Reaching Out

Date: May 7th
Location: Senlis, France: The Abbey of St. Vincent - (French Abbaye Saint-Vincent de Senlis), was a former monastery of canons regular in Senlis, Oise, which was dissolved during the conflict with Catholicism, the late Cardinal Claudis, Cardinal Tomas de Torquemada and late Pope Torguemada.

Carriage to Elizabeth Ellington's house in Paris

When she reached the old abbey she searched for a second way in. Once she did, she climbed through an open window dropping inside quite as a door mouse and saw the much more haggard doctor nodded off in a chair a cup of steaming liquid still near by.

"Bonsoir Docteur." she said, punctuating it with the click of the hammer going back. "The two of us need to have a chat."

Dr. Jackal was half asleep when he woke up to see a person pointing a gun at him. He almost fell off his chair as he was startled. After blinking a bit to make sure he was awake he slowly replied, “If you are planning to kill me it won’t end well for you and the locals. If you want my money I am flat broke in case you were assuming I am living in luxury.” Dr. Jackal looked exhausted and to tired to care at this point. His face looked like a bum who gave up on life.

Sasha shook her head, "Non non, Docteur, you misunderstand." she gave the gun a little dismissive wave. "Merely a precautionary measure." she said, "I've come with an offer of employment." she told the doctor. "My employer wishes to add you to our ranks, given your skills your value to them is quite high." Sasha explain.

Dr. Jackal looked at the woman for a long moment before he sighed and shook his head before giving her a disappointing smile. It was obviously someone shady who wanted to use his curse to their benefit. Who in their right mind would want a loose cannon close by? So he replied, "I see you waited till we were alone and somewhat away from the public. Smart move. So is the whole place surrounded?" Dr. Jackal leaned his head over to see if anyone's shady was moving out the cracks in the door.

Sasha shook her head. "I am alone." she assured him "It is..." she paused a moment, "It is...hmm..." Lowering the guns angle slightly "What is the word...pragmatic." she said finally figuring out the English for the word. "For me to work alone." she readjusted her aim. "Docteur..." she said her voice getting slightly softer. "Please allow this to go the easy way."

Dr. Jackal rubbed his face and then his hands together as if he was tired and hesitant. Then he asked, "And what if the other Guy says no?"

Sasha gave a small shoulder shrug, giving away her size a bit. "Depends on his reaction, Though..." she patted a large pocket on her coat. "Given what I know, put up a hell of a fight and leave him with enough scars to make him reconsider not joining." Sasha said, "But it is you I am her to speak with not the tag along." she added. Still unsure what to tell him. "I was told to only tell you this if you were becoming overly stubborn but you have the right to know." Sasha paused to see if he was listening. Watching the man's face for reaction she told him one line to see if he'd take the bait. "You left a lot of your research in your lab when you fled." she said.

Dr. Jackal paused as he looked at the woman in awe by her comment. It suddenly dawned on him that he never went back to his lab and all his research was left behind as he escaped England. It was a mere after thought when he woke up covered in blood in ragged clothing. The shock back then was enough to send his mind reeling with mixed extreme emotions. His hands fidgeted as his mind filled with many fragmented and horrific memories. Then he looked at the woman holding the firearm pointed at him and asked, "I am assuming it was picked up by the police......., unless you know something I don't?"

"That is where parts are murky for me." Sasha admitted. "It is unclear who was the outright thief, however we do know who stole the research." Sasha said, "Does the name Docteur Lemaire strike a chord?" Sasha asked. "Docteur Laurent Lemaire." she said indicating she was going to reach into her coat. Taking out a leather bound square that looked like a fully covered book. "I have it all here, if you agree you are free to read the contents."

Dr. Jackal looked at the book in her hand for a moment as he paused. He debated a bit as he wondered if what she was saying was real or not. It was like a game of cat and mouse, only he was a mouse that turned into a rather large man eating angry demon. She was either very brave or very foolish to approach him like she did. He was very concerned about the contents of the book in her hands as he fidgeted again with his hands. Then he spoke up, "I don't know this Doctor Lemaire and I don't know you. For all I know your boss wants to put me in a cage and experiment on me."

"Au contraire Docteur." Sasha said, "Quite the opposite." she added. "I was sent with this trump card," she said sounding reluctant to even have to offer it. "A full pardon from any crime committed after your experiment, and any committed under under the employ of my benefactor within reason." she added. "All you have to do is say yes, come to Paris with me and you are once again a free man."

Dr. Jackal stood up and rubbed his face as he mumbled to himself then turned to the woman and replied, "You are offering me a full pardon? You have that kind of power?" Then a mean look appeared on Dr. Jackal's face as he raised his voice and yelled, "STOP LIEING TO ME!!!!" He slammed his fists on a small wooden table to release some of his stress.

Sasha stood unfazed by the outburst. "I do not have the power." she said. "The people paying me however do have that power." she told the doctor. She gave the doctor a look for a moment before lowering the gun and tucking it under an arm, and undoing the string holding the leather bound book closed pulling out a neatly folded letter. "I am extending a lot of trust in this moment." she said, her voice calm. Sasha took a few steps forward closing the gap between them just enough that if he reach out he could meet her extend hand holding the letter. "It is all there in ink and seal."

Dr. Jackal was curious as the woman put her gun aside to show him the letter. He could see she was taking a big chance to reason with him when he was volatile. He kindly took the letter and glanced at her one more time before he opened the letter and read the contents. He had a confused look on his face as he continued to read it and then looked at the woman before looking at the letter again. He had seen that English seal before when he first began his job. He was overcome with emotion as he covered his mouth in shock and awe. He then looked at the woman in silence as he collected his composure again. He then spoke as he said, "I'm sorry. That was mean of me. I just wanted to see what you would do." Then Dr. Jackal held up his hands in a gesture of compliance and said, "Why don't we do this the easy way." "One where you don't use that.", said the Doctor pointing at her gun. "And the other guy doesn't make a mess......Ok?", said the doctor pointing at himself.

"Oui, juste." Sasha said, letting the hammer back as a show of good faith. "Thank you docteur." she said. Though unsure what all the letter said Sasha had to admit it must have been pretty convincing. "Come, get your things you will need, we must meet our ride soon." she told him, clearly off the edge of her 'hunter' high, and much calmer now.

Dr. Jackal nodded as he looked around and grabbed his worn out coat and his doctor bag. He looked at the woman and replied, "I'm packing light these days.......Oh I imagine we will be seen in public. Will it be fine to be seen with me in this state? Uh..........Mrs.............? What do I call you?"

"Sasha Lagrave." she said. "If people of this town have already seen you in this state it matters little if I am seen with you, and I walked right through town so people have seen me." Sasha added. "From a quick glance I do not look like a woman if you are worried about disgracing my honor or some such thought." Sasha said looking him over. "Because unless you have a bath and a decent straight razor here you are going to need a lot more care to get yourself in presentable order." she commented. "You can bathe when we get to the meeting place." she told him.

After allowing the doctors a short time to pack the duo headed off to meet the carriage that would take them to Paris. Once inside the cabin Sasha noticed the smells new intensity, and pulled a small mister from her pocket and misted the mask once so she'd breath perfume smell rather than the doctors.

"Here." she said, tossing the leather bound dossier into his lap. "I suggest you study as much as you can during our trip, you might be questioned when we arrive." she commented before taking out her own book to read. 'A Study In Scarlet'.

Dr. Jackal was still nervous around Sasha but a lot more reasonable and nodded to Sasha after her brief introduction. He even felt bad when he noticed his body odor offended her when she and he were in the carriage together though she did not mention it. After receiving the book from her he began reading it and soon learned that Doctor Laurent Lemaire had been very busy during his absence while on the run for the last harsh five years. It was like waking up from a nightmare only to move on to the next one from his perspective. He wondered what his new employer would expect of him since he was still cursed by his "Inner Demon" of sorts.

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