In-House Business

Who: Manhattan & Fidelity (& Blink)
Where: Winchester Kennels
When: Lunchtime

Manhattan, eyes closed, was outstretched on the couch of the ranch house owned by Winchesters for a couple generations now on a tract of land off of Big Bay Road. The hunter was resting. Well, as best one could be in her condition even with the pain killers the doctor at the hospital had prescribed for her. The bruises she wore on her face and upper body from the beatings inflicted on her by the demon were still very much visible. At least those on her face and arms. The rest were covered by an oversized over-sized tee and pair of charcoal gray jogging pants. Her arm had been casted, her ribs wrapped tightly beneath the plain white tee, which always worked well to conceal her bandaged left shoulder where the demon had taken a bit out of her.

Her father and cousin were out back where the kennels were located working with some of the dogs they raised and bred. Her sole company at the moment was Gunthar, a husky that laid on the floor beside the couch.

Reese had informed her soon as he could yesterday about Manhattan Winchester being located, and by the time Blink had come back he'd been so upset and exciteable (whining and barking at the slightest thing) over the whole thing Fidelity had almost regretted sending him. He'd been inconsolable all night, whining at the door, wanting to see Manhattan again, but Fidelity made him wait sternly, because she wasn't well enough for his excitements just then.

By Saturday lunchtime, it was impossible for her to keep it up any longer, and she took her lunch hour on the road so she could take Blink and visit. Reese seemed to figure it was a good idea, and was going to cover for her at the office for a while. After calling ahead to make sure it was alright he'd sent her on her way.

The Winchester Kennels weren't hard to find, but Fidelity made sure to keep Blink close to heel as they entered the property in case the other dogs took issue with him. Sure Blink was magic, but he was still a fluffy golden lab, and these were working dogs of another variety.

"Hello?" she called, peering into the open back door. "Y'all in here? It's Detective Stripes from the Marquette P.D."

Blink punctuated the introduction with a bark, looking up at Fidelity with stubborn and pleady eyes. Manhattan must be close inside.

Her eyes blinked open at the sound of the voice coming through the doorway. "Stay." Manhattan's voice hoarse as she spoke to Gunthar who had risen to his feet at the sound of a strange female voice filtering in. His ears perking up to attention when Blink announced his presence as well. The husky giving a short, low growl of warning. But as commanded by one of his humans, Gunthar remained alert by Manhattan.

"Come on in." The blonde said in the loudest voice she could manage, hopefully one that would reach the detective. Reese had phoned earlier informing the family that Fidelity was coming over. So it was a fair guess that that was who was at the door now.

Finding the room where Manhattan was holed up wasn't a challenge, since Blink was all but galloping through the house looking for her. Soon as he found her the dog gave an enthusiastic yip and would have bounded right over to lick and sniff at her if it wasn't for Fidelity reaching down to grab his scruff before he could try it and get an ass-kicking courtesy of that massive husky next to her.

"Hey again, Manhattan," Fidelity said with a smile perhaps more bright than she felt. The poor woman looked like hell, and that was only the bits she could see. Blink gave another impatient whine, and she chuckled a litte sheepishly. "Blink wants t'come say hi, that okay?"

"Sure." The hunter answered. The blonde wincing through the discomforting pain as she sat up slowly with a bit of a struggle on the couch. The instant it was noted by the husky there was room for him on the couch the dog climbed slowly up onto the piece of furniture to curl up at the other end from Manhattan.

Fidelity walked in, sighing and putting one hand on her hip as she watched Blink pad over and snuffle at Manhattan's injured self before trying to lick her elbows better. She gave Manhattan a small, honest smile. "So hey, how're ya feelin'?"

Manhattan just gave a light smile to the dog. Being around them for as long as she had it was easy for the blonde to interpret the dog's actions.

"Been better." She wasn't dead, anything above that couldn't be all that bad. Painful, yes. Bad, not a chance in the blonde's eyes. "You now I'd feel a whole lot better if you sat instead of standing."

"Sure thing," Fidelity replied, finding a chair and settling into it. "Blink, she's alright, c'mere honey." As her dog reluctantly returned, she ruffled his ears and let him sit down and put his head in her lap. She gave the other blonde a look of simple assessment and sighed slightly, then shrugged. "Got the hell knocked outta ya, huh?" A wonked frown for that. "Sorry I wasn't out lookin' for ya too. Got locked up in the station and bein' as your pa said demons were maybe in on it we couldn't do nothin' official. In-house business, so t'speak."

"Guess you could say that." A slight smile offered with her response.

"Better that things were kept in an unofficial capacity." Manhattan taking a couple long seconds break before continueing on. She had dealt with the law before and knew that anything perceived as supernatural wasn't all that well received and usually written up as something more logical.

A snort of laughter greeted that remark, Fidelity just couldn't help it. "You're not kiddin'. You think it's rough keepin' it in-house when you're a hunter - shit like that happens to a cop you either get a psych ref, a dismissal or a rep like ya outta be foamin' at the mouth." She grinned over at Manhattan, rubbing Blink's neck. "I've got the hell knocked outta me too, but always we gotta bounce back, right? Can't let the bastards win none, right?"

"Our kind's got tougher skin then most. This specific bastard picked the wrong plaything for his games." And as soon as she was recovered fully, Manhattan was going hunting. "But you got the scars to show for it to."

Fidelity had to love that attitude. Manhattan was probably way more serious than she herself was, but it probably gave her a hell of an edge when she was on the hunt and in this case it couldn't help but be a great thing. She laughed and scritched under Blink's ear. "Scars, sure. But scars can be got fallin' down the stairs. It's the stories that're awesome, don'tcha think?"

"Scars tend to lend reverence to stories. And really. With people like us, a scar gotten from a tumble down a flight of stairs really isn't worth mentioning. No matter what the story behind it might be. It really all depends on the storyteller." Manhattan tossed back with a faint smile.

Not quite sure that Manhattan had followed her logic (since she couldn't really follow hers), Fidelity just shrugged and half-smiled. "I guess anybody could make anything sound exciting, but's its only cool if it really was exciting. Guess you'd have to say I'm a history buff that way."

"I'm just saying showing scars with a story give it a bit more relevance." She said a bit hesitantly, not real sure that was the word she wanted to use.

"Ah, living history, right?" Fidelity said, leaning back in her chair. She gave her a small smile. "Well hey, such is life for us, right? Oh man, I meant to ask you if there's anything I can getcha."

"I'm fine." And she was for the moment at least, aside from a bit of discomfort. The pain pills she had taken early were doing well to ward off the pain from her injuries. " You could tell me though if you found if this was the same demon that gave you and Reese trouble about a week back." She knew, thanks to her dad that Reese had mentioned the bastard that tried making a playtoy out of her was the same one that caused a bit of trouble about a week ago. She was just assuming that since Fidelity and Reese were on the same force that the creature would have been troublesome for both of them.

Fidelity figured she already knew it was. Blink had gotten the same scent from Manhattan as he had from the clearing where that girl had been ripped apart, and that was why he was so upset and worried over the blonde hunter. But she knew better than to say anything just yet, and especially not without another source of confirmation. Right now Manhattan needed to rest, and not have another reason to push herself before she was all the way ready again. "I'll letcha know when we've got a good bead on the situation, Manhattan," she promised. "For just now though... you wanna hear a story since you're all laid up in bed?" She couldn't help the mischief in the expression.

"Guess I'll have to settle." She smirked lightly. She wasn't about to deny Fidelity, not after seeing the mischievous look she had gleamed from the other woman's face. And she could just rest and listen for a few brief moments.

Blink gave a bright bark and jumped up to put his forepaws and head up on Fidelity's lap, making her laugh as she stuck her tongue out at Manhattan. "Settle my ass! I'll tell ya stories that'll chill the very marrow of your bones~!" she declared, trying not to giggle and picking which tale from Detroit to pull out and regail the bedridden hunter with.

Hey, everybody in Manhattan's line of living deserved a break once in a while.