bitten_notshy | Coroner's Office, Bristol, Sunday Evening (Reply)

Mitchell	To say Mitchell wasn't looking forward to having this conversation would be an understatement. To say he'd rather not be doing it with Jack's fabled vampire looking over his shoulder was another, but he did need the back-up. He wasn't going to make Jack or George come with him on this one. Actually, he'd prefer it if neither Jack nor George really found out what was going on here. It was... cleaner, that way. He stalked into the coroner's office, and thankfully found the man still lurking about.
Sebastien	Meanwhile, Sebastien was vaguely insulted at being considered back-up to a vampire he saw as barely more than a fledgling. But he agreed with Mitchell that it was far better he go than that Jack -- or George, for that matter -- get it into his head to follow along. The things he did for that boy continued to astound him. Mitchell knew the coroner, so he'd let him have the first word. He just hoped Mitchell had something resembling a plan.
Mitchell	Sorry, Sebastien. But Mitchell had never really been a rule-follower to begin with, and matters of age meant only so much to him. Especially considering that Sebastien's lifespan seemed mindbogglingly impossible to begin with. "Two days ago, a DOA came into the hospital," he said, because he wasn't actually really thinking of that at all. He paced further into the office. "The pathologist said the cause of death was a heart-attack, but the police weren't satisfied, so they applied for a second post-mortem." He leaned against the wall, watching the man as he went about his business. "Which you approved."
Coroner Quinn	The coroner looked up. "And?"
Mitchell	"He was killed by a vampire," Mitchell replied. Simply.
Coroner Quinn	"I know." The coroner did not seem ruffled.
Mitchell	Which was incredibly worrying in its own right. Mitchell's voice might have dropped a little low in response. "I thought we were clear," he said, struggling with the tension in himself. "The pathologist does what he can, but if it gets bumped up, you kill it."
Sebastien	"I think what he's trying to ask," Sebastien interjected, before Mitchell decided to get his fangs out and settle this in some worryingly final way, "is why the process changed on this case." Which was something he'd like to know too, as it happened.
Coroner Quinn	The coroner's eyes flicked from one vampire to the next. He did not appear threatened, either. "Things never got 'bumped up'," he said, slowly. "Herrick's kept thing away from my desk."
Mitchell	"Herrick's gone," Mitchell said, crossing his arms. He did emphatically not look at Sebastien, if simply to underscore his own point. "I'm handling this."
Sebastien	Sebastien took a step back and tried to look harmless, not wanting to be perceived as undermining. (He had not, after all, lived his improbably long lifespan by getting into pissing matches with other vampires.) "And you aren't inclined to let this one pass you by," he said, slowly, trying not to worry. Exposure of one vampire kill was one thing in his world, where at least the authorities would pretend to only look for the guilty party. Here, where it was all secret, it might mean -- something else entirely. "Is that it?"
Coroner Quinn	"I haven't seen an envelope coming in from you lot in months," the coroner said. He was leafing idly through a report, though he was clearly starting to feel the tension, too. "What happened to Herrick, anyway?"
Mitchell	"Politics," Mitchell snapped. "What, are you saying you want a raise? Is that it?"
Coroner Quinn	"The deal," said the coroner, with finality, "Is off. I caught a glimpse of what my life would have been like without this." He slapped the file back down. "For ten years I have been abetting the slaughter of fathers, and mothers, and daughters, and sons. Herrick said that your kind were a 'facet of nature'--" He redirected his attention to all the papers on his desk. "--like a tiger, or an earthquake." He pulled his coat off his chair. "You're not," he said. "You're just murderers."
Mitchell	So much self-righteousness. Mitchell stared at him. "You think it's noble, what you're doing?" he asked. "It's suicide. We all have a role-- one slip, one fucking road to Damascus moment, and everything gets exposed." He darted forward, into the coroner's face. "But it won't just be the vampires. It will be everyone."
Sebastien	Sebastien winced. He was no fan of wholesale murder, but at the same time, it seemed as if the system Mitchell was describing was a natural consequence of a society that wanted to deny vampires even existed. (At home, police would have herded Carl into the sun as soon as they found him. That almost seemed preferable.) "How would you explain your own role?" he asked, almost idly as he tried to provide a cool counterpoint to Mitchell's heat. "No one will look the other way when it comes out that you could have said something for a decade and chose not to. It's not any kind of a threat, just a fact."
Coroner Quinn	"I will take my chances with the consequences," the coroner said, shucking his jacket onto his shoulders. He seemed unmoved both by Mitchell's anger and by Sebastien's cold logic. He slipped past the younger vampire, stepping over to Sebastien's side - but only because he had to, to go for the exit. "I want to look my grandchildren in the eye... even if it's just for a day."
Sebastien	Sebastien stepped to the side neatly, shaking his head a bit. He permitted himself enough sarcasm to say "I'm sure they'll be very proud." A feeling of defeat gnawed at him. The coroner was as immovable as a mountain in his self-certainty.
Mitchell	Mitchell watched the man go with equal parts defeat and resignation in his own expression. He couldn't entirely blame the man. Not really. But it meant they had... a sizable problem, now. "Well, that could have gone better," he said, once the room was empty of anyone living.
Sebastien	"It could have gone worse," Sebastien said, and finally let himself close his eyes and feel as exhausted as he was as he leaned against that door. "He wants to go on a crusade. I'd leave town before I took him on." Of course, leaving town tended to be Sebastien's solution for just about everything, so that was more a comment than a suggestion.
Mitchell	"Leaving town isn't going to help anyone if he drives the whole country into a crusade," Mitchell said, with a snort. "All of the Old Ones are running, though, from what I hear." Not that he had any opinions about that. Then again, he wouldn't spent as much time in the army all those years ago if he'd been particularly into the running away option
Sebastien	"We don't get to be old ones by getting dragged into fights with every human with a grudge." So, yes, Sebastien had opinions too. And there were, after all, other countries. He took a slightly twitchy step into the hall. "But if that's not the way -- we need to distract him or get rid of his proof."
Sebastien	Yeah, but what if it was the world, after that? Ivan's words hadn't quite stopped resonating in the back of Mitchell's skull, much as he'd been trying to ignore them. "The latter," he said, following. "The longer that body sticks around, the worse off we'll all be."
Sebastien	"It's been a long time since I robbed a grave." But the sooner it was done, the sooner he could go home. "And Carl?"
Mitchell	"Carl... might need to disappear." He wasn't looking Sebastien in the eye about that. Yet.