~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The mood at Montoya's was one of celebration, after they had driven off the interlopers. Although he was severely tempted to quote Conan the Barbarian and proclaim that what was best in life was, 'To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.' in that thick half broken accent, Raven honestly felt as if his victory was a hollow one, at least where he was concerned. He felt nothing but his most profound gratitude for all his friends, all of them having somehow arriving at the diner and in place mere minutes before his cross-town taxi had arrived. Such a feat in and of itself had to have been a miracle, but to have seen the faces of the three invaders when they realized what they had walked into was the greatest gift from the heavens, even if the sight of the beautiful woman coming close to tears had torn him up inside when it became clear he had caused it. While all of them were justifiably angry, it quickly became clear to him after their departure, that the three visitors were not directly involved in the all of the bad events he and his friends had been made aware of in recent weeks. What was worse, for him, was that the woman had been right in the end, in just about everything she had said, and the truth had landed on her side of things.
"For a man who has just driven his own demons back into the darkness, you sure are looking quite displeased my friend." Mr. Montoya rumbled in rich, verbose tones as he slid his considerable bulk into the seat across from Raven's own perch.
"I have simply cast the most minor of evils back into the pit my friend, the true darkness, which has fed the little one, is still out there and it is still looking." Raven whispered back to him with a sigh.
"Is that not enough?" His friend asked of him with a dark and worried expression that reflected the deep concerns still present in Raven's own heart. "For all that we and those like us have every reason to be just a little wiser than others, ignorance is universal. You, my friend, ventured straight into the darkness without hesitation, you have learned things and brought back proof enough to save many others. Is that not enough?" He asked Raven, patting the thick stack of documents and files Raven had taken with him when he had left the Weslyn building. Dr. Ronen's mind had been most helpful in locating all manner of internal governmental top secret documents, lists of 'enlisted personnel', and otherwise the kinds of things a professional blackmailer would simply salivate over. If even one sliver of paper from that stack of documents were to be put into the hands of a reporter brave enough to face down the trouble sent his way, it would easily become the scandal to end all scandals. Raven knew that fact well, having had plenty of time to read through a chunk of the documents during his long recovery. The many far flung languages and dialects had made it slow work, but he still knew things that could rattle people to their cores. And with Mr. Montoya's vast circles of contacts, it would take but one word from Raven to bring down doom and destruction upon those who would use them for their own ends. Even still, he knew in his heart that would only be a temporary solution, because the chaos that would spread if they revealed the truth would cost millions of people their lives.
"But I will never be safe.. and as long as this is the truth, none of those I care about will be safe either. I might have had a victory here today, but I have put all of you at risk to do so." Mr. Montoya gave him a worried look, as if he hadn't quite had the time to think about that particular point. "I believed her.. when she said she didn't like what was going on. And I believed her when she said they were trying to protect me from something worse. If I hadn't known that in here.." Raven thumped his chest over top of his heart to emphasize his point. "I would never have given the signal, I would have let them take me, and then at least all of you would know what would happen to them, and they would warn everybody else. What would have happened if we had tried that with 30-40-50 marines with automatic rifles?"
"Aye.." Mr. Montoya agreed darkly at that shared image of heavily armed troops busting in through the door and dragging Raven away.
"I went to the Weslyn building for the right reasons, but that doesn't make what I did the right thing by any means, my old friend. We might know for certain it's a trap, but that neither puts us at any less risk, nor does it do anything to bring an end to the problem." Raven muttered to him, rambling as his troubled state was given an outlet and his mind was free to work through everything else. "Not to channel Spock or anything, but logic dictates that the strong must protect the weak in order for all to survive."
"That's sounds.. quite ominous.." He commented to Raven in return.
"Well nothing is going to change unless someone is willing to stand up to the monsters and idiots who are behind this travesty. Anyways, having me around is only going to encourage the bigger demons to look closer at all of you. I want all of you to stay safe.. while I go off and do the dumb thing once again." Raven told him, slapping his friend on the arm before shifting to his feet to make a quiet, quick, and discrete exit. On the outside, he was almost immediately aware of a feeling of being watched, and even though the first time had annoyed him endlessly, this time, in some small way, it felt like just a tiny chunk of luck. His feet stopped while his head turned, seeking out the source of the feeling. He quickly located a car half a block down and on the far side of the street, and could see the two shadows in the front seats. As he changed directions and walked right towards them, it was almost easy to see and sense the sudden rise of panic and fear as the car's occupants argued animatedly over whether they should start the car and run him down as part of an escape plan, or pretend to be innocent of everything. Neither reaction won out over the other, at least not until he was actually standing at the driver's side window, which made both men sit statue like in their seats and stare ahead rather comically while a giant figure hovered over their windshield. Finally, after Raven had knocked on the driver's window twice, they got the hint that he wasn't going away and the window dropped so that he could address them.
"You work for those three we chased out of the restaurant this afternoon, yes?" Raven demanded of them calmly.
"Uh.." The driver muttered, clearly trying to come up with a lie and by not doing so proved his guilt beyond a doubt. His partner, on the other hand, was smart enough to see the doubting, slightly annoyed expression on Raven's face and smacked his companion on the arm in frustration.
"Yes, sir." He replied, leaning over the seat to peer up at him. "We were just told to follow you.. you know, to make sure you got home safe.."
"Well, congratz boys.." Raven stated, opening the back door of the car before swinging himself into the seat. "You've succeeded in capturing me. Now if you would please take me to one of your safe-houses, hide-outs, or jail cells not inside the Weslyn building, I'd rather not meet the doctor or the general twice in my life time." Neither one of them was entirely sure how to handle the situation, much less confident that combined they had the man power to forcibly eject him from the car. So in the end, the driver started the car, pulled away from the curb and entered the evening flow of city traffic, while his partner had many muttered conversations over the phone.