A Little Bit of Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust [Closed]

[dirtyredneck]

There's been a small surge in supernatural related news in the media lately. It's only because Daryl's investigating Maria on Simon's behalf that he's even paying attention to said news. But a small story in the one of the local tabloids about a missing little girl that 'flew away' from home caught his attention. It wasn't that he normally gave such things any credence, but after reading it and the very heart-felt plea for the girl's return as quoted from the parents, Daryl thought it sounded just a little too real to be ignored. Maria could wait a few days.

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23rd

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl's personal, and very quick, investigation into the home of the little girl led him to a road block almost immediately. The backyard smelled weird to him and there had been only so long he could stick around in bobcat form before he was spied upon by the distraught parents. He'd found something strange there, though. In the playhouse the tiny yard had in the back corner. It made his nose tickle and he was pretty certain there was magic of an otherworldly sort involved.

The only person he knew for a fact had current dealings with the fae was Annie. So it was to Hillingdon House that he went, knowing that she'd be around. She hung out at the place like it was a second home. And if she wasn't there, well, he'd could find her quick enough. Knew her scent better than she did, not that he'd admit it.

When he found her, Daryl gave her shin a quick, light shot with his boot, "Come'on. We got a job."

Re: 23rd

[anniesgonemad]

Good lord, never tell Annie that ever. Ever ever.

Annie was in the library, curled up on one of the over-stuffed couches, reading, when Daryl found her. Annie shuts her book and gasps at the contact. "That doesn't mean you can kick me," she tells him, but stands all the same. She knew Daryl well enough now to know he meant well. That didn't mean she had to enjoy it, though.

"What's going on?" She stands from the couch, her Irish accent calm, concerned. She's not going to dive head-first into this without some information. They taught her to know what she was getting herself into, at District 4. She wasn't going to forget it.

[dirtyredneck]

"Your head was stuck in the book, had to get your attention some how," he countered, lips pressed into a line to try and hide his brief, but playful, smile. He didn't started moving out of the room, though, expecting her to follow.

"Got something I need you to look at. Missing kid, little girl, fairy shit's involved."

[anniesgonemad]

"Could have just said hello," she chided, dogging after him. She's small enough she has to hurry up to get in line with him.

She frowns, pursing her lips. "Fae kidnapping children?" She'd heard of it before. "That's not good."

[dirtyredneck]

"Not sure it was a kidnapping," he said, leading the way through the house. "Kid supposedly flew off on her own. Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning shit."

Daryl pushed the front door open and held it for her, "You got any equipment we need to stop somewhere to pick up?"

[anniesgonemad]

"Oh. That's... not good." You go up too far, you'll hit a plane. Or. "So she could be anywhere."

Equipment? She didn't have fae detecting prowess or anything. She just... knew them. More or less. "I have some more books at my gran's? If you fancy a trip to Kensington."

[dirtyredneck]

This was a job. She was a hunter. Even if what they were 'hunting' was more of a search and potentially rescue than an actual hunt. He expected her to have equipment.

"If you think it'll help," he shrugged, letting the door swing shut behind them. His bike was parked not far off and he'd stopped by the shop to borrow an extra helmet so there was one for her. "I'm pretty sure I can track her, but I need an idea where to start looking. If she was flying 'cause of the fae, she probably had a place she wanted to go in mind. Need to figure out what it is. To do that, I need someone familiar with the fae to take a look at what I found. And I need to trust them. That's you."

The extra helmet was held out for her, "Put that on and climb on behind me."

[anniesgonemad]

She had a stake in her purse, as well as a few knives, which was really all she needed. She slung said bag over her shoulder as they approached the bike. Annie looked at it apprehensively, accepting the helmet.

"Are you... Are you, ah... sure this is a good idea?" The bike, not taking a look at what he found. That had to be a good idea. "I'm not really good at things like, ah, this."

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl gave her a look that basically said 'shut up and stop being a pussy'. He swung his own leg over and slid forward in the seat so there was plenty of room behind him.

"We'll go slow so you can get the hang of it," Daryl drawled out, putting his own helmet on. "You're gonna hang on to me. Hands hooked into my belt, either side, not around my waist. If you need to, you can lay against my back. What you gotta remember is to lean with me. No matter what the bike is doing, you keep your body doing the same thing mine is. Do that, you'll be fine."

After a moment, "When we get close to your house, I'll need you to start pointing out where to go. If you don't want to let go of me, just tap the back of my legs with your foot on which every side you want me to turn. Both legs at once for me to stop. Lightly. I still need 'em to drive."

[anniesgonemad]

Annie took his look, and responded with a very pointed puppy-dog frown. Wither under her pout, Daryl. C'mon.

Still, Annie cast a glance over her shoulder, then slid the helmet on, listening to Daryl's instructions. "Why not your waist?" Is what she asks as she slides on, placing her hands carefully on his hips, looking to find purchase in his belt.

The rest, she can understand that. Lean with him, ignore what the bike was doing. It seemed simple enough.

She gave him a pointed look through the helmet. "I'm only 7 stones, I'm not going to break your legs with my feet."

[dirtyredneck]

"Ain't about the weight. You kick me too hard, you're liable to make my foot slip," ha answered quite seriously. "And it ain't the waist 'cause I don't need you squeezing me like a rag doll when you scared and cutting off my breathing. You need to squeeze, you squeeze my belt."

It was bad enough she'd be pressed up against his back the whole time.

"Ready?"

[anniesgonemad]

"I won't try to get payback, then," she says, before realizing just how serious he was. Aiming to hide her blush, she put the helmet on and placed a hand on either side of him.

"No," she tells him. "But go anyway! Before I change my mind!"

[dirtyredneck]

He snorted again but got the engine roaring to life. He didn't immediately peal out of the parking area, though, taking it relatively slow for a fair distance to let her get used to it, even leaning back and forth in that lazy way that made them swerve from one side of the street to the other without actually turning. Made sure she could, and would, stay with him.

Only after they got on the main streets did he gun it to match the speed limit, weaving in and out of traffic as he was able and making his way to the neighborhood she'd told him to go to. It would be his first time going to her house, so it was after they got to the general area that he slowed to and gave her time to tell him where and how to turn.

24th

[anniesgonemad]

And Daryl was human again! No thanks to that pesky garden fae. Having been able to use Daryl's bobcat senses to get a good scent on her last night, they planned to set out again in the morning, into the Other Realm to try to bring Kayla back.

All night, Annie's stomach had been churning. They were going about this wrong, she had to believe. There had to be some other way to bring the girl back. This wasn't searching for a needle in a haystack- this was a needle in an entire world.

So unable to sleep, she'd done research, pouring over Hillingdon's books all night until she found something about the sort of fae they'd met in the garden. It didn't help much, but it gave them an idea of where to start looking.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl had not been in a good mood after running around the day before to find someone to break the curse on him. It had taken all of the rest of the daylight hours and more than a few of the nighttime before they'd gotten someone who could do the job. He'd barely gotten any sleep himself because after he'd been turned human again, he'd had to go back to the girl's house for his bike. Which took far too long with public transportation being what is was after nightfall. And then, while he was there, he'd decided to get something from the girl's bedroom to help him identify her scent while they searched. Because the playhouse was now closed tight and off limits.

When he got back to Hillingdon around three in the morning, he'd thrown himself on one of the couches to get a couple hours sleep. He woke up just before dawn and sought out Annie. Despite her abysmal showing the day before (okay, so it wasn't that bad. She'd done what she could with a very stubborn and foolish fae. he just didn't like having to ride the tube in his bobcat form with all the other passengers watching him in fascination. the leash hadn't helped, either), she was still Daryl's best bet for having someone familiar with the fae in general helping out.

He found her in the library, looking like she hadn't slept at all. Not a good sign, but he wasn't feeling all that charitable. Still grousing over his forced transformation.

"Those books tell you anything?" he asked, sounding as grumbly as he looked.

[anniesgonemad]

No, it had been an abysmal showing. She was supposed to be good at this, a trained fighter. But Annie was only proving herself what she knew: she sucked at her job. It was a miracle she survived the massacre at District 4.

When Daryl found her, she hadn't even bothered to change her clothing since the day before, red hair even more of a mess than usual.

When Daryl entered, she looked up with a small gasp. He had to hate her, now. But she nods. "the needle- her sword- it's, uhm, a special metal. found only in the other realm in one mine. it's, ah, I think where she's gone? The refinery is at the mine. and probably where the needle is."

[dirtyredneck]

It was a good start. Daryl pulled a chair out and turned it around so he could straddle it. "What if she just left it somewhere on accident?" He asked after a moment of thought. "At her old home, maybe?"

Not as much as a possibility as the fae sending the girl to pick up a special order considering how possessive she was of it, but a possibility none-the-less.

[anniesgonemad]

"Oh!" She sits up a bit straighter. "No, no, I like that! She hasn't been in Kayla's playhouse for long, right? She had so much work to do, still."

Annie blocks a yawn with the back of her hand. "We'll have to find her old home, then."

[dirtyredneck]

"We can check both," Daryl offered, pushing the pad of paper towards her. "You write down where that refinery is and see if you can figure out where her old home is. I'm gonna go get you come coffee."

[anniesgonemad]

"Already wrote it down." Annie indicates to a notebook at her left-hand side that she'd already been filling out. "But I'll- I'll look for the home."

She pauses, looking back at the books, then back up to Daryl. "Thank you. And, uhm. I'm sorry. Really, really sorry. About yesterday." She shifts, turning her attention to her boots.

[dirtyredneck]

He didn't meet her eyes as he grunted and stood up. Walked out the door with that as the only acknowledgement of her apology. He preferred not to dwell on it. He was more upset about the loss of a good 18 hours of search time. 18 more hours for the kid to be convinced to eat some food in the Other Realm.

Daryl returned about fourty-five minutes later with two hot coffees. One for each of them. He set both down on the table and pulled put a small bag with individual creamers and some sugar packets.

"Didn't know how you took it," he said in a soft tone, retaking his seat and sliding one of the books toward himself. "So what kind of fae was that, anyway?"

[anniesgonemad]

Yep. He's furious with her. Annie is completely convinced at this point.

Annie's expecting him to return a few minutes later, but she's surprised when it's nearly a whole hour later that he arrives. But she still accepts the coffee, and starts to pour sugar into hers. She likes it sweet, to no one's surprise. Finnick's sweet-tooth had rubbed off on her.

"Lots of sugar," she tells him. "And, ah, I can't pronounce it?" She gestures to the book that had a description and illustration of the fae and a highly unpronounceable name.

[dirtyredneck]

Too many people at Hillingdon didn't know how to make their coffee right as far as he was concerned. Too British and too much afternoon tea. Daryl had not only gone and made sure the right kind of beans were in the house kitchen, but headed to a nearby corner store for the sugar and creamers in a brand he approved of. So when he came back to a freshly brewed pot, it was dark and strong. The kind he liked to toss a single creamer in but could drink black if he wanted to.

Daryl studied the picture and it sure did look like the one that had gotten the better of them. Too many strange characters in the name, though. He couldn't tell if that was just the fancy handwritten calligraphy or if it was another language entirely. Could just be one of those Welsh words that sounded nothing like it looked in English.

"This help you figure out where it's previous home might be?" He asked in a slow drawl as he flipped the page to study the rest of the description and whatever known facts the book had on the creature. It wasn't long. Just that page and the next. Not a lot to go on.

[anniesgonemad]

"They typically don't stray too far from the refinery. Usually there's a group home? A big sort of nest near it." Annie shrugged. "It's not a lot. I'm really sorry."

But hopefully taking a sip of the coffee made it better?

[dirtyredneck]

"It's enough," Daryl assured her, voice easy, if still gruff. "Finish your coffee. We'll leave when I'm sure you're awake enough."

He then went about drinking down his own in just a few gulps as he tried to memorize where the refinery was so he could find it fast when they got to the other realm.