Diving in Head First - Tyler & Gina

OOC - Alright... Unless you two have anything else that needs to be done with Tatiyanna present, this bit of the scene is done and over with. You two can pick up right as you're getting back to Tyler's vehicle and continue from there.

Tyler tore himself from the plans laid before him and looked into Tatiyanna's eyes and nodded, "Absolutely." Tyler, as much as he hated to admit it, was starting to like this woman's style. Granted, he didn't trust her. In fact, Tyler would be more likely to believe Hell would freeze over, Gehenna would come, and Caine would open an ice cream stand, and all the Lupines killed themselves when a comet came by and they all thought it would be the mother-ship coming to take them to Lupine Heaven where they would all get 34534 fuzzy canine virgins with floppy ears as a reward for learning to sit, stay, heel, play dead (especially play dead), and get the nice vampires a nice, tall, warm glass of vitae out the cask in the basement. Than believe any of the incredibly long, thick ropes of defecate coming out of her mouth and dropping in front of Tyler like she were a walking feces fountain with boobs.
"Yeah we can do this." Tyler added, nodding with a finality.

Tatiyanna had...the same thoughts as everyone else. When Tyler offered input she had to check her cards and cover her bets. It took her only a second, during which she peered intently at Kruel. Then she nodded and turned her attention back to Tyler. "You think you have better plan? Yes? After all you do this job as part of your reputation." Tatiyanna's lips pursed. She was in.

"You do as you must, but remember, no complications. That means no implications or...how is it you say? Scandalous behavior? Yes? You meet Kruel at rendezvous with my package. You will get paid. It is my reputation too. Then we depart. Become solid. Yes?" Tatiyanna's eyes never left Tyler.

I was standing close enough to hear the plans even if I couldn't see the detail on paper. Sneak in while everyone was distracted, sneak out, it seemed to easy. Way to easy. First lesson in life is, nothing is ever as easy as it appears. Still I was confident Tyler would think the same. It was common sense. When Tatiyanna announced the pay off for the job well done I had to check my hearing. This was obviously something of great importance if she was willing to pay that much. I would have so many questions for Tyler when we were alone again.

Once I heard Tyler speak my thoughts were confirmed. After all, like everyone was so fond of saying, he was after all, Tyler Crown. And a person didn't accomplish a reputation like his by being fooled easily. I had a feeling I was about to learn a lot from this mission, for lack of a better word.

Tyler shrugged. "The money isn't an issue. I need to be able to get in contact with some of your friends." He poured over the map quickly, sucking in as much of the information as possible before turning his attention back to her. "It seems like a pretty simple plan. Simple is good. I like simple. So yeah, we're solid, one question though. Should I think its more prudent for me to either alter, or abandon this plan entirely, is that going to be a problem for you?" Tyler was already thinking of a way to utilize his resources better than what the plan allowed. Sneaking himself into a Sabbat stronghold was not something Tyler was exactly willing to do, and it stunk of a set up. While this woman was probably shooting straight, offing an Archon would be cause for some nice bragging rights, not to mention it immediately got him out of her hair, before he got into it.

Tatiyanna just looked at Regina. It wasn't threatening but it was scary all the same. Then her attention went swiftly back to Tyler and her plans on the desk. "Is not the Sabbat I care about. What I want is what is inside her safe. The safe is here." She pointed. The spot she was pointing at was in one of the underground cloisters. Tatiyanna went on to explain that these rooms were once used by the Union army to hide loot taken from the Confederates in the latter year of the Civil War. Afterwards they were switched to quarters for the church officials that came through.

"Morning two days from now a Bishop will be arriving so the church's lower levels will be open to hired help for preparations tomorrow night. You will go in. Then you get job done." You looked at the plans. It was simple. It was straight forward. It looked good. Everything was marked in perfect detail. Tatiyanna might have been any number of unkindly things but her attention to detail was admirable.

"You get paid two-hundred fifty thousand. Half now. Kruel will be waiting at rendezvous for my treasure with rest of your money. This is solid. Yes?" Tatiyanna leaned forward while awaiting your response.

After much debate Tyler had permitted me to accompany him to his meeting. It was, to me, a one time chance to prove I belonged. Side by side I walked with Tyler. Dressed in business fashion attire my heels brought me only an inch or so shorter then him. The Nosferatu that met us at the door was a bit unsettling but when I compared him with the thing that I had last seen at Tylers' place it didn't even compare.
The red headed women that met us was striking in her appearance. And the power that came off of her in her attitude was impressive. Still, my guard stayed up till I knew more of her. When she made the assumption that I was either dinner or a guest I made a strong effort to keep the humor from my face and thoughts from my mind. I had no idea what we were dealing with and for all I knew she could read minds like Dragon.
I watched Tylers reaction to her, noting that he had offered his hand, and in so mimicking him I kept mine at my side as well.
I stood there listening to her talk to Tyler, gathering a bit more of her personality. She was a "scratch my back, I'll sratch yours" and a bit of, "betray me, and it will be the last thing you do." I was not liking this woman. My eyes went to the ceiling when the man bound came falling down before us. The man had been tortured for some time now and was still awaiting more. The look on his face was one of pleading, to whom I did not know, and one of fear. The fear I understood. Tatiyanna must have been feeling merciful when she pulled out the gun. Although seeing her stand so calmly and so well put together as she pulled the trigger was disturbing. For the life of me I could not understand why she waited for us to finish her game of blood and pain.
I looked at her as she asked her question, without thinking I answered as honestly as I could, "Not particulary no. I see no reason to torture him nor kill him for our viewing."

Tyler easily stifled a reaction as the woman killed the man. It made him wonder how far he had fallen from his past Humanity, and face to face with a monster like her, he found himself wondering how much farther he had to fall. Such a waste of life. He probably would have been sick if it had been someone he had known. "Solid. Of course. So you would have me be a hitman? Easy enough. As for problems or..complications. Provided whatever information you have for me about the target is complete there should not be any." Tyler had no inclination of getting himself nor Gina killed, but he also had none to set himself up for failure. That was bad business, and if he needed something this woman offered, the Assamites that created the Abomination, he had to get it.
A part of him was still sickened by her show of inhumanity, but not enough to show any visible signs. That fact only worsened Tyler's feeling about the whole thing. He wasn't so much sickened by the loss of life, or the act of taking it, but more that it didn't have the impact on him it once had. He almost felt a little piece of his mortality die.

"Ah, so no dinner then." Tatiyanna pouted. "You have done research. Of course you have, because you are Tyler Crown. Tyler Crown is dangerous Tremere who commands fire and lightning is the talk. There is a job I need done." Tatiyanna walked back to her makeshift desk and looked down at what appeared to be the layout of a building.
"I have here a church which is home to a Sabbat. I cannot take care of this individual myself without drawing too much attention...but you, you can do this. You have no trouble, I think, with killing a Sabbat..." Lt. Kozlinski leaned forward and smiled that dark smile again. "From your reputation, yes?"
Then Tatiyanna walked around her desk, but this time her eyes were all over Gina. She had put it all together and pegged her for the neonate she was. "I too have reputation, not so pleasant I think." She looked at Tyler while pausing. When she continued speaking, it was clear she was talking to them both. "You know what is reputation? It is talking and gossip. Kruel."
Kruel stepped up and pushed back a stack of crates. Hanging upside down from the ceiling was a bound and gagged man who had clearly been tortured. The techniques used was of the most sincere and most talented variety too. He started wriggling and squirming, making as much noise as he could when the commotion started. Then, without a blink, Tatiyanna drew a pistol and fired it three times. Each bullet punched a golf ball sized hole in his face. With a sigh, Kozlinski plopped the pistol on the desk and used a rag to wipe down her hands. She had watched Regina the entire time, but now her words were directed to Tyler. "Now for you I am solid like stone. My reputation is fact. Is solid. You do this job for me and we are solid. If...there is complications or there is problems then your reputation will gossip and we are not so solid, yes?"
After making her point, Tatiyanna's attention went to Regina who was still showing the effects of being stunned all over her face. "You do not like I kill this man? He is my childe's ghoul. I am getting earful at meeting on Tuesday but there is no escape now."

Tyler noted the sigils, and immediately added the Nosferatu to his list of potential threats to Tremere Clan interests in the area. He was already unhappy about being here. He had hoped that his reputation would have preceded him, but perhaps it did. If Tyler had come calling, very few individuals would turn down the meeting out of either a fear of angering the Tremere, or respect. Either way was fine with him. He regretted having Gina there already. She was a liability to him and his mission, but Tyler had spent the beginning of the night preparing his rituals for the night, and had added a few more that he learned. Escape to a True Friend, and Steps of the Terrified would be the most useful, not to mention his own little counter for the discipline of Presence. Tyler had also taken the liberty of lowering his own generation considerably, by his estimate he was nearly as potent as any of the 7th Generation. He would have liked to have gone lower, but time constraints and an uncertainty for the length of the meeting... He went with longevity instead, and had a few more hours before that particular effect wore off. He had also planned his night out far enough to supplement his newly powerful blood with some of his stores, which thanks to his recent embrace of Gina, and their... intimate moment, were now depleted much lower than he would have liked...
He looked at the woman with an eye for sizing her up, decided being aggressive was not the tactic to take, and instead opted for the no-bullshit approach, "Gina here is my Assistant, yes." Only an idiot would assume it wasn't his childe, but if she were dumb enough to jump to such an incorrect conclusion, then Tyler wasn't going to dissolve any of her illusions about him and the situation she found herself in, plus, the Assistant to an Archon would be considerably more powerful than, 'the childe I embraced yesterday...' Even if she assumed she was his childe, The Lieutenant probably could not speculate her age very well. Not that it mattered. Tyler could, if he had to, obliterate everyone in the room, but, Gina would likely be collateral damage, not to mention nasty burns for himself. He glanced at his childe, then back to the woman addressing him.
"Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. I understand you must be quite busy with the reach you manage to maintain here. Your file speaks volumes on your ability." He offered a smile of his own. Tyler leveled the playing field a little. She may know a great deal about Tyler, but the Warlock knew a great deal about her as well. Leverage was something to either be removed, or applied just...so...

Regina was very anxious to get started. To even her own surprise she took to being a vampire with ease. Not just ease, but with natural instinct. Like many Tremere she was even more excited about the prospects of being able to learn the really neat Thaumaturgy...It didn't help that Dragon's childe Natalya was advancing her skills quite rapidly too. To the experienced elder, it was clear Regina was suffering from the baby-childe syndrome of having both the urge to play, and catch up to her older sibling (even though there was really no such relation between her and Natalya) so the spotlight could be on her. A little jealousy was a good thing if it forced her to succeed.
But even this time Tyler was really against the idea of Gina's desire to accompany him to see Lt. Kozlinski. Kozlinski had a foul reputation to say the least. Kozlinski was a psychotic Toreador who had left the Sabbat. Tatiyana Kozlinski deserved special notice though because she was one of the most influential kindred in the city. She belonged to a powerful coterie and commanded her own street credibility too. The notes in your files specified she could be dangerous.
It took a second but after a stern lecture about how dangerous this could be, and how it could be unsafe for her, Gina responded with a smart-ass childe comment about how she needs to see the bad side of kindred and an I'm-so-going-to-regret-this-but-I-don't-know-it-yet-look look plastered all over her face. With a sigh and a I-don't-want-to-hear-you-bitch-when-I-say-I-told-you-so look, Tyler gave in and decided to take her along.
Tyler had gotten bad vibes almost immediately when he finally had an arranged meeting with Kozlinski. In typical wise fashion he'd gone over the notes one more time. She had a thing for reputation, and while twisted and fucked up, she had a sense of honor that had potential for an other-then-hostile relationship. She had tons of Influence, and if you had time, would have liked to go over the twenty or thirty pages in fine detail. Suffice to say you were pretty sure she could cover her end of any bargain, make due on any threats, and wouldn't give up anything about her coterie or how to get in contact with the Assamites that made the abomination without doing something for her first.
Gina on the other hand was quite optimistic. She had first time neonate gitters. She couldn't sit still in the car. When she talked she talked too fast. If you didn't know better you'd think she was on crack or something. So what if Kozlinski was a badass? Tyler was even more of a badass. Besides, it was just a deal to go get information. It wasn't like you were going there to rob her or something.
Escorted to a small, empty storefront by a pair of armed thugs, you both were met at by a tall, lanky, scarred up Nosferatu who brandished a series of knotted wooden rings on his left hand. Each one had a sigil on it that was both familiar and unsettling. The Nos glared darkly at both of you. "Kruel let them pass."
The voice was feminine but harsh and distinctly east European. As the Nosferatu stepped to the side a tall, slender red headed woman in a long black business coat stepped from around a makeshift desk. "I am Lt. Tatiyana Kozlinski. You have met Kruel. He likes to stand by the door to say BOO! He is how you say, my right hand." Tatiyana stepped in front of you both and folded her hands together under her chin. "Tyler Crown yes? I see you bring assistant or dinner. She is which?" Tatiyana smiled. It was a dark and terrible thing, but it also meant she assumed this was cause for proper introduction.