Jeremiah had recently flown back in from a very important meeting in Surat, India. His ties were still strong in the Middle East and it was with almost no surprise that he picked up the phone a few weeks prior to hear one of his old contacts wanting to arrange a meeting. The days leading up to the meeting were nerve racking, as Jeremiah hadn't a single clue as to what it was about. His contact, Ghamir, had refused to speak such sensitive information over the phone. Jeremiah couldn't blame him and had complete faith that such a thing to require him flying all the way to India would be well worth the time and money. One of the perks of having such old and respectable acquaintances such as Ghamir was that they were not likely to waste your time over anything petty.

As the flight landed down, Jeremiah wiped the sweat off of his brow. One thing he certainly didn't miss about the Middle East was the sweltering heat. Hardly nine in the morning, and it was already eighty-five degrees out. The harsh weather could hardly damper his spirits though and it was with a broad grin he approached Ghamir, who had been waiting casually in the shadows behind one of the terminals. Most people wouldn't have even noticed him standing there...but Jeremiah was not most people. He was well trained in the art of spotting those who claimed to be stealthy. Walking towards the man with an extra spring in his step, Jeremiah cleared his throat just as he got in earshot. Ghamir turned slowly, meeting Jeremiah with a sly smirk on his face.

"My friend, how good it is to see you. I hope the long flight doesn't have your brain muddled, for we have much to discuss. Please, follow me."

Ghamir proceeded to walk (surprisingly quick for a man of his age) toward the road, where a car was awaiting them. Stepping into the car, Jeremiah made himself comfortable and unbuttoned the top couple buttons of his suit. He tried to keep track of where they were going; three miles North - turn, half a mile east, turn, ten miles south... But after a while, it became quite boring and indeed pointless. No doubt if he knew Ghamir as well as he thought he did, they would dropped off somewhere and have to walk a few miles to reach their true destination. No need, after all, to alert the driver as to where they were actually going.

Finally after a grueling and bumpy hour passed, the car halted to a stop. Ghamir exited first and opened the door for Jeremiah. Getting out of the car and stretching his sore muscles, Jeremiah took a glance around. There weren't any buildings around, just a few tents scattered around.

"This way, if you will."

Ghamir said gruffly, indicating the direction they were about to be headed in. Jeremiah smirked, just as he'd thought - they were indeed not yet at the location where the meeting was to be held. Following his friend swiftly, Jeremiah wished he had thought to buy some water. The heat was sweltering to say the least, and the sweat was beginning to seep through his suit. Just as he was becoming thoroughly irritated with the situation, Ghamir turned abruptly into a hut. There were two sullen faced guards standing outside, both carrying very large spears. Jeremiah nodded curtly towards the pair of them before entering the structure.

It was plain enough, one large room with a low table in the middle of it. Simple cushions of red fabric were placed in various spots around it, allowing whoever was gathering to kneel more comfortably. Scanning the rest of the room, Jeremiah noticed a vase sitting in the corner. Smiling, he walked over to it and wafted the scent up to his nose. Excellent, he thought, it's just water. Cupping a few handfuls into his mouth, Jeremiah felt much better as he approached the table. Choosing a cushion across the table from Ghamir, he only now noticed a pile of folders sitting atop it. He assumed that Ghamir had them hidden within his robes, for Jeremiah wouldn't have missed an obstruction like this if it had originally been on the table. Looking from the folders to Ghamir, Jeremiah raised his eyebrows inquisitively. With an open hand and a nod, Ghamir invited him to look through them.

"Please my friend, I think you'll find the contents of these folders very very interesting."

And indeed they were. Hardly any more words needed to be spoken between the men, they had made plenty of arrangements in the past. An enormous grin spread across the face of Jeremiah as he stood up to shake Ghamir's hand. His old friend leaned in and spoke,

"I trust you have, or can get the proper people in place to make this happen, Jeremiah?"

The old man asked, gripping Jeremiah's hand tightly.

"Naturally, Ghamir, naturally. You would not have arranged this meeting had you thought I incapable."

Ghamir nodded twice and relinquished his hand.

"That is correct. The same rate we've used in the past for jobs will suffice for this, I expect to hear from you along the way."

And with that, Ghamir turned and exited the hut. Jeremiah listened closely and heard three pairs of footsteps walking away from the premises. He hadn't expected the guards to stay until he left, but he was rather surprised that Ghamir did not offer to accompany him back to the airport. Scooping some more water from the vase into his mouth, Jeremiah set off in the general direction of where he thought the tents to be. Finding them with almost no problem, Jeremiah bribed one of the locals with a fake diamond to bring him to the airport.

Landing in New York safely, Jeremiah could hardly keep his eyes open. He hadn't slept in nearly three days, and the bags under his eyes were seemingly growing by the minute. Phoning one of the taxi companies, Jeremiah leaned against the outside wall of the airport and lit a cigarette. Inhaling the nicotine deeply, he nearly fell asleep standing up awaiting the taxi. Grumbling thoroughly at the driver for having taken so long, Jeremiah gave the driver the address of his office rather than his home. As tired as he was, he had a vast amount of business to attend to.

The silence seemed to be deafening as Jeremiah sat in his office. He stared at the papers in front of him, looking them over, once, twice, three times. He had of course spent the entire flight back to New York perusing them, but he wasn't taking thinking properly. Rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes, Jeremiah yawned and buzzed his secretary. After a few moments Jeremiah heard a soft *tap tap tap* on his door.

"Come in."

Jeremiah said grumpily. Looking up from the stack of papers on his desk for the first time in what felt like days, a small smile pried itself onto his face as he noticed that she had brought him a very large cup of coffee. Sighing, he thanked her.

"Thanks Margie. This is precisely what I was about to ask for when I buzzed you, but it seems you're on top of things...as usual. If I happen to get any calls, tell them I'm not in. Unless it's Orchid. In which case, please make sure she comes to see me in person. That will be all."

Orchid twitched suddenly awake from some brief nightmare she forgot as soon as she woke up. She glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand, rubbing her eyes. Five in the morning? Already? She sighed, stretched, and shuffled slowly out of bed. Might as well start making her way to the office. No point in trying to get an hour more of sleep. Maybe she'd pick up donuts on the way there...

Her heels clicked down the marble hallways of The United Nations HQ, but paused outside of Jeremiah's offices. His lights were on--meaning he was finally back from his trip to Arabia or wherever the fuck it was. She threw back her sheet of black hair and pushed her way inside confidently. Margie only gave Orchid a passing glance while she pushed into the office.

"Welcome back, Jeremiah." Orchid sat with her usual grace into the chair across from his desk, sipping a mug of tea. "So, did your guys have something interesting and boostable?" In response, the bleary-eyed Jeremiah simply slid a folder across the desk to her. She opened it and immediately froze into place. A photo was clipped inside, immediately visible upon opening, of a jade figurine. She ran her hand over the photo, tracing the line of the creature's back. Few people--Westerners, at least--would recognize this thing. If they hazarded a guess, most would say it was a hoofed dragon or something with antlers. Orchid knew, though.

This was a unicorn. A Qilin, a Chinese unicorn. Rather than the delicate white horse Americans would be familiar with, this creature was more like a stout dragon, covered in scales and wreathed in fire, with four cloven hooves, a lion's tail, and two deer antlers. While carvings of these creatures showed up fairly often, there was no denying the quality of this specimen. She stared at the photo, taking in all of the carefully hand-carved details, trying to get an idea of the scale of this. It was a rather large piece of jade--probably some twenty, thirty pounds. She wasn't great at identifying the era in which something was made, but even at a glance someone could tell that it was incredibly old.

"This....are you sure this is real? Jeremiah... you'd better be sure this is real."

Though Jeremiah was irritable, he knew Orchid was only covering her bases. It would have been a damn travesty if they put a plan in place only to find out that the Jaded Unicorn[the nickname he had given the piece] was a fake. He was quite certain it wasn't however, for Ghamir would not have wasted his time for anything other than the real deal. While Ghamir was very capable of gathering reliable intel on these sort of things he wasn't the type of person to get a team together. Nor was he the type of man to risk prison time. With a slight nod across the table to Orchid, Jeremiah replied.

"Of course I'm sure it is authentic, we wouldn't be here having this conversation if I wasn't. I take it by your shocked expression that you know what this is? And its value? The job is most definitely a large one and you're one of the few people I trust to work it. I must admit however that I think we're going to need one more person."

Orchid merely tilted her head, wondering who the mystery person was. Jeremiah did not answer however and merely continued sipping on his tea - of which he was almost out. Buzzing in Margie once more he lit a cigarette and did some mental planning. The papers noted that the Jaded Dragon was set to exchange hands from some Russian mob boss to that of a private collector in three days, near some warehouse along the Hudson Bay. It was almost the perfect setting, and Jeremiah would have no trouble having escape cars ready, and weapons in place - if it came down to that. Margie strolled in, and Jeremiah glared at the woman. She was supposed to knock before entering, but luckily they weren't discussing anything at the moment and he was far too tired to scorn the woman. 

"Get Johnny on the phone, tell him I have some very important business to discuss with him and ask him to swing by."

Johnny had been sitting in his office for the past several hours. He was looking over a few contracts when the phone rang. Picking up he realized the voice wasn't familiar to him. He was sure the person was speaking to the wrong guy until she mentioned a one 'slimy Jeremiah'. Something about wanting to meet up and a porcelain elephant. It all sounded a bit weird to him, but he was getting bored and decided to go check it out.

Stepping out of his headquarters, he started to walk towards where he knew Jeremiah to be - The United Nations HQ. Johnny was looking forward to hearing more about...whatever it was that the lady on the phone had been on about. He could hardly believe it was really something to do with an elephant. Upon reaching the headquarters he let himself in and headed towards the back. He found Jeremiah's office and opened the door quickly. Stepping inside he sees Orchid and Jeremiah standing around. Walking over he extended his hand to Jeremiah and nodded at Orchid.

"I was told you wanted to meet up and discuss a few things, hopefully something exciting for once?"