HEROES Chapter 5

"Shur 'nough, climb on in." Tim said coldly as he opened the driver's side door of the Hummer, slipped the sawed off shotgun, muzzel down between his seat and the console, then climbed in. He buckled his seat belt, and started the Hummer. "Ya'all buckle up now." Tim's words were short and to the point, as if he were giving commands to a S.W.A.T. team.

The police band radio began its spuradic transmission of police codes, the GPS display illuminated and the emergency broadcast scanner emitted and occasional code. Tim placed the secure link radio ear piece in his ear so he could hear any messages from Zoe.

Bronze Devil, wasn't exactly sure what do, computers weren't exactly his thing. Not wanting to become a stereo-type, he simply stood staring blankly at the screen, that's when Sigma moved smoothly into the control room and brushed by the big meta, his head shaking. He jumped into the seat and started sifting through the RAID network, of which he was completely familiar.

Sigma glanced over at Killswitch then back to the screen, his face emotionless. It was going to take some time getting used to a new controller and Silicone had described her 'cyber-kinetic' powers a while ago. A neat trick, but kind of exclusive. Sigma needed to be able to access data when he required it, and didn't want to have to wait to be accommodated into someone else's schedule. He didn't like being spied on either and later, Sigma figured he'd have a little chat with the new controller about her sneaking around his office.

John McMannus' name was highly classified, and Sigma had to dig into his arsenal of passwords to crack the locks. He supposed he could have gotten, Killswitch to bypass them, but he wasn't used to asking, just people doing and so far she hadn't done a lot by his book.




When Toril ran into Cowboy in the common area he asked if he knew a John McMannus, but it seemed he had more important things on his mind and before he knew it, he, Totem and other resistance members had headed into the long underground corridor that lead to the vehicle storage area. Yelena seemed preoccupied too and so with Bronze Devil and Sigma busy, Wraith decided to tag along with the search party. He dropped his wallet and cell phone off in Sigma's office and faded into his wind form.

Flying invisibly, he followed Cowboy's hummer and decided he keep on eye on he, Totem and Yelena just incase they needed some back-up. It was the first time in a while that Wraith had actually headed out in the day in full costume and knew that it was imperative that he remained invisible. A costumed super-hero in Chicago, or anywhere for that matter was a target and he had to be careful not to attract any attention to the group. He would only materialize if it was absolutely necessary, until then he would be the wind.

(Friday, May 22, 6:30 pm)

Supervising Agent Birkshire accepted the cup of coffee that one of his men offered. "Thank you.", he said, took a sip then continued watching through one of the high powered scopes that were set up all through the top level of a vacant warehouse. "Are all units in position?" he asked his surveillance officer who was sitting behind him in front of desk laden with computers and monitors.

"All units on standby, Mr. Birkshire. Operation Sandman is live." Replied the surveillance specialist.

Birkshire nodded and continued to watch the thermal images of Frank Shepherd as he tortured his daughter. "They'll be coming along shortly." he assumed. knowing all to well that Cowboy wouldn't let his girlfriend die at the hands of her father. Sure was taking his sweet time though, the girl was need some serious professional help after this ordeal. That is if she made it.

RAID had started Sandman, the moment Birkshire started working with Hunter, a.k.a, Frank Shepherd. They knew that they could take advantage of the relationship between Cowboy and the operative's daughter and now their patience had paid off.

Frank had been bugged from the start, and they had known his location at all times and since his first scouting of his 'killing-ground', RAID agents had set up a perimeter in order trap Morgan Shepherd's rescuers. The entire area had been fortified and any meta's that went into the abandoned warehouse weren't coming out and there were only a few alley ways that could act as escape routes and the agents had them covered. It had been painstaking operation, all communication has been secured and RAID had gone to incredible lengths to make sure that they were unseen. They had also employed the use of 'psy-wave scrambling devices' to prevent clairvoyants and telepaths from detecting their presence and even though everything seemed to be going smoothly Birkshire had taken other precautions as well to ensure that these resistance fighters were captured and put away for good.

(undisclosed time)

John's head was pounding as he opened his eyes and sat up in the RAID vehicle. There were no windows, so no way to tell where they were heading. The truck was traveling fast, it turned here and there and ran a siren a few times. John guessed that they were running the squealing sirens to pass through red lights and busy intersections.

Although John enjoyed making things hard for the RAID goons, he was sick of wearing the hospital gown style clothes they gave him and tired as hell of being without his leg and hand.

The mechanic looked down at his clothing, a hospital scrubs style shirt and some scratchy generic boxer shorts that barely covered his personal bits. Over those he had some baggy pajama style bottoms that were many sizes too small for the big man. To add insult to injury they did not give him any kind of shoes, not even a singular flip-flop.

This shit is undignified... The hero grumbled as he looked at the pants, torn from the scrap with the RAID agents.

A rush of blood flowed to the mechanic's face as he decided that when these RAID mutts opened this vehicle to retrieve him, he was gonna go at them again, and again and again.

Outside of that solid bit of planning John hoped that they would transport him to a more relaxed facility, he hoped to have a chance to break loose and get back to street level and find his friends. At the very least he hoped to force an opportunity to get his mech limbs back. Just one small moment, that's all he needed. All he needed was to fight his way through two dozen RAID troopers armed like it was D Day, maneuver through a vast, unfamiliar secure facility, sidestep the facilities automated defenses, locate his locked down mech limbs and hit a clearly marked exit. Piece of cake right?

I'm gettin' to old for this... John laughed at the seemingly impossible task before him. John knew that if it was possible to let some of the others know where he was that they might bust him out, they would at least try. RAID had shipped him to Chicago recently, John was not even sure if Cowboy or Yelena knew that, perhaps the mechanic was all on his own.

The big man rocked and bounced with the motion of the speeding vehicle as he pondered his next big move.

Jessica was walking home, relaxed after having spent time in the park with the trees. She was humming a tune, smiling to herself.

Turning on South Green St., she headed for the safehouse. She was lucky in the fact that she looked normal and you couldn't tell that she was meta until she used her ability, controlling plants, trees, vines, etc. They were her best friends and she loved them all. She just wished she could live in the park or out in the country, but there was safety in numbers.

As she walked by the two story abandoned warehouse, she noticed lights shining from out from the small windows.

~That's odd. I thought this place had been abandoned years ago.~, she thought to herself. Shrugging her shoulders, she walked on by, thinking that it may have been bought as some of the old buildings had been in the past.

She kept walking, thinking that she'd mention it once she got back. If the others thought it was important, then they could check it out.

It was time. Morgan had to do something and do it now, before he began again. She knew that she coudn't take much more of the pain before she succumbed to the darkness.

Frank approached her, grinning at her as he ripped off the tape again from her mouth.

"Where is he Morgan? I promised Birkshire that I would deliver Cowboy and I intend to. Now where is he and I just might accept that as penance and end your suffering now."

Morgan lifted her head, her eyes beginning to glow as she stared at him. Frank yelled at her to stop, slapping her repeatedly as the rats came out of the shadows, swarming around his feet. Looking down, his eyes wide with terror, he began stomping on as many of them as he could, but they were everywhere. Backing up, he grabbed one off of his back, throwing it against the wall. He looked at Morgan, her eyes still glowing, hatred for him shining brightly in them. Looking down then up, he saw rats chewing at the ropes that tied her, watching as she fell to the floor into the puddle of blood that had formed under her feet. He was screaming now, a rat biting into his ear, one trying to squirm into his shirt. He fell into the table, knocking it over.

Morgan watched the horrible scene unfold, but unable to stop herself or the rats. She slowly came to her feet, her legs barely holding her up from the wounds Frank had inflicted on them as well as her whole body. She looked to the front door and began walking towards it, keeping her mind focused on the rats so that they would not come after her, smelling her own blood. She blocked out Frank's screams, keeping the door in sight when she felt a searing pain go through her right side. Looking down, she saw a hole in the fleshy part of her side, blood dripping from it and knew that she'd been shot and the bullett had gone clean through. Turning, she saw Frank, the gun with the silencer dropping from his hand, his face nothing but bite wounds, making him unrecognizable, half of one ear was gone. It was something she never wanted to see again.

Turning around again, she took a step towards the door and collapsed from pain and blood loss. Calling to the rats, she sent them away, just in case she passed out. She didn't want them gnawing on her. She wasn't sure if they would or not, but she'd never dealt with rats before and knew that they were the worst of the scavengers. As she watched them scurry back to their shadows, she heard movement and grunts coming from where Frank had laid.

~I stood up to him....I did it~, she thought to herself, looking over at him, seeing him laying on his back, his face a bloody mass. That was the last thing she saw when unconsciousness finally took her.

May 22, 2010 9:30 p.m.

The upper floor warehouse was dark. Only the soft of glow of the surveillance officer's screens could be seen. There were no windows facing the street, only a few that allowed the RAID enforcers and agents to view the abandoned brick warehouse where Frank Shepherd was torturing his daughter. Agent Birkshire could hear the whispers behind his back and though he couldn't make out their voices he suspected what they were saying. Many of them were younger, some recently transferred from the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. to fill their need for more agents and they still didn't believe in the sacrifice of one meta-human in order to capture the more dangerous felons. They thought he was cold, callous and cruel, for letting Hunter torture that poor girl, but Blake had weighed and measured the situation and his conscience was clear. Cowboy had to be taken down, but little did the Supervising Agent realize that he was once a Navy Seal and Detective who once put his life on the line for the same very country that Birkshire fought to preserve. The two men, really weren't that different, and under different circumstances the two of them might have even been friends, but times were different and the Riggs Act had to be upheld. Cowboy was a wanted felon and that's all Birkshire knew or cared about.

In all the vacant warehouses that surrounded Frank's torture chamber, RAID enforcers and agents were ready to move. All had been trained to move without need of command. They all had their orders and would execute them as soon as their target or targets were in position.

Shonen walked through the park, all of his little playmates had gone home with their parents. Shonen was wondering why these little units needed the constant care and guidance of these people. Was their programming too basic or incomplete? Shonen was designed to work both along side humans and was programmed to survive and endure a long time on his own, he could even function in the cold of space.

These curious thoughts drifted from the small droid's mind when he saw a young woman sitting among the trees at the edge of the park. She seemed to be very happy to be among the trees and grasses, Shonen watched her from a distance. After a few minutes she got to her feet and walked from the park and down a side street.

Machine looked up at the street sign. Green Street. Shonen murmured to himself.
The young woman walked a little faster as she turned onto Green Street. She appeared to be very interested in a nearby warehouse, some small lights bounced around the window panes from inside the building. The young woman paused at the building, Shonen thought it best to hang back, he watched her with great curiousity.

Shawn's eyes seemed to light the entire seat he sat in as their bright green glow reflected off of the window in front of him. He saw only the various colors of different temperatures that passed by them on the road. Quietly he scanned every building, every crevice and shifted his focus to look through every wall. Finally, something caught his eye in a warehouse not far from the safe house itself. A flurry of warm movement pulsed within it for barely a second before the activity seemed to scatter into tiny little . . . particles . . . small animals maybe? . . . that took off into the corners of the warehouse and out into the night. Two figures remained though, both laying on the floor, their temperatures slightly warmer than those of the metas sitting around him. Likely they were two just two bums hunkering down in the shelter of an abandoned warehouse but the activity had struck him as odd.

"Hey," he said causing the others to turn towards him. His eyes were still focused on the building however and he spoke again, without bothering to sign. "Wait a second . . . " The vehicle's slowing to a stop and a quick glance around himself told Shawn that he had their attention and he spoke again, his brow furrowed as he focused in on the two figures on the floor. "That's kinda weird," he said, pointing to the figures and waggling three fingers in front of his face in the sign for "weird."

"What's weird?" Seizure asked, typing on his device. There was a pause in which Shawn merely read the message and stared quietly back at the warehouse, peeking through each wall. He opened his mouth and raised his hands to speak once more when a slight movement caught his eye again and he shifted his focus there. His glowing eyes widened as he raised his eyebrows, now taking in this new set of white figures.

"People," said Shawn, signing at the same time. "Two people on the floor. Lots of others all around. All over the place."

In the back, Kekoa slowly lifted a large water bottle from between his feet and set it in his lap as he looked to Yelena in bewilderment. He hadn't spent a lot of time around deaf people and didn't quite grasp what he had said, but the reaction it got from Ayana told him it wasn't good. Her dark eyes went large for a moment as her attention snapped back to the warehouse not far from them. She then furrowed her brow in confusion as she began to concentrate on her own.

"Are you sure?" she asked dumbly, momentarily forgetting that Shawn was still deaf despite his powers, but quickly turned to the others. "He said there's people all over the place over there but . . . I don't see it and . . . well, I should be able to detect them from this distance, but I don't detect anyone but the two he mentioned were lying on the floor. They . . . " she paused, concentrating again, "there's definitely two people in there. They're both hurt, one of them is extremely angry but the other . . . it's hard to tell . . . I don't think they are going to be conscious much longer . . . " Seizure raised a hand to her temple in an attempt to focus her mind, "it's definitely a man and a woman. Do you think it's them?"

"I don't see anyone," said Kekoa, looking out his window in the back of the car, "course I can't see through walls like our blind friend . . . "

Seizure looked to the others, wondering where they wanted to move with this one.

May 22, 2010. 9:32pm

Totem had maintained the heightened sense of smell he borrowed from brother bear. He asked that someone roll down a window and sniffed the air deeply. "There are many other people around." He confirmed, "How many I can't tell, but I can smell the girl, Morgan. Her scent is in the air. This is the place."

The Haida man then noted the worried expressions around him. "So what's wrong?" He asked, curious of their apprehension. "We should get in there before that psycho kills the girl. What's the hold up, Cowboy?"

Frank rises slowly off of the floor, his face throbbing and stinging. He looks around for the damned rats, not seeing any. Wiping his face with his hand, he feels nothing but wetness, looking down at his hand he sees that it's covered in blood. Feeling his ear, his eyes turn hard as ice when he feels that half of it's gone.

Bellowing, he picks up the the board with nails, looking for Morgan. Seeing her laying about 25 feet from the door, he slowly walks towards her.

Morgan slowly comes to, her whole body in agonizing pain. She gives a small moan of pain as she tries to rise to her hands and knees, the floor slick with her blood.

"You bitch....you whore.........damn you and your demonic eyes!!!! Look at what your demons did to me!!!"

Kicking her in the side, lifting her off of the floor, he yells again.

"LOOK AT ME!!!!"

Morgan looks up at him, most of his face looking like chopped meat, the blood dripping off of what was his chin. His eyes are completely insane now, no logic whatsoever. He kicked her again, not knowing that a green eyed boy outside and an african american girl could see what was happening.

"I'm done playing with you, Morgan. Either tell me where Cowboy is and confess or I will send you to hell!!!"

Morgan looked up at him, smiling.

"Then send me to hell, Father. I will never tell you where Cowboy is nor will I confess to anything."

Frank raises the board, bringing it down onto her back, the nails sticking into her skin. She screams as he yanks the board free, raising it again.

Wraith hovered high above Cowboy's hummer, safe from any harm or discovery so long as he remained non-corporeal. His vision in his dematerialized form, saw into a world illuminated by energy and with it not much escaped his eyes. He could not see through walls, however, and there was no movement outside of any of the buildings to alert the old super-hero of the RAID ambush. He figured this had to be the place, by the length of their pause and Wraith could hardly believe, how close they were to the base, he figured that the hummer's engine had barely warmed up for the distance it had traveled. Being so close to the hide out, Toril was worried that if the others made a scene and attracted the police that they might bring unwanted attention to the base. It was well hidden, but if a search was warranted the resistance could be in jeopardy. The best thing they could do was to bust in there and kill that psycho, quickly and silently. He was almost tempted to go in himself, but this wasn't his fight, this was a personal matter for Cowboy and he would respect his right to dealing with the bastard as he saw fit.

Watching the scene, Shawn's glowing eyes went wide and he turned to the others, frantic, at least for him.

"He's hitting her!" he exclaimed, first doing the sign of a fist hitting his index finger, then demonstrating the action the man was performing to make sure he was understood. "The man's hitting the girl with something... a board I think," he said, demonstrating one more time. Shawn looked to the driver, the Cowboy who smelled of rage. He didn't like waiting for orders like he was some kind of subordinate, but at the same time, he knew there were figures lurking around the warehouse and in the world of metas, large numbers of others weren't necessarily a good sign.

Tim's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he looked to the warehouse, then over the hood of the Hummer. There in the street was a manhole, Tim's eyes narrowed as he inched the Hummer forward and to the right, then stopped. "Totem, when I tells ya climb ovr tha console har and git behind tha wheel. Ya count ta a hundrud, then git tha hell outa har. Ya don' go back ta tha base. I needs ya ta lead whoever's watchin' the wurhouse on a wild goose chase. Me an Morgan 'll meet ya all back at tha base. Will ya do that pardnar?"

Without waiting for a relpy, Tim closed his eyes and concentrated ..... slowing time down....he then unbuckled his seat belt, lifted the shot gun from between the seat and the console "Now Totem" he said as he opened the door to the hummer. He climbed out and walked quickly over to the manhole, prying the cover off Tim quickly climbed down a few rungs of the ladder and slipped the manhole cove back. Tim then brought time back to normal. He quickly turned round and crawled through a drain pipe under the street towards the warehouse after about one hundred feet a dim light shone through the top of the storm drain. Looking up a square brick and mortar shaft with rusty metal ladder rungs along one side, about six foot square Tim saw the metal grate of the French drain in the warehouse floor. Slowly Tim climbed the rungs, of the shaft and quietly pushed on the grate. ..............The grate grungingly losened as Tim lifted it. Once the grate was free, he slid it across the floor. He scarmbled out of the drain and rolled across the floor coming to a kneeling position and swinging the shotgun in a 360* arch, looking around cautiously. Seeing Frank standing over Morgan, Tim took aim. Just as Frank turned to investigate the sound of the grate scraping across the floor, Tim said "FREEZE scumbag!...... Oh ya scumbag .... Ya hav tha right ta remain silent. Anythin' ya say kin an' will be used 'gainst ya in a court a law. Ya hav tha right ta talk ta an attorney, an' ta hav an attorney present durin' any questionin'. Ifin' ya can't affurd a lawyar, one 'll be providad fur ya at governmn't expense. Know do ya understan' these har rights as I've 'plained em ta ya? ....... Ya alsa got tha right ta got fur me blow yur head clean off and send ya raght directly ta hell."" Frank stared in disbelief as confusion crossed his bloodied and mutilated face. Then Frank made a fatal mistake, he raised the board with the nails to strike Morgan again. "That'll be tha last thang yu'll do on this har earth. Go an' meet El Diablo." Tim fired two rounds from the shotgun, striking Frank in the chest, propelling him back about a foot, the military / law enforcement "shedder" loads fragmented when the small explosive rounds penetrated their target. Tim stood and ran over to Morgan, knelt down and felt her pulse. It was weak but there, Tim reached down and lifted Morgan, placing her across his shoulder, then reached down and picked up the shotgun by the slide, jerked the slide ejecting a shell casing and sliding another round into the chamber, then shifted his grip to the butt near the trigger ..... Tim stood back up, looked at the French drain and mutterd "Damn" as he looked around for another way out. ................ Tim glanced over at Frank lying in a pool of blood.

TAKING AT A SHOT AT THIS TIPH
Cowboy was standing near Frank, still gripping the shotgun looking for a way out. As his eyes searched the gloomy warehouse for a proper exit Tim heard a strange metallic sound, two flash bang grenades rolled across the floor a few feet from where he was standing. RAID was making it's move.

The grenades went off, smoke and light filled the room, RAID officers flooded the area a half second after the devices went off. They moved swiftly, two by two there were a dozen officers in heavy gear. They spread out as much as possible they moved at Cowboy, two of them moved near Morgan, another two moved in close to try to get a look at Frank.

Tim was looking at eight heavily armed men near him, the laser guides of their various automatic weapons danced across Cowboy's clothes in the smoky room as they moved to close the gap..

DO NOT MOVE...We are in control, place your weapon on the floor and kick it away. Do not do anything stupid we will fire.

Nearby agent Birkshire watched the scene, he had more agents with him.

Sir, there are more metas outside. Now is the time sir. An agent informed Mr. Birkshire.
I know... Birkshire said.
Beta team, you are go. Birkshire spoke quietly.

Outside another group of RAID men moved swiftly and quietly between the buildings, eight men in all. The group moved two by two they hugged the side of the building as they neared the Hummer and it's occupants.

Morgan, though weak, was conscious and tried to smile at Tim as he checked her pulse. Her whole body hurt and she was still losing blood. She couldn't stop the whimper of pain when Tim picked her up gently and put her over his shoulder.

When she heard the agent speak, she whispered to Tim to put her down. As he did, she saw two more agents approach her and decided to use not only her abilities but her womanly devices as well.

Looking up at the two young agents, she didn't have to try to look the part of a beaten woman.

"You were out there the whole time, weren't you? Why didn't you help me? Why did you let him do this to me? How could you just stay there and know what he was doing to me?"

She saw the two sets of eyes through their masks look at each other, shame and regret shining in them.

"What if I'd been your sister? Would you still have just watched simply because your commander told you to? So tired........I'm so tired."

She closed her eyes, putting her face as close to the floor as she could, so that they wouldn't see the faint glow from beneath her eyelids. Concentrating, she called to the rats again, having them run into the room, scurrying up agents' legs, onto their backs, gnawing on their masks. She opened her eyes, watching the men lose their concentration on her and Tim, fighting to get the rats off of themselves.

She looked up at Tim, her eyes flickering, losing her concentration.

"Now would be a good time to whatever it is you're going to do, Tim. I can't keep control of them too much longer and when I lose control they will go for the blood they smell. My blood."

Tim would see Morgan jerk, a gun shot echoing in the building. Another hole was in Morgan's side, just above the first one, the bullett going through and hitting one of the agent's in the lower leg. Frank was standing, barely, his pistol pointed at Morgan.

"The demon has to die, just like her baby brother and mother had to."

He points the gun higher, aiming for her head, then looks up at Tim, the knowledge that he's going to die in his cold, insane eyes.

"Can't keep your women safe, can you Cowboy? And the ironic thing is, I tortured this little bitch of a whore to get her to confess.........and to find out where you were."

He laughs, maniacally, waving the gun at Morgan.

"All of those little holes in her, nails in a board. The bloody welts all over her body, razor strap. My....how she screamed........but she wouldn't tell me where you were, said she'd die first. Stubborn, pig-headed demon's whore. But, she'll die now."

Raising the gun, he got ready to pull the trigger when rats ran up his body, instantly going for the hand holding the gun and the holes in his chest. He started firing randomly, hitting agent's in their bullett proof vests as he went down, covered in rats.

Morgan, her gaze on her father, could no longer keep it up and turning to Tim she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, Tim.........I'm sorry. Go....leave me here.......they can't do worse to me then he did."

As Tim left the Hummer, Yelena looked all around. Somethng just didn’t….feel right about it all. Nothing happened to make her think this way…it was more a gut feeling than anything. Like…being in a forest and the only sound you hear is the sound of your own feet walking. No birds. No small animal scurries. Nothing but….quiet emptiness. As Totem took over driving the Hummer, Yelena kept an eye out form the back seat where she and Shawn sat. Reaching over, she typed in a quick message to Shawn.

We alone?

Shawn wasn’t sure at first what Yelena meant but instead of trying to ask her what she meant, he decided to take a look around with his second sight. If nothing else, he’d learned to trust Yelena’s instincts and right now, he wasn’t about to second guess the shape shifters motives.

And it was a good thing he didn’t. As his strange sight picked up on the operatives slowly closing in on the Hummer, he signed as quickly as he spoke.

”Lots of movement coming at us! Looks like men with big guns!”

Yelena reached down under the seat and withdrew a fully-automatic rifle and spare clip as she uttered something in her native Russian that didn’t sound good at all. Looking in the mirror at Totem, she quickly barked out orders to the on board computer and the unsuspecting Native.

”It was trap!! Abbey! Full protective armor! Weapons hot! Auto pilot engage! Find way into warehouse! Hatch open!

Totem, let go of steering wheel and hang on!”

The on board computer beeped then responded in that sweet, feminine voice.

”Auto pilot engaged. Weapons armed and ready to fire. All armor in place. Hatch now opening.”

Totem would feel the steering wheel start moving on it’s own as a hatch in the roof opened up and the speed of the hummer increased. Just before Yelena jumped up from the seat, she quickly morphed into Tim and yelled once more command.

”Engage full urban assault tactical programming with non fatal shots in three….two….one…ENGAGE”



As Yelena in Tim’s disguise popped up from the hatch, she pulled the automatic rifle up and began to take shots at the operatives closing in on them making sure she fired short or just over their heads to insure she didn’t hit and injure or kill any of them. From the vehicle several explosive devices were deployed as well as laser guided gun fire. She hoped like hell Tim was able to get to Morgan as the Hummer headed straight for the roll up garage door. From inside the Hummer, Yelena heard Abbey giving her fair warning.

"Impact in five...four...three...two...one."

Just as the computer reached the number one, Yelena quickly ducked into the hatch to avoid being injured. Once they were inside the warehouse TIm was to be in, she barked out even more orders.

"Find Tim!"

Jessica had made it back to the safehouse, and entered through the alley entrance, still not noticing the little boy following her. As she went in, she saw that it looked everyone was gone.

Heading through the building, she saw a light coming from Silicone's computer room. Opening the door quietly, she sees a woman sitting there with Sigma, typing away on one of the computers.

Clearing her throat to get their attention, she looks curiously at the woman then at Sigma.

"Who are you and where's Silicone? Sigma, what's going on?"

Jessica had been gone for a little over a month and didn't know yet that Silicone was gone. When Sigma told her, her eyes went black, somehow knowing that there was more to this than he was telling her.

"Let me know the next time you go to her apartment. Maybe I can get something from what few houseplants she had, if their not dead yet."

The impact shook Shawn's entire world as Yelena didn't have a lot of time to give him much warning and he had been too busy looking through the wall to focus on how close they were to it. Once he'd jumped and taken a few deep breaths to steady his heart however, a quick look around told him what had happened. Along with the others, he piled out of the car but hung back, sneaking around the other side of the vehicle and peering through it to get a feel for his surroundings and where everyone was in relation to him. He kept his fiercely glowing eyes down, his feet flat on the ground, his hands on the vehicle, soaking up every vibration of the movements around himself.


Almost as soon as the car had impacted, Ayana leaped out and thrust her hand forward, focusing her mind to send a shower of dust straight into the faces of the nearest RAID enforcers. When she tried get into their minds, however, it was as though she were trying to focus in on a brick wall. At this, Seizure took a step back. She couldn't understand why, but she knew she'd been stripped of her arsenal. She'd have to rely now only on her telekinesis. Her access to the minds around her, at least the ones she would attack, was barred. Taking another step back, she thought briefly about lifting the car just to have something massive to swing around at creatures who would do minimal damage back to it, but quickly realized Shawn had taken refuge behind it.

Ayana sighed as she could hardly blame him. They'd used him for his eyes and now he'd been dropped right in the middle of a fight where he couldn't possibly be of any help. She'd do the best she could to protect him, but right then all she could do was help he had the sense to shut off those tell-tale eyes and maybe be able to put himself off as an innocent human hostage.


Kekoa emerged slowly from the vehicle, a crooked smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Unscrewing the lid from the water bottle, he moved smoothly around to the front of the Hummer and deftly dumped the water out of the large container. The water splashed onto the floor at his sandals and sank down into the dusty concrete.

"Seems an awful lot of people against just thre--" he paused, looking over at Frank who's twitching and struggling was beginning to slow, "two..." he corrected himself before turning his slanted eyes back to the crowd of RAID enforcers that now seemed to be crawling out of every corner of the warehouse. Shifting a foot around the sinking puddle he'd made, Kekoa assumed a position that now matched the glint in his black eyes-- one poised to fight.

Morgan looked up as the hummer came crashing through the warehouse, scattering agents everywhere. She watched as Shawn, an african american girl and an asian guy got out, then she saw Yelena, or was it? The person looked like Tim, only, Tim was with her. It had to be Yelena.

Looking up at Tim again, she got his attention, her voice weak.

"Go....get them out of here, Tim."

She no longer had control of the rats, but thankfully, when the hummer came crashing through they had scatter into the shadows. The ones that were left were feasting on Frank. She looked over at her father, seeing his body twitching, then finally laying still. His face was gone as were a few fingers. It was something that would give her nightmares, using the animals to kill her own father, seeing the viciousness of them, and she knew then that she would do anything to survive and to make sure that Tim and the others survived. Even kill her own father.

As the rollup door came crashing in, the remaining R.A.I.D, officers dove for cover. The Hummer came to a sceaching halt a mear four feet from where Tim stood. He stepped quickly to the driver's side door, opened it and placed Morgan on the seat. Tim looked at himself sitting on the otherside of Shawn and grinned. " ' bout damned time ya all showed up. Yelena, git Morgan and yur asses outta har, thars a wurld a hurt 'bout ta come down har. I'll catch up whit ya latter .... toss me that thar green bag behind ya." Yelena nodded and tossed him the bag. "Now hav Abby get ya tha hell outta har!" Tim slammed the door, then ran across the warehouse floor as the Hummer sped forward and spun around speeding out the destroyed garage door, skidded sideways and sped down Green Street.

Tim pulled a cord on the bag and tossed it towards back of the warehouse and yelled ...... "FAR IN THA HOLE!" he then jumped down the French drain in the floor of the warehouse, hitting the bottom of the storm drain and rolling across the floor and up against the cvurved wall. Ten seconds latter the three blocks of C-4 inside the bag exploded, sending a blinding flash, a shock wave large enough to shatter the windows of the warehouse and smoke and fire billowing out across the floor. With his ears ringing, Tim jumped up and ran down the storm drain turning left as it emptied out to the main storm drain under Green Street. Tim counted the manholes as he ran under them ...... one ......... two ....... three..... he turned right ........ one ........... two .............. three ........... four ........... then turned right again and slowed down to catch his breath as he continued to jog thru the drains. As he reached the sixth manhole, he became aware of a throbbing burning pain in his right side. Stopping he bent over breathing hard and looked down. Tims shirt was soaked red and damp. Pulling the tail of his shirt out of his jeans, Tim saw a bullett entry hole in his side. Reaching behind him he felt the larger exit wound. "Damn boy ya ar gitin' way too ole fur this shit." Tim sat down, reached in his pocket and pulled out a clip for his pistol. He thumbed a round out into his palm and slipped the clip back in his jacket pocket.

Tim put the end of the carttirage inbetween his teeth and twisted the slug free from the casing. Spitting the slug out on the ground, he poured the gunpowder into his wound. Flinching and gritting his teeth. Tim reached in his pocket and took out his lighter flicking it open and lighting it he placed the flame to his wound. There was a soft whoosh and the acrid smell of sulfur and burn flesh rose with a small collum of greyish blue smoke. Tim took a deep breath and slipped his lighter back in his jacket pocket, staggered to his feet and said softly to to himself and a rat that sat staring at him with black beady eyes "Yep wayyy too ole fur this shit." ....... Tim then made his way further down the storm drain.

(May 22 - 9:18 PM - Green Street Warehouse)

Allie had followed them in her own mustang and when the hummer crashed through the rollup door, she quickly got out of her car and ran inside to help, her eyes looking as if they had flames inside of them.

She saw Morgan and Tim and gasped when she was the damage that had been done to Morgan and wondered just how in the hell the girl was still alive. There wasn't a place on her body that didn't have a hole, a bloody welt, or a bruise on it.

Hearing Tim yell and seeing him drop into the drain, she had a feeling that she knew where he'd come out at and ran back to her mustang jumping in. She peeled out, heading for where she was sure Tim would come up at so that someone could be there to pick him up and get him back to the safehouse.

The RAID enforcers outside opened fire on the Hummer as it screeched from a dead standstill to speeding right at the side of the warehouse, the RAID men were well trained, they fired at the vehicle hoping to hit something or someone. The vehicle was well armored, bullets ricocheted around the brick buildings as they grazed off of the Hummer.

One of the RAID men got off a good shot with a rather unique looking weapon, a small round metal sphere encased in a gel adhesive stuck silently to the rear of the black Hummer just before it collided with the side of the warehouse.

They 8 armored men closed in quickly on the entry site where the vehicle crashed through, their hi tech visors allowed them to see through the dust and smoke.

Inside the 12 other enforcers had their hands full, the four nearest Morgan and Frank found themselves dealing with a wave of filthy rats, the small animals chewed through anything non metal, plastic clips, buckles and polyester straps. The men were not much use in fighting the small things in their heavy gear, they suffered many bites to their shoulders, arms and faces. The men fired on the rats, the black wave of urban vermin scattered at the gunfire retreating to the shadows again.

The men near Tim watched in disgust as their brethren were temporarily overtaken by the rats, they were not distracted for long, they turned their weapons on Tim. A hurricane of bullets came at the hero, the RAID men gave it there all as clips fell empty and they moved to reload.

They were interrupted by the Hummer blasting through the wall to their right, bricks, rebar and concrete exploded into the area, the raid men near Tim were pummeled by the debris some were buried.

When the assault vehicle entered two of the 4 men near Morgan and Frank were killed instantly, the other two were thrown across the area and showered with heavy debris. As the large vehicle plowed into the framework of the old structure.

Tim approached the vehicle, grabbed the green satchel and threw it, it arced near the larger group of RAID enforcers landed and exploded. The raid men were in heavy gear, it afforded them a good deal of protection from the violent blast.

As Tim slinked back down the sewer drain 6 of the highly trained agents managed to get back to their feet, they followed the fugitive down into the depths of the sewers, although Tim had a many second head start on them.

Outside the building the 8 man secondary team was still outside the blast zone when Tim's satchel charge went up, they stayed in formation, 2 by 2 they approached the entryway that the Hummer had made they spread out and moved in slowly weapons at the ready.

Inside two of the four remaining enforcers pushed their way out from under the bricks and dust, as they got their bearings they moved at Morgan and the other unexpected Metas on site. A few young looking metas were exiting the vehicle to enter the melee, the agents fired on them.

AS the two agents inside fired at the fugitives and the Hummer, the 8 men outside went on alert, they also began firing into the building from the far side of the armored vehicle trying not to hit their own men in the crossfire.

Morgan's looked at Tim, a weak 'no' coming from her. Turning her head away from the bright flash, Tim was gone when she was able to see again and she watched as a few of the agents disappeared down into the drain after Tim. Looking over at Yelena as Tim, worry showed in her fading eyes.

"Help him. Please. Someone needs to make sure he makes it."

She looked over at Totem, not knowing who he was, but since he was with Yelena, she knew he was okay.

"Please, help him."

Morgan then loses consciousness, her face pale beneath the bruising.

When the truck sped off, Seizure whipped up another cloud of dust and debris, hurling it at the RAID soldiers before she herself darted back against the wall. Hoping the dust would at least give them something to focus on, she reached out with her mind and wrenched some of their weapons away from the soldiers. There was no way she could get all of them, but at least now that some of their comrades has guns pointed at their faces, she could gain a little more control. Her victims stopped dead in their tracks, their exposed eyes darting around between their comrades and the two metas in the warehouse with them. The others point their weapons at either Seizure or Kekoa, their movements cautious but calm.

In spite of her own demeanor, Seizure felt partly helpless, having never relied solely-- or even primarily-- on her telekinesis. There had to be some kind of blocking device somewhere nearby, but there was no time to look. Keeping her concentration, she glanced over towards the storm drain where several RAID enforcers disappeared after Cowboy. There was little time however to do much more than glance hopefully at Kekoa as several RAID enforcers cocked their guns and triggered Ayana into action. With her mind, she squeezed the triggers on the guns, killing the soldiers and releasing her mind. She then immediately moved, kicking up more dust to cover her movements if only for a moment. The warehouse was mostly empty, but her eyes darted around for anything she could pick up with her mind and hurl at the soldiers. Moving into the corner, Seizure focused on the ruined remains where the Hummer had burst through and raised the large chunks of rock and metal before sending them raining down on their opponents.


Meanwhile, Kekoa, still in his fighting stance, slowly turned his palms downward, feeling the pull and flow of the water beneath him. Smoothly raising his hands, he pulled every molecule of water from where he had spilled it into an undulating bubble floating between his hands. With a jerk of his muscles, he thrust his palms out and sent a rush of water straight into the face of an approaching soldier, the force sending him toppling backwards. Directing the water with his mind and his hands, Kekoa filtered the water into the man's helmet, filling it and holding it over his nose and mouth. On the ground, the man began to flail, his movements growing more and more panicked while Kekoa watched with mild interest. He couldn't watch for long, however, as a beam of light shot out from one of the guns and Kekoa jumped out of the way, still maintaining control until the man stopped flailing, laying limp against the ground.

Pulling his hands slowly towards himself, his movements slow as though he were pulling something very large on a rope, Kekoa moved nimbly from side to side, dodging the blasts while his hands moved slowly back and forth. Finally, several RAID soldiers who stood in front of Kekoa began to slow, exchanging confused glances. A fine mist began to seep out from their helmets and the seams of their clothing and armor. As he pulled, they began to falter, dropping their weapons and convulsing to the ground as the mist grew fuller, the water between Kekoa's hands growing more abundant until the flow ceased and the last man dropped lifeless to the ground. Dropped armor would reveal shriveled hands and fingers, mummified faces behind helmets barely held shriveled, bulging eyes on a ghastly look of shock and panic permanently carved into their faces.

Behind them, a few soldiers paused, staring at their fallen comrades in shock and confusion. Seizure took this opportunity to fling large chunks of concrete straight at their heads. One managed to react, however, and fired a beam at her, narrowly missing her as she dodged to the side. From the two opposite corners, Kekoa and Ayana charged towards them, Ayana letting out a battle cry as she thrust her hands forward and sent chunks of brick and metal soaring into the soldiers. Bursting into the heart of the soldiers, she nearly stumbled off course when a fist connected with the side of her head. She managed to maintain control of a razor-like shard of metal and this she plunged with more force than her arm would have been capable into the face of her attacker.

Kekoa sent a small but powerful wave in front of himself, knocking over those who would have been closest to him. With a similar movement of his hands, the water rose upward and splashed down onto them, crushing into their helmets and armor. As two came up behind him, Kekoa whirled around whipping the water with him and slapping their helmets off of their heads. Seizure took this opportunity slam two large chunks of concrete into them, knocking them out.

The RAID soldiers surrounded the pair, beams from their guns illuminating the warehouse and charring the walls. Another beam shot past Ayana just as she lifted one of the bodies into the air to hurl him at his own comrades. When she felt the searing pain across her cheek, her eyes widened in shock, her concentration shattering, making her drop the man. A splash from Kekoa's water as it hit the one who shot at her snapped her back to her wits and she grit her teeth again, lifting the two bodies again and thrusting them into the soldiers. Darting through the crowd, Ayana forced herself through the pain of the burn on her face and through and armored fist to the gut as she used her mind to snatch their guns out of their hands. Gasping and bent forward, she fired two beams from the guns before whipping them around herself, knocking several soldiers to the ground and sending a few others flying into the walls.

Kekoa's path was far more set. Sending watery snaps around himself and powerful waves in front of him, Kekoa fought his way through the soldiers, his dark eyes set so intently on the drain where Tim had vanished that his vision began to tunnel. Finally, with a good kick and forceful splash, he broke through and rode on his own pure adrenaline across the warehouse to the drain. There, he leaped down and splashed into the moist darkness. It was only then that he paused, letting the water in his hands fall and mingle with the light stream that flowed beneath his feet. Now, in the sudden darkness and quiet, he suddenly felt the intense burning in his side and the hot stickiness that dripped down his hip and leg.

Squinting in the faint light, Kekoa turned to see a damp red spreading over his shirt and beginning down over the side of his pants. Lightly, he pulled up the shirt to see a deep stab wound he didn't remember sustaining in his left side, bleeding freely through his light clothing. Trying to make a makeshift bandage tight enough now would waste far too much time. He would just have to find Tim and get rid of the RAID soldiers that pursued him as fast as possible. Moving lightly through the drain pipe, Kekoa trailed his palms down towards the water, pulling it softly behind himself as he walked. With each step, his side screamed-- burning and aching as he fought the urge to limp.

Finally, Kekoa came across the familiar dark shadow of a soldier trailing the back of his group as he moved cautiously after Kekoa's new comrade. Silently, Kekoa brought the water up in a large bubble and quickly enveloped the man's head in it. As though the bubble were something solid within Kekoa's hands, the Polynesian man tensed his hands, squeezing the air between them as the man struggled in silence, clawing in vain at the water. Within the bubble, the man's helmet began to dent as Kekoa forced as much pressure as he could. Finally, when the helmet had caved in on both sides and the man went limp, Kekoa brought up a sheet of water to cushion the man's fall and lower him soundlessly to the ground. He then continued on his path, the water flowing around the soldier's body after its master.

It was no surprise to Kekoa when he very soon stumbled upon the rest of the group. Luckily for him, however, they were very much distracted with their guns pointed at Tim who stood in the middle of them. The young Hawaiian said nothing, though his dark slanted eyes creased slightly with his warm smile that crossed his face upon seeing Tim as though he had simply run into an old friend while on a leisurely stroll. Assuming a poised and balanced position, Kekoa's arms rose and moved back, pulling on the water like magnetic fields before he thrust them forward again, sending a wave into the ring that knocked the unsuspecting soldiers to the ground and created a large gaping hole in front of where Kekoa now stood, still smiling expectantly.