*Visitor*

It had been several weeks since Cassidy had left the hospital, but with her still wheelchair-bound by the doctor's instructions, the young mother still hadn't been very much involved in typical gang activity. And judging by what they'd been told by Marachek, she wouldn't be for some time to come; the physician had informed them that it would be at least four months before she thought it would be safe for Cass to resume her exercise routine again - and that, slowly and gradually. With that established and a young infant to take care of, it might be near a year before the young woman would be able to take up her usual activities again. But for now, she was contenting herself with the company of her uncle and Lanny, her near-constant companions and helpers in looking after Raine, who was growing like a weed now and looking just like any other baby, showing no signs of being two and a half months early.

Raimi had also been a frequent visitor upstairs, where he was quickly getting to know his half-sibling - and becoming one of her favorite people. When he was in the upper apartment, he was almost constantly with Raine, playing with her and making faces and helping to hold her bottle... it had become a struggle for them to convince him to leave, when it came time, but Cass and Johann both were ever-aware of just how possessive over him Sheryl was, and did their best to be sure that he spent most of his time downstairs with her, to avoid any problems. But today, the knock that came on the Zelkovii's apartment door, which was usually Lanny coming to bring the toddler up for his visit, was different - when Sheryl opened up, there would be a large, broad-shouldered black woman with her hair pulled back in neat corn-rows, a staff in her hand and a white dog at her feet. There was a light foreign accent in her voice as she looked down at the young woman and murmured, "Sheryl McTaryn?"

Sheryl McTaryn

Things were certainly much more relaxed now that they were out of the hospital. For one, it put Cassidy at ease to be out of the place, and that in itself reflected positively on Lanny. They were also back in home territory, where he felt safer and more secure, and more importantly in control - at the hospital, that control had been partially stripped from him, but not here. It took some time to catch back up on sleep and get use to the schedule that revolved around Raimi with frequent feedings and constant attention, but things were definitely getting better.

Sheryl was in the middle of doing some house cleaning, rather inspired now that Lanny was spending so much of his time out of their apartment, and thus reducing the amount of cleanup work that she and James had to do around the place. The television was on, tuned to a general kid's channel for Raimi to help keep him occupied while she moved about picking things up. "Randy, I need your help again." After putting a few dirty cups in the sink for soaking, the woman stood cross-armed in front of Geckie's cage, making a slight face with an upturned nose. "Can you pick him up for me?" Having no fondness for the gecko that Lanny did, and being more squeamish of him than the crickets and bugs that he was fed, she often resorted to have the toddler handle him if the guys weren't around. "Your uncle should be th-" A knock at the door stopped her,"-perfect timing." Assuming it was indeed Laurence, she strode towards the door and opened it without ever looking through the peephole. Understandably, she was very surprised to find a strange woman standing there. "That's me." Her face turned in a blatantly inquisitive look, clearly asking who this lady was without ever posing the question in words.

Freyati*Others

"I help!" Raimi answered brightly, his typical response to anything that he was asked to do. He was at that rare and marvelous age where he simply loved to help. "Here, Geckly," he murmured, getting up from where he'd plopped in front of the tv and tottering over to Sheryl, and proceeding to reach down to scoop up the little reptile. "We gonna watch cartoons!" He told the gecko, arranging his tiny fingers carefully around him in the way that Lanny had taught him. It was right about this time that the knock came on the door, though - and by this time, Raimi knew what that meant. "Lanee!" he squealed, rushing toward the door with the gecko in one hand and a giant grin on his face. "Rainey Lanee! Yay!" He was right up there with the young woman when she opened the door, prepared to barrel through and tackle Lanny as he often did to greet his favorite playmate - and was puzzled when the person at the door wasn't his adoptive uncle. "Youse not Lanee," he whispered, looking up at the woman and tucking shyly back against Sheryl. Ideal mother she might not be, but at the least, she was familiar.

The dog sitting at the woman's feet was quiet and relaxed, the pale green eyes upon Raimi, and the tail patting the floor softly; but she made no noise, which was odd. At least, it would seem that way, until the child himself whined a little and reached a hand for the dog to sniff. "Owwwie... Shay-Shay, puppy owwie! Him needs band-aid." It wasn't clear what sort of injury he thought he'd seen, until the small-bodied, elegant-looking canine leaned forward to lick his fingers - and what came out of her mouth was a tattered shred of tongue, scarred and long-since healed over, but clearly the cause of her lack of noise. Meanwhile, the woman shifted her weight, her braids swishing softly behind her and her staff adjusting some to accomodate her movement as she answered, "Freyati Ribaletz. I'm sent from the wildlife health board - there have been reports of a reptile being kept in this apartment complex without a proper permit, which I'm sure you know is illegal in this county." Her eyes turned down to Raimi, who still had Geckie clutched in his pudgy hand, and her eyes traveled calmly back up to Sheryl. "Is that the creature in question?"

Meanwhile, Raimi was finding a friend in the dog, and stepping a little away from Sheryl in order to use his free hand to pet her. The snowy female had been scooting closer and closer to him, and in response, the woman looked down and muttered softly, "Shantii - parlekstim." The behavior that was questing after Raimi's attention ceased instantly - the dog grew still next to her master, and stopped acknowledging the child's advances, though she didn't move away when he continued to pet her. There was only one problem with this situation - though it was not all that unusual for certain reptiles to be illegal to keep without a permit, the Cryptic Silvers should be exempt to that; none of the organizations in the city were foolish enough to cross the gang over the trivial matter of keeping an illegal pet.

Sheryl McTaryn

By now, the leopard gecko was use to having little hands plunking into his tank and lifting him out, but he still made an attempt to bolt before Raimi had him lifted up. When his escape attempt was foiled, Geckie behaved calmly enough, even as he was given a ride as Raimi detoured from the TV and rushed the door. Sheryl meanwhile was looking the other woman up and down, trying to recall the face, but finding Freya a stranger to her. "Stay back, Randy." She used a hand to usher the boy back when he reached forward to interact with the dog, paying only wary, brief attention to the canine before her eyes settled more surely on Freya. "Are you serious?" From standing cross-armed, she now had a hand on her hip and was giving the other woman an incredulous look, "You can go tell board that the Zelkovii's don't need a permit. And if they have a problem with it, send your boss back here and we'll have a little talk with him." It was a definite threat, and a warning against Freya that Sheryl didn't appreciate being bothered by such 'trivial' things. She herself wouldn't mind if they got rid of the lizard, but Randy was fond of the critter, and that was reason enough to keep Geckie around.

Shantii... parlekstim," the young woman commanded, as the dog had once again begun to try to scoot closer to the child - who wasn't listening much to what Sheryl had to say, unsurprisingly. Out of everyone, he knew that he could get what he wanted out of her by either pouting or crying, and so very rarely took anything she said seriously. "Puppy, Shay-Shay," he insisted, trying to move around her hand and reach for the dog again. Meanwhile, Freya was going on, "Look Miss McTaryn, I'm just doing my job, here. I've orders to confiscate the creature and bring him into the department until further - Shantii, enough!" With the dog wriggling forward again, the woman's braid slid together behind her and she swung her staff backward to place across the dog's chest, apparently with the idea of pushing the disruptive canine back with the base of the weapon; but at the same time, the top was swinging with a good force toward Sheryl, hoping to catch her off guard and knock her back - which would give Shantii time to close in and get the young woman under control with greater ease.

Sheryl McTaryn

Sheryl again put her hand to Randy, trying in another unsuccessful attempt to guide him back away from the woman and canine. "Randy, get back I said." A bit of impatience and annoyance started to show in her expression and leech into her tones as she dealt with Freya, "You're not taking anything from us - Randy, get back! Go watch TV, now." She had no clue the woman might be here with alterior motives, and didn't begin to suspect that it may be Raimi and not Geckie who was the one in trouble. But since the boy had a hold of the lizard, she ordered him back, "Unless you want me to cal-" Just then, the front of the staff slammed into her shoulder, slinging her back a few steps as she tried to catch her balance from the surprise strike...

Freyati*Others

The toddler still didn't seem inclined to do as he was told - he whined as Sheryl pushed him back, threatening to dissolve into tears or throw a fit to get his way. He would have never displayed this kind of behvior with Conan, because his older brother, while a gentle and loving person, was a strict disciplinarian, and would ignore Raimi if the child wasn't behaving - a treatment that the younger brother couldn't stand. "I want the puppy!" he asserted, trying to move forward again - and then in the next second, the young woman was stumbling back. "Shantii - meslumak!" Just like that, the dog went from being quiet and relatively still to darting forward, scooping around behind Sheryl as the blow shoved her back and planting herself behind the young woman's legs to serve as a stumbling hazard. If Sheryl didn't manage to recover and tripped backwards, Shantii's next move would be to circle back around and place herself over top of the woman, fangs bared in a silent snarl to give Sheryl the idea that she wasn't supposed to get up. And Raimi, for all that he was accustomed to altercations like this, was dependent on someone to soothe him in order to remain calm - and sense Freya was the only one standing, he ducked behind her leg, turning to a stranger because he knew that Sheryl was liable to start cussing and threatening soon.

Sheryl McTaryn

Unlike Conan's method of dealing with Raimi's tantrums, which mirrored the way that the Wallock's also handed any ill behavior from him, Sheryl had too short of patience to do such a thing. If mild threats, such as the removal of toys or the turning off of the TV didn't work, she almost always caved in just to keep him quiet. Not the best method to curb his tantrums. There was no time for her to get after him again or give him a more forceful shove backwards, because she herself was now stumbling under the blow of the staff. She would have caught herself if there wasn't a sudden object just behind her legs that brought her down with a heavy thud on her backside. Oh, and there was cursing - she was gearing up to give the woman a piece of her mind, and she'd gotten a few nice words out before Shantii was suddenly standing over her before she could quite pick herself up. Fear briefly stalled her words before she flung her hands at the canine, trying to shove her away while snapping at the woman to call Shantii away and get out of her home.

Freyati*Others

"It's alright, Raimi - come here, now." The foreign tones got very soft as she reached one hand down to cuddle the child against her, where he was clinging to her leg. Shantii, however, did not appreciate Sheryl's struggles - she snapped at the flying hands, willing to deliver a bite or two to make the woman understand that she was serious, where she couldn't produce a snarl. "I would not recommend offending her - Shantii can be a little snippy." That dry advice was given to Sheryl, completely dropping the illusion now and scooping the child up onto her hip deftly, raising her staff across the two of them in order to knock the other woman back if Sher suddenly tried to come take the toddler back. "You want a child? you have a fiance... produce one. And leave this one to be raised by those he belongs to. Shantii - ikmat." The fangs flashed again, but she didn't dart forward for another bite, because that wasn't her orders; she was to keep Sheryl here while Freya backed off, aiming to put distance between herself and the other woman before she'd release Shantii with a command.

Sheryl McTaryn

"Don't you dare!" Sheryl screeched in rage, hearing Freya's voice in the background when she spoke to Raimi. She might have been up by now and confronting the dark woman, if not for a bite to her hand that effectively knocked a lot of the fight out of her. Sheryl had given a scream after that and tried pushing herself back to get away from Shantii, torn between needing to protect herself, and needing to protect Raimi and drive the stranger away, "-don't you dare! We own this town, you don't know who you're messing with!" Her tones rose in pitch, quavering now with a mix of adrenaline, fear, and anger. A healthy dosing of drugs on a regular occasion didn't help her swings in attitude either, "Do you hear me?! Call this mutt off!" With one bleeding hand, the woman didn't try to shove Shantii away again, which at least bought Freya some extra space - but Sheryl was screaming rather loudly, and in the apartment where they lived, her voice was sure to draw the attention of many people here before long.

Freyati*Others

"Objects are things that you own," Freya spat, her tones derisive even as her face and voice were calm. "But you cannot own a town, and you certainly do not own this child. I am not afraid of you, or your gang." As she said this, Shantii kept moving forward as Sheryl backed away, keeping the woman well under control and showing a great capacity for herding as she kept the injured young woman away from her mistress. "If I again catch you with this child, or attempting to harm him or his family, I will make you sorry. Goodbye." And with that, she turned, heading down the stairs with Raimi, who didn't protest; it wasn't until she reached the bottom of the flights that she called, "Shantii! Baktuka!" And with a last snarl and a snap to shock Sheryl into remaining still for a moment more, the dog took off fleetly down the steps, joining Freya as they fled for safe territory.

But indeed, someone did hear the scream that Sheryl gave - and that someone was the least-likely person in the world to be able or willing to help her. Sitting up from a dead sleep and instinctively cradling Raine against her, Cassidy whirled her eyes around the room, seeking the source of that horrifying sound. She'd forgotten that she'd fallen asleep on the couch - it was fairly common for her these days though, since she didn't find it comfortable to lay flat in her bed even though the stitches had come out a few days ago. It wasn't until the shrieks continued - and took on distant, indistinguishable words, that Cass understood who it was that was screaming. "Lanny! You hear that? It... sounds like Sheryl."

Sheryl McTaryn

"You will be! You'll be dead, and so will the rest of his family!" Her voice raged with great intensity, "You can't threaten me!" She was the one currently on the ground and being kept at bay by Shantii, but it apparently didn't matter to her as she continued to rail back at Freya with insults and curses. Ever since she joined the CrypticSilvers, and more importantly hooked up with James, she had learned she could push people around and use her status to get away with it. Sometimes, such as now, it all went to her head, and obviously, her threats fell on deaf ears, but she kept them up.

Lanny was sitting in a chair, watching some television when the shrieks reached him. Even as they were starting to recognize the tones as those of Sheryl, the young woman a floor down from them was rushing to grab her cellphone and call James. "I'll be back." Lurching up out of the chair, Lanny bolted out of the room with no further words and all but flew down the flight of stairs.

Only a spare few minutes passed before he was bursting back through the door, "They've got him! Somebody's taken Randy! Damn that teen, I knew I should have finished him while I had the chance!" He stormed into the room as he relayed this information, and went about getting his coat on and looking for his pistol. "James is calling the others now; where's Johann?" In all his rush, he didn't take a moment to stop in his frenetic search about the room to get his gear together. His mind was swirling right now, thinking over who the girl might be that had stolen Randy.

Cassidy*Others

While Lanny was out of the room, Cassidy abruptly lay Raine down on the couch for a moment so that she could shift her weight into the wheelchair, which she was now fairly good at maneuvering, and provided her a great mobility. It took her only a moment to get the infant settled in her lap after that, and she rummaged in the top of her shoe to retrieve one of her blades; she'd stopped wearing the arm-bound ones while she was in the apartment because Raine found them uncomfortable to lay on when she was held, but she would not be caught unarmed. With Raine held against her in one arm and her blade extended in the other, she waited tensely for Lanny to return.

His words when they entered the room got a shocked silence out of her, enough where she didn't even answer his question. A moment later, the knife dropped to the floor, indicating its sharpness by slicing into the carpet and remaining upright, the haft of it pointed toward the ceiling as the young mother reached both her hands to cradle Raine. The expression on her face had turned a twisted mix of horrified and protective. And it was this that Johann was offered as he stepped out of the bedroom, aroused from a his work by all the noise. "I'm here, Lan," he told the young man, gun already in hand as he moved forward and pulled Cass' blade from the floor, popping it into a sheath at his side and placing himself defensively in front of her. He might have said more - but he knew it was foolish to try to convince Lanny that Conan wasn't a threat, at this point. Instead, he said only, "Lock the door behind you."

Laurence Zelkovii

It didn't take long before Lanny had all of his stuff together and was moving towards the door again. He didn't leave right away however, and stopped to look back at Cass, Raine, and Johann, "I've already ordered Tyler and Mitch over this way. Sher only saw one woman and a dog, and they've apparently left already-" Of course, Lanny hadn't spent too much time running around the halls or scouting outside in the few minutes that he was gone, but he'd taken a quick look down the stairs and found no one there, "-but stay here until James or I give you an update. The woman was almost certainly working for Conan based on what she said, so we're going to track down the Wallocks." He didn't want to leave Cassidy alone, but she was Johann, which was safe enough, and two guards were on their way as back up. Not wanting to waste any more time, Lanny headed out of the door, pulling it close behind him with a click as the lock set in place.

Cassidy*Others

Aside from the need to protect his neice and her newborn, there was also another issue very prominent in Johann's mind - Cass was very tense and alarmed right now, undoubtedly because she feared that if they could so easily take Raimi, Raine would be next. She was wordless and controlled in her panic, but panic it was, nonetheless. So after confirming what Lanny was saying - which was made difficult by the fact that the infant was now railing in response to all the noise and tension in the room - and making the note of just which guards he said were coming, he waited for the lock to click into place. Then he knelt down before Cass, beginning the long and strenuous process of trying to get the mother calmed again.