OOM - Fiore and DeBlanc

[irish_vagabond]

Cassidy had some time away in Milliways to devise a course of action regarding the so-called angels that wanted Jesse's superpower.

On the night of their second encounter (the night that Cassidy had killed them a second time), Cassidy assured them both that he would impress upon Jesse the importance of their mission so that they could talk things over in a civilized way. Unfortunately, Jesse wasn't listening to him (people tended to not take Cassidy's rambling explanations seriously), and insisted on keeping this thing inside him, whatever it was.

This worried Cassidy. So he decided to go see the angels himself, without Jesse. And maybe, just maybe he could buy Jesse some time.

Late in the afternoon, Cassidy drove the church van over to the Sundowner Motel off the main highway.

The angels were an odd pair. One tall, one small. The tall one had very blue eyes and a Roman nose, the small one was bearded and bald. Both sounded like they came straight out of north London. Funny, that. Being angels and all, they needed to adapt to Texas life, so naturally they had outfitted themselves in Western jackets and cowboy boots. The pale Stetson hats were hung neatly by each twin bed.

"You said you'd bring him to us!" said the tall one, Fiore.

Or was that DeBlanc? No, DeBlanc was the small one.

"No, I said I'd talk to him," Cassidy corrected him as he sat himself down on the corner of one of the beds. "Act as the middleman. An' I have. An' y'know, honestly, he's intrigued. He just wants to know a little bit more about your plan, that's all."

DeBlanc (the small one) sat down on the other bed and sighed. "The plan is simple," he said plainly. "The Preacher comes to us, we remove what's inside of him and take it back with us."

Cassidy pursed his lips and nodded. "Right. Y'know what, I'm gonna write this down. Get on the same page here." He reached over to grab a pen and notepad on the nightstand. "So..." Pen at the ready, he cleared his throat. "What's inside him, exactly?"

"We can't say." DeBlanc had a very calm and professional air about him.

"I see. But you'll remove it how?"

Fiore replied, "Cut him open!"

And he pointed to the massive chainsaw on the floor by his bed.

"With a chainsaw?" said Cassidy, his eyebrows shooting up. So that's what these blokes were trying to do that first night in the church.

"Right," said DeBlanc. "Although, we could try to draw it out with a song again."

"Song?" Cassidy asked, perplexed and intrigued.

DeBlanc smiled serenely. "'Wynken, Blynken and Nod.' His favorite."

Cassidy wrote this down. "Mmm. 'Wynken, Blynken and Nod.' Yeah, that sounds great. I just-- I think he'll prefer that to the saw, I'll be honest."

"We scoop it out," DeBlanc continued, "and get it back into its domicile--"

He indicated an object on the nightstand, and Cassidy, without missing a beat, took note of this too.

"Because it lives inside a coffee can..."

It was totally an old coffee can.

"--Put it back into its domicile, take it home where it belongs, and that is the plan."

Cassidy looked over his scribbled notes so far, and regarded the two men with a thoroughly impressed expression as he tried to work out all the angles in his head. He wasn't much closer to finding out what was inside Jesse, but at least now he knew that it definitely came from Heaven and that it was removable. Somehow.

"That is just-- that's brilliant," he said. "That's a really interesting plan." DeBlanc looked pleased with the praise. "So, you're from Heaven, right?"

"That's right," Fiore mumbled, glancing down and away. He seemed disappointed in himself for having revealed it in the first place.

"An' so you're angels, right?"

Fiore kind of grimaced as he exchanged a look with DeBlanc. Neither man said anything, but DeBlanc nodded as Fiore sat down beside him, looking glum.

Cassidy went on, "Okay. But you aren't-- look, no offence, but as far as angels go, you're not actually-- you two aren't in charge, are you?"

DeBlanc snickered and they both shook their heads as if the question was the most absurd thing they'd heard all day. It probably was.

"No, no, no, no," DeBlanc assured him, still smiling. It really was funny. "Not at all."

Cassidy chuckled as well, because of course they weren't in charge! Oh, what a silly question. He jotted this down, too, then tore the sheet of paper off and stuffed it and the pen into his pockets.

"Right, this's all been really helpful," he said genially, before leaning forward with an elbow on his knee. "So: payment. What's the offer?"

Both DeBlanc and Fiore stared at him, amusement gone.

"'Payment'?" said DeBlanc. "As in money?"

Cassidy sighed, sounding very serious, very serious indeed. "Jesse has a weakness for controlled substances, all right?" he explained. Very serious. "China white, black beauties, reds, blues. Opiates are a particular weakness. But a great honkin' armful of drugs, it just-- it'd really help close the deal here, boys. D'you know what I mean?"

Silence. More staring.

"Or money will do."

Slowly, doubtfully, DeBlanc reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. Cassidy took it and riffled through it, finding a big wad of twenties and fifties.

"I'll just take the whole lot," he said quite reasonably before handing the emptied wallet back to DeBlanc and making a beeline for the door.

"Well, where are you going?" Fiore asked, getting to his feet.

"You need to bring him to us," DeBlanc reminded Cassidy.

"Yeah, but I can't bring him to you without leaving, can I?" he replied.

DeBlanc demanded in his cool and collected way: "When will you be back?"

Cassidy looked shifty.

"...Soon?"

Fiore took two long strides toward Cassidy, stern and tight-lipped. "Be specific."

"...Very soon?"

The angels would have to trust him.

"See you in a bit!"

Cassidy opened the door, looked both ways, and ducked out.

"I don't trust him," said Fiore.

Before they even reluctantly decided that they had no choice but to do so, Cassidy had already hopped into the church van and was driving away.