1151/Sanguine

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Sanguine
Date of Scene: 25 June 2017
Location: Scarsdale, a suburb of NYC
Synopsis: Romance blooms after Winifred Burkle proves she's a force to be reckoned with when a group of vampires take Sam Winchester hostage.
Cast of Characters: Sam Winchester, Winifred Burkle




Sam Winchester has posed:
When Sam makes promises he does live up to them. That's why Fred gets a call.

"Fred," he begins. "I just left the morgue in Scarsdale. There's a good chance there's a vampire nest out here. I haven't done anything yet except asking around, but...well. I did promise you I'd call you. I'll probably call Dean too actually, on this one, I think they might be in some key pos--"

And then a strangled sound, and then a lot of scuffle sounds, and some thumps, and grunts, and various other struggle noises. A shout of Sam-like pain...and then...

Call disconnect.

Sam clearly didn't think he needed backup just to verify there was a case at all.

Sam clearly was quite wrong.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred picks up the phone call when she sees that it's Sam on the other line. She's behind the desk at Angel Investigations pouring over a tome in a strange language for a case as she puts the phone to her ear and hits, 'accept'.

"Vampires? Did you bring enough stakes? It's the middle of the night, Sam, you can't even break a window bring in sunlight!" The worry in her voice is clear. The woman straightens when she hears the strangled sound. "Sam?" she asks, through the phone, standing up from her chair. "Sam?!" Her voice is louder, though she already knows something has happened, even before the sound of pain.

Immediately, even before the phone is disconnected, she is through the lobby and tearing open the weapons cabinet. She grabs a crossbow and multiple bolts as well as a few stakes, which she all packs - rather haphazardly - into a backpack. "Angel, I'm takin' your car, okay? Right? Okay!" She didn't even wait to hear if he heard her - something else to apologize for later.

With her arsenal tightly packed and ready, she tears to Scarsdale and the morgue.

Fred's 'borrowed' car is parked a few blocks away and Fred snags her bag and pulls out the crossbow as she approaches the morgue, sneaking toward the entrance to try and find a feasible entry point.

Sam Winchester has posed:
Sam's car is still there, though someone has closed the door. The phone is under the car, crunched up, if she cares to look. He'll have to replace that. You know. If he lives through the night.

The morgue is a big stone building with burglar bars on the windows. There's no security guard, though the entrance is lit up with buzzing light. It's possible, given the timing, that it was late afternoon when Sam went into look at a body or bodies, but that he got caught up in there talking to someone.

Still, the drag marks say he was dragged right through the front door. Someone hasn't come out to clean up the blood yet, and there is some of that darkening the concrete steps.

There is a back door, an employee entrance, that requires some sort of access card, unlike the front, which does lead into a lobby but is now locked with a standard lock. There might, of course, be some more creative way in, but either way, all of this is hurdle #1.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred knows Sam's car by now and as she studies it, the waifish brunette frowns. The crushed cellphone and blood are easily noted and Fred brings the crossbow into a proper position as she scans the area. Two stakes are already placed in each of her pockets. The crossbow bolts are within easy reload length. She is ready to go.

She sees that the drag marks run right up to the front door and a part of her wishes to storm it, however, she moves toward the employee entrance. It requires a keycard. Should she have any other means to enter quickly, she would take it. However, Sam has been inside for far too long. They could have eaten him or turned him by now. The thought spurs her forward. Aiming the crossbow right at the keycard mechanism, she fires the bolt right at it. Even as it recoils, she fitting another crossbow bolt and preparing to open the door and slip inside. That probably made noise, but she doesn't care. She's also assuming that will work.

Sam Winchester has posed:
The noise it makes is mostly 'fizzzzt!' A few sparks fly to hit the concrete, and the heavy door swings open.

They ought to expect back up, or rescue, but maybe they're pretty over-confident.

The entire place is an institutional color. Off-yellow concrete block walls. Linoleum yellow-green flooring. The smell of formaldhyde drifts to Fred's nose, even here in the breakroom, which is where she's emerged choosing the 'shoot the keycard reader' route. There's an old Coke machine with a buzzing flickering electric light behind the reddened cover. It asks $1.50, but over half the offerings are Out Of Stock. A coffee machine has been left on; the coffee is burning. People appear to drink it out of styrofoam cups.

The hallway outside turns either to the left or to the right. She can't hear anyone moving around.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Having lived with a vampire for a bit, Fred knows that they can be quite stealthy. They also have quite a bit of a photographic memory and an intense sense of smell. So, she is not attempting to stealth through these hallways. If they are paying attention, they know she is here. She also has no time to do more than cursory looks through hallways and doors as she moves her way through. She's looking for a certain tall Moose of a Winchester and she's not stopping till she finds it.

Through the formaldehyde and the burnt coffee, she makes her way through, crossbow up and ready as she uses it much like Sam might a gun. It is first around corners, it is always kept up and forward. She's ready to stake some vampires should they attack her or should she come across them attacking Sam Winchester.

The physicist makes her way toward the front of the building. Now that she's inside, she attempts to track where they might have taken the wayward Winchester.

Sam Winchester has posed:
The building isn't that large. She passes a sort of cubicle hell before finding her way to the steel double doors leading to the morgue and autopsy chambers. There is a blood stain that starts up there at cubicle hell; they would have had to take him through the lobby, through the front office, through the employee desks and then...in here.

But when she passes through the double doors...

There is a body on the examining table, the Y-incision livid, uncovered. It's not Sam, though she can see the puncture marks in his throat. It's a young man about Sam's age, though, blonde and handsome, once.

Cold steel drawers.

No sign of a moose.

Except...there is a big safe of some kind that has no discernable purpose. Most morgues don't have them. Keycode lock. Close examination shows there is a bootprint on the edge, just a little bit of one, like someone who was being dragged woke up and started kicking right about then. It's black rubber scuffmark there, but it's there. And her memory of the layout of the building and the size of it versus the interior says...yep. That's probably a hidden entrance. It might well go //down//...and that might explain why nobody has bothered her yet.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred sweeps through the double doors, hands clutched to the crossbow as she does so. Her eyes take in the morgue and the autopsy chambers. There's no sign of Sam, but she notices the body on the examining table. A Y-incision can mean little to a vampire should he be turned. And so Fred quietly and swiftly moves to the blonde man with puncture wounds on his neck. Pulling a stake form her pocket, she stabs downward to where his heart should be - anticipating him turning to ash.

Instead, the stake sinks downward slightly - not enough to penetrate the heart - but there is no movement, no sign of vampirism. She just staked a corpse. There's a moment of horror as she quickly plucks the bloodless stake from the corpse's chest. Then, she tucks it back in her pocket. "I'm sorry," she tells the blonde body softly, emphatically. "Gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm just, this is a delicate situation and I needed to make sure. I didn't mean to let you get caught up in the middle of it!" she apologizes to the unhearing corpse. There's a complete sincerity in her quiet apology, too. She truly means it and feels bad that she staked a corpse.

However, there are other things that need to be taken care of. And so, she reaches the scuff mark and the big safe. This has to be something. The woman looks at the keycode lock, pushing back her horror. Taking a moment to look at the numbers on the keypad, she can tell which ones have been pushed the most often. Using that... "there is code of elimination," she mutters to herself. "The finger pattern first used is the most worn, everything after is up for debate, so looking at this and knowing the state of this more it should probably be..." she taps in the numbers in a sequence.

Sam Winchester has posed:
The light on the safe turns from red to green with a soft 'beep!'

The heavy door swings open. There's a long staircase, metal, black, heading down.

Sam's still alive. She can tell, because someone just did something to make him cry out in pain.

Someone else laughs. "A man this size could feed us for months. Excellent catch."

Another voice, darker. "I'm telling you. Someone's coming for him. You're being reckless."

A third voice. "Actually..."

Snapped fingers. "I'm counting on it."

The corpse wasn't a vampire.

But the person who suddenly zooms up the stairs towards Fred with preturnatural speed most definitely is. He's wearing a Sherrif's uniform. He's wielding a billy club. Said club is coming right for her face.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The light turns from red to green. Fred brings up the crossbow as it beeps. She knows that if Sam and the vampires are down there, they'll immediately be alerted to the fact that she is coming.

The words she can hear down the tunnel make her eyebrows furrow and her grip on the crossbow tighten. The vampire in the sheriff's uniform is given the full brunt of the crossbow. She holds it forward steadily - a woman used to dealing with vampires and danger - and without a word pulls the trigger, aiming for the heart. A hand is already going for another bolt in case she either misses or needs another one. Her head ducks, she's ready for the puff of dust that accompanies vampires that are properly staked.

"Vampires!" She calls out down the hallway, as they already know she's there. "Leave him alone or I will stake each and every one of you."

Sam Winchester has posed:
There is indeed a big puff of dust as her shot flies true. The billy club hits the steps. It bounces-- CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! down every single one of them. It hits the ground.

There is utter silence for a moment. From the vampires, anyway. There's a fair amount of sort of continuous soft pain gasping from Sam, but it doesn't seem like anyone is actively hurting him right this second.

The first voice drawls out, bored, "Well, you'll have to come down here, little girl, to do it. Four on one. I'm not sure I like your odds. But you're welcome to come dance."

They aren't going to rush out to meet her now. Now? They're going to make her come to them.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
There's a bit of a furrowed brow and the pain they are putting Sam in. Fred was already prepared for vampires when she arrived due to Sam's message. Unfortunately for those vampires, they are left without an answer for long minutes. After crossbolting the vampire in front of her, she takes the clanging of the billy club down the stairs to run back upstairs.

It's a morgue and a medical facility. There are a ton of wooden tongue depressors for multiple reasons held there. She grabs a handful. Using her knee, she splits them all in half in one go. Then, she pulls out a bag used for intubation and runs down the stairwell again. She has ignored the threat of the vampire attempting to tempt her out. Instead, she stuffs a few of the broken tongue depressors into the mouth of the plastic and places it under her arm. Stepping around the corner, she shoves her arm down to release and spray splinters of tongue depressors out and then aims specifically at the speaker with the crossbow.

No matter who or what she hits, she continues forward, with a determination and a fierceness of stake and crossbow.

Sam Winchester has posed:
There are a lot of things the vampires in this world are prepared for.

A tiny physicist MacGuyvering herself an automatic staking weapon out of random medical supplies probably wasn't one of them. And while tounge depressors probably aren't enough to reduce anyone to ash, they are enough to slow them down, produce cries of fury, and, where the splinters touch the heart, to basically create worlds of pain.

She stakes the speaker to ash.

There are three more. A man in medical scrubs, two women who look like they were clerical workers here at the morgue. Two of them //leap// at her with claws and fangs, intent on taking her down now.

There's really no time to catch other details of the room while those two are trying to make Fred very dead.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The distraction was met with the exact amount of confusion and pain that Fred was hoping. The speaker is dusted and the intubation bag is dropped to the ground as she can't make any more surprise little stake daggers now. Her one shot did well but she is not on her own.

She manages to get a crossbow bolt restrung to shoot toward one of the those leaping toward her. It's haphazard shot and she's not sure if it will actually hit. As security, she gives a cry of her own and pulls a stake out, holding it up. If one of those vampires attempt to land on her, they will land on her stake first. This is Fred in full battle mode. She is no berserker or fighter, but she has smarts and tactics. She's, also, determined to use them to save Sam Winchester from being used as a blood bag for multiple months or - worse - turned to a vampire.

Sam Winchester has posed:
She is showered in the dust of her kills. Two down, just like that, her battle mode more than enough to ensure their deaths.

Now she can see the fourth and final one. He's the smart one in the room. It's the one who was dressed in scrubs.

Sam has been making those noises because they've hung him upside down, the better to force blood to his neck so they can use him as a sort of keg. Blood dribbles down his neck and across his face, on into his hair in a garish display. His good hand has been thoroughly accounted for, as he's tied by the wrist to a ring in the floor just as he's tied by the ankles to the ring in the ceiling. This seems to kind of be their thing. Broken arms were never meant to dangle uselessly like that, with the cast providing a weight that's wrenching the limb at an awkward angle.

The final one has a wicked long knife pressed to Sam's stomach, as that's the more natural thing to reach given his current position.

Sam, for his part, is staring at Fred like she's some sort of gorgeous destruction goddess, like he's scared-- for both of them-- and like he's not sure he's staring at the same Fred he met at that demon infested house, the girl with the giant book and the slightly dippy air who didn't entirely seem to know what she was doing...for all that her pronuncation was perfect.

"Is this yours?" the vampire asks, pressing the tip of the blade a little harder against Sam's body. It leaves a line in his shirt, exposing some of the skin beneath. "Because if it is, I think we're at an impasse. I want to live. I presume you want Gigantor here to live."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred, now covered in the dust of the smarter vampire's colleagues, splutters. It cuts her bad ass entrance a bit, but she does not seem to care. Pushing herself up, the crossbow is pushed upward toward him again, a crossbow slung into the proper place and aimed straight at his heart.

Dusted in vampire, determined, Winifred Burkle stands and looks the vampire straight in the eye with a narrowed and suspicious look. "That depends." For now, she has not looked at Sam. It might cause her to give up a bit of her bargaining ship; she might just show exactly how she is not willing to negotiate with the life of this strange, tall, long haired but sweet hunter and what might mean to her.

"Sam, are you okay?" is, instead, what she asks, the crossbow still pointed at the vampire with the sword. "You know, other than the obvious. Just, general well being. Other than the upside down and the knife...okay, I'm doing this wrong. How bitey are you feeling?" Did they turn him? Is he okay? How badly did the hurt him?

Sam Winchester has posed:
"I could really use a drink," Sam says, attempting to put on a brave face for her even as she fumbles her way through the question. He figures it will do for a bunch of what she's going for. Is he hurt so badly that he's a traumatized hamster? No. Is he turned? No. Is the being upside down bit fun, at all? No. Is he kind of pissed off at the vampires, and maybe a little embarrassed? Yeah. See, it works for all that.

Also how hot she is to him right now. It works for that too. "Wanna go get one?"

The vampire cocks an eyebrow at her. See? Her giant moose thing is fine. Now what?

Winifred Burkle has posed:
There's a bit of a startled look at Sam's answer. The crossbow bolt is held quite firmly toward the vampire's chest while he threatens Sam with his life and also while Same asks her out. At least, that's what she thinks is happening here.

The raised eyebrow is actually met with a look and then a shrug. Now what? She's not sure. However, as she shrugs, she pulls the trigger on the crossbow. She is certainly hoping it is enough of a surprise that Sam will not be stabbed in the stomach, but even if he is, she will quickly get him to a emergency room: one that does not involve a morgue, too.

Sam Winchester has posed:
Even Sam is shocked. Fred has molton fire running through her veins. But then...she survived 5 years in a Hell dimension. Nobody who survives 5 years in a Hell dimension because they're a creampuff. He again revises his estimate of just how badly he underestimated this woman, and feels...well. Rather like an ass for his condescending, dance in front of her, Must Protect routine.

He gets a big mouthful of dust, and starts coughing and sputtering, reducing his Cool Factor even more than it's already been reduced tonight. The knife falls dangerously close to his nose, but...doesn't get any of his skin as it hits the floor with another clang.

Fred might have seen a split second look of shock on the vampire's face, but he really died so fast that it's kind of tough to tell.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The last vampire dealt with, Fred's demeanor changes quite dramatically. "Sam!" She gasps, dropping the crossbow the ground and running forward to release him from the upside down rope he has found himself in. "They didn't bite you did they?" It's both a question of concern as well as hope that she will not have to put him down as well. "I came as soon as I heard you were in trouble, but," Well, he still was in quite a bit of trouble without her.
Herss Fred attempts to let Sam down, it's entirely possible that the rope just crashes downward and Sam takes a bit of a blow to the head, but Fred is trying to ensure that doesn't happen. Of course, she has a tentative grip on things such as this.

"I was trying to be a bit stealthier. But, you're okay, right?" Stealthy. That doesn't seem right in what she was saying before.

Sam Winchester has posed:
Moving him at all produces some gasps of agony, but he keeps his own head up and does whatever he can to help as she lets him down. But what's one more head injury? He's already had one tonight. He does groan, trying to keep track of her questions through a fresh rush of pain. "Still human," he manages, because they bit him, but...he's still bleeding. And still has plenty of blood inside of him. And still has a broken arm, which probably would have started reversing itself by now if he was turned.

He's heavy. That's the unfun part.

Once she's freed him he sits up, holding his wrist out awkwardly, grimacing at the pins and needles rush that momentarily paralyzes it. His ankles are doing the same trick.

"Thanks," he says. "You were...you were incredible, Fred."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred is...not gentle when she attempts to untie him and bring him back down to the ground. She is not physically strong enough to gently bring Sam down to the ground without a crash. That, unfortunately, is just how it is. However with all the vampires gone and the crossbow dropped on the ground nearby, she attempts to untie all the ropes and restraints of Sam.

"You have to start taking better care, Sam," She tells him, wiht a shake of her head. "Though, I'm glad you called me. Who knows what might have happened otherwise!" Lecture, given by one Fred Burkle.

"You could have been //turned// or eaten!" Fred, clearly, seems to care about this idea. How incredible she is or not is left to the wayside. Instead, she puts a hand up to his cheek, a gentle touch.

"I'm just glad you're okay."

Sam Winchester has posed:
He at least doesn't complain about the crashing, other than to grimace at the pain. But...after awhile pain just sort of piles on pain and endorphins kick in, so he doesn't make much fuss. He instead bears this highly justified lecture with good grace.

She puts her hand on his cheek. He nestles his cheek into the crook of it, finally reaching up with his own broad, large one to hold it there for a moment, closing his eyes. This motion brings up a whole host of complicated emotions...loss, fear of loss, but also the feelings that were already growing, the ones that made him see only her face when he started getting other options.

This is not the kind of woman who is going to die screaming and bleeding in a fire above his head. Or is it? It could happen to anyone. It could happen to him, in fact. He's not so tough that it couldn't.

But Jess was a civilian. Fred isn't.

"I'll take better care," he murmurs solemnly, opening his eyes and staring earnestly into hers. "Promise."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
There is the appropriate amount of attempting to ensure Sam is properly situated evern after the unfortunate drop to the cold ground.

Though. as Sam's cheek rests into her hand, Fred give him a bit of a smile. It's one she cannot help. While she has no idea about his hang ups about women and his fear about theirs supernatural end, she leans forward again. The hand remains there, an anchor.

"Will you?" she asks softly. As she leans down, her forehead rests gently against his. "How do I know you'll take better care?" she asks. It's a teasing question, really. She knows and she hopes that he understands the challenge. But, with the fact that she just had to kill four vampires to ensure his safety, she is not sure he is taking his own life seriously.

Sam Winchester has posed:
A smile flits across Sam's bloodied face, there and gone again. For all that she doesn't know, the anchor seems to be helping, soothing something inside of him that he hasn't expressed. Mostly because they keep meeting under circumstances where they haven't had much...time to...talk. Actually. He should rectify that.

Drinks, for sure.

He could try to come up with something really romantic to say, but what comes out is a soft, teasing, "My terror of your wrath if I don't straighten up and fly right?"

Cause her wrath is pretty damned impressive. Like. Seriously.

But his warm hazel eyes are twinkling for all that.

Her forehead touching to his. He almost goes for a kiss. Until he realizes...he should...really...Listerine the dead bloodsucker out of his mouth...before he goes there.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"That's a song, right?" Fred's heard the words 'straighten up and fly right' before.

Sam's romantic attempts is met with a bit of a raised eyebrow, not dismissed, instead amused. She certainly knows who rescued who here. "You seem pretty at ease for someone that was almost either turned or eaten by vampires," she tells him very seriously, but also softly.

However, forehead pressed against his, she does not mind the breath or the lack Listerine. When Sam tilts his head slightly upward for a kiss, even as he pulls away, Fred chases it.

It's quick, but filled with a passion of killing vampires and saving a man she might not reveal caring about, but does so all the same.