Work Text:
The monthly briefing is mandatory for all available V.A.T. recruits. It's also incredibly boring and unnecessary in Court's opinion. He gets his assignments straight from Stratt, already knows what his next one will be. A quick kill assignment in L.A. He doesn’t need to be here. Yet he stands in the back by the door, arms crossed, ready for a quick exit. He scans the room. There's a few newer recruits sitting near the front. On the other side of the room, sitting in the corner most chair is the other best hunter in their agency. Simon. He also probably has no real purpose being here. Receiving his own assignments directly as well.
They’ve worked together only once but his reputation precedes him. Difficult for it not to all things considered. Given his heritage. And his recruitment. Quite similar to his own in all honesty. Simon is an efficient hunter, though sometimes reluctant. Court can relate, he avoids cases involving children as much as possible. They all have their things. Stratt is knowledgeable enough to ensure any hunter is rarely exposed to cases that they would not handle well.
Court tunes back into Stratt’s voice as she starts going over newly discovered vampires. It's one of the few times he actually pays attention in these monthly briefings. A good way to know what he might be looking forward to in the near future.
All vampires are categorized by priority. High priority vampires are those that require elimination immediately. They are often new or recently changed. Not old enough to stave off their bloodlust and usually lacking support from an elder or coven. Due to this they are the most likely to kill indiscriminately or cause issues with discovery and containment. All of which the agency tries to avoid. Old vampires sometimes come out of the woodwork and become high priority, but it's rare. Most of the older vampires have already been discovered and either eliminated or designated low priority. They tend to be far less feral as they “age.” There’s other ways to become high priority, but they aren’t as frequent. A vampire that changes humans in mass often gets bumped up as well. Especially if they are preying on children.
Priority scales from there. Medium priority is the smallest category. It’s used as a transition to either end of the scale. Medium priority might still be on the list to hunt, but are sometimes placed on the back burner if there’s too many high priority jobs. Sometimes these are cases where they just keep tabs. If the vampire doesn’t escalate in a way that would be cause for alarm they get pushed into low priority.
Low priority are rare to find in the newly discovered category, but not impossible. They are often older vampires that don’t have any recent record of killing or violence. Usually they’ve managed to avoid discovery for several decades if not centuries. Tabs are still kept on them, but not as thoroughly. The more public facing they are the less likely for the agency to hunt them. Live and let live being the philosophy.
They don’t hunt vampires carelessly. At least not anymore. V.A.T. stands for Vampire Assassination Taskforce for a reason. The name is old, the mission has adapted since. The agency is too small for that now anyway. Not all vampires are considered threats. Some are actually good for their communities or just lead normal lives. The agency even has a couple in its employ. Not as hunters, that’s asking for disaster. Support staff more or less. Or suppliers. Vampire blood works quite well as a ward against certain abilities vampires can have. Though it is also an obvious signifier for a hunter. Others it's easier to work within the system than outside of it. Striking a deal that is mutually beneficial often works. Blood for blood in a sense. If not that then they work just as well for infiltration. In exchange for a level of leniency, of course. It's odd to reconcile vampires as non-threatening with the typical depiction of them as blood-thirsty predators. Initially it had been a struggle for Court to compartmentalize in that way. Once he got over the fact that vampires existed at all, that is. At the end of the day they were once human. For some of them that still remains stronger than their vampire tendencies.
Court buries those feelings deep. It doesn’t matter anyway. The job is the job. He does what he needs to, interacts with others as little as is necessary and moves on. If the agency decides to ally itself with a few vampires for mutual benefit, that’s more than reasonable.
There’s a high priority case in Nevada. Court might get that one if he completes his newest assignment soon. A few medium priority cases in the south. Louisiana mostly. They’ll send a small team of scouts, with or without a hunter potentially, to keep tabs and decide how to proceed. A case in Washington state has de-escalated from medium to low priority. Finally a couple surprisingly rare low priority cases.
The first one is nothing of note. A newly discovered duo of vampires in Alaska. They subside mostly off animal blood and are participating in the community up there as if normal. A non-issue. They avoided discovery for so long by living in such a rural area and being cautious about disappearing at appropriate times for their age ranges.
The second catches Court by surprise. Most hunters and scouts in the room recognize the face, but not in the same way Court does. He is familiar. That’s Tom Ryder. Action star. His brother’s co-worker.
How he managed to avoid detection for so long is quite astonishing. Tom has at least been around for a century based on the photo evidence provided. That’s what did him in, apparently. Too many men with the same face showing up over the course of 100 years. His newly acquired stardom put the final nail in the coffin. A reddit thread made a conspiracy about him being a time traveler. The agency found it and decided to investigate. The poster was right that all those photos were the same guy. Wrong about the reason.
Tom Ryder is listed as low priority. His profile, somewhat incomplete. Court doesn’t agree with that. He should have some time after he finishes his current job. He’ll already be in the area anyway. Maybe he’s due to give Colt a visit.
Court is a little scratched up, but his assignment is complete in a relatively short amount of time. Even with having to deal with a vampire with telekinetic powers it hadn’t been particularly difficult. He’s glad that he had chosen to wear his vial of blood to help dampen that ability. He’d been allotted a week for it, it took less than two days. He had rushed it to some degree, wanting to get to Colt as soon as he could. It had been a little messy, but he got it done. Could Stratt really bitch him out over it? Maybe. At least he cleared the building before it went up in flames.
He walks onto the filming location like he is meant to be there. Doesn’t even bother to check-in. Court isn’t planning to be here long and would rather there be as little record of his presence as possible. He navigates as if he knows exactly where he is going. He doesn’t, but the radio chatter he’s overhearing is more than enough to help. He finds himself lurking toward the back by a scissor lift as he waits for Colt to come away from filming.
He doesn’t see Tom Ryder anywhere, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t around. Vampires can be tricky like that. Practically built for stealth. Cut is called. Colt walks away looking confident as ever. Court doesn’t miss the way he is favoring his right leg just slightly. It’s miniscule, barely visible. Court steps out and matches his speed with Colt’s tailing him a bit before walking up beside him.
Colt squawks in surprise at his sudden appearance next to him, “What the… Where the fuck did you come from?”
“I was in the area,” Court turns to him.
“So you just show up unannounced?” Colt gives him a light shove on the shoulder, before continuing to walk. Court matches his pace.
Court answers with a shrug, “Yeah?”
“Okay. This never happens. You don’t do this stuff,” Colt gives him a critical look. Like he’s trying to figure out Court’s motives. Court feels approval at the suspicion. Colt has good instincts. “You look kinda banged up, bro.”
“Speak for yourself,” Court teases, looking at Colt top to bottom. He has a scrape on his cheek and his knuckles on his right hand look a bit red. “So what’s this movie about anyway?”
Colt seems to lose some steam at the question, “It’s a classic Tom Ryder action flick. Cop uncovers a conspiracy and has to fight his way through a terrorist organization.”
Colt stops at a table set up with an array of food and snacks. He grabs a disposable cup and fills it from a carafe with coffee, before popping a lid on it. He looks at Court, holding out the cup to him.
Court waves him off, “You’re still working exclusively for Tom Ryder?”
“Yeah it’s a pretty good gig. Job security is pretty great,” Colt isn’t feeling very forthcoming apparently. Court really doesn’t want this to feel like pulling teeth. Probably his fault for how little he has been around.
“Has nothing to do with that camera operator,” Court tries to keep it light, but he would prefer to wrap this soon. It’s not that he doesn’t want to spend time with Colt, he just prefers not to do it publicly or frequently. Especially with at least one vampire lurking about, “What’s he like?”
“You’re asking about Tom?” Colt scoffs. Court nods in response. Colt rolls his eyes, “Not you too.”
Court tries not to let his confusion show. He still feels the way his brow twinges slightly, “What?”
“First Ryland, now you?” Colt stops and turns to him with an annoyed look on his face, arms crossing in front of him. “Why is everyone around me so obsessed with Tom?”
“Wait. Elaborate?” Court hides his surprise behind his usual stoic demeanor.
“Ryland hasn’t said anything specific, but with the way Tom talks about him too, they have to be dating. I wouldn’t be surprised,” Colt shrugs, before furrowing his brow. “Honestly it's sickening how much they talk about each other.”
Court nods. He doesn’t have to worry about Colt apparently. Tom has seemingly taken an interest in Ryland. That he is far more concerned about. Court knows more than ever now he’ll be talking to Stratt when he gets back. “How long has this been going on?”
Colt looks up in thought. Trying to come up with a number, “Hmmm… At least a month and a half? Maybe a little longer?” He leans slightly onto his back foot, “Ryland was here for spring break. I didn’t mean for them to meet, but well, Ryland is his own person and way too nice for his own good.”
Court nods. It checks out. Ryland has mellowed out quite a lot in the past couple years of being a teacher. It’s too bad. Ryland probably would’ve never given Tom the time of day before his career change. Unless Tom has some way of making him give him the time. Tom’s file had been incomplete. Lacking anything concrete as to what he might be capable of beyond the typical enhancements.
“I have a couple days off coming up, you going to be around still this week?” Colt changes the subject. If he is as sick of talking about Tom as he implied it makes perfect sense.
“Nah, gotta head back after today,” Court could probably get away with sticking around for a day or two, but he’d rather get back to Stratt quickly. He knows he’s been unavailable as a brother. He feels bad about it, but he can’t bring himself to fix it. It's easier that way.
Ryland and Colt are far more connected than Court is to either of them. The nature of his work almost makes it a requirement for him to avoid being too close. He tries to call or text here and there. Ryland is closer to home, easier to keep an eye on, but that makes little difference. He missed this somehow. It took seeing Tom Ryder’s face blown up in front of him with the classification of vampire for him to even notice. Even then he didn’t know it involved Ryland. He needs to be better than this.
He hangs out with Colt until his next shot. Colt asks him about work. His cover story is easy. A bounty hunter. Close enough to what he actually does to make it believable. He knows how to deflect Colt from subjects he’d rather not talk about. Jody is a great topic to bring up when the conversation starts to dig too deep. If that’s not an option he can just tell Colt he isn’t at liberty to share details. Legalities and all that. It usually works just fine. Colt gets called away mere minutes later. Court waves as he starts walking away. They don’t hug. It’s not their thing. Not Court’s thing. An unfortunate hold over from their upbringing. When even a hug was too painful to give or receive.
On his way out he catches sight of Tom from a distance. He looks just as normal and unassuming as a human. Court knows better now. Tom looks up from the conversation he is currently having with a bespectacled brunette woman. He tilts his head slightly as he seems to lock on to Court.
Court quickens his pace. He’s got to get back quickly. A vampire taking interest in a human is never a good sign. He can’t delay.
Stratt is out of office till Friday. Three days. Court can’t pursue this officially without her support. He sends a message to Stratt asking for a meeting when she returns. He is going to figure this out one way or another. Even if he needs to go outside the lines a bit. Stratt is just the starting line.
Simon ducks back into the stairwell as he spots his neighbor, Ryland, on his way home a few days later. His neighbor who he might add might be related to a certain high tier hunter. The face is similar but not exact. He would have to be blind to not notice some kind of relation.
His neighbor isn’t alone. That’s the real reason for hiding. If it were just Ryland, Simon wouldn’t have stopped. He would have walked up just for the opportunity to have those blue eyes look at him. Not that he spends a lot of time thinking about them. Or his voice greeting him in the hallway. No, Ryland is just nice and kind and a great neighbor. Nothing more than that.
Simon recognizes the other man. He is unmistakable. Especially now.
Tom Ryder.
He realizes at that moment that this is not the first time he has seen him either. He hadn’t been paying attention, clearly. Had glossed over him. The briefing earlier this week is not the first time he had seen Tom either. It’s just the first time he really cared enough to take note of him.
Now he regrets not noticing him sooner. He’s been hanging around their building for a few weeks now that he is thinking about it, maybe longer. There’s no way for him to be certain.
Ryland’s back is to him. He can see Tom’s face clearly if he peeks around the corner. It looks like they were out. Simon hopes he’s reading it wrong. The signs are there though. The close proximity. The hands clasped together. The quiet conversation between them. The soft chuckle Ryland lets out that contrasts with Tom’s own smug smirk. He tries to listen in and barely catches Tom asking to come in. Simon wills Ryland to decline him. He lets a relieved breath go when Ryland does just that. He hadn’t even realized he was holding it. Less relieved when Ryland offers up “maybe next time”. There’s going to be a next time. That thought makes Simon go rigid with worry.
Simon never intended to witness his neighbor in any kind of… tryst?
It bothers him more than he would normally be willing to admit or analyze. Ryland is his neighbor, nothing more. He can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants. That’s what Simon would normally think. Given Ryland’s choice of companion he feels a bit self-righteous in his feelings. He feels less guilty about intruding and eavesdropping.
Tom leans in and kisses Ryland on the cheek, lingering longer than feels necessary after he pulls away with a whisper right by Ryland’s ear. A sharp eye glances in Simon’s direction. He’s caught. It feels like Tom is laying a claim and sending Simon a threat all in one go. A promise of misfortune if he crosses some unknown line.
Tom bids Ryland good night, turning and walking away opposite Simon’s direction toward the elevator. Simon hangs back. He doesn’t feel ready or equipped to interrogate Ryland about his poor choice of company. Simon tells himself he would dislike Tom regardless. It’s not just his status as a vampire.
Tomorrow, first thing he is going to Stratt.
“Director Stratt,” Simon walks in, letting the door shut behind him. “I have a…”
Stratt holds up a finger to him, not even looking at him. The words that he had planned to say, silenced by just that gesture. She rapidly types for a few more minutes. Simon can’t help but to think she does this on purpose. This is not the first time he’s had to stand here silently and wait for her to finish something. He wonders if she does it just to see how long he’ll wait for. Last time he had done so for nearly an hour, before she finally gave him the time of day. Possibly a punishment for not scheduling ahead. Maybe it's a power play. Not that she needs those. It’s more likely that it's just amusing to her. The door to her office creaks open. Court joins them without bothering to knock. Either that’s normal for him, or this was planned ahead.
Simon looks at Court, standing silently next to him. Arms crossed in front of him, posture rigid as is typical of him in most situations. The only thing that betrays his cold and detached facade is the subtle scent of the watermelon gum he is chewing. Court catches him looking and raises a brow.
That expression is so similar to the one his neighbor sometimes gives him. This one much more discerning and a bit more skeptical comparatively. Ryland’s is often playful and amused. Not quite as scathing. The similarities in Simon’s mind are unavoidable. It's impossible that they aren’t related. If they weren’t stood in front of Stratt’s desk, waiting for her to finish whatever business she is currently working on, he might even just straight up ask. Even if that is generally frowned upon in their line of work. Individual privacy is not something to mess with.
Stratt finally looks up.
“I believe I know why you are both here,” Of course she does. She always knows, somehow. “Court you may start.”
“I would like official permission to investigate Tom Ryder,” Court holds his hands behind his back, posture straightening.
“Is that also why you are here, Simon?” Stratt asks as if she doesn’t already know.
“Yes,” he confirms.
“I cannot approve either of you for it,” she looks between them. “We can not afford to tie down our two most efficient hunters. Especially not to a low priority case. Tom Ryder at this point is not a threat. Unless you have reason to believe we should change that?”
“He has taken interest in a human,” Court answers. Simon glances at him in his periphery. He is always so dry and serious. Hard to read.
“That is hardly reason to change his status,” Stratt leans on one hand at her desk. A show of indifference. “We do not change priority levels just like that. You both know this. If his habits change we may, but for now he remains where he is. We don’t kill vampires for simply taking interest in a single human. For both your sakes, who is the human in question?”
Simon interjects before the Court can say anything. He is trying to experiment. See his reaction, “Ryland Grace.”
It's miniscule, but somehow Court’s shoulders seem to tense more than they were. His posture straightens just a little more. His jaw sets a little harder.
Stratt goes back to typing on her computer. Probably going through a database. She has almost too much information at her fingertips.
“Teacher at Grover Cleveland Middle School. Lives alone in an apartment about 20 minutes by bike to his work. Address is familiar,” Simon meets her eyes as she looks at him pointedly. She shifts her attention to Court. “Brother is Colton Grace. Stage name Colt Seavers stunt double for… hmm… Tom Ryder.”
She clicks a few more times. Shifts her seat back to facing forward toward them, lacing her fingers together, “It’s interesting, sure, but nothing worth investigating yet. This guy has been around for a long time and hasn’t caused any problems that we know of in recent years. He has even had multiple public relationships in the past few years with no issues. In addition to that he is in the public eye now.”
“So you would have us just ignore this?” Simon knows he is glaring. He can’t help it.
“Yes I would have you ignore this,” Stratt returns his expression with just as much heat. “If it helps I will put Carl on it to keep tabs.” She pulls two folders from a filing cabinet behind her desk and places them before her, “In the meantime, since you both are here, I have your next assignments.”
Simon grabs the folder with his name off the desk and tucks it under his arm. He’ll look at it later. It doesn’t matter what it is, he has no choice but to accept. Carl is a good choice to keep an eye on things. He is one of the best scouts they have. Extremely good at working his way in and getting information on targets. He’s worked a couple protection details before. Even used to work as a pretty effective hunter. On rare occasions he still gets called in for that purpose. He is definitely up to the task. Simon nods before turning to exit. Court beats him to the door, holding it open for him.
They walk down the hall silently at first. Court is a man of few words. He tends to hang on the outskirts and avoid most people. Except for Stratt. It doesn’t seem like friendship. Simon doubts in Stratt’s ability to have or maintain those types of relationships. It’s more like there is some buried agreement between them. One so deeply hidden that most of Court’s file is redacted. Not that Simon was digging, but the opportunity arose. He likes to know who he works with. Court being such a mystery irks him. Considering that Simon’s own file is so easy to find and read. Information about him leaked within his first week. The resident, singular dhampir with a large kill count tied to him before he was even recruited. If it could be called that. Recruitment doesn’t feel like it quite describes the level with which he was coerced. Even this meeting with Stratt revealed very little. Other than the fact that both himself and Court seem to have some connection to Ryland Grace.
Simon stops abruptly as his path is blocked by Court, “Ask.”
Simon tries to recalibrate. This is outside of what he would expect of Court. Forward in a way that doesn’t make sense. Should he play dumb? Is this some kind of trap?
No, it can’t be. What would be the point?
“Who is Ryland Grace to you?” Simon stands his ground and meets Court’s eyes.
“I’ll tell you if you tell me,” Court responds. It’s a fair offer. An equivalent trade. Simon agrees with the terms. “He is my brother.”
Simon feels just a bit smug at the answer. He was right in his assumptions. Court is looking at him expectantly. Impatient.
“He’s my neighbor,” Simon concedes. He knows that in doing so he is telling Court where he lives. It’s not something he would ever or has ever done before. He gave his word. He wouldn’t feel right backing out.
“So I thought,” of course Court had picked up on it. Stratt was hardly subtle enough for him not to see it. “What do you know?”
“I’m fairly certain that Tom Ryder has been lurking around for the last month,” Simon reveals, eyes narrowing. “He asked Ryland for entry to his place a few days ago. Ryland declined.”
Court acknowledges the information with a hum and a small nod. Without waiting for Simon to elaborate or giving him a chance to ask for more information, Court turns and walks away.
Simon doesn’t know where this leaves him. Is Court aiming to go it alone? Simon has no intent on taking a sideline to him on this. If anything an alliance between them would be a better choice. They are both getting pulled away right now, but it could be beneficial if their jobs differ in schedule to each other. Simon knows it’s unlikely. Court is very much the lone wolf type. The only time they have ever received a job together only worked out because of the size of the job. Big enough to need both of them, but also allow them to have space from each other. Sure, Carl can hold the fort for now.
At the same time Simon has no intent on completely ignoring this. He can do this off the books. He lives right across the hall. Stratt can’t stop him from doing a bit of investigating of his own. It seems Court is likely feeling the same.
Court leaves the conversation with Simon feeling somewhat assured. Between Carl’s assignment and Simon’s proximity it’s a better situation than he could’ve hoped for. Marginally of course. He can’t trust Ryland’s safety to them entirely. The implication that Tom has been hanging about the building is not ideal. Additionally the request for entry is an escalation Court would like to see continue to fail. It’s a bold move on Tom’s part.
Some part of Court knows it’s a protective streak that has him placing so much weight on all of Tom’s actions. The few he is aware of at least. There’s a few instances, not just within their agency, of vampires and humans successfully co-existing. Rarely in the form of a romantic relationship, though not unheard of. They tend to go south in one way or more.
Vampires are predatory. Easily falling into jealousy and envy. Possessive. Even the best vampire has a breaking point. Court hopes that Ryland doesn’t get that far with Tom. That whatever is happening between them is not that serious. Hope is not a strategy that Court can employ.
Court can’t let anything bad happen to Ryland. Stratt won’t let him investigate. That’s fine. She can’t stop him from visiting a little more frequently. It doesn’t need to be official. That’s his family after all.