"Did you get your deal made?" came the firm question that actually made Geshp jump as he returned to SPEAR's offices.
"Wha..." Geshp managed a startled gasp as he jumped up and back, as the voice came out of nowhere in the relatively darkened room. The only lights were from a few small ones that gave off a low and steady hum, something that really channeled the "old government offices" that SPEAR had gotten to operate out of. The devil never fully understood the nature of the bureaucracy that most others put into their governing structures, particularly with groups like the humans, who often put weaklings or senile old men in positions of power.
As his vision came into focus, they settled on the Hawaiian woman that was for all intents and purposes running a lot of the day-to-day operations at SPEAR. Director McMillan came in occasionally for reports on operations that were ongoing before the Hunters decided to get their religious panties in a twist over a law enforcement agency trying to enforce the law, or at least secure information, but the efforts to learn and essentially befriend the Morelands being betrayed by that had hurt her. It was enough that Sarah was spending most of her time with her human mother and was too afraid to go to the fae realm, suspecting that Sarathea the Uniter was essentially dead to the fae outside of Queen Glitter. That left Aoloa handling a lot of the day-to-day work, managing things from the copies of the diaries the Hunters hadn't found and providing what she could based on her experience with Queen Glitter's intelligence services. It was a lot of that that had played into some of the ongoing operations and what Geshp had just been sent on.
"Give me a little warning next time," Geshp answered, "I didn't expect you to be waiting for me."
"Things are tough as they are," Aoloa answered, "we have a situation where one boy is seriously wounded by a vampire attack, which has triggered a blood feud on one side, and all of it with little singular reason. I've been no detective... or at least no traditional one, but I would suspect that Director McMillian is correct in her assessment that Hannibal's attack on Connor Moreland is not all it appears to be."
"And you and the Director hold that it was the Normal who was responsible," Geshp answered.
"They would be the only ones that would have any logical reason to trigger such actions," Aoloa nodded, "essentially weaken all their perceived enemies... The Vampires who won't like someone like the Normal moving on them at some point. The good wizards that don't like the abuse of magic that dark wizards will engage in. The Hunters out of their own paranoia about the vampires, and likely also finding that breaking a centuries old alliance with the fae is going to hurt them as much as it has hurt the fae, given how close the two have worked. The fae between previous attacks on them and the economic loss from what the Hunters have done... though, from some things, Queen Glitter has at least staved off revolution and that the fae's support for the Director hasn't changed all that much..."
"I'm sure the Director will be glad to hear that," Geshp put on as good of a smile as he could manage, still trying to get over being startled on his return.
"That won't change the overall situation and the danger the Normal pose," Aoloa spoke with narrowed eyes, "and you know it."
"I was just trying to be polite," Geshp countered.
"And thinking over games of your own is "polite?" Is it?" Aoloa's eyes remained focused on him.
"Hey, you approved the idea," Geshp countered again, "and they already think I was betraying SPEAR with it as well..."
That brought a confident smile to Aoloa's face and made some of Geshp's unease with the present confrontation go down. The deal to deal with Rick was his own, but it wasn't something that he was entirely able to hide, at least from Aoloa who had likely picked up on some of his scheming when the idea first came to him.
"So, you DID get the deal made, shook hands and everything?" Aoloa asked.
"Yes," Geshp answered, "though... I'm still at a bit of a loss on the spell you cast that mingled with my own abilities..."
"Evidence," Aoloa answered, "we suspect that the Normal has been behind these events, and from there we draw a conclusion that they ultimately have something big in the works... but suspicion and evidence are not the same thing. And in our current state, thanks to Nina Moreland... the ONLY ones that could help us defeat the Normal currently believe WE are helping the vampires attack their family... And so, as with the deep cover missions we're running, that spell combined with your abilities will get us a way in. Get the evidence we need to essentially show the Morelands that we didn't betray them... that might give us the opportunity to get at least an informal team to stop the Normal WHEN they make their move."
"Of course, it could turn up that this won't generate the proof the Director would want to restore what friendship was there," Geshp warned, "the Hunters generally tend to be pretty set in their ways once they make a decision. Sorta what happens with people seeing themselves as soldiers in a war that's gone on for centuries."
"Even if the spell doesn't provide us with a route to get evidence in the Normal being linked to the attack on Connor Moreland," Aoloa answered with a shrug, "it may still give us some access to information on what the Normal's overall plan is and allow those of us that remain with SPEAR to put a stop to SPEAR's plan... and THAT may also gain the information needed. Either way... the spell will let us listen in and record anything that Casseus is involved in Normal operations. They may detect the presence of the spell or some of its energy... BUT because of your abilities and the deal made..."
"They can't remove it," Geshp said slowly.
"Or will assume that we're even weaker than we are with you going "rogue" as it were," Aoloa answered, "and is all the better part of intelligence work. One way or the other... we'll get the information needed on the Normal to put a stop to them... both through you and the others we have sneaked in as undercover agents."
Aoloa, however, didn't mention that intelligence work was never easy. She'd had enough experience to be smart with it, but that experience for the fae court had also been enough to know that they could do everything right and still have agents compromised. The only thing they could hope for was that the Normal was wasting valuable time while its enemies were either weak or divided. A part of her really wondered as to why the Normal hadn't launched a massive attack on their targets within a matter of hours after the Hunters left SPEAR and the Morelands accused them of siding with a vampire plot. All of the Normal's enemies were weak and divided at that point, and some like the Vampires and the Hunters, who might otherwise be allies against the Normal were likely staring each other down. It made logical sense for the Normal to be ready and strike within a matter of hours while their enemies were weak and divided. By the time that anyone realized they'd been tricked, it would be too late. Yet, the Normal HADN'T made any major move, yet, and that only puzzled Aoloa more.
She could only hope that the Normal was running into some other planning issues that was delaying things for them and thus giving Sarah time to recover and regain her confidence and for the Normal's other enemies to possibly stumble onto something that would also reveal the Normal's involvement.
"Thank you for your report, Geshp," Aoloa said to him, "try not to cause trouble."
Geshp nodded and made his way out.