Dark Division - Dani Ch. 03

From there, life went back to as normal as it could be for Dark Division agents. Dani and Stan handled cases in their area and crashed at hotels or safe houses as they went. Stan became more and more adept as Dani worked on training him in various forms of combat and forcing him to read volumes upon volumes of her research related to all the creatures she knew about.

Nick and Vince went back to the bunker and went about more mundane tasks. It wasn't as glamorous as being out there on cases, but it was still interesting. Vince refused to speak about Dani even when Nick would mention her name. He wouldn't entertain Nick's attempts to talk about what happened or how he was feeling. He figured the best thing to do was put her out of his mind. Dani was unattainable, so he needed to stop letting himself live in the what ifs.

Nick eventually let it go, and only hoped that Vince wasn't just stewing on his thoughts and feelings. He wanted him to move forward and not get hung up on someone that wasn't going to come around. From what he could tell, Dani was pretty secure in her sexuality and as much as Vince was a ladies' man, he had no juice with one that preferred other ladies.

It was several months later, when Oz got a few leads and was able to track down a lake that had a particularly dark past in the middle of Colorado. He figured that and putting agents on the ground was really the only way to investigate. It was a pain in the ass to not know what kind of item they were looking for, and to have to start from no leads. He approved of what the four agents had done with the demon they captured, but at the same time it left him with very little to go on.

As spring started to come to Colorado, Oz was on high alert, scouring news articles for anything that seemed remotely suspicious, especially around the lake he had in mind. Fortunately, it didn't take long before a few demonic type events happened, and happened exactly in the town on the west side of his front runner for the right lake. Before the first demon sighting even popped on his radar, Oz had Stan and Dani on their way there.

From there, it became obvious that he had his location. And, after five people from the town went missing, he was further convinced. He was also a little alarmed at how fast and open this was, so he called Dani again before they even reached the town.

"Hey Oz, what's up?"

"Listen, I know you can handle most things, and Stan is certainly coming along..."

"Sounds like there's a but coming."

"There is Dani. I have reports of five missing on the wire and that's just in the last day. I think you might be walking into another demon shit storm and it seems like this lake thing is a big deal. I'm wondering if you want me to call in some back up for you."

"You know I hate having other people come in on my cases Oz."

"I know and like I said I know Stan is coming along, but I'm not getting a good vibe here. I would rather have you miffed a little and alive than dead somewhere and we lose this thing. God only knows what's so important that brought witches and demons together."

"I get a strong feeling that I don't have much choice in the matter."

"And that's why I like you, you're smart. Listen, the nearest teams I have are working on cases, but I can divert them."

"Don't divert them. I tell you what Nick and Vince helped us out with this before, can you spare them from bunker duty for a while?"

"I think so, let me call them. It'll probably take a good eight hours to get there, can you guys hole up until then, just stay on surveillance?"

"Yea, oh and Oz, don't tell Vince I requested them. He and I had a few conversations last time and I don't want to inflate his ego."

"He can be a smug son of a bitch sometimes. I get you though, I'll call them."

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A few hours later and Dani and Stan were driving through town and parking at various locations near the lake in some effort to look for anything suspicious. So far they had come up empty handed, but since it was the middle of the night they assumed most normal people would be asleep. It helped for them to go unnoticed and anything odd would stick out.

They pulled up outside another lake house when Stan's phone rang.

"Nick, hey, yea we're here, how far out are you guys?" Nick had told Vince to cool it with his cursing about being sent out on another mission, but still he grumbled in the background as Nick talked to Stan.

"We'll be there about 8 in the morning and we'll bring coffee. You got anything yet?"

"Nope, nothing on the radar, but we're going to keep cruising around the lake cabins and see what we come up with."

"Alright, well try to crash out for a few hours too, from what Oz says we might have a busy couple of days."

"Sounds good man, see you soon."

********************************

Nick and Vince pulled into town just before 8, both pretty groggy from sleeping in turns in the car only. Nick was still crashed out when Vince decided to stop and make a call. He took a deep breath as he looked at his phone, but after thinking about it all night, he knew it would just be weirder if he didn't suck it up and call Dani. After all, he didn't want her to know that she had still been on his mind this whole time.

"Vince, hey, so Stan is heading into town to talk to the local boys and find out if anything has been going on. I'm here at the lake that we traced everything to still wandering around a little amongst some remote cabins. Do you and Nick want to head out to where Stan is?" She went straight to business of course, but Vince expected that. Her voice was still a welcome sound as it came through the phone. Nick had woken up in the meantime and was eagerly listening.

"And leave you all alone at the lake? No way, what if they all show up?" Nick gave him a puzzled look from the passenger seat. He had not been on board for coming out here and now Vince was acting weird again.

"No offense Vince, but I can handle myself. Anyways, I want Stan to have back up in case they already run this town."

"Well, Nick will drop me off with you and I'll bring a second gear bag. He can head in to check on Stan then. Besides, we have breakfast and coffee for you both."

"Fine, whatever. I'm huddled down outside a cabin right now, because I'm starting to think there's definitely some weird shit going on somewhere near by me. I can't put my finger on it, but something is fishy. Let's just say my spidey sense is going off."

"Alright, text the address where you are and I'm on my way." And with that Dani hung up.

"What gives? I mean she's just doing recon, why do we need to back her up right now?" Nick wasn't one to not bring up the obvious odd behavior.

"I just want to make sure she has backup."

"Bullshit. You still have a thing for her, don't you Vince?" Nick read him like a book and all Vince could do was make a questioning face at him. Sometimes it was a real bitch to have a partner that knew you so well.

"Of course not. You and I both know this is pretty important and as capable as she is, Dani can use a hand."

"Does that mean a hand in dispatching demons or a hand on her ass Vince? I mean you've kind of been obsessed with this woman since you met her. I can't figure out if that's just because you can't have her or if it's something else. Either way, you start acting all weird and protective anytime you're around her."

"I mean I wouldn't turn down a chance to have her, but that's not it Nick. Oz assigned us this case, that's it. Otherwise, we would have stayed at the bunker. It's not about her."

"Whatever you say, let's just get it over with so we can go back to the bunker. I've been going through that spell book we got last week and I had to stop just to come on this trip."

******************************

In another few minutes, Nick was pulling away after dropping Vince off with a promise he wouldn't do anything to the car. He wondered to himself what would happen if Dani found out about Vince's obvious pining for her. Now that he was here though, he was going to work this case.

When he pulled up to the police station, Stan's Bronco was parked outside already. It was an average looking small town police station, and he approached figuring it was no big deal. Once inside though, he got the vibe that something was definitely off.

"Hi, CIA ma'am, and I'm looking for another agent that I'm meeting here." Nick flashed his badge, but damn if he hadn't forgotten Stan's last name in all his thoughts about his partner. He knew it was Dani Neil, but Stan' last name just escaped him right now.

"Yes, he's with the chief right now. Let me call back and see if I can help you out." A fifty something, receptionist with a rather large build greeted him at the front desk with contempt written all over her face.

"Thank you." He paced as he waited for her. She made a brief call, whispering and covering the mouthpiece. She glanced up after a few moments and said a simple yes to the person on the other end.

Nick heard a door open on the other end of the deadly quiet station and a few moments later a very overweight man made his way out to greet him. The man was far past his prime, likely in his late fifties or early sixties and predictably pulled up on his leather belt and holster as he approached. His blue and black uniform was not flattering in the least and sweat stains were obvious in his armpits. He was pretty much what Nick was expecting in a small town like this.

"Another Agent, huh? Well, come on back to my office you can join your buddy." The large man turned with a wave and led the way to a large door. On the top of the door it simply said 'Chief's Office.' When Nick entered, there sat Stan looking a little stressed. Dani had apparently schooled him on dressing appropriately and forced him to do as much today. It was a different picture than the first time he saw the young blond man. He could tell Stan had a few more cases under his belt and was starting to wear into the job a little bit. The suit still looked like it was damn uncomfortable though.

"Good to see you again." Nick reached his hand out to shake Stan's who stood up briefly.

"Same to you Nick. Is Vince with you or..."

"He's around." Nick gave him a look as if explaining that he wasn't to let on to the Chief so quickly.

"So, I got five dead bodies, 6 more missing, and two CIA Agents in my office inside of one week. Can either of you tell me what the hell is going on?" The Chief took his seat roughly, looking out of breath just from the walk down the hallway.

"You have five dead bodies?"

"Yep, apparently the town has been busy. That's why the Chief here called DOJ and the FBI, but of course I explained to him that sometimes they send us out on these things even if they refuse to come. After all, we have specialized units to handle odd domestic events." Stan explained to Nick with a serious look and Nick was impressed at how well he was already spouting the company line. Dark Division didn't like to be known by anyone, even their government counterparts if they could help it. After all, they operated so far outside the lines sometimes that he lost sight of them.

"Excellent, so if we're all on the same page catch me up."

"Well, I was telling your buddy that the bodies were just found dead, no explanation, but their organs were pretty much liquefied and the Coroner can't make heads or tails of it. All I know is they were all found near the north end of the lake. I sent a few guys out there a couple hours ago to just canvas the area, and I haven't heard back from them."

"The organs were liquefied?" Nick slipped into investigator instantly.

"Yep, never seen anything like it."

"Tell me was there any black residue on them? Or burns around their eyes?" Nick was concerned that Dani and his partner were at the North end of the lake. He didn't want to waste too much time here."

"Wait a second. How would you know that?" The Chief was taken aback instantly.

"We've seen it before Chief and it won't be the last. Your town is about to have some major problems. Can we see the bodies?"

"You've seen this before? What part of the CIA do you guys work for?"

"The Dark Division sir, and we're going to need you and all the officers you have on duty to come with us." Nick took the seniority in the room from Stan, hoping the younger man wouldn't mind. He looked over and Stan held the same expression as he did. Clearly, he knew the drill at this point.

"Is this something that the CIA did?"

"Of course not, why would you think that?" Stan chimed in, sensing the Chief wasn't biting.

"You think I haven't heard about clandestine experiments the government does? And just the fact that this happened and then you guys show up is suspicious."

"Now, Chief, you've been reading too many rags. I assure you we are here to help you out, and that's all." Nick tried to calm the large man.

"I tell you what, why don't we head over to the autopsy room and then we can call the other officers in." He nodded, standing up and heading for his door.

Nick rolled his eyes towards Stan but stood following the Chief out of his door and down another corridor. The next door was the lock-up and the Chief opened the door to the hallway. Stan walked right through. There was a door at the other end of the hallway that Nick saw and assumed led to the autopsy room, although he was growing a little more than suspicious.

"Is the autopsy room on the other end of the holding cells?" Nick asked as he followed Stan inside.

"Nope, they are in another building, but you guys are staying here until I can figure this whole thing out. Now, if you could give me your boss' name; I will give him a call just as soon as my officers return with a report on the situation. And, you better hope that they don't find some more bodies. Or I might just hold you until your boss comes out here to pick you up."

"What? You can't just lock up federal agents Chief." Stan was in disbelief.

"Here's the boss' number, better make it quick because your officers are in danger." Nick relented, handing the Chief a card from behind his badge for just such occasions.

"Oh I'll get right on this." The Chief smiled at him and closed the door, locking it behind him, leaving Nick and Stan to take their pick of three rather poorly kept jail cells.

"Why didn't you fight him on this? We need to go help Dani." Stan was blown away; clearly this was his first encounter with a local idiot.

"Because this way, he'll give us the benefit of the doubt when he finds out those officers are dead. Otherwise, we might be stuck in here even longer. At least he forgot to take our phones. You call Dani, I'll call Vince."

**********************************

Dani and Vince had met up in the trees just outside of the cabin she was currently watching. It was odd just like Dani had described. There were four guys pacing around the outside of the cabin and down at the dock next to it another few guys stood guard. Apparently it had only been a few guys when Dani first showed up, but now they had started to grow in numbers. She had downed the donuts and coffee quickly before signaling to Vince to follow her back closer where she had a spot staked out that was somewhat hidden.

"What the fuck are they after?" Vince somehow felt at home laying on his stomach in the grass next to his mysterious Dani. She looked as good as he remembered, not aged a bit by the few months of work in the field.

"Whatever is in the lake is all bad. I figure we have two options. We can take them all out and hope that ends this quest they're on. Or, we can single one out and find out what they're after, and then we go get it ourselves." She was damn sexy when she was planning and just watching her face as she took charge made him feel the longing he had the first time they met. Man this woman really had Vince in a state.

"I don't want to go in that damn water. It's going to be cold as hell." His phone buzzed as he finished the statement at the same time Dani's did.

"Nick, what's up?"

"Stan, hey, talk to me what you got?"

"It's good news/bad news Vince. The good news is we're in the right place. We have five classic demon kills in the last week. So, it looks like they are trading into stronger vessels than what they rode in on."

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is the Chief is a conspiracy theorist and Stan and I are currently locked in the local pokey until further notice. Have you seen two officers out there?"

"Yea, but I don't think they're ever coming back to work." Vince looked up to the two men in uniform by the dock that were clearly demons judging from the odd movements and occasional black eye shifts

"Shit, that's what I figured. Well, you and Dani might be on your own over there, but all the bodies were left around that area, so I'm guessing everyone is holed up at a cabin doing whatever. Have you seen any witches yet?"

"Not yet, I'm thinking the demons are just here on the retrieval mission and will meet up with the witches later."

"Alright, well listen, I'll call or message when we can get out there."

"Yep." Vince hung up the phone and looked over at Dani who had already ended her conversation with Stan.

"So, a nice little fuck you from the locals too huh? Figures. Well, what are you thinking?"

"I think we leave someone in the house alive to question and get rid of all these idiots without sending up an alarm if we can."

"Sounds like a plan, how about the dock first?"

And with those words and a nod, they both moved into action. It was pretty amazing just how much Dani was a kindred spirit for him. They seemed to work seamlessly, and it killed him. The two made their way to the dock and with a few quick slashes the demons there lay in a heap and they were both against the house sneaking up together after a few quick hand signals. God, he loved to watch this woman fight. It was like a dance she did when her blade flew through the air and connected. It mesmerized him. Vince was barely able to keep his head on the task at hand as he took in the curves of Dani's ass moving slowly towards the front porch in front of him.

He met her eyes, and she smiled. Dani really got off on this, and he knew of only one other person who enjoyed fighting these monsters that much -himself. A quick head nod, and she flipped around the corner hopping over the side railing and downing one demon almost instantly. Vince was up in another second and across the porch. They had them all laid out within another minute. He looked at her. She had blood streaked across her chin, and for whatever reason even that made his dick stir. Fuck, she was hot. He was suddenly rethinking the lake to help himself calm down.

"Alright, no idea how many are in there. Can you see in the window?"

"Yea, I only see three in the living room. What about your side?" She got up and looked into the window on her side.

"I've got one in the kitchen, but I can't see the bedroom. You know what I have just for this special occasion?" Dani smiled at him over her whisper. She unzipped the pouch on the back of her belt and pulled around what looked like a small homemade grenade.

"What's that?"

"It's a modified smoke bomb. It has vaporized holy oil in it. I think it might force them out of the door and we can take them out."

"I want to know exactly how you made that. I have got to have one."

"Stan made it. Now, you open, I'll throw. We take out the first three, then do you want to capture number four or shall I? Whoever doesn't do that has to kill whatever the hell else comes out of the cabin."

"I'll grab him. I like watching you fight."

"Don't be weird Vince." She rolled her eyes, and he thanked god that she blew that off so easily. Vince never meant to say that, but of course he was thinking it. Now, he had to play it off as a joke. He reached up with a smirk and turned the door knob opening the door only a few inches slowly. She pulled the pin and tossed the small canister inside. He pulled the door shut, and in the next minutes they heard coughing and screeching. The door flew open then and all four men emerged one by one. Two quick slashes and Dani had the first two down. Vince sliced the next and pulled the fourth by the arm threatening him with a knife blade to his neck. No one followed for a few seconds.