Welcome Home... (Atten Ace)

It had being a long way, but he had make it...

The City had changed a fair lot since he'd last seeing it, but that was to be expected, it had being almost 30 years, way too much to expect anything to remain the same, and still, this one place had, somewhat at least, even if there was an obvious diference in the security, which almost seemed not to make sense at all, for it looked as desolate and badly kept as when they rented it.

Which to some extent screamed something was just off, if he knew anything...

Johann sighed softly, his handsomely dark face being slightly cast into shadows by the long bangs of wild evon black hair, his jaw tightening slightly, fangs showing, gree eyes almost glowing faintly, his muscles tensing underneath his biker's jacket, slowly getting off his heavy, old bike, having stationed it just half a block away, hoping to avoid the cameras.

In another time, or maybe, just in anoter city, he wouldn't had bottered with the whole thing, but that damn warehouse was the only place he had even recogniced since he'd being back, just a few nights ago, but that had being enough to lower his already short patience.

The cameras and the barbwire were easy enough to avoid, at least to him, just seeing over his shoulder if there was anyone who could see him...

Sweet, no one, the neighborhood wasn't that actve back in the day, now it was almost dead, perfect.

Without as much as low growl, he closed his eyes, slowly feeling his body changing, his conciousness shifting, he focused on the sound of the wind, heard the flapping wings and the cold shrills in the darkness felt them take over, felt it change him, his body shattering in docens of small bats, all wildly seeking the air, a multitude of black tiny wings making their way towardas the roof of the Warehouse...

Ace happens to be standing outside the warehouse.

He sees a familiar shape standing there, from the shadows he is hiding in that is.

Hey! Hold up! he yells, seeing the shape start to change.

His conciousness was fadding, shattering, shifting, swarming, his mind slowly growing full of the many calls and shrieks of the many bodies he was about to divide himself into, but right before he gave into them, one voice stabbed through them all, silencing them almost inmediately...

Bright like the sun he hadn't seeing in years, warmth like the home he never thought about, filled with the emotion of a past he loved but went by just too fast, all the voices in his mind grew quieter as his body came back together in matter of seconds.

"Ace?" He'd known that voice anywhere, his bright green eyes looking towards the place the voice had come from, in a mixture of disbelief and strangely enough...

...hope

Ace jogs out of the shadows to the spot, mind reeling, it cant be....Seriously... It can't be him.. No way.. J? This is so fucking weird.

J? Is... Fuck.. Is that you? he looks totally stunned and amazed, eyes totally wide at seeing his best friend from his long ago past suddenly appearing in the alley beside his ware house.

His eyes grew whider, green orbs becoming brighter in matter of seconds, a thin, reddish hint to them as they grew watery without him knowing even, a huge lump forming on his throat, it had being so long...

Johann hadn't even thought he'd missed him that much, but now, with him standing right there, the eco of what had once being a friendship, a long lost human feeling, now came crashing down on him, his face a mixture of nostalgy and sheer wonder, incredulity marking his every gesture, slowly reaching in Ace's direction.

It took him a while to find his voice, finally managing to spoke just enough to ask, still not daring to fully believe what his eyes were seeing "Ace? Is that you?"

Holy fuck! Johann! But dude... you... you're Kindred? he gasps, running and grabbing him in a manly hug, forgetting for a moment that his beast is hidden and J cant tell.

For a second the Gangrel couldn't help but hug him back, almost crushing his former friend with the strenght of undead muscles, the lump on his throat still making it hard to say things...

It took his mind a while to got his head around the word...

'Kindred'

"You... you know?" He drew back a bit, so he could see his friend to the face, neither of them had changed much, despite the years, their faces were exactly the same then the last time they saw eachother, more then 20 years ago.

Dude... Know? I AM! he grins widely, punching him in the shoulder.

Holy fuck, when did you get Embraced, damn, this is awesome! he beams like a lunatic.

Come on man, lets go inside, no reason to stay out in the cold.

"WHAT!?" Johann's voice got an octave higher just in that word, his eyes suddenly looking at his friend more intently, almost like if looking for something he couldn't find, something he couldn't place, his eyes expectantly searching without much luck...

There was no Beast, he couldn't sense it anyway, his couldn't find it, then again, he knew some guys who could hide their Beasts, maybe Ace could too, he'd always being good pooling shit no one expected.

The punch on the shoulder brought him back from that mixture of shock and incredulity, still not quite convinced, scratching his head and going after his friend as he offered to go inside, his face betraying the fact he was thinking about something intently, suddenly realising it "So... wait...
You have bein' here since we left!?"

Hell yeah, been here since we broke up, where the hell you been! This is so fuckin' weird. I've been trying to dig up a way to contact you, figure out where you were. Welcome back man! he grins, punching in a long code and letting him into the ware house.

As the door opened heavily, Johann couldn't help but smile too, feeling as if, to some extent, what he had being trying to do since so long, since the first time he met up with Mami's boys, fiinally was gettig somewhere, at least in a small way...

He was comming back home...

"No way man!
The only reason I came here was because some part of me hoped to find some clue of how to find you!" The young looking Gangrel answered in pretty much the same hopeful and warm tone, excited for real in only Dracula knew how long, it had being way too much time away from home, for real.

"Come on in man. Let's get you settled, unless you got someplace to stay already? he grins, leading him inside, the warehouse much the same except for having no windows anymore.

"Not really...
You know us Savages I guess, we like keepin' things simple" Johann said with his usual honesty, despite the years and everything that had happened in between that much hadn't changed, a smile clear on his lips as he walked back into the inside of the Warehouse they had once used as their place to live, crash really, nothing more then four walls they coould all live within, young men, hunters even making a camp for the night...

Well great, you can stay here, dont know if you remember Reed, he hung out every so often before we broke up, he's stayin' here too, almost like an instant coterie huh? he grins.

So what the hell? How'd you get Embraced!? he asks, this the most animated he has been in twenty years, Ace delighted to have a friend back.

Johann laughed a bit for himself, Ace got it right, talking about instant Coteries, right when he was thinking how hard it would be to get arround without a pack to back him up, even if it was a bit dangerous to join other Kindred so lightly, he figured Ace was trust worthy as he had always being...

"Well...
I started datin' this chick, smokin' hot, best sex I had ever had before, and you'll like this I bet, cause next thing I knew, she was chewin' Burke's face off" Johann laughed slightly as he told the thing, keeping it on a lighter tone, even if just not to bombdown their whole meeting with nasty memories, they could talk about that later, if they ever got to it, right now, he just wanted to laugh again "So all I know is she went berserker and fuck did she fucked all of us up...
Only embraced me tho, figured she must had liked me a lot"

Wow... Well Burke deserved it. Hell, I know it sounds crazy to be glad to be Undead, but hell man, I sure am fucking glad that you're here and that youre Kindred. he smiles widely.

((getting the okay ))

Reed was coming up from his room, he was reviewing the report in his hand, to ask Ace a couple of questions. His eyes flickered upward when he heard a couple of voices - one, he knew belonged to Ace and the other to current stranger in the haven. Immediately, He could feel the strength of the other's beast as it made him want to flee at the sight of him. Yet, he stubbornly stomped the reaction down - he was at the haven - he would keep his cool and he would not do something stupid. The rule, The rule, The rule.

He forced himself to move and keep his calmness, "Yo, Ace.." his eyes narrowed, "Johann?"

Yo Reed, look whose back, looks like your coterie idea is shapin' up. he laughs an incredibly rare happy expression on his face.

"So am I...
For the first time in a lon-" His sentence was cut short as the Beast inside him lunged at it's cage from within his heart, that dark wolf that dwelled within gnashing at the bars of his entrapment, growling with hunger, feeling the lower predator befor him cringe, a sign of weakness a sign that he could take advantage off...

But the man was still strong, even more so now that he had met once more an old friend, a friend to the man, an ally, he wouldn't let himself be taken over, so despite his body seemed to take a far more predatory stance, even if just for a second, Johann didn't moved, staying himself long enough to remember who it was.

A smile grew larger on his face as he recogniced Reed, it had being so long, he probably remembered some of the jokes wrong and maybe even the places, but the face, he knew it still "Fuck man! What is this a 80's Vamp Club!?"

I think it is, Ace beams.

Johann laughed slightly before nodding to Ace, nudging him on the side right before adding "Talkin' about luck eh?
Just got here and it seems I already got myself a pack"

"Wrench?" Johann muttered almost for himself, he knew that name, well nickname at least, but with all that was going on, he couldn't quite place yet where he had heard it, probably in his years on the road, it didn't struck him like a resent name anyways...

His hand went to Reed's hand anyway tho, holding it with a tight grip, his strong arm betraying just a bit of how much power it could unleash if needed be, if they wanted a biker gang he would feel right at home "Well look no more, no self-respectin' Bruja would do anyless then livin' like a biker"

Ace rolls his eyes at his hog loving friends, quite content with his European imports.

Let me show you a room J, you can have the one next to Reeds.

"Sweet!
This place looks definetly confy and secure, it seems you're doin' well for yourself aren't you Ace?" Johann teased a bit as he took a few seconds to once again restudy the inside of the warehouse, which now without windows (Not that it had too many back then), it worked as a great haven for any Kindred, and the security sistem seemed to be top of the line so...

He recalled then he had left his few belongings outside, with his chopper, so still smiling he said to his friends "I'll bring my things in then, just gotta get the bike and my guitar really"

Johann had already started walking when he heard Reed sudden understanding, the explanation, the mention of the name next to the bloodline making the exact conection the young Gangrel needed to remember who exactly Wrench was...

Suddenly turning back to face them, eyes whide in awe as he couldn't believe they were really talking about the very same Wrench, wasn't he supposed to be in LA? Maybe something bad had happened there, hopefully not enough to spill into the human side of things, his voice still filled with surprise as he almost screamed "FUCK ME!
Do you mean THAT Wrench!? He was one of the toughest guys in LA, what the hell is he doing here anyways?"

Ace laughs, showing him where to park his bike, in the mini garage next to the corner of couches, where there's a bench of tools for the mechanically inclined to play with their machines.

Ace nods and tosses him a relatively simple phone, I put in a couple contacts you might need, your number is written on the inside till you memorize it.

You got it man, if you need a map let me know, but the phone has GPS. he then flops happily down with a lap top on one of the big squishy couches, letting the boys talk about their friend Wrench.

To be honest, Johann didn't liked much the idea of the whole Acknowledgement, truthfully, he had only done it once or twice before, and all those same times they had ended up rushing out of the city for one thing or the other, so it had obviously never being his thing, yet he had to do it, and it would be easier to do it with a friend then on his own so...

"Ok guys...
I guess we'd better get that out of the way as soon as we can." He finally answered with a smile, just a bit of uncertainty in his voice, there was always the small chance someone would recognice him, or that Mami's fame would fuck him over somehow.

"Yeah...
Let's 'arm ourselves with knowledge' before goin' there at least" Johann joked a bit as they waited for Ace to give them the instructions on how to go to the damn place, if anything, the young looking Gangrel would rather stay below the radar to be allowed to do as he pleased for a while, but arriving with Wrench would probably throw it all out the window, of course that, fewer people are bound to try and start shitwith you when you have someone like him standing next to you...

Ace tells them everything they need to know.

In the odd event that Twist or Kalos isnt there? Come back, and we'll figure something else out or lay low for a night eh?

Johann nodded in agreement, for now, it seemed they had all they needed, so that would prove interesting for now, all they had to do was go, so as he walked to the door, ready to get into his bike and ride as fast as he could, the Gangrel looked over his shoulder to Reed "Let's get goin' then.
Hopefully we can meet up Wrench there"

Ace blinks, looking at a txt on his phone.

SHIT! Gotta go guys see you here later, Reed knows the code to get in. And the rules.

KARSH! Prince's Harpy! he yells as he roars off to Icarus's place.

Johann saw Ace rush out, wondering what could it be that had him so worked out so suddenly, finally shrunging to himself before going back the way he was "So, where are we goin' then?
What place exactly I mean..."

Johann nodded as he went outside to get his bike, rushing hastily towards the dark halleyway before comming back ridding a streamlined bright red race's motorcicle, the wheels screeching as he turned around to stop next to Reed, a broad smile on his lips as he heard the plan "Let's get that sumbitch then and get this shit over with so we can join the fun!"

>END SCENE<

((Please continue in a new thread))