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 Oct 29, 2022 15:56:17 GMT
 Finding a routine again had seemed almost impossible. The first few weeks after he’d picked Abi up from that warehouse had seemed almost dream like. There’d been no thought of school at first, just settling his daughter into a place she didn’t know, reassuring her when she woke from dreams screaming like her heart was shattering. He’d spent the fitful hours where she did sleep on the phone and laptop, doing everything possible to try and track down Karin or find any breadcrumb that might lead him to where Sara had been taken after she was brought back. There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in his gut that someone had taken her, his wife wouldn’t have just walked away, leaving their four year old behind.
It wasn’t a tearful, confused four year old he’d dropped off at school half an hour before though. It was his seventeen year old – almost an adult now, certainly grown up enough to start demanding the changes she wanted to their routine. Michael huffed out a breath now as he parked in the lot behind the station. There was some give to their routine here, but being driven to school at the moment wasn’t one of those soft spots. His lips pressed down hard, his throat aching for a moment. He’d almost lost her again, after that there was no way on earth he wasn’t going to hold her closer.
A moment’s lapse in concentration on one of the dangerously rural roads around town when she was dropping Hazel home after a night at the carnival and a man had lost his life. The girls had been through a nightmare and the curse in Abi’s DNA had been shattered. Coaching his daughter through her first change had torn something open inside of him. He’d had the blessing of not knowing what was happening those first few months, but Abi had known and she’d been agonisingly aware of every step of it. Until he was sure she’d found her feet again, was steady and settled, there wasn’t going to be another car for her. It was going to be the dad taxi service. Which mean he had to be back out of the station in time to pick her up from school. Thanks to Forbes’ understanding nature, it was manageable.
Michael beeped the car doors shut and started towards the station. It probably wasn’t physically possible, but he felt the grit of exhaustion in his eyes and ground his thumb and forefinger into his eyes as he approached the rear door of the station. Abi wasn’t the only one the dreams came for, most nights since the accident he’d woken from them, bathed in sweat, the nightmares of blood and Sara’s pale, all too still face lingering after he scrambled out from the tangled sheets. Work might not’ve seemed like a sane escape from that given the nature of things that happened in Mystic Falls, but it was a part of the routine he couldn’t have carved out now. The shift from being on long term leave from the Agency to playing analyst for the sheriff had been one of the best moves he’d ever made.
Grabbing coffee on the way to his desk was pretty high on that list too. Michael snagged his cup from its peg on the wall – the worn CIA emblem on its side making its ownership obvious – and set it in the fancy machine one of the detectives had apparently bought for the station in some fit over the safety of drinking something that looked like motor oil. He dumped grounds in, leaned back against the counter as it started to gurgle. There were a stack of files on his desk to go through, data entered into the software he’d jerry-rigged together to look for similarities. Enough to keep him busy for the rest of the week, longer if it started to actually find something. Seeing motion in the doorway out of the corner of his eye, Michael looked up and slanted the detective a grin. ”Looking for a caffeine boost too huh?” Only months before Karin had managed to bring Abi and Sara back he’d ended up road tripping with Luke Adams to try and find some connection between the loss of his family and other home invasions. The detective had stuck in town all that time, the same way he had.
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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 Dec 30, 2022 17:05:27 GMT
 There never seemed to be a shortage of cases to work in Mystic Falls and while some of them were awful, Luke knew that he would never want to be one of those people who just sat around twiddling their thumbs. He had never done well with being bored and he knew that he never would. Keeping busy was something that he was good at and with the amount of experience in the field that he had, there was plenty that he could use to see outside the box that other people couldn’t. He had been alive much longer than most people knew and even though he hadn’t always worked as a detective for centuries he had worked in law enforcement in one form or another just like Nick had worked as a doctor. They had both found what they wanted to do with their lives and they both liked making a difference so Luke knew that he wouldn’t have it any other way. Normally he preferred to work alone because the truth was that he didn’t always get along with people too well and he wasn’t very good at letting them get too close to him after the amount of people that he had loved and lost but he and Dani worked well together. She had managed to get under his skin in a way that no one else had for a long time and the truth was that he was glad. Letting her in had made him realise that it might not be so bad doing the same with others so he was trying to change at least a little. That day he had ended up getting in early so he could start working his way through some of the case files on his desk. He was one of the first ones in which wasn’t unusual as the truth was that he liked the peace and quiet first thing in the morning. It made it easier for him to focus and he had already found some new leads that he and Dani were going to need to follow by the time he made his way into the break room to grab a cup of coffee. Normally he tended to grab one while he was out since the stuff at the station was usually awful but someone had brought a new machine so they could actually get some decent coffee for a change and Luke really was grateful. Returning to his desk, he was able to get a bit more work done before returning for his second cup and this time he found a familiar figure already there. “Looking for my second one actually, I’ve been here for a while,” Luke admitted as he headed inside and made himself another drink. “I see you took my advice and decided to speak to the Sheriff,” he added with a smile. “How are you finding it so far?” It was definitely a change of pace from what he was used too, that was for sure, but the supernatural presence definitely made life interesting. 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 31, 2022 17:45:34 GMT
Staying in Mystic Falls after Ana had dragged him here, trying to steal back what she’d been aiming to steal in the first place, had never been his intention. He’d sure as hell hadn’t imagined he’d end up considering the place his new home – with roots put down in the house and the job. It had been all about going back. Orlov had expected him to, had figured he’d keep dropping those breadcrumbs for his little tech whiz, just enough to keep him on the hook until eventually he gave him on finding out what had happened to his family. He’d never had any intention of doing that but Michael had known that his chances of figuring the whole thing out were slimmer. The ones of actually getting his family back were less than zero. Jesus, he’d been so damn wrong.
Karin hadn’t bothered with the breadcrumbs, she’d gone straight to someone she thought could turn that less than zero into a one hundred percent guarantee. Maybe she hadn’t hit that, but she’d gotten close enough that he’d had all those years here with his daughter to build that new life. Settled was good for her, and maybe, Michael thought as he poured coffee into his cup (not the paper things that tried to scald your fingers as you carried them back to your borrowed desk). Some new white mugs had accompanied the machine when it had first arrived, but like with all nice things in an office situation, they started to disappear into the bottom drawers of desks, only returning when someone got fed up of not being able to find them and went on the hunt. It was probably some comment on his origins, but nobody touched the CIA mug he’d brought with him that first official day on the job.
Michael looked up as someone else came in for their morning fix. The station wasn’t exactly donut central, but coffee was certainly one of the food groups here and although it wasn’t the chicory stuff from home, Michael supposed he was no different. He’d nudged Luke about his fix and ended up letting out a whistle when he admitted it was his second of the day. ”I’m an early starter, but you’ve definitely got me beaten. Were you strolling in the door at 4am?” He wouldn’t swap Abi’s return for anything, but having to get your kid out the door as well in the mornings changed things, even if they were old enough to handle the whole process themselves now – except for the driving. While he was still taking Abi to and from school most of the time his schedule was entirely shackled to hers, which was a relief in a way.
He waited for Luke to finish topping his cup up before he poured his own, adding one of the little pots of hazelnut creamer (nope, not a patch on the chicory) and a couple of sugars. He’d taken to doctoring it when it had become obvious that black coffee no longer had the kick for him that it once had. Why put yourself through the bitterness of it if it did nothing for you in that pure form. Michael tipped his head to the side, smiling faintly as he took a sip from his cup. ”I figured it was time I dipped my toe back in.” His throat felt like it closed up for a moment as he realised that he couldn’t admit that his daughter coming back had influenced the whole thing. ”I had some skills the sheriff could use and … it’s different,” he admitted. ”Satisfying though. Pulling cases together, seeing if I can find any sort of connections for you guys to dig into. How’ve you been?” It felt like a lifetime ago that Luke had driven him to see some friends of his to try and find connections to what had happened to his own family, maybe it had been close to that since Abi had been back for years now, ones they spent here hoping that Sara would find her way back to them.
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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 26, 2023 22:21:42 GMT
Being a cop wasn’t for everyone but for Luke it felt like it was what he was born to do. He had been alive for such a long time, far longer than it felt like he had any right to have lived some days, and he knew that he could have done anything during that time. He had enough money saved up that he didn’t actually have to worry about working but sitting around twiddling his thumbs just wasn’t his style. He much preferred being busy and he liked being useful. Most of the time it felt like his love life was non-existent these days, he dated occasionally but nothing ever seemed to come of it and the truth was that he wasn’t really sure how to let anyone get close to him these days after the amount of people that he had loved and lost. Add to that the fact that his family didn’t need him as much as they used to and the truth was that Luke often found himself at a bit of a loose end so he knew that he was much better off having something to keep him busy. His job as a detective definitely seemed to do that, the circle of people who knew that he was a kitsune was pretty small and that was just how he liked it. He knew how dangerous it could be for anyone to find out the truth, he had seen it when one of his past lovers had fallen afoul of hunters and the same thing had happened to his nephew. Luke knew that there was still more that he could do with his life so he had to be careful and the truth was that he didn’t want his family to have to endure the pain of losing anyone else so it was just something he had to do. Right now he had already been at work for a few hours trying to make a dent in some of the cases that had ended up piling up when one of the other detectives went off sick. It was slow going since he wasn’t familiar with those like he was his own but he knew that he would get caught up soon enough. Heading for his second coffee of the day, it wasn’t long before he spotted a familiar face and he couldn’t help but laugh as Michael asked if he had started at 4 a.m. “Close enough, it was just after five,” he admitted as poured his drink. “I inherited a lot of cases when Smithy was signed off so I’m trying to get up to speed with them all,” he added with a shrug. Working hours like that wasn’t something that he could do too often but he knew that it would be worth it once he had managed to get caught up with everything a bit. Lifting his mug to his lips, he blew on it for a moment even though the heat had never bothered him much considering that he was a fire kitsune but he knew that he needed to keep up appearances. Once he was sure that it was cool enough he took a sip before lowering his mug once more. “You’ll be glad you did, there’s plenty to keep you busy there,” Luke assured him. There seemed to be a neverending string of new cases to tackle these days but Luke knew that that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nodding as Michael explained what he had been up to, he felt a smile touch his lips. “So you haven’t been tempted to go through the academy and work up to becoming a detective yourself yet?” he asked, not sure what Michael’s plans were these days. “I’ve been pretty good, been keeping busy and spending time with my family when I can. How about 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 Jul 15, 2023 17:48:27 GMT
There was a rhythm to offices, one that new people either got used to or fought against until they quit and found somewhere that suited them better. He’d been entrenched in the one at the CIA. Always the first into the office, hard at work by the time the lights started to come up around him and others had trailed in. Michael knew they’d looked at him like he was nuts, but the work had been all that had mattered then and even when Abi had been small he’d been too locked into it all. The rhythm hadn’t held after he’d lost her and Sara. It had gotten out of whack, every hour he could manage spent in the office, then on his own devices when the Agency had decided to cut off his access for his own good. It probably hadn’t been a secret to anybody, especially not Orlov, when he’d floundered then. Being cut adrift, having to tread that water on his own had led to a slow decline that had only stopped when he’d been called to that warehouse.
These days everything revolved around his daughter. The work was just that. An eight hour a day job that meant he could have breakfast with his kid, take her to school or pick her up from there. He didn’t get calls in the middle of the night to drag him out of bed. It was as close to a settled routine as he’d had since that awful night. Apparently he wasn’t the first in the office anymore, but that was fine with him. Michael mock winced, shaking his head. ”You try doing that with a teenager in the house. You crave every minute of sleep you can get then.” And every minute of time he had could get with his kid, knowing how precious it was, how easily it could all be snatched away. Your straightened your priorities out then and the job was no longer top of his list.
At the news of a coworkers sickness, Michael frowned faintly. He tapped his fingers against his mug, studying the other man. Transferring a case load wasn’t out of the ordinary, but in this town ‘sickness’ could cover a myriad of things, and not all of them were as simple or mild as a cold. ”Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate. You need a hand with any of them, give me a shout. At the very least I can plug the data into the software I’m plugging into the system.” It searched for matches in cases, looked for the patterns that the human eye didn’t always catch. Of course, sometimes that meant it found something he couldn’t speak up about, not without knowing exactly what the sheriff knew about the supernatural situation in town.
Leaning back against the counter, Michael sipped at his coffee. When Abi had been small he’d practically lived on the stuff, getting through those first few weeks after her birth on caffeine alone. Now it might as well have been water for all that it did for him. ”In this town? Definitely,” he agreed with a sigh. He’d have lied if he’d said he wasn’t using the same program to still try and trace Sara. Michael huffed out an amused breath, shaking his head as he looked back up at Luke. ”I haven’t been that masochistic yet. I figure maybe I start at the shallow end, decide if this works for me.” Maybe wait until Abi was out of high school and the anxiety lost a little more of its grip. Tapping his fingers against the side of his cup, he considered it for a moment, looking up as Luke turned his question around on him. ”Same. When I can,” he murmured, trying to keep the answer in that boggy ground that obscured what had really happened. How did you tell a guy that your daughter had come back from the dead. ”You ever get any more information in on what we were looking at?” It was a stab in the dark, but that was how he’d worked for decades.
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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, 2023 23:03:31 GMT
Luke was used to throwing himself into his work, it was what he was good at and it helped distract him from his personal life. He had been on his own for a long time and even though he told himself that it was better that way since it meant that he couldn’t lose anyone else that he loved, it didn’t make it any less lonely. Every woman he’d ever loved had died and had it been under normal circumstances given that he was immortal then he would have understood but only one of them had died like that, the others had had their lives cut short long before they should have done. Deep down Luke knew that he was probably better off on his own and it was certainly a good way of protecting his heart but there was a part of him that still longed for the kind of family that his brother had built with Lauren, he just wasn’t sure that that was ever going to be on the cards for him. Instead all he could do was throw himself into something that he could control and that meant getting in early to try and make a dent in the backlog of cases that he needed to work through. “I live with my brother and his family so I’ve been through all of that with his kids,” Luke chuckled. It had certainly been interesting with each of them, that was for sure. Thankfully there had been decades between each of them being at that stage but he knew that he couldn’t really say that. There were a few people in town who knew what Luke was, Dani being one of them, but for the most part he kept it to himself because he knew that it was much safer that way, especially with the amount of hunters that were in town. “You can’t tell me you’re not loving every minute of it though,” he added with a grin, knowing just what Michael had gone through with losing his daughter before. As Michael said it sounded like he had a lot on his place, Luke nodded. “I have but I like being kept busy,” he admitted, knowing that it was much better at the alternative. “I might just take you up on that, thanks,” he added as Michael offered to help him if he ever needed it. “What have they had you doing so far other than seeing what connections you can find?” he asked, knowing that there had to be more to it than that. “At least no one can say that Mystic Falls is boring,” Luke chuckled. He had lived and worked in places like this before, there was always something going on and that was never going to change. The town was like a beacon for the supernatural so some of the cases he worked fell into that category while others were normal and some seemed to be a cross between the two. He never knew what he was going to get from one day to the next but that was definitely a good thing as far as he was concerned. “Where’s the fun in that? It’s much better to throw yourself in at the deep end,” Luke teased as he took a sip of his coffee. He knew that it was different for Michael though, he had his daughter to think about and that meant it was more complicated for him. As Michael asked if he’d managed to find any more information about what they were looking into, he nodded. “I’ve got a few leads I’m chasing down at the moment, a few contacts should be getting back to me later this week. How about you, have you found anything new?”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 5, 2023 21:03:31 GMT
As a new father he’d spent plenty of nights wandering the house with a wide awake baby – feeding her, changing her, trying to soothe the sobs he couldn’t explain. You checked on them half a dozen times a night, always terrified that you were gonna do something wrong. In the months after Sara and Abi had been taken it had been worse. Standing there in the kitchen, trying to remember there as they’d been before. Abi kneeling on one of the chairs to avoid having to sit in her booster seat, maple syrup leaving her cheeks sticky, Sara at the stove, singing along to the radio when he’d got home, hair waving from the heat. The whole house in New Orleans had been thick with memories of them – good and bad. Leaving them behind was supposed to have given him some sort of peace of mind, but when Abi had been returned to him here, Michael had realised just how many of them he’d brought with him. He’d had to learn to be a father all over again. There were still times when he’d felt like he’d done it all over night, although there were plenty of fathers who’d probably say they hadn’t been ready for their kids to become teenagers.
Unlike Luke, he’d had no practice with it as an uncle, it had been a plunge into the deep end from the very start. Karin hadn’t settled down by the time their world had imploded – if she had after, he hadn’t found out about it. It still tore at him sometimes that he’d had to leave his entire world behind, that Abi didn’t have her mom or her aunt here, but he’d done his best to change that and so far no amount of effort had left them any closer to finding Sara. ”Have you got any tips?” Michael asked lightly. He huffed out a laugh before he rubbed his knuckles under his mouth. Looking back up at Luke, Michael smiled and shook his head. ”I wouldn’t swap it for the world,” he admitted. ”Alright, maybe I could do without the whole sulky teenager thing, but I’ll take even that.” Considering the alternative, he’d take fifty years of Abi being a teenager.
He had his breaks from fatherhood here at the station. Maybe some part of him was always worried about ending up in over his head again, but this time around he was trying to avoid the rabbit holes that would lead him there. The program he’d been working with was about giving the sheriff’s people the tools to investigate, he wasn’t digging too deep into he results himself. ”Any time,” Michael told Luke, gesturing at him with a cup. ”To be honest, not much. I’ve been strictly handling information. Without going through the academy, I don’t know how much more Forbes would let me help with.” That meant he could spend half his time looking for leads on Sara with it, at least. So far there’d been nothing, but it didn’t mean there wasn’t something somewhere that was just waiting for him to see it.
Michael’s laugh held a trace of weariness. He raised his brows at the detective, his grin flashing back. ”True. I wondered how many were ticked off that they didn’t get the peaceful life they came here for.” That hadn’t been him. When he’d come here it’d been all about chasing down what he’d managed to lose for Orlov and he hadn’t had much peace after that. Abi triggering her curse was just the latest worry in a long line of them. ”What happens if I do that and I’ve forgotten how to swim?” There was a chance he’d gotten rusty in the last decade, no matter how hard he tried to keep his skills up. Those lines started to etch their way back into his face again as he shook his head at Luke. He’d never been sure how Abi’s return had appeared to other people. Had those who’d known his kid had died just lost that knowledge when she’d come back? ”It’s been a long time, any trails I had have definitely gone cold. There was a sighting of someone here in town a while back, but it didn’t pan out. I’m still looking. You mind sharing that information when it comes in?” He didn’t believe it would lead him anywhere, but he had to keep hoping.
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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 Dec 31, 2023 1:03:11 GMT
Luke had been alive for a long time, much longer than anyone would believe, but if he was honest he still found himself envying those around him who had families and someone they loved in their lives. He had never been that lucky, he had been in relationships before and he was no stranger to love but every time he fell for someone he ended up losing them. It had been that way ever since he was a teenager and it hadn’t gotten any better as he had got older. He knew that it was just a part of life, people died all the time but so many of the women he had fallen for had been taken far too soon and there hadn’t been anything that he could do about it. In a way he knew that perhaps he should just take it as a sign that he was better off alone and to an extent he had closed his heart off as a way of protecting himself but he still knew that if he had the chance to find happiness again then he would probably take it. As it was, Luke tended to throw himself into his work to fill the void that was left by not having a partner or kids of his own and it had been that way for a long time. As Michael asked whether he had any tips for dealing with teenagers, Luke couldn’t help but laugh. “Honestly I ended up putting my head down and waited for it to blow over a lot of the time,” he chuckled. “It’s always easier being the cool uncle than it is being the dad.” That didn’t mean that he didn’t wish he could have the chance to find out what it was like to be on the other side of it, though. “I knew it,” he chuckled as Michael said he wouldn’t change it for the world. “Just remember the sulky teenage phase won’t last forever, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.” It might take a while to get there but eventually that phase always came to an end and Luke hoped it wouldn’t be too long before that happened for Michael with his daughter. “She is a bit of a stickler for the rules,” Luke agreed as Michael said he wasn’t sure how much more Liz would let him do without going through the academy. He knew that he couldn’t do that job, he had always preferred being out there solving cases to sitting behind a desk rifling through paperwork. That was a part of the job too sometimes but it was one that Luke always hated. “Probably quite a few. Keeps us gainfully employed though,” he chuckled. Without so much going on in the town then they would all be out of work so Luke knew which way he would rather have it. As Michael spoke again, Luke shrugged. “Then you pick yourself up and you learn all over again,” he said, even though he was pretty sure that Michael wouldn’t have forgotten. He might be a bit rusty having been out of the game for so long but something told him that the guy wouldn’t have forgotten everything that he had learned. “I’ll tell you what, my partner has the day off so why don’t you ride with me and dust some of the cobwebs off? It might help you figure out what you want to do,” he offered. Luke knew that there were some people who liked sitting behind a desk and contributing that way but he wasn’t so sure that Michael was that kind of person. “Not at all. I’ll pass along anything I find.”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 Jan 13, 2024 18:14:06 GMT
Some days it felt like it’d been no time at all between Abi’s toddler tantrums – she’d been a happy baby, so there hadn’t been many, luckily – and the equally rough teenaged years. There’d been those desert like years when all he’d had was his memories of them, but once he’d picked Abi up at that warehouse those years had rolled by so fast. Michael supposed that most parents felt that way, the good times vanished too quickly, the bad ones lingered on in your memory – even if they weren’t as gutting as losing your family in such a brutal way. You stood at your kid’s high school graduation and wondered where all that time went. Michael knew that every one of those years was etched into his heart and mind – and the house in some cases – but it still felt as though it had only been a blink of an eye since he’d rushed into that room and gathered his little girl (looking just the same way she had as the last time he’d kissed her goodbye to go to work) into his arms.
The worst of teenaged years were behind them, but that only meant that the things that happened now were more serious. Abi didn’t go slamming the doors over being grounded anymore, she didn’t sulk because he’d had to ask her to take the trash out half a dozen times. She’d had to fight through her first turning, had to live with the memories of accidentally having taken a man’s life instead. It was a lot of weight that he wished he could take off of her. Michael huffed out a breath at Luke’s chuckle, nodding like he got it. ”The joy of being an uncle,” he murmured. ”I guess my sister would say the same if she was here.” He hadn’t seen Karin in years though, not even on the night Abi had come back. She’d already left, trying to find out what had happened to Sara. He still felt hollow about it. His brows drew together faintly before he forced the frown away. ”That’s what I’m holding onto. She’s going to college this year, I guess that takes the pressure off a little, hmm?” And it would come with a new set of worries. Abi wasn’t likely to stay at home while she went to college, not even with it being Whitmore. She’d want the freedom to stay on campus – hopefully with Hazel – and he’d be at home worrying whether the security was good enough on campus and if Abi was eating properly.
Forbes would undoubtedly find him something to keep him busy while Abi was gone. There was a danger in focusing too much on work, but over the last decade it had started to give him some respite here again. He snorted lightly, sipping at his coffee. ”Maybe I can wear her down a little. Tell her that going through the agency’s training program had to be more than equivalent to the police academy." He made a low sound of agreement in his throat as Luke said that the problems people in town had them gainfully employed. At least he was these days, what he’d done for Orlov in those couple of years he’d worked for him never would’ve been considered legal. Maybe there were still things he needed to learn, but Michael was sure he could do that on the job. The smile tugged back at his lips faintly. ”It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to do that.”
He’d expected to spend the day digging through the files some more, scanning in another batch of reports that had never been digitised – boring, but necessary. It seemed Luke had other ideas though. Michael straightened up, brows rising. ”You sure you don’t mind the company? Most cops wouldn’t want to spend that much time with a fed.” Luke had never been like that though. Finding an appeal in it, Michael was already nodded. ”It’s appreciated. I’ll do the same. I’m still trying to tug some strings back in New Orleans, but people have moved on, retired, it’s difficult tracking them down after a decade.” That didn’t mean he was ever gonna give up on working out exactly what had happened though.
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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 Feb 29, 2024 22:44:59 GMT
Luke had always wanted a family of his own but his track record of relationships really wasn’t good so it had never been on the cards for him. Not yet, anyway. He was over six hundred years old and it hadn’t happened yet but he still wasn’t giving up hope. It had taken his brother a long time to find Lauren but the two of them were happy and they had an amazing family. Luke always seemed to be the one who got his heart broken so trusting someone was always much easier said than done but sooner or later he knew that he was going to have to unless he decided to spend the rest of his life alone. Being around family always helped, Nick was his twin and they had always been close and when it came to the kids, Luke liked helping out when he could but it had to be said that he definitely had a much easier job with them than his brother and Lauren did. “It’s always good being able to do the fun bits but hand the serious stuff over to their parents,” he chuckled. He didn’t have to worry about trying to lay down the law with the kids like Nick and Lauren did sometimes but he still always tried to be on hand to give the kids advice when it was needed and they didn’t want to talk to their parents about whatever was bothering them at the time. As Michael said it would take some of the pressure off when his daughter went off to college, Luke’s expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “I guess that depends on how you feel about her being surrounded by college boys and all that,” he shrugged. It might mean that Michael wouldn’t have her under the same roof but that didn’t mean that the worry was instantly going to go away. Luke couldn’t help but laugh as Michael said that maybe he could wear Liz down a bit. “Yeah, good luck with that. I don’t like your chances,” he chuckled. He honestly didn’t see it working but if Michael wanted to give it a try then Luke knew that he should go for it. He knew that Liz’s intentions were good, she only wanted to make sure that the people she sent out there on the front lines were as ready as they could ever be in a town as dangerous as Mystic Falls. Luke wasn’t sure whether she knew about the supernatural but she definitely seemed to take the dangers seriously and he knew that he wouldn’t be surprised if she had figured it out one way or another. Most of the unusual cases seemed to find their way across his desk these days which was just fine by him but he couldn’t help but wonder if there were certain patrol officers tasked with dealing with cases like those too. “That’s good, you’re probably a pro at it by now then,” Luke nodded, a smile touching his lips in return. There were times when he had to go through the training academy or different programs again just to keep up appearances and he was certain that Michael would be able to do it too if he chose to. Inviting Michael to tag along for the day without running it by Liz first was probably a little risky but the truth was that Luke was the kind of person who preferred to ask for forgiveness rather than permission and he knew that if the roles were reversed and all he was able to do was be cooped up there every day then he would lose his mind so he was more than happy to give Michael the chance to do something a little different for a change. “I wouldn’t have offered if I minded,” he assured him. “Besides, I have friends who are feds so I’m used to it,” he added with a shrug. Luke knew that he couldn’t tell Michael that he had been a fed himself on more than a few occasions over the years but he really didn’t mind the guy tagging along one bit. “That’s always the way but something will turn up.” It had been years but if there was a lead out there then one of them would find it. 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 22, 2024 22:31:20 GMT
Abi had still been a child when her grandparents had died. For a time after she’d come back he’d wondered just how much she’d remembered of them. Those dinners at their house every weekend had been such an important part of their lives. Then it had felt like they’d go on forever. He’d be white haired himself, sitting at the table with them both still. Maybe Abi would’ve had kids of her own eventually, taking them to see great-grandma and grandpa. They’d been snatched away with no warning, then the same had happened to her and Sara and it felt like he’d had to carve away all he had left to keep Karin safe. Now Karin was the one keeping herself at a distance and he was the only family Abi had around. ”Maybe one day I’ll find out,” he muttered. If Karin ever moved on with her own life. His hand came up to pinch at his nose as Luke’s comment drew a groan out of him. ”Don’t remind me of that. It’s gonna be hard enough letting her go and stay in the dorms.” He hadn’t been one of those college boys, he’d been too focused academically for that. The only blessing might end up being that it was likely Abi would end up where Hazel was and like his own daughter, she was a good kid.
Creating a settled life here had been the most important thing when Karin’s friends had given Abi back to him. They could’ve returned to New Orleans, but there would’ve been questions there he wasn’t sure he could answer, bad memories too, the sort that would likely have continued drowning him to the point where the Agency would never clear him for work. He grinned at Luke, but he couldn’t exactly tell the guy he was usually lucky when it would’ve been so obvious a lie. ”I guess we’ll have to see. Once I’ve amazed her with my analytic skills she might come around to the idea.” More likely she’d just force him through the academy. At this point it might just be worth it, especially if he used it as a way to keep what Abi was up to at college off of his mind in August. Michael’s smile faded slightly, but he nodded at Luke. ”Probably. If I’m lucky this’ll be the last time though. I think Mystic Falls is gonna be home for Abi.” She’d grown up here after all. More than a decade spent here, compared to the handful of years she’d had back in New Orleans before the unthinkable had happened.
Taking that step into full law enforcement would be the first real leap forward since the night he’d brought her back to the motel. A fresh start for both of them, he guessed. ”I’d appreciate it,” Michael told him honestly. He drained the last of his coffee, his grin tugging at his mouth again. ”That’s rare. Most cops I know like to keep a distance.” Like being one of the men in black meant some sort of corruption would rub off on them. It should’ve been the opposite way around, but he’d never been one to draw those lines either. He wouldn’t have ended up asking Forbes if he could work as some sort of freelance analyst at the station otherwise. Being out there on the streets probably wouldn’t give him much more of a chance to find Sara, but anything more he could do was worth it. ”I hope so. You never heard anything more back from the people you reached out to then, huh?” The question almost stuck in his throat as he started towards the break room door, ready to head out already. All those years and he still wasn’t any closer than he had been when he’d received that call that Abi was alive and waiting for her dad to come to her.
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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, 2024 22:13:31 GMT
Becoming a father was something that Luke had always hoped would happen for him one day but after over six hundred years of being on his own for the most part, he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t lost hope. He had fallen in love more than a few times over the course of his life but every time he seemed to choose the wrong woman and it never worked out well for him. A few times he’d thought he’d finally managed to get it right but in the end he had only been disappointed. There were women he’d loved who were mortal and he could have restarted the ageing process and lived out a mortal life with them but they hadn’t wanted him to give up his immortality for them. Instead he had stayed by their side as they grew older, dealing with the difficulties that came with it when they had to, and he had been there with them when they passed away. Luke knew it had been the right thing to do, he still had his twin and his extended family and Luke knew that he didn’t want to leave them behind. Instead he had taken to throwing himself into his work and that was exactly how it had been ever since he’d arrived in Mystic Falls as well. “Maybe although I think that ship has probably sailed by now,” Luke shrugged. Appearance wise he was still young but in reality he wasn’t and he would be lying if he said that there were days when he didn’t feel every year of his real age weighing down on him. “If she’s anything like you, I’m sure she’ll be fine. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders and you’ve raised her right, I’m sure you’ve taught her everything she’ll need to know.” College wasn’t something that had ever really appealed to Luke too much but it had to Nick a few times over the years when he’d wanted to keep on top of his medical knowledge. These days it was something that most young people seemed to pursue and he honestly believed that if Michael’s daughter was anything like him then she wouldn’t have a problem. “This is Liz we’re talking about, she’s a stickler for the rules,” Luke chuckled. In a town like Mystic Falls that was probably a good thing although he knew that Liz worked to her own set of rules when it came to covering up any supernatural events that occurred around the town. So far a lot of the human population was still in the dark about the supernatural and that was definitely a good thing so her methods seemed to be working at least. Michael had the experience of working with the FBI but this was different and he wouldn’t be surprised if Liz refused to budge and insisted that he go through the police academy first. “Hopefully you will be. There are definitely worst places to call home,” he admitted. He had moved all over with his family, it was something that came with the territory of not ageing, but it had to be said that Mystic Falls was definitely one of the best places he had lived. Taking a sip of his coffee, Luke couldn’t help but laugh as Michael said that most cops he knew liked to keep a distance from feds. “Spend enough time with me and you’ll realise I’m not like most cops,” he chuckled. Luke had lived more lifetimes than most people could even comprehend and with that came the chance to try his hand at different careers. He always ended up working in law enforcement in some capacity and more than a few times he’d worked for the FBI under different aliases. He had a couple of friends within the organisation that had helped him hide the fact that he was a kitsune from the bureau and he still had some friends who worked there now. Some of them knew the truth about him while others didn’t but he still kept in touch with them anyway. “Not yet, no. As soon as they find anything, they’ll let me know,” Luke said, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before his friends came through with something. Finishing his coffee, he rinsed out his mug before putting it in the cupboard. “Are you ready to go?”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 7, 2024 17:07:00 GMT
”Never say never,” Michael warned as he let his hand fall away. His expression remained serious, bitter experience had carved each of those granite lines deeply. He’d never expected his life to change, he’d never dreamed he would get Abi or Sara back, but in the end he’d been proven wrong and he was glad as hell he had been. There were plenty of people, things in this town that lived on a different timescale to others, which meant that a lot of the time it was never too late for them. It was one blessing in a field of curses that he’d discovered about what he was. If he could’ve saved Abi from all of that he would’ve done, but an accident on a dark road had meant that his daughter was always gonna suffer like he did. Michael chuckled wearily as Luke tried to assure him that Abi would do just fine if she took after him. ”I think in most ways she’d rather have taken after her mom, but thanks. I’m doing my best with her.” His throat still felt tight at the thought of Abi being away at college though, even if it was just a short distance from Mystic Falls.
Michael puffed out a breath, finally giving in and nodding. From what he’d seen, Liz Forbes was a good sheriff. Her people were loyal to her, she did what she needed to on the job and for the most part she kept the peace. What she knew of what else went on in this town was still in question, but given how many of her staff didn’t make it to retirement, he was willing to lay money on her being aware of it – which meant that he had to be a little warier of her. ”True, I guess I’m probably not gonna have much choice.” In comparison to the CIA training academy, it probably wasn’t gonna be that bad. Hell, in comparison to working for Orlov, the tiny, sleepy little town had felt like a reprieve. After Abi had come back they could’ve gone back to New Orleans, but how did you tell people that your murdered daughter wasn’t dead anymore? Anywhere else might’ve worked to start over. He hadn’t wanted to leave the town where Abi and Sara had been brought back though. If Sara was going to find her way to them anywhere, it was back here. ”I could name a few,” Michael said dryly. ”Abi seems to like it here and I wouldn’t want to tear her away from the friends she’s made here.” Especially to go back to a city that had been nothing but a nightmare in the end.
Green eyes narrowed faintly above the rim of his mug, studying the man over the top of it as he lowered it. So far Luke had been more of a help in looking into what had happened to his family than any of the others here. He’d never questioned what had happened, or tried to convince him it was nothing more than a house invasion, the same way the NOPD cops had. One corner of his mouth kicked up faintly. ”I think I’ve already seen that,” he assured him. After they’d first met Luke had reached out to some of his connections to see if they could dig any deeper into what had happened to his family. The lack of news was what he’d expected, but still Michael felt that weight in the pit of his stomach. ”Thanks, it’s appreciated,” he assured him with a nod. Michael swallowed hard, bobbing his head as Luke asked if he was ready to go. ”Sure. Lead the way. You want me to drive?” One corner of his mouth curled up as he held the door open for Luke. He was always gonna find himself offering, even if most cops didn’t wanna give up the control.
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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, 2024 22:07:16 GMT
“I guess that’s true. Stranger things have happened,” Luke nodded. He would be the first to admit that his track record with relationships was awful, every time he did his best to make it work and that had even included staying with women he’d loved while they grew older. He could have started ageing with them but they hadn’t wanted to do that since they hadn’t wanted him to give up his immortality to be with them. Instead he had stayed with them until the end and then he’d had to find a way to move on with his life. It was never easy but it was the way that things had always worked out for him. Aside from his brothers and Nick’s family, everyone else he’d ever loved had died and left him behind and there was a part of Luke that couldn’t help but feel like that was never going to change. He was over six hundred years old and yet he had never been married nor had he been fortunate enough to be blessed with any children. He envied his brother for what he had with Lauren and the kids but it always seemed to be just beyond Luke’s grasp for himself. “I’m sure that’s not true. It’s clear that you love her and you would do anything for her, she’s lucky to have you.” Luke’s parents had died when he was only five years old and his adoptive parents had died just before he turned twenty. He knew what it was like to lose a parent and given how long Michael had spent looking for Abi, he wouldn’t be surprised if she was making the most of having him around now.
It was definitely wishful thinking on Michael’s part that he would be able to join the department officially without having to go through the police academy. Luke had been working with Liz for long enough now to know that she didn’t like taking risks with people especially when it came to their safety and given just how long Michael had been out of the game for he knew that she wouldn’t want to take that risk. It was different for Luke taking Michael out with him, he had seen what the guy could do and he trusted him so he knew that it would be fine but Liz was responsible for everyone in her department so it was definitely different for her. “Unfortunately not. It won’t be too bad though, I’m sure you’ll make it through with flying colours,” Luke offered. Michael had managed to make it through the CIA training academy after all so whatever was thrown at him, Luke was sure that he could handle it. “So could I,” Luke chuckled as Michael said he could name a few places that would be worse to call home. “It sounds like staying here would be good for both of you then,” he offered. Abi had friends and Michael had been working with them for a while so it sounded like somewhere that they could both thrive in.
Taking a sip of his drink, Luke felt a smile touch his lips as Michael said he thought he’d already seen that he wasn’t like most cops. “Good, you’re a quick learner,” he grinned. Luke couldn’t tell a lot of people that he had been doing the job in one form or another for longer than most of them could even imagine being alive and he wasn’t sure that Michael knew about the supernatural so he wasn’t going to go dropping that bombshell on him any time soon unless he knew for sure that he knew but he was still glad that he could show that he wasn’t like most cops even if only in small ways. “Any time,” Luke nodded as Michael thanked him. Putting his mug away, Luke couldn’t help but laugh as Michael asked if he wanted him to drive. “Definitely not,” he chuckled, swinging by his desk to grab his jacket, phone and keys along with the case file he was working on before leading the way out of the building. “You can lead the questioning though, got to start you off somewhere,” he said as he climbed into the car and handed the file to Michael so he could brush up on it before starting the engine.
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 10, 2024 20:00:40 GMT
Life might have been predictable in those early days of their marriage, but they’d been happy. He’d come home on time then, caught in that honeymoon period for years. When Abi had been born he’d even slipped out of the office early, telling his managers he’d work from home. Oh, he had, once his daughter had been set down in her crib, but it had always come second to his family. Things had changed too slowly for him to have realised that the scales were slipping. After all he’d done to bring the pain into Abi and Sara’s lives some part of him hadn’t believed that he deserved the two of them back, but thank God Karin hadn’t thought the same way. His sister had given him his life back. That had to mean that there was a chance that things could change for Luke at some point. These things happened when you never expected it.
Abi was still suffering for what had happened at times, her triggering her own curse yet another thing he would’ve saved her from if he could. Without it in her DNA she’d have suffered through another tragedy, but it wouldn’t come back to haunt her every month. ”We’re lucky to have each other,” Michael agreed, the corners of his mouth flickering up for a moment. ”I love her and her mom more than anything, there are just some things I wish I could’ve protected her from.” Things he wasn’t about to try and explain to a guy who’d probably never heard of that stuff. He’d already brought that darkness into Abi’s life, he wouldn’t bring it into Luke’s too.
Letters from the Agency would’ve made it more likely that Forbes would hire him, but Luke was right, they wouldn’t erase protocol. By now he knew how hard Forbes clung onto the rule book. There’d be a half dozen clauses on it that would prevent him from just walking into the job – put there for everybody’s protection. Michael grunted, then flashed Luke a smirk. ”Maybe. At the very least I will make it through to graduation.” He’d do it for Abi, to provide her with a stable life here that wasn’t gonna have her dad bringing shadows into their home again, the sort that arrived with blades and death just waiting to swoop down behind them. Michael dragged his teeth over his lower lip, nodding in agreement at Luke’s comment. ”I hope so. At the very least we’ll be here until Abi graduates college. If she wants to move then, I’ll go wherever she wants to go.” Most kids inched away from their parents then, looking for independence, but he wasn’t ready to let go of his little girl yet.
”Always have been,” he shot back as Luke called him a quick learner. It was what had got him into the Agency in the first place, although when it really mattered he’d been totally blind. He never would’ve asked Luke to give him this learning experience now, but was grateful that the Detective had offered all the same. Michael nodded to him as they headed out. The offer to drive had been thrown out there, not that he’d honestly expected Luke would hand the keys over. He smirked as he followed Luke from his office to the rear door of the station and the staff lot. ”Figured I’d offer all the same.” The rookies rarely got to handle that stuff, they were expected to stay quiet and listen at the Agency. ”Really?” Michael’s brows rose at the offer before he nodded. ”Thanks, I appreciate it. You got any line you wanna follow here? Anything I should work towards if I can?” As an analyst he’d always had some concrete information to run with, but police investigations were rarely that cut and dried. Frowning, Michael belted up and flipped open the file as Luke started to drive.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
