a lot less sure of himself than he had a moment ago.

[dirtyredneck]

"That don't usually come with a bounty," he answered, shifting his weight before his tongue darted out to lick his lips. His head tilted in curiosity. "Not most bounties, anyway. Still don't tell me what sort you're lookin' to offer, though. This ain't an information gatherin' thing is it?"

[protagonized]

"Maybe it is." The enormity of what he was doing was beginning to dawn on Simon. "I don't want her to be hurt," he said again, and pulled out his laptop.

His personal and academic email inbox were flooded with photos, love letters, and threats, all from the same person.

"Her name is Maria. She thinks we're destined to be together and she knows I'm a shifter. She's threatening to go public with it. "

i

[falsify]

Well that's sure a thing. Eames watches the video a couple of times, letting out an amused snort the first time it loops, "this why you called me then?" One can only assume that's why he's here anyway. He zooms in on the video, trying to pick out anything worthwhile, but it looks about as believable as those old Nessie videos to him. "I don't see the problem."

[protagonized]

Whether or not Eames sees a problem, Simon certainly does. He looks a little hurt by Eames' dismissal of his problems, but carries on anyway.

"The last time someone tried to expose me I had to thank Gilbert Norrell for disposing of his body." He thinks Eames wouldn't have forgotten that little incident; they'd first met in its direct aftermath. "What if this person is the same?" What if it's his biological family out for revenge?

[falsify]

Eames half considers suggesting he take care of it the same way, but he's supposed to be nice, isn't he? How tedious.

He hands Simon his phone back, "have they given any demands?"

[protagonized]

"Demands?" Simon is far less used to the whole blackmailing business than Eames is; he hasn't gotten to that point mentally. He's still reeling from the video itself. But he picks his phone back up and scrolls through the messages.

"Something about...'it's meant to be?' I'm their 'angel?' I haven't got the foggiest fucking idea."

ii

[constantprisoner]

Sirius is one of the regular inhabitants of Hillingdon House these days. He tends to keep to himself, once again trying to keep a low profile, especially during the campaign when political people are out and about. Catching him would be a boost to any of their campaigns, he figures, and since the Night Council isn't among his favourite people, he'll just stay out of the way.

Honestly, he hadn't expected to see Simon here. Especially with that sort of request.

"Why would you need to do something like that?" Sirius asks, halfway between a tease and some concern. There had been that incident with his grandfather a few months ago. Were they related?

[protagonized]

"Did you hear about the 'hero dog' a few weeks back?" Simon asks, looking sheepish. "I was shifted and saved a woman from getting hit by a train, and she managed to track me down." Sirius is a fellow shifter; if anyone can understand his situation, it's Sirius.

"She's got video of me transforming and if I don't answer her she'll go to the press. I don't want her hurt; I just want her to leave me alone."

[constantprisoner]

"So that was you! Thought the dog looked familiar."

Being a little more connected to the world was starting to pay off, especially with paying attention to the Internet. It was still new, but he was getting the hang of it. He probably would have joked about it more, had Simon not brought up the next part.

"I can see how that would be a problem. You probably don't want to go with a bounty though. Those can get...messy."

[protagonized]

"Can't a put a bounty on her just so someone convinces her to stop?" Even saying it out loud makes Simon feel as stupid as he sounds. He sits heavily on an old chair and puts his head in his hands. "Jesus Christ," he groans.

If Sirius thinks it's a bad idea, it's very likely a bad idea, and yet...

"I nearly lost everything in January."

i

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha takes the phone, wondering what could have caused Simon's reaction. Her brows draw together and she replays the video, though she's confident she didn't miss anything the first time.

"Okay," she says, shrugging as she offers the phone back. It's clear from her expression that she finds his reaction disproportionate. Especially these days, grainy, poorly lit phone videos are next to unavoidable.

"Do you know what they want?"

[protagonized]

"I don't know." Simon looks pale and shaky.

"The last time this happened...the person tried to kill me. And my parents."

[outstandingbalance]

"Does this happen to you often?" Natasha asks, then half shakes her head, raising a hand to wave away the question. That's not really her business, and it's not really the matter at hand.

"They haven't gone public with it, so there must be something they want from you more than they want to be famous for coming forward with a dark, grainy phone video of something no one will believe when they see anyway."

[protagonized]

Simon laughs hollowly. "Once before. I'm adopted; evidently my biological family isn't particularly fond of having a shapeshifter 'freak' for a grandson." It's been less than three months since his encounter with his grandfather. The physical scars are starting to fade, but the emotional ones will never go away. One of the reasons he's thrown himself into all of this work is so that he doesn't have to spent too much time alone with his thoughts and memories of that night.

"I hope you're right." Somehow, he doesn't seem too convinced. Images of his parents' living room covered in blood, his biological grandfather's corpse on the floor, keep flashing in front of his eyes.

2

[anniesgonemad]

Annie Cresta is the least likely person. But she's flattered, thank you very much. When Simon speaks, she actually looks both left and right before blinking and looking right back up at him. "A- a bounty? You're-" he looks so young. Young, panicked, and Annie had the distinct impression he was going to regret this if he went through with it.

Good thing he'd come to her.

"Well- come, sit down. Do- do you want to talk about it, first? I'd, uhm, like to know why you're placing it." Sometimes it helped to talk it out. Annie lead Simon into the living room and gestured for him to sit down. "Fancy tea? I just put some on."

[protagonized]

Tea? Simon gives the girl a slightly bewildered look. He hadn't expected to be offered tea in the middle of a crisis.

And yet it's an oddly gratifying way to start off the whole business of putting a bounty on a woman he barely knows. "Tea sounds wonderful." How very British of them.

"I..." Where to begin?

"I think someone is stalking me. A human."

[anniesgonemad]

It's the most English thing one can possibly do. So Annie is extremely Irish. Doesn't matter: make tea.

"Let's wait on that, till there's tea," she tells him, because that's how you do it. You have a spot of tea, then you talk about why you're actually here. Until you calm a little, Annie doesn't want to hear it.

"How do you take it? Cream? Milk, sugar?" If you're not taking it with milk and sugar, you are taking your tea wrong. Whisky is also an acceptable substitute. But only sometimes, as Annie wasn't a fan of drinking. It made her lose more touch with reality than she could afford.

i

[itsconceptual]

Simon looks as though he's seen a ghost or something. Effy was about to offer a greeting, but when he looks so pale, maybe 'are you alright?' is a better starter. She barely gets to that, either, because he's already cursing and putting a phone in her hands. The video plays. Her very first response:

"...What the fuck is that?"

On a loop, the video plays again. And again. Effy's eyebrows lift at the subject matter and she hands it back. Pulls out a cigarette. Offers him one, too, because he looks sort of like he needs one.

"Hero dog?" She rolls her eyes a bit. Hasn't the world moved onto the next 'huge internet sensation' by now? "It looks fake."

She knows it's not, of course. The look on his face is very telling, in that regard. But she doubts she's the only one who thinks so.

[protagonized]

"It's me." Simon shrugs, still very shaken. He's given up the pretense of being normal with Effy; he knows she's fae and he knows that because she's fae she can tell he's not exactly a regular guy. "Shitty video of it, but it's definitely me. I don't know how this person took it. Since I have to be naked when I change--" and that's definitely on display here; one of the few clear shots in the video is of his extremely pale ass "--I tend to avoid crowded places. And, you know, the whole Statute of Secrecy bit. Can't have humans go around recording shapeshifters transforming."

It sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous.

"I'm a Guardian. If I break the rules it makes the Night Council look bad, and the last thing they want to do is look bad." He's bound by magic not to talk about the stony consequences for extreme rule-breaking, so that's the best he can imply.