Ellie's skin buzzed with the aftermath of Morgan's contact even as her lips curved into a tight smile of controlled contempt. None of them really understood what was going on, none of them had seen what she had seen. Still dizzy from the prematurely terminated spell she headed into the house, her sinuses tensing from the sudden dark dustiness of the interior. The place fairly reeked of Power, old rituals but still potent hung in the air dancing on her witch senses like rain on a tin roof.

As she stepped across the threshold, Kennedy came rushing down the stairs with an armful of first aid supplies. A stab of pain at the loss of her well stocked medical bag ran through her as the lawyer reached the floor.

 "I know some basic first aid, but if someone with more experience could help, that would be great. After, we'll have to talk about what else I saw in the house," she declared. Ellie nodded mechanically, giving herself a moment to order her cascading thoughts. Malone didn't seem to be in immediate danger but that was no guarantee. 

"Talk to me," Ellie told Kennedy, steering her by her motion towards where Madeline Holt lay mumbling quietly to herself.  Kneeling beside Madeline Ellie lay a gentle hand on the womans forehead, then touched the womans pulsing artery, feeling the erratic thrum of blood beneath her fingertips. It was fast an arythmic to her touch, Ellie frowned darkly at Morgan's arrogance. She should have known better than to disrupt a spell so complicated. Whatever had possessed the woman, normally one of the steadier of her subbordinates, to do such a thing. Perhaps, Ellie thought, it was more to do with Morgan than it was with her. And Leon, did he really think 'things had been undercontrol'? Dear Goddess, Malone had been stabbed in the neck and it was only by the grace of fate that Manny's bullets had done the job.

"Are you ok?" The words dragged Ellie back into the moment and she realized Kennedy had been speaking to her. 

"Tell me what you found," Ellie said, wiping Madeline's face with a sanitary wipe to remove the vomit that still clung to her lips. Then, carefully she pressed her fingers lightly against Madeline's temples.

[i]Eleanor. I'm here Madeline. I was so scared. I know. Someone broke our connection. Who. It dosen't matter I'm back now. Will you stay with me? I can't Madeline. Please I don't want to be afraid anymore. It will be better this time, I promise. Please...[/i]

The mental conversation took only a heartbeat and as Ellie lifted her fingers from the other woman and her breathing visibly relaxed, sighing into unconsciousness. The taste of violets flooded Tregellan's mouth as she closed the spell correctly, smoothing the ragged edges of the earlier disconnection. There was damage done to Madeline's mind, neuromancy was like a drug, particularly if the victim was scared or traumatized bot of which were true of Holt. Still the woman had said she was willing to do anything to get to the bottom of her sisters death hadn't she? Ellie might need her again and once the connection had been made it was easy to reestablish.


...Meanwhile...

"That is not good enough," the speaker declared in a voice that could etch glass. He was a tall powerful man with a handsome open face. The years had been kind to him, touching his black hair with the faintest trace of silver at the temples. His subordinate, a younger man in a business suit with a sky blue tie and a small silver crucifix pinned to the lapel, shifted uncomfortably.

"I spoke with Tom Wade in Chicago and he says there isn't much on them," The subordinates voice was steady although slightly tightened with the strain of bringing bad news to the Pastor. The subordinate, like all those who had received grace, didn't feel fear as such but to displease the Pastor was a worse fate than death. 

On the ornate desk of polished wood a handful of personal items sat, along with glossy full page surveillance photos of each of the interlopers, both of which had been acquired from the airport. In central pride of place was an expired FBI badge identifying an Agent Blackwood. 

"Blackwood appears to have some connection to the FBI, its not a forgery, though Tom said that the first female FBI agents werent commissioned until the mid 80s. There was some older black programs though, out of the old Office of Naval Intelligence, that went underground with the Church committee." The subordinate tapped another photo as he spoke.

"Sadhbh Malone former FBI profiler, officially removed for misconduct, might be partnered with Blackwood. The other woman Tregellan, has some connections to the CIA but its hard to tell if they are more than social." The Pastor's frown was deepening with each passing moment.

"What about the others?" The Pastor asked spreading the photos of the remaining team members before him.

"Kennedy Carter, a lawyer until fairly recently. Manny Rockerfeller, Leon Smith, both ciphers, not much on them." Real anger showed on the Pastor's face for the first time.

"Damnit there must be something, tax returns, parking tickets?" The Pastor was on his feet now stalking back and forth.

"All filed as contractors working for a shell corporation, some of the people in accounting are trying to get to the bottom of it." The Pastor strolled over to the window and peered out into the gathering evening. 

"Very well, we must assume they are some sort of FBI black team. Get some people over to the old Lachallan Sanctum, we need to acquire the sister at all costs. If the feds really are sniffing around, then we need to move up our timeline. Begin gathering the faithful for Service."

"Yes Father," the Subordinate all but purred as he strode purposefully from the room his face split in a rapturous grin.