fey_fire

OOC: Takes place after events in this post and before those in this post.

I'll be right there.

Those had been the first four words Tadhg had spoken after Rory's hesitant explanation of Pippa's unexplained vanishing. When he'd tried to explain to his younger brother that he wasn't even sure if there was cause for fear yet, Tadhg cut cleanly across his demurral. "There are only two possibilities here. Either Pippa's landed in trouble bigger than she can get out of herself, or she hasn't. If she hasn't, I get to have a visit with family and help ease your mind. If she has, I'm not going to do a blessed bit of good on the other side of the country, now am I?"

And that was that.

Rory had used the couple of hours between the call and Tadhg's expected arrival (even fey shortcuts couldn't make coast-to-coast travel instantaneous) to ride his Ninja down to Staten and Pippa's apartment, walk and otherwise care for Mr. Beaker, and to try to track down an item or two Tadhg had said would come in handy. By the time he heard Tadhg's knock on the door, he had Pippa's hairbrush and a few pieces of her favorite jewelry laid out on her dining table.

After greeting his brother, Tadhg responded to the Doberman pup's enthusiastic hello with soothing head-scratches and a long look into his eyes. "This little fellow confirms it," he sighed. "She hasn't been home since day before yesterday."

Rory's own fey senses were more attuned to human energies, but he had felt the apartment's disoccupancy. As he led Tadhg over to the table he realized the worried furrow between his brows was starting to feel etched in place. "Is this enough?" he asked.

Tadhg's eyes unfocused slightly as he plucked a few shining red strands from the hairbrush and ran his fingers over the jewelry. "Hair from her head, work of her hands and heart ..." He paused and picked up the necklace Pippa had crafted using a glittery silver guitar pick as a centerpiece. "... and gift from her love." The corners of his lips lifted slightly as he set the necklace back down. "These things are connected to her on several levels. They'll do to start my search." His smile broadened as he reached down to scratch behind Beaker's ears. "You'll help too, won't you, little man?" He sobered again, and Rory saw the glamour slip from his eyes, leaving pools of puca darkness. "But we're searching for signs of one woman in a huge warren of a city, Rory. I'll need time."

Rory nodded, his gut going chill with the knowledge that faster than the police still might not be fast enough, especially if Pippa was no longer in the city. "What should I do?"

"Right now, I think keep to your routine. Anyone who might have word of her will be looking for you in your usual places."

"That's Last Call tonight," he murmured, dreading the thought of going on stage and not seeing Pippa working the tables.

Tadhg nodded, sympathy in his eyes. "I'll come over as soon as I've started things here. Not looking like myself, of course." Another faint smile, as quickly extinguished. "If anything out of the ordinary happens before I get there, contact me. But not on your cell phone. I left mine at home." He gave a nod in the direction of Rory's chest. "Use your ward."

"My ward?" Rory's hand lifted automatically to touch the protective medallion that lay under his shirt. Tadhg had crafted one for each member of his family. "You're being awfully covert of a sudden, Tadhg."

His brother released a long, slow exhale from equine-flared nostrils as he scraped one foot across the floor. "Of course our first goal is to find Pippa and make sure she's safe. But ... other priorities may come up as well." His velvet-brown eyes looked decidedly opaque. "I'm preparing for a possibillity that I hope won't come to pass."

Rory swallowed, half certain that he knew what Tadhg meant, and half hoping he didn't.