Patricia Moore

“There’s gotta be someone on the inside. I know it’s probably been looked into before, but nothing ever came from it.” Grant was sure of his gut feeling, something that left him wanting to figure out this mystery before fleeing the town as well, but he didn’t want to end up sacrificing his life or Patti’s life for that matter either. “I say we look into the past. Maybe the last target on the mayor was because she knew something.”

“Okay, it doesn’t hurt to look into that again. Something must be overlooked somewhere during this investigation. There’s no way it could be going on for this long without someone working on the inside.” She trusted Grant’s instincts, willing to follow whatever lead he thought he had if it meant solving this. “Do you think she was going to talk? It could explain why they would have wanted to get rid of her. So we start looking into anything suspicious she might have come across.”

“You know…I was thinking—” He looked to Patti, a sort of chuckle lifting his mood at his whisper, their stakeout becoming a long process of waiting, something he was all too used to by now. “If we dug a little deeper, I think we’d be able to find out more on whoever’s targeting the town.”

@pattixmoore

Time always seemed to go by slowly when stakeouts got long, uncomplaining when she had Grant for company. She turned towards him as he spoke, curious as to what idea he might’ve come up with. The town and all the attacks were surely from one place, nodding slowly as she took in what he was saying. “Where do you think we should look first? Their dramatic execution surely isn’t going on without some trace back to their origins.”

“Fuck.” He muttered again, not sure if he wanted to help anybody else out, apart from his friends and family. He took a look at Patti, letting his own breath of relief hit him before he only glanced around. “I’m not sure if it was a bomb, but it certainly felt like one. That or a god-damn grenade. I though people had magic around here to prevent this kind of stuff.” At the thought of Dean, he mostly thought of Gabi, thanking whoever that she had stayed out of this whole mess. “There’s enough vampires here to promise healing factors with their blood that they might be recruiting an army.” His thought immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. “We need to get people to safety before that happens. Go find Dean. I’ll do what I can.”

“Clearly, we’re putting too much faith into these people being able to protect themselves from this.” She felt the back of her head, a bump already forming but it would be something she could deal with later. “Jesus,” she muttered, taking a look around. “We can’t let that happen either. We just fixed the newborn problem, another one would only be worse.” Her head nodded slowly, unsure of where to even start. Patti would help get some of the people to safety while she searched for him. “Good luck, and be careful.”

At the explosion, it seemed like he had been knocked straight out of his chair, back into the wall, where he immediately had to sit up, trying to assess what the hell had just happened when he heard his name. Being on high alert let him find Patti past the table as he stood up to see the mass panic ensue. “Fuck.” He murmured, pulling himself to his feet fully before he staggered over to Patti. “What the hell was that? A god damn bomb?”

She breathed a little easier at the sight of him, thankful they were at least both alive after whatever went off. Patti stumbled as she stood up, using the knocked over table and chairs to support her as she got her bearings straight. “Tighter security my ass.” A bomb apparently overlooked with whatever security the mayor seemed to think she had. Her eyes looked up towards the stage, trying to assess the real damage. “We have to help who we can. Get them out before something else happens. And we need to find Dean.”

“Of course.” Grant was a bit in his own thoughts that night, thinking about the worst possible things it seemed when it came to them leaving so soon, though, he figured it was just nerves in leaving the place that he had friends in now. “A drink would be nice, yeah.” He ushered them to the bar, eager to get something in his system. “Well, let’s talk about where we want to go first then. I’m thinking a trek towards the west coast. Maybe somewhere a bit warmer.”

A drink was much needed, following him to the bar as a smile came across her face. “Warmer would be nice. I haven’t been towards the west coast in a long time. We deserve something a little more tropical.” A few drinks and a speech starting, Patti kept an eye on the crowed, making sure the security was as tight as the mayor seemed to reassure, only to be knocked down by the explosion. She found herself on the floor, a slight ringing in her ears as she sat up slowly to find her partner. “Grant?”

“No, they don’t. It’s not helpful for anybody, and it seems like there are still being some raised like that today.” It only motivated Grant to want to get back out in the real world and fight against it again. He let out a shaky breath then, before smiling down at Patti. “We’re gonna leave it better than when we first got here at least.”

The turn of the conversation weighed heavy on her, past memories coming up she’d rather not think about. A small smile came across her lips as he looked at her, bringing herself back to the present. “How about we think of other things? I know there’s some strong alcohol floating around, but how about one regular drink for us. It won’t hurt, and we can relax a little bit while we protect this place from itself.”

“No, I know. It’s just…you sounded a lot like those culty family that really do hurt innocent people to fill their own needs. If Gabi had just…learned sooner, she’d be better protected, you’re right.” He sighed, feeling a bit more tense than before. “I don’t think this town will ever be truly safe, but we’re leaving it in good hands, and that’s all we can ask for.”

“I came from a culty family, I’m not going back to that. And neither are any of our kids, they don’t need that. I’m with you on wanting them to be protected, and able to protect themselves when we’re gone.” She placed a hand on his cheek, trying to calm whatever she accidentally stirred up. “Maybe not, but they need to be. That’s all that matters.”

“Okay, well now you’re starting to sound like the bad guys around here. Groom her into this lifestyle? It’s not something that could have happened like that. She needed to want to protect herself. I wouldn’t want to force anybody into this lifestyle.” Grant was desperate in not wanting to make anybody do anything, even if this case seemed better suited that way. “Those are reserved for our more private moments, huh?”

“The bad guys? I’m not saying to force her into anything, but you know a little extra help wouldn’t have hurt either. As long as she can protect herself now, there’s less to worry about if we do decide to leave.” She couldn’t fully decide if the decision would be good or bad, but there weren’t many people to protect in this town if they already knew about supernaturals. “Exactly, reserved for later when all of this is safe.”

“You always know just what to say.” Patti always had a way with words too, helping Grant calm down and face the truth and reality of all their situations. He vowed to protect Gabi, and he needed to see that through until she could protect herself. “You’re right though. There are lots of people here. And she’s a smart girl too, taken right into my lessons and training.” He only chuckled back, letting his hand slip around her. “What else are we good for around here if not for some good old-fashioned ass-kicking?”

“Too bad we couldn’t have groomed her a little more when she first came to town.” She’d taken her own liking to having Gabi around, and if Grant was keen on keeping her protect so was she. He’d helped kept Dean safe since they’d come to Hawthorne, wanting to return the favor in any way she could. “I can think of a few things, but those are mostly good for us and not really the whole town.”

“I know, I know. I could never do that to Gabi. She still has so much training left to do, though I might recruit Warren on the tactical end of things for her. And hell, maybe even Dean can wind up giving her pointers to. I just want her to be safe.” He nodded easily, Patti making great points that evening already, not that it was a surprise. She always had the brains of the operation. “We make sure all things are secure tonight, and we’ll be good to go. Trading one adventure for another.”

“And she will be. There are plenty of people left in this town who can both help her learn and protect her if we leave. And we don’t need to until you think she’s ready, I don’t want you regretting leaving her here.” Patti knew Dean could take care of himself with the training both her and her husband have given him, she understood if he needed to give Gabi the same thing. “It’s been a few weeks without us giving someone a proper ass-kicking. Maybe tonight will be the night.”

“Hey now, talking like that, and we’ll just have to skip the speech altogether and get back home.” Grant wasn’t one to beat around the bush, and Patti of all people was definitely one to know that. “I mean, I couldn’t just whisk you away from this town forever, could I? We got people here, might as well let them know why we won’t be around so they don’t worry about us. Plus, this seemed like a good event for some more trouble to brew. I thought we could look into it if anything does happen.”

A small laugh escaped her as she looked to Grant, lightly patting his cheek. They could have gone anywhere at that point and she wouldn’t question it, but there were a few things she wanted to take care of here first before they left. “Whisking away silently is one thing, and another if we at least let people know first. Dean and Gabi are both here, we wouldn’t leave them, of all people, without at least telling them first. Plus, we missed the trouble at the last event, so making sure this one is safe first is priority before we skip out of here.”

“You really wanted to pull all the stops out tonight, huh? Thought you were gonna get lucky or something?” Grant’s whispered words led him to wrap his arms around Patti from behind as he leaned a bit closer to her ear. “You know, this town is just one bad day away from me whisking you out of here and never looking back.”

@pattixmoore

“Of course. I figured if there’s one man in this town who likes seeing me in suits, there has to be more of them.” She chuckled, hands resting on his as they wrapped around her. “I thought that was the plan after the trip we took. Surprised you even decided to bring me back.”

“Maybe something a little sexier too.” He mused still, grin all there spread across his mouth shamelessly, before taking an exit off the highway. “Yeah, we can handle ourselves on the road, and each other.” He gave her a knowing glance before pulling into their motel for the night. “They need to learn independently of us too. This will be good for all of us.”

Patti chuckled, head shaking as if she weren’t thinking of the idea herself. Maybe being on the road wouldn’t be so bad. If she had Grant, nothing could really stop them from starting this new chapter together. “You’re right, we need something new and they can handle the town without us. There’s two too many hunters in a town such as that. Now we’ll just have to tell them.”

Ethan quirked a brow as she spoke about being from close by. “Interesting. I can’t imagine having grown up in this town or from near here.” Just learning about the supernatural fairly recently had been quite the experience. He couldn’t fathom having growing up not knowing it. “A friend of mine suggested it, and here I am.” 

“It made for a quite fascinating childhood,” one she couldn’t have changed even when she tried. She laughed lightly, “So you know all about it then?”

“Don’t think about it too much. You just look sexy, I swear. And even better when I’m taking it off of you.” He grinned with his slight glance thrown in her direction, eager to have this vacation of sorts away from the town and all the drama that ensued inside the bubble they had lived in. “No kidding. Maybe one day we’ll be actually living in the future with that sort of tech. For now, we just have to rely on what we’ve got.” Nodding slowly, he added, “And to visit Dean and Warren and Garrett and Gabi. We’ve got people there, good people. We’re not just abandoning them.”

“I clearly didn’t think about the impact it might have on you when I picked it out. We’ll have to stop somewhere to find a few more, you can help me pick them out this time.” She teased him, more than willing to fill such a simple request if it meant more fun for the both of them. “We’ve got some decent skills without the technology. Our whits and skills have kept us alive this long, no reason for a drastic change if we don’t need it yet.” She looked towards him, grinning. “Of course we wouldn’t abandon them, they’re our family.”

“See, that’s exactly the mindset I have! Not only is good for us to do so, but it would be good for our students as well, to see that their mentors and teachers are supportive of one another.” Ethan quickly picked out ginger pear herbal tea, hoping it would be an all right choice, letting it steep as he turned to look at her. “I just moved here not that long ago. A friend suggested it to me, and I was curious, so here I am. Are you a local?” 

Patti couldn’t agree more, happily supportive who liked the work they do. He seemed to be one of them from what she could tell so far. She watched as he chose a particular tea, putting it with the kettle. “I’ve lived here for a quite awhile now, and grew up not too far from here up the shore. What made you curious about town?”