Thank you for calling Longshot Investigations, where no case is too small. You've reached Natasha Gurerra at extension 326...currently, I'm either out in the field or on another line, but if you leave me a message with your name, your contact info, and your reason for calling, I'll get back to you as soon as I'm available.

If you require immediate assistance of a criminal nature, please hang up and call the Los Angeles Police Department. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 911. If you require assistance with personal protection, please dial '0' to be transferred back to the receptionist and ask to speak with Fred Washington in Private Security.

Thanks again for calling, and have a great day.

If you're here, you either read my journal, are a client looking for me, or came here from friend_a_muse. Either way? Let's chat. ;)

Hydrophobia…fear of water. It’s…well, semi-common, I guess, and it’s a known symptom of rabies. And even though I’m currently enjoying the personal company of a werewolf, and have enjoyed his friendship for centuries, I haven’t caught rabies from a love bite yet.

I’ve been afraid of water…my whole life. Since my resurrection, I’ve terrified of water. Not showers so much…that would be difficult, let me tell you. I can handle a shower, even walking in the rain. But you put me near any body of water you can swim in…even just a bathtub that’s full…and I can’t handle it. I don’t know what causes it, why my fear is so selective, but that’s how I live my life.

Put me near a lake, and I can’t breathe. Take me to the ocean, and I have a panic attack. Don’t even ask about the bathtub. It’s totally paralyzing…I know, just know in my heart, when I get near a body of water…I know that I will die. Death follows me to the water’s edge, and in over a millennium and a half, I’ve never been able to shake that. Some part of me…maybe some part of my hidden memories of my previous life…knows that going near the water means that I will die.

Maybe it’s the nightmares…the dreams I’ve always had of a cold, black void, where all I can breathe is darkness…

Maybe the answer’s in that void. I just wish to God that I could see it.

Muse: Natasha Guererra
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 248

Loyalty. Complete, total, unflagging loyalty. That’s not just what I have to offer in a relationship, it’s probably the single biggest thing I have to offer.

I’m not just speaking in terms of love, either…there’s a great deal of loyalty involved with being with someone. Loving them, knowing them, sharing probably the most intimate part of their life…you have to know they’re loyal to trust them with your secrets, your dreams and deepest desires. I mean loyalty that goes above and beyond matters of the heart.

In combat, you get to know people in the same fashion…you gain levels of intimacy you can’t find in normal life. You see people in ways others don’t, ways others never will. The fear, the pain, the adrenaline…it bonds you together. That said…I’ve shared intimacy like this with countless others. I’ve also had a few affairs, none of them physical, and all of them before I got together with Michael.

I was loyal to every one of them…true to their affection, unwaveringly dedicated. Love wasn’t there in most cases…close in two, but not quite enough. Still, none of the men I was ever with knew my affection was only that. Devoting myself to preserving the heart of another person…it’s something I’m good at. It comes naturally to me…that’s the kind of loyalty I can bring to a relationship.

I’m just lucky, and endlessly delighted by the fact that, by being with Michael, I can have it all: love, passion…and a loyalty from him that can match, if not surpass my own.

Muse: Natasha Guererra
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 257
Partner: Michael Hunter (veritasjusticia)

- "Delia, mind your tongue!"
- "You are soldiers, not children at play. Behave with a little decorum!"
- "You'd best see to your charge, Gabriel. Her actions are your responsibility."
- "For the love of God, Delia!"
- "Delia, we have an assignment for you."
- "Put your faith in God, child, as we have put our faith in you."
- "Your life, flesh, and soul are sworn to the service of God, Delia...to act so rashly dishonors all grace, all God's fire that burns in your breast."
- "God save us all!"
- "The devil's go hold of you, woman."
- "What hold you have on Gabriel, I do not know...but mark my words, you'll be his downfall."
- "God be with you, child."
- "God be with you both, my children."
- "For man, for God...for salvation."
- "Godspeed, Delia."
- "No! Do it again!"
- "Yes! Your teacher has instructed you well, Delia."
- "Your impudence will not be tolerated!"
- "Remember, child...those who do not surrender to the will of God will be skewered on the swords of the angels...as was your teacher."

Natasha Guererra
Original Character

I’m here because there’s an entire life locked inside my head, a life I may never see unless I’m willing to risk…well…a lot.

I’m here because, for the first time in a thousand years, I’m scared. I’m really, genuinely terrified. My lover knows things I don’t, a man of my own kind that got his life back. The one that came before…the life without me in it.

It scares me, knowing that with every memory he reclaims, he might be moving a step further away from me. And it bothers me…feeling this kind of fear. I’ve stood against werewolves, burned dark witches…I’ve slain dragons, literally. And nothing scares me more than the prospect of facing this nebulous unknown.

I was never supposed to remember…that’s what I was always led to believe.

Now I have a chance to take it back…to figure out who I really am, what makes me the woman I am now. Does that life I can’t remember still have a hold on me? Did I love another before Michael? Is the shadow that’s been over my soul since my rebirth something that comes from the life I had before?

And more importantly…where does my power come from? I was a witch before I was reborn…the clerics were honest enough about that: we were chosen because we were blessed by God. Witchcraft was my blessing…

But do they know? Can they be sure?

When I was still human…what kind of witch was I? The kind I am now? Or in my mortal life…was I the very thing I spent so many years hunting?

Muse: Natasha Guererra
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 265

- Not on my watch.
- We've killed training dummies that were a bigger threat.
- Oh, Gabriel...
- Give it time.
- Ain't that about a bitch?
- I do. Swearing in on the WITNESS STAND in court, you nimrods. ;)
- Yes, Your Honor.
- No, Your Honor.
- The photos don't lie, sir/madam/miss.
- I'm so sorry.
- Hell no, I'm not sorry!
- Fold it 'til it's all corners and stick it.
- Thank you, Freddie.
- What brings you to Longshot Investigations?
- Rian, I'm warning you...
- Is Joe screaming again?
- Where the hell did I toss my clothes?
- Gabriel, did you rip my shirt again?
- Baby? When did you say the next full moon is again?...

(NOTE: veritasjusticia featured with permission. :P)

Le Procuro Stronghold - Rome, Italy - 516 A.D.

---

“You’re being a child.”

“You’re being an ass.”

( The First Fight )

Muse: Natasha Guererra
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 899
Partner: Michael Hunter (veritasjusticia)

When I’m lonely, I tend to skip a lot of meals. Weird, right? Still, I’ve caught myself doing it. When I’m alone, feeling the sting...it’s usually around the same time I realize my stomach’s growling in protest, or I’m dizzy from a combination of too much magic and not enough calories.

I don’t know why I do it, it’s just always been a thing for me. Ever since I was reborn...although to be honest, it’s probably a psychological thing. I mean...mealtimes are a very familial thing, even in the most casual of circumstances. My life is all about memories, maybe because I don’t have so many of the ones that matter.

Dinners with my Vindicis bretheren...meals in town and on the road with Gabriel, even evenings in the canteen or mess hall in South Korea. There’s laughter, companionship...warmth. No solitude. You get a lot more than just nourishment for the body there.

The Eagles had a really good point when they wrote that song...eating lunch all by yourself is a perfect image of what I’m talking about. We all hate it...it’s uncomfortable, lonely, and off-putting.

So when I’m lonely...for anyone...I just don’t like to do it, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

If I can’t nourish the soul...I don’t feel like nourishing the body, either.

- To Joe, for hanging up on you last week. I was in a mood, but that's no excuse.
- To Brother Johnathan, Gabriel and my former custodian, for not forgiving you for more in your later years.
- To Le Procuro's Council of Elders, for forgiving you for too much as I got older.
- To Rian, for letting you anywhere near that cute redhead in New York
- To Karla Mondragon, a gypsy seer that lived in Vitara for a time, for never helping you more. I know there wasn't much I could do for you and yours, but I feel like I should have tried...if nothing else, to help you find some measure of companionship in your life.
- To Sgt. Milton Howard, USMC, for not being able to do more. I couldn't save your life, but it doesn't stop me from wishing I could have done more than just hold you in my arms as you died.
- To Ella, a woman I saw die when I was in Korea, for not having a chance to baptize your baby like you wanted.
- Last but not least...to Gabriel, for being such a pain in the ass when I was growing up...and for never telling you enough just how much I love you.

Natasha Guererra
Original Character

Stuff to send to Sotheby's:

- Enamel and table cut diamond ring, circa 1604

- British LT Cavalry Troopers sword, circa 1797

- Diamond earrings, Spanish Colonial, circa 1452

- European Smallsword, gilt brass hilt and oval cup, circa 1780

- Gold pendant, peridot and seed pearl Victorian lavalier, circa 1837

- German Landsknecht two-handed sword, mid-16th century...bought it in 1845 because it reminded me of a weapon given to me by a fellow Vindicis...he was heir to the throne of Germany before his mortal death.

- Victorian rose gold and seed pearl ring, circa 1889

- Indo-Persian watered steel chakram sword, circa 1228...trust me, Xena wasn't the only one who favored this one.

When I go shopping with Michael? I essentially own him. He lets me do as I please, within reason, he’s infinitely patient...and usually bored out of his skull.

( Shopping With My Honey... )

Muse: Natasha Guererra
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 586
Partner: Michael Hunter (veritasjusticia)

List of calls from the office during vacation:

-- Hal Fowler, re: surveillance on Mrs. Fowler

-- LAPD Accounts Payable, re: payment for consult on San Fernando Mission Cemetery investigation

-- Freddie Washington, re: extra personnel for Aniston

-- Amazon.com, re: order #53533-255

-- Public Storage, re: new space is available

-- Public Defender's office, re: availability for upcoming homicide case, trial date 7/15/08

-- Michael, re: pls. call ASAP

-keys

-gun

-wallet

-bottle of holy water

-dagger

-crucifix

-rosary

-favorite ring (Gabriel gave it to me the night he left.)

-pack of chewing gum (I started smoking back in 1945...quit when all that stuff about secondhand smoke came out. Gum helps...I have an oral fixation, so sue me.)

-stopping to say a prayer for guidance and safety...hey, I survived this long with it. Who am I to turn my nose up at divine providence?

Natasha Guererra
Original Character

nicked from _call_me_snake_


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Not worth as much as a gunslinger, but still not bad.

I've tried a lot of things in my time..never did try prostitution, though...

Gabriel, that's your cue to come and get me, tough guy talk me out of it.

1) My name is Natasha Guererra...now.

2) I wasn't born. I was made.

3) I'm going to be 1,493 years old this summer.

4) I was created by a holy order called Le Procuro. When they found me, I was a body in a forgotten grave...long dead, without even a name of my own. Through a combination of science and mysticism, they raised me from the dead.

5) I have no memory of my life before I was reborn.

6) After growing up with swords and arrows, I've developed a real fondness for firearms since their creation.

7) I love candy. Maybe it comes from not remembering what it was to be a kid...but I love candy. A lot.

8) I am immortal.

9) I run a private investigation firm called LONGSHOT INVESTIGATIONS. We do a little of everything, and we do it well. We also do a lot of really top quality pro bono work.

10) At the moment, I'm dating Michael Hunter, a PI with the LAPD. When I was reborn, he was called Gabriel Veritas. He was the first of the Vindicis...he was also my mentor and best friend.

11) The firm isn't on FORBES lists yet? But I still got asked to participate in a spread for Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue called SUITS IN SUITS: THE GIRLS OF FORBES. I was going to do it...until Michael and I finally hooked up. He's the jealous type...I find that I'm enjoying it.

12) Along with being immortal, I'm also a witch...I can only assume in my mortal life, I practiced the craft. I've become an adept spellcaster since discovering the ability back in my youth.

13) As a Vindicis, I am also a warrior. Call me a tin-can prototype of the genetically engineered soldier: I was created to fight evil. Pure and simple.

14) I'm trained in swordplay, knife fighting, hand to hand combat, and thanks to Gabriel's Michael's fondness for the crossbow, I'm also a good shot.

OOC: Based on events outlined here.

She'd handled a lot of difficult cases in her career...delivered a lot of bad news in her life, but never anything that hit so horrifically close to home. Never anything of this magnitude. It all sat on her desk in a neat and tidy little manila folder...not a spot of dirt, not a trace of the blood that the information was covered in.

Natasha was pacing her office when she felt him enter the office building...his worry, his fear, his animal drive to protect that which belonged to him. She hated the fact that her short, abrupt phone call asking him to come to the office had upset him, but it was necessary. She couldn't go to the station, and she couldn't discuss it on the phone.

Either way, Artie might hear.

Walking over to her desk, Natasha leaned over and hit the intercom, buzzing the front. "Shayna?"

"Yes, Miss Guererra?"

"There's a gentleman that's about to have a run in with security...tell them to let him up to my office, will you? It's Michael."

"Wait...you mean *the* Michael, Miss Guererra?"

Smiling slightly in spite of herself, Natasha answered. "Yes, Shay...that one. Just try not to stare *too* hard at his ass when you see him in, will you?"</i>

Her reward was a laugh from her receptionist as the intercom went dead.

Ten minutes later, she was still pacing when the door to her office opened. Turning on her heel and spotting Michael, she sighed in relief as she walked over to him, reaching up to wrap him in a fierce hug.

"Thank you for getting here so fast." she sighed, drawing back to meet his gaze. "I just...I have to talk to somebody. C'mere, sit down...I'll tell you everything."

Once they were seated on the small couch on the other side of her spacious office, she took a deep, steadying breath. "Gabriel...you know Artie's granddaughter, right? Rian Baxter?"