There was something soothing about being in a coffee shop that Lucas had never quite appreciated before. The soft sound of conversation mingled well with the sounds of the various machines behind the counter. It was like being in a library, no one willing to speak too loudly in case they disturbed their neighbors. Many people sat by themselves at one of the small tables, reading or tapping away at their laptops. The smell of coffee and the flowery smell of someone’s tea mingled in the air, creating an atmosphere that felt studious and thoughtful.

“Couldn’t you two just trace her or somethin’?” Shaun asked, struggling to keep his voice low.

Nic shot him an exasperated look, and Lucas sighed. Shaun wasn’t totally illiterate from a technological perspective, but his knowledge didn’t stretch that far, either. It wasn’t the first time he thought Lucas could work some magic with a computer or even once, a TV. Now that he learned Nic was no slouch when it came to technology, he was apparently going to attach his hopes for finding Ana on the both of them.

“That’s not quite how it works,” Nic told him flatly.

“Why not?”

“Because many of the things I learned about computers, the real tricks anyway, came from Ana,” Lucas told him.

“Same here. I haven’t learned a whole lot more except for what she’s taught me. Not like she’s gonna fall for her own tricks. Betcha I know a few things in fieldwork that she doesn’t though, so we have that advantage,” Nic finished cheerfully.

“Which does us no good if we can’t find her in the first place,” Lucas reminded him.

Shaun frowned at the two of them. “Ya tellin’ me, that neither of ya can like, find a program or somethin’, that will tell ya where she’s at? Like, through a call or even from her emails?”

Lucas smiled at that. “You’ve been watching those cop dramas again, haven’t you?”

“Hey, they’re good shows!”

“Yeah, but they suck at realism,” Nic told him, sharing in Lucas’ amusement.

Shaun huffed. “Okay fine, then you nerds tell me what we can do. All y’all are doin’ is laughin’ at me now.”

Nic smirked at Lucas. “Thought you said his accent only got bad when he was upset?”

“He’s easily upset.”

Shaun threw his balled up napkin at Lucas, who didn’t bother to dodge it. It earned a laugh from Nic, which in turn removed one of the lines settling their way into Shaun’s forehead. It wasn’t the first time Lucas had noticed how easily Nic could take the edge off a situation. Before, whenever he and Shaun hadn’t been able to come to an agreement on something, the tension would hang between them until one of them decided to budge a little. It was always awkward before that, and usually meant a day or two spent in relative silence as they both tried to stick to their guns while not setting the other one off. Now, Nic’s lighthearted presence seemed to sap the tension from the conversation, and he eased their nerves with that easy laugh of his.

“And even if we did find her,” Lucas continued, rolling his eyes at Nic’s snickering. “She might know we were looking for her. Even if we found someone to find her for us electronically, they might not be good enough to avoid alerting her. We could get her location, only to show up and find she’d left days before. Despite having spoken to her for years, I can’t say for certain just what sort of skills she has. All I know is, she’s very good at collecting information. It’s obvious she does a lot of it through computers, but I always felt it was word of mouth as well. Now I wonder how much of it was the former, and just her making it seem like more of the latter.”

He and Shaun looked at Nic who shrugged, looking uncomfortable once more. “Don’t ask me. I don’t know any more than you do about what she’s capable of. She’s not exactly been upfront with me about that sorta thing.”

Shaun shifted his cup around before lifting it up to take a drink from it to try hiding his annoyance for a moment. He had apparently surprised Nic by ordering something with plenty of chocolate and raspberry flavoring in it. Seemed that the kitsune had expected Shaun to be a black coffee sort of drinker. He hadn’t been surprised when Lucas had ordered an herbal tea instead of a coffee, however. Never mind that he himself had been the one to order the black coffee with an extra shot of espresso thrown in, which seemed at odds with his personality.

“Okay, so what do we do? If we can’t look for her through computers, then how? On foot? She could be anywhere. Have either of ya actually seen her?” Shaun asked, thumping the now empty cup onto the table.

Lucas shook his head but Nic nodded. “A couple of times before, in the early days. It’s been about five years, but I doubt she looks that different. Not gonna help us much though, unless we can actually find her. I’ve got a good memory for faces, so if we do track her down, I’ll be able to tell you if it’s her or not.”

Lucas sighed, bracing himself for the reaction to the idea he was preparing to offer up. “Maybe we could consider using magical means of finding her?”

Not surprisingly, Shaun glared at him. “What? Find a witch or some voodoo priest? No.”

“Not a big fan of magic, huh?” Nic asked.

“No, and neither of ya should be either. They don’t use anything that’s right or natural. You seen the sort of things they use for their magic?” Shaun asked, sounding offended that his dislike of either group was even being called into question.

“Knew a few wiccans who weren’t like that, good people who just used plants and crystals,” Nic said slowly, in case Shaun took offence.

Shaun grunted, not saying anything immediately, which Lucas leapt on. “Shaun doesn’t mind that sort of magic user. He thinks they’re like priests of nature. It’s the ones who use body parts or cause harm that are the bad ones.”

“So, warlocks and voodoo,” Nic said, nodding slowly.

“Don’t really like any sort, but at least people usin’ crystals ain’t tryin’ to hurt no one. Or making candles outta people’s fat,” Shaun grunted in disgust.

“Don’t ask,” Lucas told Nic when he saw his questioning look. “But that still doesn’t help us. I guarantee that with how secretive she is, she’s got protection against any sort of scrying that a witch could do. I bet even a warlock using some nasty bit of magic would have a hard time finding her.”

Nic laughed. “Then why ask about magic in the first place?”

Lucas couldn’t help but smile at that, even as his face reddened. “I’m just trying to throw ideas out there. Maybe something will stick if we keep trying. No one is completely out of reach. We just have to figure out the right tool for the job.”

It was a pity that there wasn’t a way for one kitsune to find another, or they could use that. According to Nic, they could identify one another easily, but that was about it. It didn’t help that they would have had a hard time explaining that to Shaun, if that had even been an option in the first place. Nic and he had both been avoiding telling Shaun the truth. Neither had outright lied to him, but they were both avoiding bringing up the truth of Nic’s origins.

Lucas knew that it wasn’t exactly a good sign, that he was willing to hide this from Shaun, particularly after what had caused the first fight of theirs earlier in the week. Yet he also knew they would probably need Nic to finish this job. Not only would Nic know, by virtue of having a similar mindset, what sort of things Ana might have in store for them, but he deserved to be involved as well. Shaun wouldn’t want to include Nic in any of this if he knew he wasn’t human, and if truth be told, would probably try to kill him. Lucas knew they would all need to work together to succeed at this, and he thought Nic deserved his chance at getting either answers or revenge.

Nic and Shaun were talking now, but Lucas had stopped listening as he dismally thought about what they were doing. They were making plans, or trying to in any case, to find and hunt down someone who he had once honestly believed to be his friend. It had been hard to believe that she had willingly set them up, set him up. Then to hear her laugh so genuinely during a conversation where she supposedly learned that Lucas was dead was just…too much.

“Lucas?”

It was more the soft concern in Shaun’s normally gruff voice, rather than his name, that brought him from his thoughts. “Hmm?”

“You okay?”

Just looking at the two of them, he knew they suspected where his thoughts had been drifting. Shaun knew him too well to be fooled by anything he said to hide what he was thinking. Nic had a pretty strong intuitive gift for reading people, but it was the momentary glimpse of shared pain in the kitsune’s eyes that told Lucas how he knew what was going on, and understood. How strange to think, that a man he had once been hardly able to stand, and another that he should be willingly hunting, were the ones that were the most concerned about him.

“No,” he admitted, keeping the words flat. “But I will be after we figure out a way to find her and make her answer for betraying us.”

Shaun’s mouth twisted up, drawing in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “I…might know a way.”

Both Nic and Lucas looked at him in question, causing the large man to wince. It wasn’t often that Lucas got to see Shaun look both awkward and unsure of himself. Yet, he was looking between Nic and him with a suddenly shy expression on his face. As bizarre as the thought was at that moment, Lucas actually felt that the suddenly vulnerable look on Shaun’s face was endearing. He might even have called it adorable if he was drunk enough to be that honest with himself.

“There’s uh, a guy, that my dad was friends with. Guy who could talk to spirits,” Shaun explained slowly, his accent fading as he enunciated each word slowly and carefully.

“Like, a medium?” Nic asked, leaning forward to look at Shaun more closely.

“Not dead people, more like, spirits of nature and such,” Shaun said with a nervous glance toward Lucas.

Lucas huffed, understanding and yet in shock at what he was hearing. “Your dad, big man Anthony ‘burn all things not of this world’ Murdock, knows a shaman? A tried and true shaman?”

Shaun chuckled shakily. “Yeah. Yeah, he does, and his name is Erik. Old-world kinda guy. I bet he could talk to some of his spirits and find out where she was if we gave him enough information.”

Nic turned to face Lucas. “Why’s he look like you’re about to yell at him?”

“Because despite his acceptance of magic users who fit his standards, he refuses to associate with any of them. If he’s mentioning this shaman friend of his dad’s, I’m going to bet that Shaun ‘I also burn all things not of this world’ Murdock has not only used this guy’s skills in the past, but probably associates with him. And, is just now telling me this.” Lucas added the last bit with extra emphasis that didn’t go unmissed by Shaun who frowned at him.

“Yeah, guess we both got our secrets,” Shaun replied, still looking nervous but with a touch of indignant anger thrown in now.

“You guys have issues,” Nic informed them as he sat back, looking unconcerned. “Your last name is Murdock?”

“Yes, and his is–”

“Not up for discussion,” Lucas interrupted, glaring daggers at Shaun whose mouth snapped shut. Lucas didn’t use his last name for a damn good reason, seeing that his family’s murder had been well-publicized. The Oster family murders had been the talk of the country when Lucas had been young, and it was still mentioned every now and again. Which made sense, as Mr. James Oster had been running for Senate, and had even casually mentioned possible higher ambitions. James and Katherine Oster had been brutally murdered in their home, and their only son, Lucas, had disappeared without a trace. Lucas no more wanted his name attached to that incident than he wanted to think about that night.

“I smell more drama,” Nic intoned, sounding delighted.

Shaun gestured in disapproval at Nic, looking at Lucas. “Do you want me to try to get a hold of him?”

The fact that he wasn’t using his accent told Lucas that Shaun knew he had been treading on dangerous ground. When it came to Lucas, Shaun’s heart was in the right place, but sometimes his mouth forgot that. He was generally very careful about what he said about Lucas’ past, and Lucas was generally willing to forgive any slips. This one was no different, but it didn’t stop the guilty slant of Shaun’s eyes as he gazed intently at Lucas, waiting for his answer.

Lucas nodded. “Find out if it’s even possible, and then what he’ll need in order to find her. I don’t have any objections to it, especially if it already has your stamp of approval on it.”

“Right,” Shaun said, patting at his pocket to find the phone that he no longer had.

“Here,” Nic handed his newest phone to Shaun with a smile. “Use mine.”

“Gimme a little bit, gonna have to call my dad and get the guy’s number from him,” Shaun stood, walking away from the table with only a single glance back toward them as he stepped outside.

“So, are you two an item, or what?” Nic asked Lucas, but stared out at Shaun.

“We’re partners, not lovers.”

“Really? Because, you guys definitely are fucking and you two fight like a married couple. Would have called you two as being exclusive with one another or something like that.”

Lucas reached out and flicked the end of Nic’s nose, earning him a yelp. “Right and then we both cheated on one another, with you.”

“Mm, true, but I guess it could have been an open relationship thing. I mean, you two scream ‘lovers’ like crazy,” Nic told him as he rubbed his nose.

“We have a sexual relationship, and a strong partnership, nothing more,” Lucas said, looking away to glance at Shaun as he recited the same words he had said to others in the past.

“Fine, fine. I’m just saying that it looks like you guys are more than that is all.”

“Well, we’re not,” Lucas said with a tone of finality that came out sharper than he wanted it to.

“So, does that mean I can still try to sleep with you two?”

The question had been said with such an air of casualness that Lucas almost missed it. When he realized what Nic was asking, he almost choked on a sip of tea. The dual image of both Nic and Shaun naked together was almost too much for him to take. It was accompanied by the usual sense of unease and distaste that he felt whenever he happened to see Shaun’s frequent one-night trysts. But the first image of them all together wasn’t one he wanted in his head while in a public space either.

“Good lord, have you no shame?” Lucas asked as he wiped his chin clean of any splattered tea droplets.

Nic raised his brow. “What? I’m not allowed to still want to sleep with you both again? I had fun with you two, so why not get some more?”

Lucas realized the mistake he had made instantly, turning a little pink in embarrassment. “Ah, I see. Well, I’m sure you are free to try.”

The confusion on the kitsune’s face was replaced by the impish grin that was starting to both turn Lucas on, and exasperate him at the same time. “Oh ho, now who’s dirty? Were you thinking I was asking if I could have you both at the same time?”

“Please do not try to give me credit for your fantasies.”

“Wasn’t a fantasy before, but now? Hmm…”

Lucas glared at him. “Don’t you even think about it.”

“You can’t tell a kitsune not to do something and expect them to listen!”

“You’ll never get Shaun to go along with it,” Lucas grunted, switching tactics immediately as he realized that he had actually been enticing Nic.

“Bet me,” Nic challenged with a glint in his eye.

“I am not playing this game with you,” Lucas told him, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Is this some sort of weird foreplay game or are y’all talkin’ about somethin’ else?” Shaun appeared suddenly at Lucas’ side, looking curious. “If it’s the first, I’m down for listenin’ in.”

Lucas turned to him, slapping the man’s stomach. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Shaun peered down at him, rubbing his stomach in amusement. “I’m guessin’ it was the foreplay kinda game, otherwise you’d just glare at me.”

“Did you talk to your dad’s friend or not?” Lucas growled, not willing to admit to anything that he and Nic had been talking about.

“Yeah,” he held up his hand with an email address written on it. “Told me that y’all will have to write out a description of her. What she looks like, how she talks, things like that. Personality stuff.”

Nic, still looking like he was planning mischief, leaned closer to Shaun. “Are these psychology spirits or something?”

“Probably to hone in on her aura,” Lucas told him, shaking his head as he watched Shaun stare at Nic with a look that was both mildly aroused, and a little unnerved. It didn’t help that Nic was giving Shaun a look that was definitely suggestive. Apparently the kitsune was just as sexually cocky as Shaun himself. Lucas probably would’ve been unnerved by it, except for the fact that he was just as bad when it came to Shaun.

And possibly Nic as well, since he actually did want to sleep with the man again, damn it all.

“So, let’s get a room and you can write out an email,” Shaun said slowly, eyeing Nic carefully now.

“Yes,” Lucas said, booting the leg of Nic’s chair as he stood to leave.