LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on May 12, 2020 22:11:09 GMT
 Luke had seen the world change so many times over the course of his long life but one thing that never seemed to change was the way that people were often prone to doing bad things. He knew that supernaturals had a reputation for being evil but there were plenty of humans out there who were just as bad as some of the supernatural killers, if not even worse. Luke had been fortunate enough not to run into too many hunters along the way but there had been a few close calls while he’d been on his own. Wherever he ended up he was always careful not to expose himself as being a kitsune since there were so few of his kind around these days that they were often completely misunderstood and mistaken for being bad but those around him weren’t always as careful. James had let his heart win over his head when he had taken on the hunters that had killed his friend and ended up losing his life as a result but Luke had lost other friends along the way as well, ones that had only wanted to live normal lives but were killed just for being different and ones who weren’t as careful as he was and let their secret be discovered. He had lost so many people along the way including his birth parents and adoptive parents to hunters before his own abilities had even started manifesting properly so he knew exactly what was at stake but as always he was doing his best to keep his head down and make sure that he didn’t attract any unwanted attention to himself. His family were all in town and he knew that he needed to keep them all safe and even though this was meant to be a place where they could all be themselves he was still being cautious. He knew that there was an old friend of the family in town in the form of Olivia and she had opened up a bar that was meant to be a safe haven for supernaturals but Luke’s job alone was enough to put him at risk since the Sheriff knew about the supernatural world so even there were times when he could relax he still knew better than to let his guard down too much. Mystic Falls was still already starting to feel like home, though, and if he was honest he actually liked his job and the people that he worked with. He would be the first to admit that he wasn’t exactly good at letting people get close to him but those he worked with seemed like a decent enough bunch and his partner didn’t seem too bad either so he knew that it could easily be a lot worse. “It sounds like they knew exactly who they were targeting and probably threw in a few random home invasions to stop anyone from figuring out their pattern,” Luke admitted. It was clever really but it also made the people that Michael was looking into that much more dangerous if they were willing to go to those lengths to try and cover their tracks. As Michael asked if he thought that his friends would be willing to share their thoughts and files, Luke’s expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe but even if they won’t share them with you they’ll definitely share them with me if I ask them to and if you happen to take a look when my back is turned then they won’t be any the wiser,” Luke shrugged. He knew what it was like to lose a loved one to tragic circumstances because the truth was that he had lost far too many people that he loved to count so he could definitely understand where Michael was coming from and if there was something that he could do to help the guy get some answers then he knew that he would do it. “Do you remember the names of the people you spoke to at the time? Either you someone connected to the person you were after figured out that you were onto their boss or there was a leak in your department.”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on May 25, 2020 19:29:49 GMT
Gwen wouldn’t have admitted it, or particularly liked the comparison, Michael thought, but Detective Adams was a lot like his partner. The detectives he’d dealt with in New Orleans had instantly drawn a line on the investigation. They’d bristled the moment his shaking hands had plucked his ID off of his belt. He still didn’t know whether or not that had been the start of them rapidly shutting the investigation down or if it went far deeper than that. Most cops hated the idea of a fed stepping in, even more, perhaps rightly so much of the time, hated the idea of someone investigating the deaths of their own families but he would’ve laid money on the fact that had the shoe been on the other foot not a single one of them would’ve allowed it to be set aside. Maybe he hadn’t been forthcoming immediately with Gwen or with Detective Adams but neither one of them had shut him down. He appreciated that. This was the closest he’d gotten to answers in so long, to have someone force him to step back now would’ve been a fresh sort of hell. Michael could almost taste the truth in his mouth. Luke was helping with that. He believed, like Gwen, that something had been off with the official investigation. For another cop to look at something like that and be prepared to admit that someone else on the thin blue line had been wrong felt monumental. He didn’t want to slander any of them but something had been so wrong with the investigation that justice was nowhere near being found.
Until now.
Michael let out a long breath as Luke agreed with what he’d felt at the time, what he hadn’t been able to let go of even now. Those little things that had been obviously wrong with the investigation, the glaring differences between the attack on his home and all the others. Lifting a hand, he dragged it over his face as he stared at Luke. ”I tried telling them the same thing, they weren’t listening. They insisted it was a crew working the area, one who went just a little too far this time.” There’d been a handful before, a couple after but then without an arrest being made they’d trailed off. The officers had said that those behind it had either moved on or been locked up for something else but it felt like a weak excuse. His breath hitched in his chest as he worked through it all with Luke, heading for the cars with the information he’d brought with him. Michael hitched out his relief in a quick huff of air. He really was a decent guy. ”What you didn’t see, didn’t happen,” he said with a nod. ”I’ve still got my badge, technically I’m still on the agency’s books but if they’ve looked at the file on what happened to Sara and Abi they’ll already know I’m on long term leave.” That meant they were likely to shut down on him but like Luke had said, they were likely to share with him … and he’d finally get to see what he couldn’t get to through his online channels. Buoyed by all of this Michael pushed open the door to the station’s parking lot, his brow furrowing as he held the door open for Luke. ”There were dozens of people I spoke to about the case. In the NOPD it was Detectives Ratcliffe and Harris. You familiar with them?” He had files, on paper, held digitally. There were probably a thousand names in them at this point, all connected by thin threads to his investigation of the shadow or the men who’d killed his family. The problem hadn’t been finding names, it had been trying to find the needle in that haystack who was the true mastermind behind it all.
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LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on Jun 17, 2020 22:28:07 GMT
Luke was used to working alone and if he was honest over the years he had spent more time working on his own than he had working with others so having a partner was taking some getting used to but it definitely wasn’t a bad thing as far as he was concerned. Gwen seemed nice enough and she seemed able to keep him on his toes which meant that his days were never boring but at the end of the day as long as the work got done he knew that that was all that really mattered. He hadn’t known what to think when Nick had suggested that they move to Mystic Falls to begin with, it had felt like a mistake given the history that James had with hunters but Nick and Lauren had wanted a place where they could all be around others like them so they wouldn’t have to worry about hiding who they really were from people and that was something that Luke had wanted as well. He knew that they all needed to be on their guard considering that there were a lot of hunters around Mystic Falls and working as a detective was risky given the rumours he’d heard about the Sheriff knowing about the supernatural and putting a group of officers together to try and keep the vampires at bay but at the end of the day he hoped that it was going to be worth it to be able to live normal lives for a while. They were only ever able to stay in one place for a few years before they had to move on but this time he hoped that they would be able to stick around for longer than that. The kids needed somewhere that they could call home for more than just a few years and if he was honest he did too so it was worth a try to say the least. That day Gwen wasn’t around so Luke was left to work their cases on his own. They had a few on the go at the moment that they had yet to solve but there was one in particular that he couldn’t seem to shake and it was that case that he had decided to focus on that day at least until Michael showed up. It was Gwen that he had wanted to talk to but since she wasn’t working that day Luke had known that he’d needed to step in and it seemed as though it might be something that he could help with anyway so he was glad that he had done. “Unfortunately some cops are like that. They look for a theory they can understand and if they can’t then they don’t want to hear it,” Luke offered. It was something that he had grown used to over the years but it could still get frustrating at times. He liked to think that he was much more open minded but he knew that he was going to have to take a look at the case files and see what the other detectives had managed to find out. “Exactly,” Luke nodded. He could understand Luke wanting to find out what had really happened to his family so the least he could do was try and help that along. “After what you’ve been through I don’t think anyone would blame you,” he admitted as they headed out into the parking lot, knowing that he wouldn’t let it go either if it was his family that was taken so brutally. He would want answers so he could definitely understand Michael wanting them too. Reaching his car he unlocked it before climbing into the driver’s side. “Yeah, I know them. Harris is old school and he doesn’t like to think outside the box but Ratcliffe is a good guy, he’s a friend. I’ll ask if he can send the files over along with his notes and we’ll go from there.”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Jun 25, 2020 22:06:25 GMT
Ignorance wasn’t limited to the police. There was plenty of that around, especially in New Orleans where corrupt law enforcement had been legendary at times. The Agency would’ve sworn they were above that sort of thing and maybe they were, managing to avoiding hiding thousands in buried coffers, but there were other ways of getting to people. Michael knew how easy it was to start down that slippery slope, he’d done it for news of the people who’d orchestrated his family’s deaths after all, but on the job he’d been a crusading knight. Untouchable, uncorruptible, foolish. The warnings had been given by his bosses and all he’d seen was that shadow reaching and touching them. Only they had crumbled where he’d managed to stay above it. Looking back now maybe one or two of them had been in it out of choice, finding some sort of reward in allowing the shadow to continue working its way through the Russian economy like a plague. The others though … how many others had found their families threatened? It was something he’d tried to find out over the years but as with his own case the truth was subtle. There’d been an occasional death, accidental, natural, nothing as brutal as Sara and Abi’s deaths. That was because they’d done their jobs though, wasn’t it? They’d listened and he hadn’t and now here he was, three years later, still scrabbling around in the pieces of his life, trying to find out why and how it had ended up crumbling right in front of him.
Maybe the cops in New Orleans would be able to tell him why but despite Luke’s reassurances, Michael wasn’t holding his breath. Perhaps one of them would crack this time but the overwhelming chances were that it was exactly as he said. Some cops wanted a theory they could understand, they wanted to cling to the scales they kept over their eyes. Had the shoe been on the other foot he might’ve done just that … might. Michael swallowed, studying the man from the corner of his eye. ”You think your people aren’t? I might as well have been talking to a brick wall with the others. I’m federal, I get that but … they dismissed everything I said.” It still boggled his mind, had him wondering where he’d gone wrong with convincing them that something had been seriously rotten in the state of Louisiana that night. Sighing, Michael lifted a hand and dragged it through his hair as they got outside. His mouth twisted wryly at Luke’s words, the cool air outside. ”I don’t know, your Sheriff wasn’t too happy when I came clean to her. She came around in the end though…” She’d allowed him into the records, to search and see if anything down here was connected. One more dot on the map that had led him to what he’d brought to the station to hand over to Gwen today. Maybe he was lucky that he’d gotten her partner instead. Michael climbed in on the passenger side of Luke’s car, giving it a once over as he buckled up. ”I think this is the cleanest cop car I’ve ever been in,” he breathed. Maybe cleanliness was next to being an excellent cop. His expression soured faintly as Luke gave his opinion on Harris and Ratcliffe. Another line between people, one that had him squinting at the guy. ”I always got the impression that Harris was in charge. I tried hitting them both up for the files before, they weren’t willing.” He hadn’t been a friend though and there was still that instant knee jerk reaction at the feds trying to pull jurisdiction. Like he ever would’ve been able to do that on the murder of his own wife and daughter.
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LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on Jul 31, 2020 23:18:46 GMT
Luke had tried his hand at a few different careers over the centuries but in the end he always seemed to find his way back to law enforcement in some manner. He had worked as a detective quite a few times but he had also passed himself off as younger in some places and had started from the bottom by going through the police academy again and worked his way up and there were times when he had even worked as a private investigator and with the FBI. No matter what he did he always wanted to help people and that was something that seemed to run in the family. Like him Lauren seemed to gravitate towards law enforcement although she had taken a job as a patrol officer when they got to Mystic Falls while Nick had taken up a job at the hospital as a doctor and Sean had taken up a job as a firefighter. They each had their own thing that they were good at and it certainly made things interesting to say the least. He was a little apprehensive at first when Nick had suggested they move to Mystic Falls, after all Luke had heard about the town’s reputation as being not just a place that a lot of supernaturals called home but also a place that a lot of hunters did as well. After losing so many people that he loved he had known that the last thing he’d wanted was to end up losing anyone else but at the end of the day they were making it work and they were all looking out for each other and he knew that they couldn’t really do much more than that. This time around he had been assigned a partner and even though Luke was used to working on his own for the most part he was doing his best to get better at being a part of a team and that was why he had decided to help Michael that day. He didn’t doubt that Gwen would have done the same if she was around that day, he didn’t know Michael very well and he only knew what the man had told him so far but right now there was something about him that Luke felt like he could trust so he knew that he had to see this through and help if he could. “All I can say is cops are stubborn and they don’t like anyone telling them how to do their jobs, especially not feds,” Luke admitted with a shrug. There was already enough pressure with them all being on the front lines without having the added pressure of the feds being involved so he wouldn’t be surprised if that was why they had refused to listen. “It also doesn’t help that a lot of the time people see only what they want to see,” he added. Sometimes if a case looked one way then it was difficult to convince someone that things had actually gone down a different way and it sounded like that was what had happened with Michael. “Like I said, cops get edgy around feds,” Luke chuckled as Michael said that the Sheriff wasn’t too happy when she found out what he was. Climbing into the car, Luke felt a smile work its way across his face at Michael’s next words. “I spend enough time in here and I’m one of those people who thinks that the state of a person’s car says a lot about them,” he explained as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “You’ve just got to know how to handle them. They’ll let me see the files, don’t worry.”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Aug 22, 2020 18:44:11 GMT
There had always been carefully drawn lines between the federal agencies and local law enforcement. Not being on the front lines himself Michael hadn’t seen it first hand, not until he’d pulled his badge with shaking hands as the police had arrived in his home to discover three bodies and him cradling Abi and Sara’s as though he had a hope of bringing them back. The walls had immediately gone up then, as though he’d would’ve immediately demanded that the CIA were called to take over the investigation. He never would’ve been that foolish but at the same time he’d known that just giving in and letting the cops call it a house invasion wouldn’t get him anywhere either. They were either sweeping it under the rug because someone had gotten to them, because they were incompetent, or maybe because of that territorial pissing match. He would’ve liked to think that the thin blue line grew thicker at a time like that but Michael didn’t know anymore. Thanks to Luke, maybe he’d find out, or maybe that line would thin again.
Huffing out wry humour, Michael scrubbed fingertips over his jaw, scraping nails against his adam’s apple as it bobs in his throat. Had he tried telling them how to do their jobs? Maybe. Not as a fed though. He’d grown angry as a man who’d lost his family and could see justice slipping through his fingers like sand. ”Even if they’re doing it wrong?” Michael asked, winging a brow at Luke. ”If I’d thought it would’ve helped I’d have brought the full force of the Agency down on them but I knew it wouldn’t.” His superiors had wanted nothing to do with it, like the cops, blaming it all on some random act of violence and not a vendetta thanks to his trying to dismantle the shadow’s organisation. In the end he’d been on his own with it all and had chased his own tail on it for two years with Orlov holding the reins before something had finally changed. The scales had been cast from his eyes and Michael felt a tough of chagrin as Luke told him people only saw what they wanted to see. ”Can’t always blame them for putting their heads in the sand. There’s some scary stuff out there.” As a cop Luke would understand that. As a father, as a husband, as an agent he did too. As a newly minted werewolf he wished he would’ve been able to see what was out there sooner.
Green eyes scanned the station as Michael looked back over his shoulder. He knew it wasn’t just the fact that he was a fed that had the sheriff rattled. Any outside authority seemed like it would get a cold welcome here. It was what happened when you were trying to cover up the fact that there were things slaughtering and taking people in your town on an almost daily basis. He spread his hands a little as he let them fall. ”At least she’s let me in now. I’ve got access to the records and a space here to work if I need it.” It wasn’t official but Forbes had given him the chance anyway. He wondered whether Gwen had something to do with that. She’d been a bit of a guardian angel since he’d brought her in on this, a grouchy, set in her ways guardian angel. Michael bobbed his head as he eased back in his seat, stretching out longer legs. ”That explains why you get on with Gwen.” And why he was helping him out now. It spoke of decency. Michael rolled his head against the rest, eyes fixing on Luke as they pulled out. ”It’s really appreciated. Maybe I’ll learn something here. You worked with Gwen long?” The station had a constant revolving door, that much had been evident when he’d started working his way through the reports for similar incidents.
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LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on Nov 22, 2020 1:25:00 GMT
“Even then,” Luke chuckled. He knew how defensive some of the guys there could get especially when someone started questioning if they were doing their job properly so the truth was that he wasn’t surprised at all that they hadn’t wanted to help Michael when he had asked. It was always a case of knowing how to deal with people like that and Luke had a few different ways of getting the information the other guy needed considering he knew the people involved with the case on a personal level. “That would have only made matters worse. The relationship between the police down there and the CIA has never been good and they don’t like it when matters are taken out of their own hands.” It really wouldn’t have done any good at all so he was glad that Michael hadn’t gone down that route. Luke wasn’t sure whether they would be able to find any solid leads on those responsible but he hoped that they would at least be able to find enough to help Michael get some closure at last. It was clear to him that the guy was still hurting and Luke completely understood and he knew that he would do all he could to help. As Michael said that there was some scary stuff out there, Luke nodded. “You got that right,” he agreed. He wasn’t sure whether the other guy knew about the supernatural world or not but even if he didn’t there were still plenty of things out there to be scared of. In Mystic Falls that was truer even than it was in New Orleans. There were so many more people in town who were a part of the supernatural world and even though there were those like Luke and his family who just wanted to live their lives in peace without hurting anyone there were too many who wanted to kill whenever they liked. Luke had already seen it during his time in Mystic Falls and he could tell from the faces of those that he worked with that they had too. For the most part the killings were passed off as animal attacks but Luke knew better and he was pretty sure that a lot of people in town were starting to question it as well. If they didn’t do something it was only a matter of time before the truth came tumbling out and Luke knew that he had to stop that from happening. “I’m glad she gave you a chance,” he said sincerely. It sounded like Michael had needed someone to give him a break and the Sheriff had apparently done that. Heading out of the parking lot, Luke shook his head as Michael asked if he and Gwen had been working together for long. “Just a month or so but it seems to be working pretty well so far,” he admitted. “Have you ever thought about leaving the Agency and giving a regular law enforcement job a go?” he asked, genuinely interested since it might make the cops in New Orleans a bit more willing to cooperate if Michael’s Agency days were behind him. MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Dec 30, 2020 20:46:20 GMT
Nobody liked to hear that they were doing things wrong but when it came to cops, they were worse than anybody else. They spent their jobs metering out judgment. Being wrong for them meant maybe putting an innocent man in jail and if that stuff got overturned it meant a cop’s entire career being called into question. It wasn’t funny when a hundred guilty men could go free just because you screwed up and fingered one innocent guy. Michael snorted but he swallowed hard in its wake. If he’d kept pushing and the shadow had done the same to him his whole career could’ve crumbled faster than it had.
No badge. Stripped of anything that would’ve allowed him to figure out what had happened to Sara and Abi. The thought soured his stomach, left him drawing in a shallow breath to try and ease it. Michael swallowed it back and managed a wan smile. ”If I’d thought it would’ve helped,” he echoed. He’d known it wouldn’t though. He slicked his tongue over his upper lip before he shook his head slightly. ”I wouldn’t have done it. I know how that goes.” The CIA had never wanted him to dig in the first place. When Abi and Sara had been killed the Agency just wanted it swept under the rug. In the state he’d been in he’d allowed them to do it too. Erik Orlov had been the one to give him the impetus to keep looking, the means and opportunity too.
Now he’d slipped Orlov’s noose, stretching away from him as far as he could get. It was never going to be a lead that snapped but if he could just thin it enough he had a chance. As long as his naivety didn’t catch up to him again. Michael made a low sound of agreement, one hand coming up to scratch at the back of his neck. He had to keep his eyes wide open and be wary, especially in this town.
Maybe Liz Forbes should have been a little warier about allowing him access to the station but in the end she’d accepted his story. Gwen had too, although that stuck in Michael’s throat a little. ”That makes two of us.” It had opened the door for him with Gwen and with Luke too. It was a bonus he’d never expected to have in this town. Settling into the car with Luke, Michael kept his eyes on the road as they pulled out of the station lot. He nodded slowly, glancing sideways at the man next to him. ”You’re lucky. Not all partnerships work out that well.” Michael paused as Luke asked if he’d ever considered leaving the Agency and going to work in normal law enforcement. Shaking his head, he let a long breath out through his nose. ”I hadn’t but being here … it’s got me considering it. You think that Forbes would consider taking me on? I haven’t been through the academy, not law enforcement or the CIA academy. They hired me straight in.” All that had mattered was his ability to see the bigger picture and when that really mattered he’d failed. The thought had a breath shuddering out, his throat working as he twisted his head to look out the passenger window.
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LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on Jan 27, 2021 22:54:24 GMT
Luke had been working with Gwen for a while now and even though it had been a while since he’d last worked with a partner he couldn’t deny that it was good knowing that there was someone around who had his back. He had worked in New Orleans before and he knew how many people lived there who were a part of the supernatural world but Mystic Falls was on a whole different level. He had already seen some strange things going on while he was in town and it was clear to Luke that there were people in town who were covering them up but he knew that that wasn’t a bad thing. He had seen what could happen when the wrong people learned about the supernatural world and considering that his whole family was in town Luke knew that he didn’t want to risk that happening again. It was for that reason that he knew that he would assist with covering things up if he had to but for the time being at least he had something a little more normal to focus on and for that he was grateful. His heart really did go out to Michael, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for the guy to lose his wife and child in one go like that and he could definitely understand why the guy wanted answers. It had been a long time since it had happened but Luke knew that if he could help Michael find some answers then he would do it without even thinking about it twice. “I’ll do what I can, you have my word,” Luke assured him. “After everything you’ve been through you need answers and I can definitely understand that,” he admitted. Not knowing what had really happened had to have been eating away at him so Luke knew that he would dig up every lead that he could. His friends in New Orleans definitely wouldn’t have talked to Michael if he had asked but he knew that they would give the information to him so it was worth a try at the very least. His eyes fixed on the road, Luke felt a smile form on his face as Michael said that not all partnerships worked out that well. “You’re telling me, I’ve had a couple that haven’t been so good over the years,” he chuckled. It really was the luck of the draw and this time things seemed to have worked out well for him so he knew that he really was lucky. As Michael spoke again, Luke’s expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “If you didn’t go through the CIA academy either I think she’ll make you go through the police academy to cover herself but if it’s something you’re interested in then it’ll be worth putting in the work. We could use more people like you around,” he shrugged. Whether or not he went for it was a decision that only Michael could make but Luke hoped that he would consider it at least. MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Feb 22, 2021 19:13:16 GMT
The police hadn’t even made their usual promise afterwards. No vow that he would get justice for his family. Just those quiet platitudes that offered no comfort to a man who still had the mingled blood of his wife, daughter and the man who’d helped kill them on his hands. Even afterwards it had been all about placating him. Offering up their story of home invasions in the area, telling him how Abi and Sara must have surprised them, like they wouldn’t have been home for hours at that point, their schedule just as fixed as his own. Now he knew how thick the bullshit had been laid, but even then, Michael knew, he’d been able to smell it and knew better than to believe. There’d never been an easy explanation for what had happened that night.
It had just taken him three years to realise how deep the rot in all of those conflicting stories went and how blind he’d been to it all. Orlov hadn’t been feeding him the truth, he’d been helping to keep him apart from it so he would continue to work for him, so desperate for the truth that he would do whatever was asked of him. Michael’s green eyes rose, fixed on Luke as he offered up his promise. His throat ached at the promise that, from this guy, he could believe. ”It’s appreciated man,” he managed hoarsely. ”Any way I can return the favour sometime … I’m happy to.” Not that he believed there was much that he had left to benefit law enforcement. He’d been out of the game too long, focused on just one thing. By now the entire landscape out there could’ve changed and he wouldn’t have had a clue about it.
Maybe that was for the best, he thought, giving an absent minded nod as he stared out of the windscreen. A huffed, amused breath slipped out of him as he settled his hands on his thighs, one thumb tapping out a rhythm. ”We always worked on teams at the Agency. I was part of the Eastern European desk. Analysts don’t go out in the field. It’s nothing like things like Jack Ryan make it out to be.” He’d been an information man until that information had led him down a dangerous rabbit hole. Michael raked his teeth over his lower lip. Maybe if there had been someone there to reel him back he wouldn’t have lost his family in the way he had.
Green eyes cut sideways at Luke’s compliment, the fist that had been around his throat loosening as he eyed the other man. Other than Orlov’s buttering him up he hadn’t heard much flattery over the last couple of years, hadn’t ever imagined himself strapping a badge back on for real either. ”I dunno. Forbes seems like she’s a stickler for the rules. At the very least she might make me retake my weapons qualification. Might be worth it though…” Forbes had already opened up her station to him, allowed him access to files without him having to mine through the backdoor in a way that could bring the Agency down on his head if they realised he’d continued to represent himself as an Agent. ”Things that bad with your people?” Michael asked. There was a thin thread of humour in his voice again but given what was going on in Mystic Falls it wasn’t that far a leap to make. People were dying on an almost daily basis and that included some of the people supposed to be keeping the town safe.
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LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on Jan 16, 2022 19:22:59 GMT
Luke had earned enough money over the years that he didn’t have to worry about working now in order to live a comfortable life and it was the same for his family, the problem was that he hated not having anything to do and he knew that it was the same for his brothers. Instead they kept working to keep busy and Luke knew that he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had worked various different jobs in law enforcement over the centuries but being a detective was without a doubt the job he liked the best and he was glad that he had the chance to do that while he was in Mystic Falls. Being a kitsune meant that he had the chance to decide whether or not he continued ageing, he had thought about letting himself grow older and there were a few times over the years when he’d found himself falling for people who were mortal but those relationships hadn’t lasted. His family had all decided to stop ageing so he had made the same decision so that he could stay with them. It wasn’t something that he regretted but it did mean that he had to move around every so often to make sure that people didn’t realise that he wasn’t getting any older and he knew that it would eventually be the same for Mystic Falls but right now he was enjoying his time in the town and he knew that he wanted that to continue. “I’ll probably take you up on that, thanks,” Luke said, a smile crossing his face as he looked over at Michael. He could tell that the guy meant it and even though that wasn’t why Luke had offered to help him, he knew that it would never hurt to have someone that he could count on if he did ever find himself in the position where he needed help. “I can believe that,” Luke chuckled as Michael said that the CIA was nothing like it was made out to be in Jack Ryan. He’d actually worked for the organisation himself a while ago under a different name so he knew that firsthand but there was no way that he could let Michael know that. “Here some patrol officers and detectives work alone while others have partners. It always depends on how people prefer to work,” he explained. He had never really liked having a partner but he hadn’t been given a choice in the matter when he’d moved to Mystic Falls and it had taken some getting used to but he was getting there. Gwen made things pretty easy for him but it wasn’t always that way and he always tried to remind himself of that. As Michael spoke again, Luke couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh she’ll definitely make you do that,” he chuckled, knowing that Liz would definitely make him do that and even more in order to prove himself. “Not really bad, we’re just lacking good detectives. There are always new cases to solve and not enough of us to do that,” he explained. It was difficult at times to say the least but it was what he wanted to do so it was definitely worth it. “Some of the people we have are old school and aren’t very good at thinking outside the box.” They weren’t very good at keeping up with the advances in technology either and that was something that Luke always found amusing considering that he was probably older than all of them put together. “If you’re interested you should go for it, we could use someone like you.”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Mar 9, 2022 19:45:14 GMT
Orlov’s entire empire had been built upon favours. When you’d lived centuries you didn’t worry about penny pinching. You had vaults full of money you’d never spend because you had other ways, easier ways to get what you wanted. Michael hated it, because it had left him indebted to a man who would wring every ounce he could out of their agreement before he gave him what he’d promised. Orlov was the sort who wouldn’t forget the deal, he would come after his wayward thief at some point and then he’d find himself torn between the investigation that last theft had finally convinced him to take on again and his boss.
Michael didn’t want to think of how far he’d sunk into that world. He could still see the light of the real world glimmering above him, like the sun on the surface of the ocean, but despite trying to kick for it his face hadn’t broken that surface yet. It was close though. A kick at a time, hands scrambling for purchase against that water. Nodding at Luke, he let one corner of his mouth kick up. Maybe Orlov had a point, build your life upon favours and you had something to get that grip on, cause money sure as hell hadn’t ever been a factor.
The life he’d had with Abi and Sara had been comfortable. A white picket fence – or wrought iron in New Orleans – apple pie kind of life, even if his white collar job had come with a badge and title. Not as glitzy as most would’ve believed. Michael’s chuckle strengthened a little, rusty but definitely there as he glanced sideways at the cop. ”TV always makes stuff look more glamourous, I guess you get that too.” Mystic Falls was nothing like working somewhere bigger though, crime here had a different flavour, one that was bitter on his tongue. Making a noise of agreement in his throat, Michael went back to looking out at the passing trees. ”You’re the kind who prefers a partner,” he observed. Gwen had felt like the opposite but he hadn’t seen her around the man, didn’t know if it was just him who ticked her off. Forbes was more diplomatic at least.
It felt like if they’d been talking about Gwen as heavily she’d have appeared in the back seat of the car like a genie out of a bottle. Forbes was more some benevolent being, hovering in the ether with an ear always pricked to hear what was going on in town. Michael shrugged, picking through the conversation she’d had with him when she’d caught him working at the station. Another favour, a bargain struck. ”I can still shoot,” he promised darkly. He might not have a piece paper from the CIA promising right now but he was better with weapons now than he’d ever been sitting at a desk. He was better at investigating too, picking through masses of evidence for the truth. ”You wouldn’t have worry about that with me.” Something in Michael’s expression softened as he hitched his brows at Luke. ”I’ve always been tech savvy. It came with being an analyst and I haven’t got rusty there either. I’ll keep it in mind. If … if we don’t find anything, I don’t know how long I’ll stay. If I do … I might need something, if you get what I mean?” A way to patch the wound torn open fresh, pouring out blood and hope, leaving a hollow shell of a man behind.
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LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on Oct 31, 2022 21:41:20 GMT
Luke knew how easy it would have been for him to lose control and give into the darkness after losing as many people he loved as he had done over the years and he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t come close a few times. He could have let his grief consume him but each time it was his brother and his family that pulled him back out of that dark place and gave him a reason to keep going. Luke knew that he wouldn’t have made it this far without them and he wasn’t afraid to admit that, he had seen how worried Nick had been about him at times and that same worry had been mirrored in the faces of Lauren and Sean but Luke knew deep down that he wasn’t the kind of person to give up fighting. He wasn’t going to lose himself the way that he could have done and when he could he tried to help others who could easily end up going through that themselves. Gwen was his partner and she was going through something right now but she wasn’t letting him in although he hoped that in time she would. One thing Luke had learned was that it was best to keep busy and that view hadn’t changed as he got older. He had tried a few different careers over the years but being a detective was the one that felt like the most natural fit for him so it was the one that he always seemed to come back to sooner or later. “Definitely. People often see this job a certain way until they get here and realise it isn’t anything like they thought it would be,” he nodded. Mystic Falls was a small town but it had plenty going on to keep those like him with a career in law enforcement busy. The so called animal attacks were a problem but that was something that most had grown used to and they didn’t tend to pay as much attention to them as they once had done. As Michael said he was the kid who preferred a partner, Luke couldn’t help but laugh. “And here I was starting to think that you were a pretty good judge of character,” he chuckled. “I’ve always preferred to work alone but sometimes we don’t have a choice. I wasn’t looking for a partner but Gwen isn’t so bad,” he shrugged. Nodding as Michael said that he could still shoot, Luke glanced over at him for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. “That’s good. You’d better be up for a challenge because she won’t make things easy for you. Liz likes to really challenge those who have experience before offering them a job,” he explained. That was how it had been with him and he wouldn’t be surprised at all if it ended up being the same way with Michael. She liked to know that she had people around who could hold their own and be depended on and he was starting to think that perhaps Michael might fit that bill provided he was willing to put the work in. “Yeah, I get it,” Luke nodded, knowing exactly what Michael meant. “Here’s hoping we find something then,” he added as they finally reached their destination and he brought the car to a stop. “Are you ready?”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Nov 11, 2022 22:19:31 GMT
It’s got to be a mistake.
He’d called Karin after the officers had arrived at his door that first time. Yeah, it had been his paper they’d been talking about, but what the hell did they think he was gonna be able to do for the Agency? Like his parents Michael had intended to teach. He’d put in his time with his postgrad studies, get himself a PhD before he found himself a spot at Tulane or Loyola. A comfortable life in a city that he was almost as at home in as he was Baton Rouge. A thousand times since Abi and Sara had been killed he’d kicked himself for not turning them down again. The universe didn’t seem to like to come too far off the line of fate it drew out - so it still would’ve been Karin’s birthday, they likely would’ve gone to exactly the same bar. He still would have met Sara. The only difference was that he likely wouldn’t have stuck his hand in the bear trap the shadow had left out for fools like him. He’d have been home now, listening to Abi tell him how her school day had gone while he made the pair of them dinner.
The memory left an ache in the pit of his stomach as he grunted in agreement to Luke’s words. Just planning for the agency could’ve changed things too, maybe just enough. Instead he’d gone in blind and idealistic, and in his mind there was no doubt that he’d gotten his family killed through that naivety. ”At least most of them can still get back out of it.” By the time he’d realised hit had been entirely too late. It had to have been the same in Mystic Falls, although the problem here wasn’t Russian black market dealers, it was things, nightmares not that different to the one he’d become. Only he wasn’t looking to spill blood. Luke and the others were undoubtedly doing everything possible to avoid it, but as cops there was only so much it was possible to do. Michael looked away from the road again, brows hitching in amusement. ”Did you realise that before or after Gwen?” he asked dryly. ”I guess in the grand scheme or things, she isn’t. I’m with you though. In the agency … in the office at least, there was no need to partner up. I always went it alone.” And that had been the problem, hadn’t it?
Forbes didn’t seem the type who’d take that lone wolf - pun unintended - attitude well if she did manage to talk him around. Everything would go through her and he’d end up with someone like Gwen glued to his side, making sure he didn’t shoot off at a tangent if something did seem like it would connect to what had happened to his family. Like this trip and the one Gwen had dragged him on. ”Like a trip back through the academy?” Michael asked, unsure whether it was more question than statement. It would’ve been a first for him after all. He shrugged against the restriction of the seatbelt, settling back almost uneasily. ”If it gets me what I need I’ll jump though any hoops she wants to hold up for me. She can even set them on fire.” It wasn’t like he hadn’t already been through worse. Even working for Orlov had provided him with experience - not the sort he’d wanted to admit to Forbes though, not when her only choice would be putting him on the other side of the bars. Sticking in town was meant to be about redemption, a chance to change things if there was a way.
The lines between Michael’s brows worked their way deeper as he considered what the future might look like if he didn’t get that chance in the end. He started to drift, only pulled back when Luke pulled up and he was jolted from his thoughts. ”Nope,” Michael said hoarsely. He shook his head, but was already unbuckling his belt and getting out of the car. ”You wanna lead the way?” They were his connections after all, men and women who’d been gathering up the shattered pieces of lives not that unlike his own, trying to piece them back together again.
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LUKE ADAMS
Kitsune
Posts: 113
Age:
629
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Single
Played by:
Emma
Last seen Oct 31, 2024 22:06:38 GMT
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Post by LUKE ADAMS on Apr 30, 2023 0:03:57 GMT
“I guess you’ve got a point there,” Luke nodded as Michael said that most people could still back out of the job if they wanted to. Working in law enforcement definitely wasn’t for everyone but as far as Luke was concerned it was what he wanted to be doing with his life. He had worked a few different jobs over the centuries but none of them had fit him as well as this did so he always found himself returning to law enforcement just like his brother did to being a doctor. Not ageing meant that he had to move around every few years to make sure that no one realised that he wasn’t getting any older and that definitely wasn’t ideal but he had learned to make it work a long time ago. He had worked for so many different law enforcement agencies along the way including the FBI and CIA and he had even worked as a private investigator on more than a few occasions. He had enjoyed all of those jobs but he knew that being a detective was what he was best at. He was good at solving murders given that he had seen so much along the way and he normally preferred to work alone but Gwen had been an exception and so was Dani. Sometimes it was good to be able to bounce ideas off of someone, that much couldn’t be denied, so this time around he didn’t mind that he had been assigned a partner rather than being able to continue working alone. “Before but it depends on who the partner is,” he chuckled. There were some who were nothing more than dead weight and Luke just didn’t have the time for anyone like that. “That makes sense. I’ve never liked being stuck behind a desk, I prefer being out there,” he admitted. It had always been that way and he knew that it wasn’t going to change. “Quite possibly,” Luke nodded as Michael asked if the Sheriff might make him take a trip through the police academy. Working for the CIA was one thing but living and working in the same area and being out there on the front lines working cases was something different entirely so he knew that the Sheriff would want to make sure that Michael was prepared for anything that might come his way. “You’ve got experience with the CIA but being a detective is different. I imagine she’d want to put you through your paces first and see how you do,” he shrugged. Michael might be able to skip having to be a patrol officer before becoming a detective based on his previous experience but Luke doubted that he would be able to skip going through the academy altogether. As Michael spoke again, Luke couldn’t help but laugh. “Whatever you do, don’t tell her that because she’ll probably do it,” he chuckled. Sheriff Forbes was good at putting them all through their paces, that much was true, but he knew that it was just her way of making sure that they all stayed safe out there so he couldn’t fault her for that. As Michael said that he wasn’t ready for this, Luke’s expression softened for a moment. “You’ve got this, don’t worry,” he assured him. Climbing out of the car, Luke nodded as Michael asked if he wanted to lead the way. “Stay close,” he nodded, drawing his weapon along with a torch before leading the way inside. They had originally planned on a stakeout but that plan had changed. MICHAEL SHEPARD
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hope to see you in the discord! 
