HEROES Chapter 6

Wraith checked Morgan's wounds and was indeed surprised that they were healing at slow rate. They should have been further along and though her infection might have been adding to the problem, he felt that was under control. No, what was effecting the girl was a condition that could not easily be scientifically explained, but it was real nonetheless.

Wraith being an open minded man of science embraced all realms of medicine and turned to Snap Dragon with a curious look on his face. "Snap, would you mind whipping up a poultice?" he requested, the wiggled his fingers in thought, "I have a remedy floating around in my head, but perhaps if you would be so kind as to lend your hand to this?"

He then returned to where Seizure waited and continued to explain the process he wished to employ when she peered into Morgan's mind. The doctor's method seemed to bordering on the realm of mad scientist when he told her that he wanted to record the reading. He then clarified that he had learned how to fine tune the brain monitoring equipment and channel it through a program of his that he had recently downloaded from his private server. The software, written by programming genius would decipher the telepathic brain waves and render some of the thoughts into images. There was too much information to watch the thoughts like a movie, but it could produce some images that might prove useful.

Snap smiled at Wraith, nodding her head.

"It won't take me long. I know exactly what to get and I keep a ready supply of it on hand. I'll be right back."

Snap ran out of the room and headed for the kitchen where she kept her herbal poultices in a small fridge that was there just for her herbal medicines so that they were kept seperate from the regular meds. Grabbing a pretty green jar, she ran back down to the medical room. She was gone for about 10 minutes, total.

Running in, she ran up to Wraith and showed him the jar.

"Comfrey root, aloe vera, and echinacea. Perfect for the type of wounds she has."

Wraith showed her how to properly apply the poultice and then helped her re-wrap Morgan's wounds. Morgan didn't budge, moan, nothing.

"Is that normal, Wraith, for her to not have any reaction at all? Why isn't she healing the way she should be?"

Snap was finding everything interesting and decided that she would definately stick around.

Though Wraith's fifty six years were hardly revealed by his powerful thirty year old physique, his age showed in the way he dealt with the young, fresh faced girl so eager to lend a hand. He took the time to show her how to apply her herbal paste and how to properly dress the wounds after, displaying a patience and focus that betrayed his youthful appearance.

"There, I'd trust you now to tend to other people." Wraith complimented Snap Dragon, "I can't be around here all the time, and since you seem a resident it's good for you to learn how to deal with such things, since I imagine injuries are fairly common these days."

Wraith removed the latex gloves from his hands and tossed in the trash. He caught a look at himself in a nearby mirror with a hospital gown on over his costume and chuckled. "I look ridiculous." he commented, then turned and gave Snap a gleaming white smile, "It's necessary though... the costume. This way no one can try and force you to reveal my identity and in my time I've made a lot of enemies." he explained, then returned his attention to Morgan and Snap's concerns about her healing. "I wouldn't worry about Morgan reacting to much right now and as for her slowed healing, it's due to her weakened condition and the psychic connection I alluded to earlier."

Wraith then strolled over to where Seizure was sitting and proceeded to place leads on her temples and forehead so that he could telepathically connect her to his program and hopefully retrieve a few images pulled from the depths of Morgan's mind. "I'm hoping that Seizure can help us determine the source of the psychic drain." he continued explaining to Snap Dragon then focusing on the telepath nodded, letting her know that she could begin the process whenever she was ready.

Sasha smiled at Henry when he argued with her about sleeping in the storage room of the store, but she wouldn't hear any of it and her true stubborness came to the front.

"I'm staying here, Henry, with or without a cot. I'm just as comfortable on the floor as I am a cot."

She smiled at him sweetly then started laughing when Emma broke out in laughter.

"You may as well go and get the cot, Henry. She's not going to take 'no' for an answer."

Grumbling, Henry went upstairs, above the store to their apartment. About fifteen minutes later, he came down with a military cot, blankets and a pillow. Not saying a word, except for the ocassional grumble, he set everything up in the storage room towards the back, where she wouldn't be seen.

Sasha thanked Henry then went out to walk the area until it was time for the elderly couple to close up the store for the day. She headed towards Green Street to see if the authorities still had it all blocked off for whatever reason they had. She didn't care much for the authorities, of course, she didn't care much for authority period.

She was about 3 blocks from Green Street when another memory hit her. She quickly slipped into an alley so as not to draw attention to herself and had just enough time to brace herself up against the wall.

She saw a younger version of her with another girl. This girl had lavender eyes and both were laughing inside of a car. Suddenly, the car was sideswiped and ran off the road, flipping onto it's hood. Rough hands pull her and the lavender eyed girl from the car.

Then the memory was over, leaving Sasha breathless, shaky and sweating. Raising a hand to her forehead, she saw that her hand was shaking.

~What in the hell is wrong with me? Why did that young girl look like a younger version of me? Who was the girl with the lavender eyes?~

Sasha stayed leaning up against the wall for a few more minutes before taking a deep breath and heading back out to the street to go to Green Street. She stopped, realizing that she was still shaky from the memory. Changing directions, she decided to head back to the store, she could check out Green Street tomorrow.

Totem held onto Cowboy's shoulder and together they navigated through the sewer system until Tim located one of the secret doors that lead into the tunnel that connected the base to the warehouse. The tunnel was larger than normal, with enough room for a motorcycle to drive through and dimly lit. Sealing the door behind them, the two men both breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the tunnel was completely closed off and well hidden, and made their way to the western door at more casual pace. When the reached to the heavy iron door, the reclusive Killswitch, remotely unlocked it when she recognized Cowboy and the two men went straight on to the base's medical facility.

As the two men entered the large room they first crossed into the research section of the laboratory, which was vacant. To their right were several windows and a glass door that lead to the medical centre and through it they could see Wraith, who was in full costume hooking Seizure up to a computer. Tim couldn't see Morgan until he and Totem passed through the glass door and could see around the solid wall that obscured the view of the three hospital beds in the recovery area.



Wraith requested that Seizure began her telepathic dissection of Morgan's mind when she was ready. She was all hooked up. In the meantime, he tended to the two wounded men, instructing Snap Dragon what to do for Totem's flash blindness and cuts while he dealt with Cowboy. Wraith wanted to fill Tim in on Morgan's condition and his far fetched theory on what was prolonging her injuries. He assured him that the procedure that involved Seizure's mind read would not be harmful to her and would provide some vital clues that he may be able to assist them with later. In turn Tim shared his and Totem's own story of their encounter with the two villainous meta-humans and then the RAID enforcers who were still out in full force.

After a few quick x-rays, Wraith was content to bandage Tim's ribs after his sedative kicked in. The pain would be excruciating while he set them in place to mend and though he didn't doubt the man could handle it, there really wasn't any need to. Later then he had Tim sitting on the third bed, furthest away from Morgan while he stitched up his wounds after applying a local anesthetic. He noticed the tattoos on his body but didn't comment on them, assuming the man to be a Navy Seal for who would sport such symbol if they weren't one? It made sense, though, his fighting style, tactical decisions, use of explosives, even his attitude all denoted some kind of military training.

"Y'know I don't approve of killing," Toril began as he pulled a suture through his flesh, "but in this case, I hope you didn't leave any of them alive. They're too bloody close to this place." He then clipped the stitch, "All done. With that sedative in your system, I'd hit the hay if I were you." Wraith advised, then turned his attention to Totem who lay on the middle bed with his eyes bandaged.

"Well done." Wraith complimented Snap on her dressing of the wounds then decided to add a few stitches to one of Totem's more serious injuries while he slept. The man was exhausted, and after the application of a local anesthetic he didn't even stir.

The base was quiet. Bronze Devil had been able to make it home and Sigma Seventeen was hidden away in his little corner, no doubt cooking up more of his conspiracy theories or tracking down criminals by hacking into police databases. No one had seen Zoe or Cassius for a while and so there was very little activity in the underground complex. Tim would pretty much have the whole place to himself, not that the man was up for any wild parties.

Tim was not much one for seditives, he felt they dulled the fine edge of reaction time and clouded thinking. Particularly under the present circumstances. However, he trusted Wraith would not give him an excessive amount. Tim looked at the syringe then at Toril, "Ya know Doc, I hate them thar needles, thay scare tha Be-Jesus outta me." Tim said with a grin.

Tim watched Morgan, as she lay in the nearby bed, as Toril stitched up the knife cut on Tim's cheeck. When Toril had finished and told him to get some rest, Tim said "Thank ya thar Doc, I reckon I could use a bit a' shut eye. Morgan an' Totem gonna be ok, Doc?" When Toril stated "Y'know I don't approve of killing," , Tim looked him straight in the eye and said "Ain't nobody hates war and killin' more than a warrur Doc. An jus' between you an me, I sure have seen 'nough a both ta last three lifetimes. But ya know it weren't us that started this har mess. Hell it weren't even them officer's out thar, ya know. I reckon we both serve tha same masters in tha long run." ..........
Tim then seemed to look beyond the walls and everyone within them, off to a distant range where the sun set slowly across a wind swept barren landscape of sage brush, prarrie grass and rolling hills, where cattle and wild horses roamed freely. Out to where in the distance could be seen a lonely deserted ranch. To a small patch of green grass, surrounded by a wrought iron fence and two tombstones beneath an old, scared, spreading Texas oak, beside a babbling stream. ............................
"Seems a though folk like us ur just har ta clean it up. Reckon tha's all I was ever meant ta be .......... a glorified janitor." he then laid back and drifted off into a light sleep.

Snap was pleased with herself, especially when Wraith trusted her to care of Totem once he'd told her what to do. She gently washed out his eyes with a wash to aid in reducing the swelling and relieve the pain. She then rushed out of the room only to return with a bottle of Colloidal Silver. Putting 2 drops into each of Totem's eyes, she then rewrapped them and laid him down while Wraith took care of Cowboy. Seeing Wraith's questioning look over the liquid silver, she smiled.

"It's the world's oldest antibiotic, pain reliever, healer, burn treatment, just your all around must have in the medicine cabinet. You can use it topically, injest it, and even put drops into your eyes to reduce pain and keep infection from setting in. There's a dropper full in the poultice I put on Morgan."

Once Wraith was done with Cowboy and came over to Totem to stitch him up, she walked over to Cowboy, who appeared to be sleeping. Glancing over at Morgan then back at the man laying on the hospital bed, she whispered to him.

"She's been worried about you, Cowboy. She even damn killed herself staying connected to the animals to make sure you remained safe. You're the only one she trusts right now and I don't know what she is to you, but she's earned my respect. So have you, for nothing more than what she thinks of you. I will stay with her, Cowboy, so rest easy. Name's Snap Dragon."

She didn't know if he could hear her or not, but something told her that he was listening. She then turned and headed over to Morgan, watching her, wondering what Seizure would pull from Morgan's mind. She hadn't said anything to Cowboy about Morgan's mental state as she didn't quite understand it herself, that was Wraith's area of expertise, not hers. But, she wanted him to know that he could rest easy. She would keep watch on Morgan. Something about the girl pulled to her and not many people pulled to Snap.

When Wraith was finished up with Totem, he washed his hands, put his gloves back on and walked over to Seizure and motioned for Snap Dragon to join them.

"I'm afraid I have to go, my other life calls," he told them as he handed Seizure a slip of paper, "but here's a number that I can be reached at. It'll go to voice mail, but I'll get the message. If Morgan begins to have any complications I should be able to get here pretty fast, otherwise I trust that Snap will be able to change her dressings. Her antibiotics are on a slow drip and won't require a change for another twelve hours, I should be back by then."

Wraith then quickly showed Seizure how to run the program that would process some of the images conjured by her mind-read then made his way out of the lab. He stopped at the door and took one more look at his three resting patients feeling a personal satisfaction that never occurred in the world of 'Devon Gale', but he had to maintain some semblance of a regular life. He also had to pay the bills and do some regular stuff, like move into his new apartment and meet his new boss. 'Oh, the convenience of being rich or living 'underground', Toril considered, but he wasn't so industrious nor ready to give up the freedoms of a normal life. He turned and waved to the two women and disappeared through the glass door and out of the lab, but before he left, vanished into the wind and sought out Sigma Seventeen.

Ayana hesitated, unsure what exactly she was looking for but she turned to Morgan anyway and nodded to Wraith before he left. Reaching out with her mind, she delved into Morgan's and shut her eyes, concentrating as much as she could. As she relaxed, her eyes fluttered behind her eyelids as though she had drifted into REM sleep. Memories swept past just as Morgan had described. A little girl laughing in the passenger seat of a car, a man with a mad glint in his eyes staring down at her . . . and then some which Morgan hadn't described . . .

A young man who looked like a member of a gang stared up in horror, past the swarm of bees that hovered over him. An older couple beamed affectionately. The same couple stood in a darkened room, the woman's eyes sparkling with amusement while the man seemed to be forcing annoyance as he carried a cot into the small room. Alleys and parks flashed by in a kind of broken sequence as though Seizure was looking at several movies playing on a shattered mirror. The only connecting pieces were the frequent scenes that seemed to involve insects, Morgan's power being the only thing that drew Seizure's attention to such a detail.

Feeling herself begin to tire, Seizure opened her eyes and dropped the connection into Morgan's mind. Looking quizzically over at Snap Dragon and the computer, she asked rather dumbly, "did the program work? Did you see what I saw?"
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At Scavenger's question, Grey sighed, puffing silently on his cigarette for a moment before he spoke. "All I wanna do is go to a club, get f%*&ed up, and get laid . . . " Letting a cloud of smoke out in another sigh, he checked the time and grumbled in dismay, "I guess it's too early to do most of that." He then finally turned to Scavenger, "you got any shit on you? What time do we gotta meet up with the rest of these assholes anyway?"

Snap watched the screen and was puzzled when she recognized the parks and some of the alleyways here in the city, which was one of the things that had her puzzled. As far as she knew, Morgan hadn't had time to visit any of these places yet, so how could they be in her memories? And the insects didn't fit either. Morgan could only control animals. Four legs and fur, not six legs and icky.

"Yea, Seizure, I saw what you saw and the machine got it all. It doesn't make any sense, though. Morgan can't control insects and as far as I know, she hasn't had time or energy to be in these parks and alleys. Her father nabbed her not long after she arrived. Not from the bits and pieces I've heard anyway."

Snap walked over to Morgan and smoothed back a bit of hair from the sleeping girl's face. Then she looked over at Cowboy and wondered if he was going to be able to help Morgan as well. She'd caught glimpses of her wounds and bruises and wished that her father were still alive so that she could have the pleasure of killing him, but at least Morgan had found the courage to kill him herself.

~But, what happened to your mind, Morgan? Did your father do something to you before he died or was killing your own father more than your mind could take with everything else you'd gone through?~

She looked again over at Cowboy. Wraith could fill him in when he returned. She didn't feel like it was her place to do so. She walked back over to Seizure and unhooked her from the monitors, telling her to stay put until she got her bearings back.

Wraith had a bone to pick with Sigma, somehow he knew about his meeting with Vacily and there was only one possible way he could have come by such knowledge. He hated being spied on but even more disconcerting was exactly how the man could have tracked him down. No one else could have possibly been aware of Vacily's whereabouts and Wraith had taken precautions that should have made him impossible to follow.



The office was dark and only Sigma's masked face was visible, bathed in the glow of his monitor as he searched through a RAID database, gathering information on Wraith and his dinner companion, Surge, whom Sigma had learned was a one Colonel Vacily Petrovsky. He also learned that RAID had never made the connection between the two, and Wraith and Surge were in fact partners between the years 1983 and 1991 in Beacon. Beacon, the organization that would stop at nothing to further the rights and power of meta-humans, even if meant sacrificing the life of one for the needs of many.

As Slate continued to rifle through the files on the RAID server, accessed via the false identity of agent Carter Wilkes, he suddenly became aware that the temperature of his office significantly dropped. Straightening in his chair, he looked around the small room and then over his shoulder, peering into the darkness for Wraith's tell tale aura generated by stressful movements. There was no such signs, but as the temperature of the room continued to drop Sigma became more convinced that big man was lurking around the room. Actually he had been expecting Wraith to drop by but didn't anticipate that he would enter his office unannounced, which told him that Wraith had already figured that he was at the lounge, eavesdropping on his and Vacily's conversation.

"Why don't you come out where I can see you." Said Slate, his eyes darting about the room.

Wraith appeared behind Sigma, already moving around to the front of the desk. "I can't believe it." He stated, "You're a plant! A goddam RAID agent."

Sigma was confused by the accusation until he realized that Wraith had no doubt saw his login identification and the onscreen picture which for all he knew was what he actually looked like. "Whoa! Let's just back the f%^& up, big guy." Replied Sigma, quickly standing and holding up a menacing finger, "I am not the enemy here."

"What the hell does that mean?" Wraith snapped back. A part of him had doubts that Sigma could be working for RAID but then the proof seemed irrefutable. He saw the identification on the screen, for an agent Wilkes, and the picture definitely seemed to resemble what he could see of Sigma's face.

"Damn." Sigma thought to himself. Wraith was subtly assuming a defensive posture, keeping the desk between them. The man was good at disguising his body language, but Sigma picked up on the subtle signs and could feel the situation escalating. "Calm down, Wraith. We're just talking here. Now, how about you tell me what you were doing reliving the good ol' days with a Beacon controller and then I'll explain who agent Wilkes is?"

Wraith almost laughed. "You're questioning my loyalty?" He growled as he pointed a finger to his brawny chest, "What the hell are you doing spying on me? Christ! Everything about you reeks RAID... And don't glare at me like that you freakin' psychopath. Everyone else around here might be afraid you, but I see through your bullshit!"

"Do ya now?" Sigma retorted confidently, logging off of the RAID database then defiantly folding his arms across his chest. "You know what? I think you actually bought that bullshit story of your old friend. I can't verify it yet, but I'm sure that son-of-a-bitch never had a daughter and this whole Apex Fusion thing is just a smoke screen." Sigma stated, shaking his head with a condescending stare on his face. "You're a damn fool, Wraith."

It was at that point of the conversation that for most, fists would replace words, but Wraith remained sober. Sigma was more concerned about his involvement with Beacon than his being exposed as a RAID agent in a place filled with meta's that would crucify him. That alone, in his mind, warranted discussing and so he relaxed and fell into a chair and leaned back in front of the desk. "Enlighten me then, Sigma. I'd rather kill some time than your ass right now." Wraith demanded.

Sigma had been ready for a fight, he had even fueled it, but Wraith wasn't a typical testosterone driven giant which he found intriguing. He nodded at sat back down, brought up the RAID site once more and turned the monitor around so that the costumed man could see it clearly. He then went on to explain how he came to be agent Carter Wilkes and maintained the identity in order to infiltrate RAID.

Wraith intently listened to Sigma's story and learned that he had much more depth than he had previously thought. It still didn't condone his spying, but after it all he understood why the paranoid street-hero had taken it upon himself to follow him to the lounge. Sigma still didn't reveal how he managed to tail him, but Wraith felt that was a question for another day since he wanted to get home, pack up his few possessions and get into his new apartment.

The two men rose out of their chairs and it was Wraith who made the first move, extending his hand in friendship. Sigma grasped it and the two shook on their new partnership and for the first time in a while, Toril felt that he had met someone he could depend on, but trust was something that required time.

Wraith made his way to the door, the paused. "You saw my file didn't you?" he asked looking back over his shoulder.

Sigma was silent, but Wraith could see the smile in the man's eyes, a rare occurrence from what he had heard and so he just let the intrusion slide. He didn't mind another masked fighter knowing his identity, especially one as secretive as Sigma.

Wraith opened the door and stepped across the threshold. "Stop by later this evening." he mentioned before closing the door, curious if in fact Sigma actually knew where his new apartment was. He then made his way up the hallway, and cut through the kitchen on his way to the western door.

Yelena had been traveling for a few hours on her bike. The Chicago skyline was well behind her and ahead of her only empty highway. An occasional vehicle would pass her going the opposite direction but other than that, there was nothing. Killswitch had come through again providing the meta with a less traveled but well maintained highway making it pretty smooth sailing for the Russian.

Still, after the sun rose in the East a few hours ago, the Russian found herself tired and hungry enough to stop at a lonely, roadside hotel with a diner a few feet away. Perfect, as far as Yelena was concerned. And from the looks of it, they weren’t real busy either. Pulling her bike into the parking lot of the diner, she shut the sport bike off and sat up straight. Her back ached from leaning over so long and it felt good to stretch her tired muscles.

With another quick check, Yelena got off the bike and removed her helmet. Her stomach growled again reminding her it had been a while since her last meal. Keeping the helmet with her, she walked up to the steps of the diner, walked in and looked around. A lone waitress with graying auburn hair, a short order cook in the kitchen and a single, elderly customer in a far booth were the only ones there right now.

The waitress smiled and told Yelena to take a seat anywhere and if she wanted some coffee. Yelena returned the smile and accepted the coffee before walking to a booth on the opposite side of the place away from the elderly man. The vinyl seat creaked when she sat down but it felt good to lean back against the worn seat back and rest.

The waitress delivered her coffee and asked if Yelena needed a menu. Using a perfect American accent, Yelena declined ordering a standard greasy spoon breakfast, as John used to call them. Eggs, bacon, toast and juice. The waitress smiled again and left the Russin in peace. Preparing her coffee to her taste, the shape shifter sat in silence and looked around the place. It was like she’d stepped back in time. Unable to stifle the smile that eased over her lips, Yelena relaxed a little and took in the quiet atmosphere.

Allie came out of her bedroom about the time Mikala started looking for her. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bottled water and went over to her recliner and sat down.

"Green Street is clear now, from what I heard on the scanner. We should get Shawn back over there and check on Cowboy, Totem, and Morgan."

Mikala agreed and went over to Shawn and started typing into his machine.

"Shawn, we're going to leave for the base. Do you want to come with us or go out on your own?"

Shawn let Mikey know that he would come with them back to the base, which made Mikey breathe a sigh of relief.

"Okay, then. Well, please don't get upset with me, but I'm not sure as to what to do here. Do I lead you....can you follow us down to the garage.....do you hold my shoulder...what? I don't want to offend you in any way, so ball's in your court."

Allie watched the exchange, unsure herself as to how to deal with the boy, and was glad that Mikey was doing it as she seemed to be comfortable with him.

"I'm heading down to the garage, Mikey. We'll take the Dodge Charger. Dad hasn't returned the truck yet. I'll meet the two of you down there."

Allie climbed into the elevator while Mikala waited for Shawn to let her know what to do so she didn't offend him in any way.

Shawn read the message and smirked, his lip curling with amusement that was clearly at their expense. As much as he hated when people tip-toed around him, he couldn't stop the tickle he got when people did this-- and the sadistic side of him ate up their discomfort. Saying nothing, he got to his feet and walked purposefully towards the door at a pace he knew would make them wonder if he would walk into the door. He then stopped and opened the door, holding it open for Mikala. Though his head was staring at the floor and his eyes disturbingly away from it, Shawn clearly expected her to walk through it. When she did, he took the lead again, heading for the elevator in which he picked up Flaming Angel's scent. The vibration on the floor let him know that the doors were grinding shut and he shot out a hand to stop them.

Silently, he waited until the doors were open far enough to slip inside. There, Shawn retreated into the front corner, leaning casually against the wall, the sway of his head and somewhat deformed-looking angle of his eyes the only indication of his disabilities. When the elevator came to a halt, Shawn stepped out and waited with the same expectant posture for the girls to finally lead the way. He made no motion touch them, but he felt they were smart enough to pick up on the fact that he would do what he needed to do and they could follow suit. When Mikala and Flaming Angel stepped out of the elevator, Shawn followed at their heels keeping close, perhaps just within their personal space, following their scents.

Scent, however, could only take him so far and he failed to detect when they had stopped moving, accidentally bumping into Mikala. There was a pause in which Shawn took a half step back, his pale cheeks flushing just slightly as his suave act seemed to hit a very clear snag. He recovered however, saying nothing, not even his usual utterance of "sorry." Moving more carefully around Mikala, Shawn reached out a hand and felt the smooth finish of the car's surface. He then ran both hands along the window, sliding over the door until he located the handle and managed to open the door. His expression had grown blank, however, exposing his slight embarrassment at ruining his own performance. Dropping into the back seat, Shawn's face quickly solidified back to its usual, hardened, somewhat unfriendly demeanor as he waited for the trip back to base and thus, his books.

About a quarter of an hour after Wraith had left the lab, Sigma wandered in. When he entered the medical section, he silently made his way to the computer that had mapped some of the images from Seizure's mind read of Morgan. He stood behind Snap Dragon studying the pictures as they rendered and immediately recognized one in particular. "Jesus Christ! What's with all this shit going down in our own backyard?" he commented in his own usual gruff fashion. Sigma then pointed at a sign in the upper right hand corner of the screen, " I know this store, it's only a few blocks away from here."

Sigma thrust his hands into the pockets of his trench coat then turned to Seizure, "Ran into Wraith before he left. He filled me in." he explained.

If ever the masked crime fighter felt the need to explain himself it only happened with Seizure. He really couldn't explain why, maybe he felt obligated because she couldn't pick up on his thoughts like she could with everyone else. It was weird but he actually felt as if he was slamming a door in her face, of course he had no control over his 'cloaking' ability, but nonetheless, still made an effort to fill in the blanks that surrounded him where she was concerned.

"We should check it out tonight." Sigma figured, "Although with all the RAID shit goin' on around here these days I'd be surprised if we find anything. Still ya never know."




Before they had left Stitch's basement apartment, Scavenger had put on his dark sunglasses to protect his sensitive eyes and still had to occasionally shield them with a hand. With his eyes partially closed he reached into his pocket, took out a vial of pills and shook them before Grey. "I always got shit, man." he told him, then he yawned widely and rubbed the tears from his watering eyes. "Christ, man! I'm never up during the freaking day, all I wanna do right now is get some f$%^&ing sleep.

Scavenger reclined his seat and laid back. "The Highwayman will call me when he wants to meet. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, I have no f#$%^ing idea, man. He calls, we go, that's the way he does shit." he answered Grey's question, "Wake me up when we get to where we're headed."

Turning, Snap looked up into Sigma's eyes and smiled at him.

"Yea, I recognize the store, too. It belongs to an elderly couple named Henry and Emma. Real sweet couple, always say hi to everyone. But, I told Wraith I would stay here with Morgan, Cowboy, and Totem. I would appreciate it if you would keep my informed, though. I like Henry and Emma."

Snap then rose from the computer screen and walked over to Morgan who was stirring....as if she were dreaming, her eye movement under her closed eyelids darting back and forth. Snap furrowed her brows, stepping closer to the girl, ready to gently wake her if she began thrashing about.



Morgan was trapped inside a dream and couldn't seem to get out. She was terrified with what she saw.

Frank was staring at her with his face eaten away from the rats, his eyes red orbs inside the bloody mass, his teeth yellowed and gnashing at her. Looking down, she saw that she was tied again, only this time to a table. Her father stepped closer, his face too horrid to look at but she couldn't seem to look away either. She could hear him inside of her head.

~Demon....slut....worthless pig!! Look at what you've done to me!!! I'm not finished with you yet. There is another out there now........one who will take your strength and leave you nothing but a shell and there's nothing you can do to stop her. I have had the last laugh, Morgan. Me!!!~

Morgan struggled on the table knowing that she was too weak to fight him but she wouldn't give up. She'd killed him once, she could do it again....couldn't she?

She finally was able to get an arm free when his hand grabbed her throat and the bloody mass with the glowing red eyes was within inches of her face, the teeth gnashing together.

He'd said her....what did he mean?

Without realizing what she was doing, a piece of Morgan's mind latched onto Sasha's mind, pulling energy from her, trying to regain what she'd lost. Morgan began fighting, pulling the i.v. catheder from her arm, ripping off other lines with a short burst of strength, screaming in terror.

Snap grabbed her, trying to hold her down and having a difficult time doing it as Morgan's mind fought to regain what had been taken from it.

"Sigma!!! Wake up Cowboy!! She trusts him and he might be able to calm her down!!"

Morgan's eyes opened, their lavender hue having become as black as night. Not just the iris, but the whole eye. Snap gasped and stepped back, hoping that she wasn't the only one seeing this.


Sasha was on her way back to the store, taking the back ways throught he alleys, when she was dropped to her knees. It felt as if her mind were being yanked from her head, the energy draining out of her so that she couldn't even stand, let alone crawl. She lay there, struggling to stay conscience....build on her energy when she saw her in her mind. The girl with the lavender eyes. She was the one sucking the energy from her!! Well, she couldn't have it!! Little did she know, but her eyes, for a brief few moments, turned lavender when Morgan's turned black.

Sasha began to concentrate inside of her mind, imagining her grabbing the girl and fighting with her to get her out of her mind, but the girl was taking her strength and absorbing it into herself. Sasha was finally able to get the upper hand, turning Morgan around and wrapping an arm around her neck before she threw her out of her mind and back into her own.

Sasha lay there, breathing heavily, eyes now back to their normal color as she shook.

~What does she want with me? Who is she and why is she attacking me? I've done nothing to the bitch!!~

Once she was able, she rose off of the pavement and slowly made her way back to Henry and Emma's store where she collapsed on the cot back in the back of the store room.

Allie watched as Shawn made his way down to the garage without assistance and was impressed, but wisely kept silent about it. She looked over at Mikala when Shawn bumped into Mikey and they both smiled, not letting on that his little show had been ruined. Let him have his fun, they both figured. He deserved it as far as they were concerned.

Once everyone was in the Charger, Allie started it up, the dual pipes making the car rumble like a fine tuned race car. Allie did like her cars fast. Pulling out of the garage and out onto the street the three of them headed for the Green Street Base.

Once there and parked in the hidden garage, Allie and Mikey both left Shawn to his own devices, wanting him to know that they weren't going to baby him or watch over him, not unless they felt they needed to. They let him make his own way to wherever it was he wanted to go within the base as the two of them headed for the medical facility to check on Morgan and see if Cowboy and Totem had made it back.

About three hours later, around supper time, Devon Gale pulled into the parking lot of his new apartment block located on the corner of Sheridan and Barry in southeast Lakeview; a three story red brick building constructed in the 1920's. He popped the trunk, revealing a few boxes filled with the basics donated by Bronze and Julie, starting with them before emptying out the contents of the back seat.

He took the stairs instead of the elevator since it was only three flights and made his way down a vintage hallway, preserved to appear just as it had when the building was first constructed, even the fixtures were original. Balancing the three heavy boxes with one hand, Devon slipped his key into the wooden door marked 302 and let himself into the spacious three bedroom apartment. The dark shining hardwood spread from the hallway and the classic high ceilings were ringed with crown moldings in every room of the place.

Walking into the living room he placed the boxes on the floor and stood looking out the window, north down Sheridan Road. The area was a far cry from Green Street, a fine middle class district not even six blocks from Genomorph Laboratories which was right beside St Joseph Hospital, located in a shared government funded research facility.

Devon rubbed his wedding ring and sighed, thinking that Tatyana, would have loved the apartment. He could see her strolling through each room, her dazzling eyes alive with plans, while his own were indolent and uninspired. Change always brought back a flood of memories, and being back in Chicago only intensified them, but he was past the grief and could now enjoy them. Digging out a bottle of wine, cork screw and glass from one of the boxes the former Toril Njordhagen, popped open the sangiovese. He sat on the broad window sill, raised a glass to his wife and stared out over his new surroundings wondering what this city had in store for him, if anything.



Back in the lab, Sigma who was just heading out was called back to assist in suppressing the convulsions of Morgan. Damn, if that Cowboy wasn't a deep sleeper he considered, especially with all the screaming going on. Despite his exhaustion and the mild sedative, he knew that guys senses were razor sharp and was no doubt already forcing himself awake, but he walked over anyway and gave a shout. "Cowboy. You're girl's in a bad way. Not really sure what to do. Not really sure that you're gonna know any better, either, but they're calling for you."

Sigma then headed out. This definitely wasn't his department and people might find it hard to believe but he had a really terrible bed side manner. "Sorry kid, but I'm pretty much useless here." he said to Snap.

As he was heading out then, Allie and Mikala were heading in. He brushed past them and made his way out of the base via the eastern door as per usual and decided to await for nightfall elsewhere.

Tim had heard the shouting and had slowly reached under the pillow his head was resting on. Underneath was the knife he normaly carried in his boot. When the masked Sigma spoke, Tim leaped from the bed, knife in hand just as Sigma was leaving. Looking around, Tim gathered his thoughts and recognized where he was, slowly slipped the knife back in his boot. Slowly he walked over to where the young blonde woman was struggeling with Morgan. He laid his hand on Morgan's forehead and spoke softly "Now jus' settle down thar sunshine...... Ain't no need ta go loco now. ...... Ain't nobody har gonna hurt ya, just sett'l down thar lit'l lady an' rest."

Tim then looked over at the young blonde and said. "Whars the "Doc"? We needs ta get them har IV's hooked back up, ..... lessen' ya knows how ta do it." Tim left his hand resting on the now subdued Morgan's head.

Snap looked at Cowboy then back at Morgan, seeing how quickly she calmed under his touch and that her eyes were normal again.

"Did you see her eyes, Cowboy? They were black as night...not just the irises, but her whole eye."

She led him over to the computer and showed him what came up from Seizure's mind read on Morgan. She decided to go ahead and explain to him what she knew.

"Wraith said that her mind is....split. She is connected to something or someone outside...in the city somewhere and they or it is slowly draining her energy..." she looked up into Cowboy's eyes..."she could die if we don't find out what it is and stop it. Wraith can explain it better than I can. It has something to do with what her father was capable of with his ability....from what I got from just now, before you woke, is that her father may be having the last laugh at Morgan's expense. I caught some of what she was mumbling before she opened her eyes and scared the living shit out of me."

Snap then took Cowboy back over to Morgan, where the girl was fighting to stay awake and smiled at Cowboy.

"You're okay. You made it back."

Tears started rolling down Morgan's face as she reached out to Cowboy, not knowing if he would take her hand....if he wanted anything to do with her now.

"I'm so sorry, Tim. I should have listened to you and Lena. Everyone being hurt is my fault......." her eyes closed, then reopened, the lavender in them dull...."Can you forgive me?"

Her eyes closed again and she drifted back into the darkness.

Snap stood there, looking at Cowboy, unable to read his face but wanting him to know what Morgan had done to keep him safe. She'd said something to him earlier, but he'd been unconscience and she was't so sure now that he'd heard her.

"Wraith isn't here, Cowboy and I haven't learned how to hook up the i.v.s yet. But, in Morgan's defense, you should know something. She damned near killed herself staying connected to multiple animals to keep you safe, even though she knew she didn't have the energy to do so, she still did it."

That was when Allie and Mikala walked in and put in their two cents. Allie kept quiet, knowing that she'd angered both Cowboy and Totem when she interfered during their battle. Mikala on the other hand, stepped up to stand next to Cowboy, looking down at Morgan, opening her empathy and staggered back.

"Snap's right. Morgan came real close to dying just to keep you safe."

Mikala's all knowing eyes in her young face peered into Tim's.

"Remember what I said to you, Cowboy, back in my office at the gym."

Turning to Snap, Mikey smiled at her and told her to go take care of her plants. She would stay with the three patients until she returned. Snap thanked her, gave Cowboy's arm a squeeze and headed back to her room to commune with her babies and grab a bite to eat. While she was in her room, she gave Wraith a call and told him what had happened with Morgan, what happened with her eyes, and what was on the screen from Seizure's reading.

Allie had left, heading back to the common room while Mikey stayed with Cowboy, Totem, and Morgan.

Devon leaned back against the side of the window sill and savoured the robust red as it trickled down his throat. 'A good wine.', he considered and reached over to have a better look at the label, 'definitely Julie's doing since Bronze couldn't tell a fine wine from diesel, which frighteningly enough, he was able to drink.'

As he skimmed over the wine label enjoying his relaxing moment he heard his PDA go off. "Damn", he groaned getting up and shuffling over into the kitchen where he had left his jacket on the counter. Digging out the device he checked the call ID and noticed it was 'unknown'.

"Y-ello." he answered. It was Snap, and immediately went off about what had just occurred at the base. While she talked, Wraith dug out his black book, where he had jotted down some notes about Morgan to help him come up with an alternative to heading back to restore the I.V. lines.

"Snap. You should be able to orally give Morgan her final doses of the anti-biotic" he informed her then went on to explain where it could be found, the dosage, and the frequency. He then went on to tell her that should Morgan become erratic again, the she should sedate her. "The syringes are all ready to go, just stab her in the rump." he advised, "If Cowboy's about, I'm sure he's administered one or two in his life."

Wraith then listened to her description of Seizure's reading and the general store that was in close proximity to the base, and the place that Frank, Morgan's father had died. It was all quite clear now.

"Thanks, Snap. You're doing a great job down there, keep it up." Wraith commended, "I'll be down as soon as I can."

Devon ended the call, placed the PDA on the counter and went back to the window sill and resumed his lonely, celebratory drink.

Snap hung up the phone, a little confused on why Wraith didn't say anything about Morgan's eyes turning black. It sure freaked her out.

She spent another 15 minutes with her plants, grabbed herself a sandwich from the kitchen and ate it on the way to the medical room. Once inside, she went to check on the sedative filled syringes and antibiotics, making sure she knew where both were. Then she went over to Morgan to check on her and said hi to Mikala who was checking on Totem. She filled Cowboy in on what Wraith had told her and asked him if he would stick around and then let him know that the kitchen was fully stocked if he was hungry.

She took Morgan's vitals while she was asleep, looked at her wounds, then went over to Totem to check on him.

The handsome Haida man had remained sound asleep through the commotion, the sedatives had did the trick, that and his general fatigue had left him incapacitated. As Snap checked on his wounds, his eyes in particular she was pleased to see that he was healing well, unfortunately Wraith had mentioned to her in passing that his vision would most likely not return for a few days, possibly longer.



It wasn't long after his phone call that Devon's furniture arrived. He had ordered just about everything from the same store and was able to coordinate the delivery to coincide with his possession date. The men that brought in his new items were, prompt and courteous and within an hours time had everything moved in, leaving him with the task of setting everything up. All his services — cable, internet, phone... — were already installed, so all Devon had to do was hook up his flat screen, plug in his phone and set up his new IMAC and he was in business. First on his list though, was assembling his king size bed and the one for the spare room before he got to the techy stuff. Julie had already washed his sheets, and so they were ready to go, she just couldn't abide him having to sleep on a couch for his first night, although the one he purchased was pretty comfortable.

The sun was getting low in the sky by the time Devon had gotten everything set up to his satisfaction. He had everything in order, and the garbage neatly piled in one the spare rooms within an little over an hour. He wasn't one, to leave things in a state, in fact disorder wore on his nerves in a bad way, so he got everything set up and arranged as quick as possible. He even unloaded the three boxes of dishes, cutlery, toiletries and his few articles of clothing and had everything in place before he finally allowed himself to ease into his new recliner and grab the remote; the throne and scepter of the modern home.

Devon had just poured himself another glass of wine and found himself a classic kung-fu flick when there was a rapping at his door. He smiled and didn't bother getting up and sure enough a few minutes later, he could hear foot steps, gingerly walking down the hallway.



"You should lock your door. You never know what kind of psycho might be lurking around." Said the dark haired man who came around the corner, dressed in a buttoned shirt, jeans and no mask. Under one arm he was carrying a '24' of MGD and in the other a bag of Chinese take-away.

Devon laughed. "Well look at you. You ain't half as ugly as I thought you'd be." he commented on Sigma's appearance, which he truthfully was surprised by. The guy could probably turn some heads.

"Well you're just as 'pretty' as I imagined." Quipped Sigma in his rough tone as he placed the beer and food on the coffee table beside Wraith, "Figured their wouldn't be a crumb in the place. Hope you like Chinese." he said, then cracked open the case, pulled out a couple of beers and tossed one to his host.

Devon caught the icy bottle and twisted off the cap. "So, is this is where we get drunk and I divulge all my secrets during a testosterone filled evening of male bonding?" he joked.

Sigma flopped down on the new couch and nodded his approval at the quality. "Nope, " he replied as he cracked open his beer, "This is where I get drunk and try and impersonate a normal person."

As the sun set on Chicago, there was one person in particular that couldn’t WAIT for the darkness to befall the city. Jen had waited, impatiently, all day for the nighttime to arrive. Only half heartedly paying attention to the droll in the board meetings she attended, her mind was obviously elsewhere. A few times the members of the cabinet got a little ticked at her for not commenting on a few things from time to time, but over all, she made decisions everyone was satisfied with in the end. It wasn’t easy, over seeing a business you really had no interest in but it was expected of her. And she certainly didn’t trust any of these other sharks with the corporation her parents had built while in the Amazon. They’d turn it into a farce and use it to do exactly what they were trying to stop. A land hungry business hell bent on obliterating the Rain Forest forever. As long as Jen still sat at the top of the business, they weren’t going to get their mitts on any of it.

But enough business. As soon as her driver dropped her off at her apartment buildings underground garage, she swiftly moved to the elevator, placed her key in the slot, turned it up and pressed the button that would take her to the penthouse suite on the eighth floor. While this building wasn’t as tall as some of the other buildings in Chicago, it held some nostalgia for Jen and she just couldn’t bring herself to give it up. And now that the top floor had been converted into a penthouse for her, she seemed to enjoy coming home even more now.

As soon as the elevator stopped at the top floor, Jen was scurrying out of the contraption and making her way into her luxury apartment turning on a few lights as she moved along. Like all the others she had scattered through out the city it was decorated with many of the treasures she acquired in the guise of her alter ego. Of course they never stayed around too long before they were sold on the black market for sheer profit. After all, funding for the different charities she’s set up under shell businesses had to come from some place. Besides, the ones she took the merchandise from didn’t appreciate them as much as she did.

Of course there were the times when she took things strictly for herself. It seemed as though she simply couldn’t stop herself once she started. Perhaps it was the thrill of the act she was addicted to. Perhaps it was something entirely different. Jen wasn’t really sure. The only thing she knew for certain was that she enjoyed every minute of it. And with RAID so active right now, she would have to be extremely careful until things quieted down once more.

As Jen moved through the empty apartment, she kicked off her high heeled shoes carryi8ng them to the bedroom. Next was the jacket to her suit. Once she reached the bedroom she tossed her clothes into the dry cleaning container. Once she was down to just the bare minimum of clothing she walked over to the wall of her walk in closet and pulled down on one of the hooks on the wall that held a few belts and other accessories. As soon as Jen pulled the hook down a panel in the closet wall opened up and revealed a hidden room. As Jen walked in she saw her alter ego’s clothing waiting for her to put it on once more as the door closed automatically behind her. Fingering the spandex like material lovingly, she smiled. She’d seen the way he’d looked at her. Even in his exhausted state she could tell he was 100 percent pure, warm blooded male.

Taking the costume off the hanger and shimming her frame into the garment, she checked the fit in the mirror before turning her attention to her facial “mask”. Pulling her hair back from her face and tying it securely, Jen pulled the paper that had the tribal face paintings in the green color she liked out from the drawer. Placing the paper carefully over her face, she slowly smoothed it out before carefully peeling it off. As the paper was removed the green paint was transferred from the paper to her face, obscuring her features once more. With a few touch ups, the tall woman stood back and looked at herself in the mirror once more.



The Amazon once again emerged. With a satisfied smile, she turned and left her secret room behind exiting from another door that led out to a secret passageway and stairs that would lead to the roof. Pushing the hatch like door up and peering out at the roof, The Amazon made sure there was no one lurking about before she pushed the hatch all the way open and climbed the steps of the ladder out. Closing the hatch behind her, Amazon felt the cool night air wash over her. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and took in the sounds of the city below.

Night brought a whole new set of sights, sounds and scents and with it, the chance to observe the city from incredible heights in complete obscurity. And perhaps tonight, a rendezvous with a handsome, tall, blonde haired meta. Of course she didn’t get her hopes up too high. They were from opposite ends of the spectrum so if they DID meet up, it would most likely be as each others opponents. But…a gal could dream, couldn’t she?

With another check around, the Amazon crouched down then leapt into the air and allowed the air currents that drifted into the city from the four corners to carry her where ever she wanted to go. Her destination was the penthouse on the upper East side again tonight. The same place she’d visited last night.

Enjoying the ability to fly for a little bit before she dropped silently onto the balcony of the penthouse Wraith had been brought to, Amazon listened carefully before she walked to one of sliding glass doors near the wall and entered the key code into the electronic locking system. Hearing the click of the lock disengaging, she slowly slid the door open, pushed the curtains aside and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

He wasn’t here. The fact the place was dark was the first clue but his scent was weak. While it still lingered, it wasn’t strong enough to indicate he was still here, lurking about. Amazon was disappointed, yes, but not surprised. Oh well. Such was the life of the rule breaking meta. Still, she had hoped that somehow Wraith would still be here.

With a soft, disappointed sigh, Amazon clicked on a couple of lights and began walking about the place to see what, if anything, he had taken. A smirk eased over her features as she noticed a few things out of place. In particular, one of the drawers in the desk hadn’t been closed all the way. When she walked over to look at it, she saw what he found. Chuckling softly she closed the drawer again and looked towards the kitchen then.

Moving as quietly as a jungle cat, she looked in the fridge and a few cabinets. Good. He had made a strange concoction that would help him regain his strength and restore his electrolytes. How would he know about that? Most others would have just taken something normal to drink or eat but he had the presence of mind to actually mix a few things together to get just what he needed. Another smirk eased over her features. There as definitely more to Wraith than met the eye.

“The mystery of you grows. Looks AND brains…what a wonderful surprise.”

Leaving the kitchen behind she walked towards the bedroom she’d last left him in. Standing in the door way she looked into the darkened room and closed her eyes for a moment as she took a deep breath. Wraiths scent was strongest here and she allowed herself a moment of indulgence. Opening her eyes, Amazon moved over to the unmade bed and eased herself down on the edge. Easing her hand along the impression on the sheet of where he slept, she smirked again.

”Well…..at least I can say I got you into my bed.”

Standing up, she turned her back on the bed and left the room. Moving out through the penthouse once more, she turned off the lights as she went making a mental note to call the staff to clean up tomorrow. With one last glance around, Amazon slipped out of the penthouse the same way she came in and stood on the balcony of the place, looking out at the moonlight as it shimmered off Lake Michigan. The evening breeze was still cool and Amazon enjoyed just standing there letting the cool breeze wash over her as she watched the twinkling lights from the city below knowing that some where, out among those twinkling lights, Wraith was there. A smile eased over her lips then as she spoke to the evening breeze.

”Maybe some other time, Wraith.”