"Message for you, sir!" Mike voice echoed throughout the lab as soon as he got it.

Vinny pushed himself away from the computer terminal and looked over at a few things that were percolating on the table. "Just patch it through over the speakers. Anything that needs to be printed out can be forwarded to here. Who's it from anyways?"

If a computer could grin, he'd have been pulling an ear to ear one right now. "Looks like it's an Avengers mission. You're going to love this one. Should keep you occupied for a little while."

"Or it'll drive me nuts and I'll be drinking a lot afterwards to forget it all." Drumming his fingers as he waited, the printer began to cough out the information. Perusing it slowly, he shook his head. "Cripes. They're going to stick me with these guys? Looks like I know who's going to be the brains of this operation. Mike, send out a message to them, through normal channels. Have them get in contact with me as soon as possible and we'll start coming up with a plan."

"Sure thing, boss. Would you like a cookie while you're waiting?"

"Very funny. Just get to work, before I decide you're better off to me as scrap parts."

Arctos did not receive the message in his massive bear form, but his human bearer did. He came to the door cloaked and hooded, spoke quietly and sparingly, and when the courier was gone read both messages aloud to the cadre of monks who had been training him these past few seasons.

"Babylon's Blood," the man sighed, moving to a corner table to pack his pipe with tobacco. He could tell he would spend the rest of his day sitting, thinking, and planning -- just as well to get an early start. "Our people do not know this place already?"

"We do not, Captain," one of the monks murmured with his head bowed in deference and apology.

"We will," the bearer of Arctos assured them. "Find out where this place is, and if our connections have any property within sight of it... or perhaps something is abandoned, or available for, ah, lease."

"We will see it done, Captain."

"Very good. And dispatch a message to Vincent Smith at once, I would like to meet with him at his earliest convenience. This is a busy club in the middle of an urban area... The potential for collateral is very high. We must be careful, and make plans to the last detail."

"Our assigned target will prove problematic for our abilities."

Jin Eternity and Kersh Caliber sat across from each other at a table in a small building in the city: the Seraphim Knights' headquarters. It was really a very simple place. They didn't do much in there. There was the computer and the filing cabinets in one corner, a door leading to a small supply room in another, then a round table in the center of the room with a couch off to the side. The computer was hooked up to a projector mounted on the ceiling, pointed at a blank, undecorated wall. On the front of the building, a simple drop box for mail and the like was mounted beside the door. It deposited into a small box inside, sitting on a small table beside the door.

The envelope in which the two Knights' first mission as Avengers came was set on the table, its contents now in the Knights' hands. Jin sighed exasperatedly and dropped the one piece of paper he had, the mission addressed specifically to him, on the table.

"No kiddin'. Risks fer collateral damage alllll 'round. I gotta be careful what I hit, and not ta hit it too hard, and you gotta be careful wit' yer guns. Yer explosives're pretty much out."

"Indeed. It seems that the entire team carries extra risk for collateral damage." Kersh's sakura eyes continued to peruse the multiple papers in his hands. He'd finished with his own assignment, and now read the bits of correspondence, mostly from The Bonecrusher. "We have an infiltrator who will gather information on the target."

"Oh? Who?" Jin sat with his feet on the table, and his hands behind his head, tilted back. Kersh could see beneath the lenses to his closed eyes, one of which opened up to reveal leaf green irises peering at him.

"The Bonecrusher."

"That orc guy?" An eyebrow lifted. Kersh responded with nothing more than a nod, and Jin stroked his chin. "Y'know, that's actually a really great idea. Ya usually wouldn't peg an orc ta be a good guy."

"I agree." Subtly stated, with another small nod. "I will send him a letter to let him know what to look for." He rose from his chair, pushed it in, and started to the computer.

"Do we already have any info on these guys?" Jin rose too, and started after Kersh without bothering to push in his own chair.

Kersh seated himself before the computer, and started typing several queries into a terminal window, all which returned with no results. "We have no info on them. Perhaps the Avengers will have more info."

"Yeah, I'll see if I can get a connection to their database set up over here so we can share info." Jin then started to the door to presumably do just that. Meanwhile, Kersh started the word processor and began typing. There wasn't much to type, at least for now.

--- --- ---

Bonecrusher:

Take note of the general size and layout of the establishment, what kind of weaponry and abilities our adversaries have as well as their numbers, and what kind of traps and other anti-intruder measures are in place.

-- Kersh Caliber

And so the would-be-hero made his daily trek to the market with the ruse he had to have his donut and ice cream fix, even at midnight and after. The guy had a way of getting into places and some how, no matter when he went he was able to produce said donut and icecream cone, or other frozen confection, to prove what he was doing. Every time the men at the *Club* would check him.

He could smell them a mile away, though, and was careful to make sure they weren't around to see him mess with the loose brick. It took him a few weeks before they trusted him enough to just check and leave rather then hang around until he left. He even got them their own donut and ice cream on a few occassions and they came to trust him.

Finally the day came when he was able to deal with the brick and leave a note.

Note:Me got job there. New stock on Tuesdays and Thursdays nights. Sometimes Wenziday after sun begin it fall from sky, some time when sun dies time. Me forgot to look at clock.Sorry. me do betters next time. Me help clean bodies for sale on weak ends. Me like new job. Pretty women some like ruff scrub too. They not like orc lines. They clean and nice, do favor for back scrubs. Some want be slave. Theys a few boobie trips, minor stuff around place and fence lines. Easy cut wires. Some big guns on roof, shoot lots of bullets fast. Me thinks four cause none for my thumb. Just fingers on one hands. Theys got gurds more then my hands but not my toes. More on weekends, need more then I gots on hands and feet. So they heavy guarded then and theys got magik mizzles, stick that shoot glowing bullets they don't miss. Sure hopes you get it. Let me know. Try to be more better next times. What else you need to no?

Yep, Dorag was enjoying this job way too much. He licked his icecream after putting the note into the brick and carefully sliding the brick back in place so as not to damage it or leave marks.