HEROES Chapter 6

Blood splattered through the air as Sigma's whip extended to the far side of the room like a black tentacle slashing through the gun man's throat. As the gagging man choked on his own blood and slumped to the floor, he convulsed and squeezed the trigger, firing off a shot and igniting the highly flammable fumes that had leaked into the air.

In seconds the lab erupted into flames but the masked crime fighter remained motionless. Surrounded by the roaring flames, Sigma felt at peace, the anger within him reflected into the physical world as the fire raged up the walls and the screams of the panicked technicians echoed through the building. It was not until Amazon's voice brought him back to reality, that he became aware of the searing heat closing in on him. Turning he took a few strides and leapt into the air, through the hole and into the alley where the other two awaited.

Sigma hit the ground, rolled and his arms shot out to quickly to prevent himself from crashing into the far wall. He leapt to his feet and looking to his right and in moments both ends of the alley were blocked off by RAID operatives.

"On the ground now!" Ordered on of the officers as they closed in.

"Shit!" Growled Sigma, as he looked up for something to lash his whip to, but the sides of alley were windowless and sheer. "I hope one of you has a plan, 'cause otherwise we are F&$@&D!"



Wraith stepped up to the plate then. "Don't move." he told them, and crouching low as if he were about to jump into the air, he flexed his muscles, concentrating all of his strength to summon the powers within him. Amazon and Sigma could feel pressure within their ear drums, so painful that they both tried to cup their hands over their ears in attempt to alleviate it and at that moment a rush of air was sucked into the alley. Dust and debris blew past the RAID operatives and Amazon and Sigma were amazed to find themselves in the eye of small vortex of air, swirling about them.

Wraith gasped. He was still weakened by conjuring the tornados and manipulating large masses of air was a strain but he didn't have any choice. He stood straight then, thrusting both of his arms toward the openings of the alley and the air within alley rushed away from the center with explosive power.

As the RAID operatives attempted to advance they were blown out of the alley as if a bomb went off in an enclosed space throwing them high into the air or skidding along the ground. Some were instantly rendered unconscious, a few critically injured but most would be able to drag themselves to their feet and resume their pursuit.

"Holy shit!" Exclaimed Sigma, rubbing one of his ears. Then seeing that the armored bastards were already starting to gather their wits, started to run to the end of the alley that had the least amount of troopers. "Com'on! Let's take them while we still have a chance!"

Wraith was weak, but able to move. Wiping the sweat from his face, he forced himself to follow. He had evened the odds, but they still had a fight on their hands, he only hoped he had the strength to follow through.

“These guys are REALLY starting to piss me off. And it takes a lot to piss me off.”

Amazon could have once more saved her own hide, but it wasn’t real sportsman like to leave the guys to deal with all the trouble. Besides, she kind of liked hanging out with these two. Even if Sigma didn’t really care for her. But when both ends of the alley suddenly became blocked by the RAID ops, she found the fun was quickly draining from this experience.

When Wraith began preparing for what ever it was he was about to do, Amazon bent forward and clamped her hands over her ears trying to block out the severe negative pressure she was feeling. Squinting her eyes tight, she let out a yell of pain just before he finally released the air and shoved the RAID ops back out the alley.

With her ears popping to adjust to the correct pressure, Amazon saw what Sigma was planning on doing. Grabbing Wraith by the forearm to help him gain momentum in his weakened state, she ran in the same direction Sigma was. Letting go of Wraith’s arm once they were up to speed, she burst through what operatives were still standing after Sigma plowed through them.

Several ops had recovered enough to where they were picking up their guns. Amazon knew if they were able to use those weapons, the odds would once more be stacked against them. Quickly stomping on one and breaking the barrel off it close to the firing chamber, she quickly kicked with her free foot and knocked the gun out of another operatives hands and sent it flying across the street.

”You guys should treat a gal nicer than this!”

A third one tried to grab her from behind by locking her arms by her side in a vice like grip only to have her break his hold as she violently threw her arms up. The force of her move caused him the operative to stumble backwards a few feet. He was just pulling his hand gun from the holster at his right hip when she did a round ho use kick that caught him on the side f the head and sent him sprawling to the ground, lights out.

Wraith and Sigma were holding their own when she spun around and saw one of the operatives pick up a plasma gun and point it right at Sigma. The only thing she remembered was reacting. Taking off from where she was standing, she hit the operative just as he fired the trigger. The plasma stream arched wildly into the air, barely missing Sigma. The unfortunate thing was that it did strike her left arm. The electricity flowed through her body enough to render her momentarily paralyzed, as though she were hit by a high powered stun gun. The RAID operative that lay under her was stunned by her move but quickly began to scramble out from beneath her prone form.

When he was out from under her dead weight, he forced himself to his feet then violently kicked her in the side to force her to roll over. Amazon felt the steel toe of his boot make contact with her ribs and was certain she heard a couple of the crack. Placing his boot on her throat, he pulled his .9MM Glock from his holster and drew a bead on her forehead as her eyes grew wide with frght.

”How’s this for nice, bitch?”

As Wraith charged ahead that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach returned. A sensation not stemming from his fatigue but from the sight of the destruction he had once more caused. As he exited the alley to his left he caught a glimpse of an operative kneeling over a body screaming, "We've got a man down! I repeat! Man down!" into the built in communicator in his helmut. A victim of his wind blast and far ahead another man lay still, his leg twisted unnaturally. Running into fray all Wraith could think was that he was slipping but then Sigma's growl pulled him back into reality. The masked avenger ducked under the swinging baton of a RAID enforcer and drove his foot directly into the chest of another who had just picked up his rifle. The force of the blow knocked the man back into the air and into a street light. There was a clang as the man's helmut compressed the metal then he slumped forward, flopping down onto the street.

Two other operatives closed in on Sigma from either side but even before he could react two clouds of dust appeared to his left and right accompanied by an intense whistling sound. Two jets of wind, rushed past the masked man, striking the two RAID operatives and throwing them into the air. One struck the side of a parked box truck and the other crashed through the window of a warehouse. Then before the dust even settled, Sigma was tackled from behind by a helmut-less RAID operative built like a line backer. The big man brutally drove his shoulder hard into the small of his back, but the already injured meta-human hardly revealed a hint of pain, nor did he go down without a fight. He drove his legs into the street, his boots sliding across the pavement and he simultaneously acquired both traction and the man's thumb. With a jarring twist of wrist, Sigma broke the man's grip and used his momentum to hurl the enforcer toward a wall.

Sigma displayed extraordinary strength as he smoothly threw the big man but as fast as he was would not have been able to dodge stream of plasma electricity that just missed his head. He instinctively fell to the ground and rolled, turning to see Amazon take out the RAID operative that had him cold. She took the man down, but had suffered a hit to her arm.

Behind them, four remaining RAID operatives charged into battle from the other side of the alley, their weapons at ready and Wraith knew he had to stop them. He was tired, but he dug down deep and found the strength to generate a wind tunnel effect to push the men back. Utilizing the ventura effect, he forced a greater mass of air into the tight space of the alley but in his present state he could at best muster a hurricane force wind. Strong enough to slow the men down, but not stop them from slowly advancing. One RAID enforcer, took a knee aimed his rifle and fired at Wraith. The intense winds made the bullet miss, but Wraith knew it was only luck that saved him. He turned to scan the street and make sure the others still had his back and that's when he saw Amazon laying prone and the RAID operative slowly rising to his feet with his 9MM drawn.

The seconds stretched in that moment. As the man, drove his boot into Amazon's throat and pointed the gun at her head, Wraith knew he had to act but to do so he had to release his pressure on the four advancing enforcers. They were seeking revenge, and out for blood, so helping the woman could spell the death of them all.

Sigma scrambled to get to his feet but even as he reached back with his whip the bull of a man he had thrown, threw his powerful arms against the wall he was thrown into and pushed himself away from harm. He then spun about, drawing his side arm and drew a bead on the masked man. Aware of the impending shot, Sigma continued to swing his whip and as the sleek, black weapon arced through the air, the man fired repeatedly, riddling the masked crime fighter's body, but the whip found it's mark.

The barrel of the 9MM reflecting in Amazon's wide eyes was suddenly struck by the razor tip of Sigma's whip. There was a flash of sparks as metal struck metal and the gun fell toward the woman. The RAID agent, grit his teeth and frantically thrust his hand toward the plummeting gun as if life and death depended upon it's retrieval.... because it did.

As the gun hung in the air, Sigma smiled and fell back against the pavement, his eyes staring blankly toward the night sky. A strange sensation — dying, he couldn't say he cared for it.

The shadowy figure emerged with one smooth step, bringing into the faded light a young woman, her appearance catching Grey by surprise, though he remained unreadable. She wasn't especially tall and her slender build made her look hardly threatening. She was around Grey's age with smooth, brown skin and dark, slanted eyes that stared piercingly at Grey, her very gaze enough to tell him not to underestimate her. Her smooth, black hair was back just behind each shoulder, framing the base of her neck. She wore cargo pants that looked fit for the military, full of pockets and little hidden compartments. Her appearance was mixed and ethnic and Grey swallowed hard, fighting to hold back the endless and colorful racial slurs that threatened to burst out from him.

"Sydney Zhang," she said in a smooth voice as cold as ice, "but you can just call me Smoke." Though she was must shorter than Grey, she walked up to him and stared him down like an officer to a soldier. "I'm told you're pretty skilled," she began, "you sounded like you could be pretty handy. I certainly hope so because you were expensive." She seemed to be sizing him up, inspecting him like a buyer at a slave auction. Grey's eyes were empty as he stared silently back at her, watching her every movement, every glint in her eye. He could see his own tactics in her, the blank, hardened expression, her slow, intentional movements, even the careful tone in her even voice. She was a killer too, and she was good at getting away with it. Watching her, Grey knew she knew how to protect herself. This Smoke was not to be underestimated, though he already thoroughly expected her to keep him guessing.

Shifting his weight, Grey reached into his pocket and lit a cigarette, blowing the blue smoke out over Sydney's head as she stepped back. "So the Highwayman never got a straight answer out of you," she said, "you in or not?" Grey paused, smoking idly and staring at her for a moment, his blank expression hiding the effort he was putting into shouting the words that were gathering within him. After a long moment, he finally shrugged.

"Price is right," he replied; Smoke's lip curled.

"Is he your partner?" asked Smoke nodding towards Scavenger. Grey turned, peeking back at him nonchalantly before shrugging again. "We're not upping the price if you wanna bring your puppy a long," said Smoke, "you work that out yourself. Now, let me just tell you this: I'm putting a lot of trust in you. If you blow it, I will find out. If you stray somewhere, I will find out. I'm good at finding things out." As she surveyed him with narrowed eyes, her narrow brown fingers slipped down her leg and reached into one of her many pockets "And just so you know," she said, removing a silver throwing dagger, his blade catching the light and shimmering in her hand as she raised it towards her face, "if I ever find out you help some pathetic human, well . . . let's just say, I never miss." Her voice was low, her eyes as cold as Grey's-- an assassin's gaze. Blowing another puff of smoke out through his nose and faintly parted lips, Grey rolled his eyes and looked away for a moment before turning and staring straight back into hers.

"Look," he said, "spare me the bullshit. I'll do whatever you want so long as you pay me. Just tell me what the job is so I can get outta here and go do my thing." The tension was building inside of him, a flicker of a twitch in his eye forewarning him and urging out. For every second he stared at the young woman, the pressure seemed to increase just a little more.

Smoke could see the tension in his muscles, the carefully controlled nonchalance in his mannerisms and she didn't like it. Still, she kept her own face hardened and guarded as she nodded, pretending not to notice. Taking a step back to lean on the pool table, Smoke turned a glance towards the Highway man, her lip curled just slightly as she regarded him, her eyes flashing. "Lance?" she said, her voice moving up just an octave, giving just a touch of sweetness to the sharpened ice of her voice, "tell him what his job is so he can get out of here and do his thing, please."

Amazon could do nothing but blink as the events unfolded around her. The inability to voluntarily move her body was both frightening and frustrating at the same time. She’d never been this helpless in the past and it reminded her of just how precious life, hers and others, really was.

As the gun dropped from the RAID ops hand as the tip of Sigma’s cobra like whip reached out and struck it was like watching a drop of water in slow motion leave it’s place of origin and travel to it’s destination. Around her, all sound ceased and all she could hear was her own breathing.

The gun was just about to drop onto her head when at last Amazon finally felt movement come back to her. Moving her head to the left just a half second before the gun would have made contact with her skull she felt the air from the weapon as it passed close to her head and clanged on the hard pavement next to her. Her head turned in the direction Sigma had been standing only to see the masked hero fall backwards and cease all movement.

”NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Tears instantly sprung to her eyes as she witnessed the death of someone who shouldn’t die. Her scream pierced the air all but drowning out the noise around them. Adrenaline rushed through her body and she forced herself up. The RAID operative that had been about to kill her recovered from what Sigma had done and saw she was moving once more. Bending over to get his gun, Amazon struck out with her foot and connected with the mans helmeted head sending him sprawling backwards.

”You BASTARD!”

Anger flared in her eyes. She couldn’t remember being this mad, ever. These RAID agents had committed the worst sin of all: taking a persons life. In Amazon’s mind, there was nothing worse than that. She would have kept on kicking the man if the other RAID ops hadn’t interrupted her. As she felt the build up of static electricity in the air, she knew they were charging their plasma guns for another round.

They were sorely outnumbered here and with Sigma down, there was only one thing she and Wraith could do: retreat. Yelling over her shoulder, she called to Wraith.

”The sky is our only bet now, Wraith!””

Using every ounce of energy she could muster, Amazon reached down and grabbed up Sigma then headed for the sky as fast as she could. The added weight was a burden on her but she refused to allow herself to give up and leave him behind. Tears still stung her eyes as she dodged bullets and plasma beams using the nearby buildings as cover.

Her body screamed for her to stop but that would be suicide. Climbing as high as she could, she allowed the lighter air currents in the sky help carry her across the night sky, away from the madness she had just been a part of. Even as Amazon cradled Sigma’s body in her arms she felt the muscles quake under the extra weight of him.

There was only one place left for them to go right now. Hopefully Wraith was following. Heading south, she kept just barely over the buildings to avoid being picked up by radar. Leading them into a seedy part of the city, she finally landed on the roof of an abandoned, run down building. As soon as her feet touched down, she dropped to her knees laying Sigma down as gently as she could.

Bowing her head, she gave way to a few silent sobs. Exhaustion was a bitch, as she was finding out. And she didn’t like it one bit. Sniffling softly, she looked at Sigma’s prone form and whispered softly to him.

”I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have gone there….Now…because of me…. “

Lance brushed past, Sidney avoiding any eye contact. Just who the leader of the gang was had not yet been determined since their return and prior to their capture Smoke had called the shots. Two years in a RAID Detention Centre had changed the dynamics of their little syndicate but it seemed what the Highwayman believed to be concrete was slowly crumbling away and returning back to the way it was.

"Well, Mr. Pyre, you would agree with me when I say that 'no one buys a car without taking a test drive'? So, I have arranged a few jobs that will, say, 'allow us to get behind the wheel'." Instructed the Highwayman, "These jobs require your particular skills, and those of your associate. Carry them out successfully, and your position will be secured."

Lance then motioned for Scavenger to join them and the punker scurried over. "Take this," Said Lance as he handed, Stefan a folded up map, "On that map you will find a few area of the city circled. Those are targets and beside them are written names which are an alias for a client. Report to them and they will explain what they need. It's that simple."

The Highwayman, then reached into his coat pocket and tossed them each a brown envelope filled with money. "Two grand for each of you." he told them, "That should cover your traveling expenses. You have a week. In the mean time we'll be in touch."

Lance then ushered them out of the room and lead the two men to the front door.

"One week." he reminded them, then closed the door.



Wraith was fatigued but he could still fly. Holding off the enforcers with his wind blast until she and Sigma had taken to the sky, he summoned the strength for one last burst, forcing them back while he took to the air. He followed closely behind Amazon and was glad to see that she had chosen to gain some elevation which he required since he was too tired to maintain his flight for long, and needed to rely on a steady descent.

The super hero glided down to the building but in his weakened state was unable to slow his fall and tumbled along the roof top and slammed into an old ventilation unit. Only his pride was bruised from his shoddy landing, but he was far more concerned about Sigma. Slowly rising, the big man staggered over to where Amazon had laid him down and immediately went to work examining the man's vital signs and checking his wounds.

"Christ! There's no heart beat!" Exclaimed Wraith as he took Sigma's pulse and pressed his ear to his chest.

He then opened up the man's coat and ripped open his shirt. Even in the face of death their kind believed in protecting their identities and so Wraith was careful to just expose Slate's mouth while in the presence of the enemy. He then began to administer CPR, and as he pounded on the hero's thick chest, he noticed that the two bullet wounds he had suffered only a short time ago had already begun to heal. The bleeding of his current wounds had also already significantly slowed.

"Holy shit! He's a healer." Wraith remarked, then when he laid his ear over his heart once more announced, "I got a beat! It's weak, but if he can regenerate his body should be able to take care of itself. He's lost a lot of blood though. He's going to need a transfusion to allow his body to regenerate."

Wraith scanned the roof top then turned to Amazon. "Where are we? Is there a hospital close by?" he excitedly asked.

Amazon was still dazed in her moment of grief that she didn’t realize what Wraith was saying or what was happening until she blinked and saw the wounds on Sigma’s body already healed or in the process of healing. Renewed hope filled her then and she quickly shut off the water works and tried to give Wraith the help he needed.

Knowing the true identities of the metas who wore masks, like herself, were important, she didn’t even try to catch a glimpse of the face beneath Sigma’s mask. To her it was committing some sort of cardinal sin against an unstated and unwritten law. Glancing around, she blinked a few times and relayed to Wraith where they were.

”We’re….We’re on the s-south side. It’s rough neighborhood. RAID wouldn’t think of coming here unless they had a full army to back them up. It’s not all that safe for us, but I have a place in the basement of this building for just such emergencies. It’s easy to get to from here. And no one but me…well now you…know it’s here. And yes….there’s a hospital near by. St. Bernard’s is just a few blocks from here. Tell me what you need and I’ll make sure I get it.”

Glancing back down at Sigma again, she still couldn’t believe her eyes. She’d heard of healers before but she’d never really met one. At least one she knew was a healer. But to see how their bodies worked after such a traumatic incident was something truly amazing for Amazon.

Finding the strength to stand, Amazon looked around at the similar run down roof tops surrounding the area and listened carefully for any sounds that would indicate they had been followed or that some people from the neighborhood were not all that happy with them. Looking down at Wraith as he continued to work on Sigma, she spoke quietly.

”We need to get off this roof, Wraith….we’re sitting ducks up here…literally.”

Wraith looked to Amazon and shook his head at her offer to go the hospital. "I'll go." he told her then confidently explained, "It will be quicker this way." He then asked Amazon what she had on hand in the basement in regards to medical equipment and it was quite apparent to her that Wraith was quite knowledgeable in the medical field.

When he was satisfied that he knew what they needed, Wraith quickly walked away and picked up a couple of pieces of broken glass. He returned to Sigma's side and dipped one of the shards into his blood then placed the other piece over it. There was no need explaining to Amazon that he needed a blood sample and gripping the glass fragments in his hand, the weary crime fighter made his way to the edge of the building.

"Sigma's skin will continue to slowly regenerate, but I can't be sure whether he will need a transfusion." he informed Amazon, "The regenerative ability of 'meta-healers' varies from one to another. The most advanced will regenerate their blood at a significant rate, but such cases are extremely rare. We have to assume that Sigma will require extra blood to mend such extensive damage."

Wraith leapt up on to the ledge and stared down at the streets below and looked back one last time. "If I'm not back within half an hour and his condition still hasn't improved get him to a hospital." he instructed but then just before he floated off the edge of the building he offered Amazon some well earned praise for her actions, "You fought well back there and you could left anytime, but you stayed. Thank you.", and with that he took off into the air and disappeared into the night sky.

Sigma was still. His body was attempting to heal, but Wraith was wise to assume that Sigma would require a transfusion. One of the bullets had ripped through his heart and that combined with the other four holes through his chest and abdomen, not to mention the two previous gun shots, was too much for him to heal. His blood loss had been extensive and in order for his regenerative powers to work, he required a certain amount left in his system and their just wasn't enough to go around.

Amazon watched Wraith with the broken glass. Furrowing her brows she wondered what the masked man was doing but never asked. Obviously he knew what was needed and who was she to question his motives? Watching the tall man walk to the edge of the building, she listened to his thanks and was about to make a comment but he disappeared before she could. Instead, her voice spoke quietly to the night air.

”You’re welcome.”

Looking back down at the unconscious Sigma, Amazon knew she had to get the man off the roof and in the security of the hideout she had in the basement. Once more she glanced around, letting her heightened vision scan the area to make sure no one was about. When she was satisfied the coast was clear, she knelt down, scooped Sigma up in her arms and made her way to what appeared to be an old, rusty ventilation shaft. Pressing a button hidden on the side of the shaft she heard the familiar hum of the elevator that was coming to pick her up.

Setting Sigma down upon the roof once more, Amazon manually opened the door to the elevator then gently put Sigma inside before closing the door and pressing the button that would take her to the basement. Holding Sigma in her arms, she strained to keep the man cradled next to her. She would have loved to sit him down but she didn’t want to jostle his body any more than she had to. She was worried she had moved him too much as it was now.

When the elevator came to a stop after the short ride form the roof, she opened the door and carried Sigma into her hide away. It wasn’t very big. In fact, it was more like a large studio apartment if anything. Carrying the wounded meta over to the bed, she gently laid him down and checked to make sure he was still breathing before she left his side long enough to turn on some lights.

Once the lights were on, she moved over to what looked like a control panel. Turning on a couple of monitors and some other switches, the monitors became illuminated with green hued pictures of different cameras located throughout the building and on the roof.

”Alright, blondie, when you get back, I’ll come get ya.”

Turning to look over at Sigma once more, she walked over to where his prone form rested then eased her frame onto the bed next to him to sit and monitor his condition as Wraith had told her to. As she saw the wounds he had suffered, she winced again. Still feeling guilty for his condition, she tried not to imagine the worse case scenario if Wraith didn’t return in time.

Grey sniffed idly and turned away from the door, heading casually back to their car. Without even checking to see if Scavenger was behind him, he collapsed into the drivers seat and snatched the map out of Scavenger's hand the moment he sat down. Tilting it slightly so he could see, Grey scanned the map then pointed to a place on it.

"We're around here, right?" he asked, "I dunno this city." Scav nodded and then pointed to one of the circles.

"That's probably the closest one," he said. Grey paused a moment, studying the map before he nodded almost imperceptibly and tossed it back to Stefan. He then switched to a hip hop station and cranked up the volume. Pulling away from the house, he let go of his hold on himself and let a flurry of swears and racial slurs explode from him, muffled into the background of the blasting music. He sped out into the darkened streets, rolling down the window and ignoring the glares from late night passersby as his music leaked out onto the silent streets. When his tics slowed to the point that he could breathe, he extracted a cigarette from his pocket and lit it before offering the pack of Scav.

Grey had never been chatty. He'd never been one for partners and company either. His eyes ticked over to the map on his companion's lap and he wondered with slight dismay why Scavenger was needed. A friend was better than a stranger, but given the choice, Grey would rather work alone. As they approached the interstate, Grey stopped at a red light and plucked the map out of Scav's lap again to scan it. His eyes scanned the lines through a puff of cigarette smoke that plumed out of his mouth before he tossed it back over and floored the pedal when the light changed. Cutting someone off and ignoring the ensuing honking and swearing, Grey pulled onto the ramp and sped down the interstate, reaching his exit in only a few minutes.

Pulling off, he double checked the map and rocked the car as he drove at least twice the speed limit to their destination. Pulling up in front of a high rise, Grey narrowed his eyes and cocked an eyebrow. Glancing over at Scavenger for the first time since leaving the Highwayman's headquarters, he picked up the map and glanced back and forth between it and the building before he said, "this it?" Scavenger shrugged.

"Looks like it." Pulling around into a darkened place beside it, Grey parked the car and tossed the cigarette butt onto the ground beside it. He was about to head for the front door when a figure caught his eye, lurking in the shadows not far from the car. Grey's eyes widened slightly and he wondered idly how long he'd been standing there. For a moment the two punks just stood beside the car, Scavenger's sharp eyes easily piercing the darkness and getting a good look at the man. He was a typical looking white-collar criminal used to pushing people around and taking orders only from the highest of high in whatever organization he claimed loyalty to. His dark hair blended into the shadows and his large body was an even mixture of fat and brawn. He was holding a crumpled envelope and was leering at the two of them silently. After a moment of staring at each other, Grey began to get impatient. Fingers surreptitiously slipping towards his gun, he spoke up in a sharp tone.

"Who the f%*# are you?" he demanded.

"You Greyson Pyre?" the man replied. A slight wave of relief fell over Grey and he shifted his weight, his fingers slipping into his pocket and brushing the handle of his gun.

"I asked you first," he replied. Now the man shook his head and spat onto the ground. He took a step towards them and Grey took a half-step back, now thumbing the hammer on the gun in his pocket.

"My name don't matter. The boss was expectin' you and sent me out here to deliver tha job." He spoke with a heavy Chicago accent as he casually strode towards him. Glancing over at Scavenger, he held out the envelope between them. His beady dark eyes drifted down Grey's body and noticed the position of his hand leaning nonchalantly just out of his pocket. The man moistened his lips then and, saying nothing of it, slid his arm back a bit and handed Scav the envelope, his eyes locked onto Grey now. "This guy ran off with a loada' the boss's money," he explained, "tha guy knows what's comin' to him too cuz' he's got himself well protected. We can't afford to send our guys in cuz we know this bastard's gonna come after the rest now he thinks he got away with it. We need you freaks to go in there and take carea' him. Make sure he don't try anything else, ya know what I mean?" He glanced into Grey and Scavenger's eyes to make sure but Grey simply stared back at him, lips pursed, silent. Taking a few steps back but keeping his eyes on the hitman in front of him, the man continued, "take care a' him and get the boss's money back. Just bring it back here." He the lit a cigar and blew a puff of the rancid, cheap-smelling smoke toward the other two before pointing at them with it. "And if there's a single scent missing, he'll know. So don't you try any funny shit. We'll be keepin' an eye on you too so I don't recommend trying to skip out on us. You ain't the only freaks we talk to."

With that, the big man turned and lumbered off into the shadows leaving Scav and Grey alone. As soon as the man was gone, Grey got back into the car and watched the envelope in Scavenger's hands as he got in beside him. Immediately, he opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper with only a name and a number on it: The name of the target and the incredibly large sum of missing money on it.

Amazon was startled by a cough, then Sigma stirred. It appeared as if his hand had attempted to reach for his chest and curiousity getting the better of her she unbuttoned the blue shirt. She was shocked at what she found; three slugs had been pushed out of the wounds which were oozing plasma. The one by his heart had yet to emerge, but the bleeding had stopped and she could only assume that the Sigma's stress had something to do with expelling the last bullet.



Wraith didn't have time to try and acquire some normal street clothes and relied on his wind form to slip into the hospital unnoticed. As an elderly couple exited through the main entrance they were surprised by a sudden gust of wind that strangely blew through the foyer and down the main hall as if it had a mind of its own. The old super hero knew his way around a hospital and it didn't take him long to locate the area that would have the equipment he needed.

It was around two in the morning and the darkened lab was closed with the exception of emergencies and as Wraith materialized by a microscope he hoped there would be none of those. Wraith then took out the blood sample and quickly tested it while he gathered what he needed to treat his injured friend. As he suspected, Sigma was blood-type AB, the universal recipient, the type common to regenerative meta-humans; satisfied he now had to somehow get out of the hospital with his pilfered medical equipment which he had stashed in a laundry bag. Some of the items contained metal of a magnetic nature and so he was unable to maintain his wind form while it was near his body, not that he felt that he had the strength to maintain his non-corporeal form long enough anyway. Fortunately his power to fly was still an option and making his way to an elevator where the car was presently on a lower floor he pried open the doors and slipped into the shaft. He flew straight to the top where he found a trap door that he was able to pry open and access the roof.

By the time Wraith made it back to Amazon's hide-out he was thoroughly exhausted. He just managed to make back to the roof, where upon touching down just about collapsed but he forced himself to continue for Sigma's sake. Making his way to the door it opened before he touched the handle and Amazon was standing in the doorway. She had seen him on her hidden security cameras and had been able to beat the weary crime-fighter from the basement.

Once he was at Sigma's side, Wraith's weariness instantly vanished as he went into 'doctor-mode' and began to set up for a transfusion. Gently he took two bags of blood out of the laundry bag, suspended them, then hooked up the still unconscious Sigma. Once the blood started to flow, it wouldn't be long before Sigma would begin to heal at a rather fast rate.

Wraith sat down in a chair and leaned back, yawning. He was extremely fatigued and decided to have a quick cat-nap while the micro-pump he took performed the transfusion. In moments his eyes were closed as he sat an angle with his back leaning up against the wall, his muscular arms folded across his chest.

During the ride to their first destination, Scavenger sucked on a lollipop, one of his own concoctions. He called them 'acid-pops' since the hardened candy was laced with hallucinogens, just enough to keep the brain busy without impeding one's senses too much, at least thats how it was for Stefan. His boots up on the dashboard in his usual fashion, he leaned back rattling the lolli around his mouth while giggling at a persistent thought. He found the fact that they were on a 'Scavenger Hunt' very amusing, but his partner hardly shared his enthusiasm, even after he had attempted several approaches to make Grey understand the irony of it all. It was finally after about the fifth time that obscenities spewed from Grey's mouth that Scav finally realized that his friend had got the joke but just didn't find it that funny.

After Grey checked the map, Scavenger folded it up and tucked it back into the breast pocket of his black leather trench coat. They found the first area of the map, and got out of the car, but Stefan stayed back. Despite the narcotics in his system, he had amazing clarity of thought and knew enough to hang back and let Grey do the talking.

Scavenger just followed Grey's lead. He kept silent, his hands thrust into his pockets, putting on his best face. He then followed Grey back to the car and maintained his composure until the thug in the white suit had vanished.

Peeking over Grey's shoulder, Scav whistled when he saw the sum of money that the guy whose name was written beside it apparently stole. "Shit!" he exclaimed, "We could blow this shit hole with all that dough. What d'ya think about Austrailia?"

Grey seemed serious and so Scav plugged his yap with his acid-pop and assumed his position in the passenger seat. He'd never consider in a million years ripping off a gangster, he just liked to talk, and Grey knew it.

"Damien Vallens." Scav said aloud, "So how we gonna find this guy?"

The man in the white suit had mentioned that they knew the guy was well protected. Did this mean that he was still in the city? Probably he figured, otherwise why would the gang provide them with multiple sites on the map if they had to leave Chicago. Some random thought then sparked a revelation in Scavenger's self inflicted drugged out mind.

"The 'Water Front'." Scav blurted out and upon Grey's curious response, he immediately clarified, "Not the waterfront, the 'Water Front'. It's a bar down south in McCormickville on East River Drive. A real upscale place a few doors down from Lizzie McNeil's Irish pub. It's an Italian place, and mob central. Somebody there might know this bird, especially if he's got hired muscle watching his ass."

Not knowing the city, it seemed like a good plan to Grey, so they headed downtown. Scavenger directed him to East North Water Street where they passed by the NBC Tower and then as they made their way past the Sheraton Towers they hung a right on East River Drive and found the pub.

The Water Front over looked the East River; a renovated warehouse that maintained a 'water-front' theme and ironically had it's entry way modeled to appear like a boot-legging operation back during the time of prohibition.

"This place is f&#$ing awesome! I've always wanted to check it out." Said Scav, eager to go in. Only Grey saw one problem, not only did they not blend in with the usual clientele, there was a dress code.

Amazon watched Wraith as he worked on Sigma. She had lots of questions she wanted to ask, but she knew better than to break his concentration when he was working. It became obvious to her Wraith had extensive medical training. That could come in handy, she thought. From time to time she handed Wraith something he needed, only because she found it fascinating he worked so well under pressure and in a state of near exhaustion.

When it seemed Sigma was more or less on his own after Wraith got done with hooking up the blood for a transfusion, Amazon felt the weariness begin to creep into her own form. Seeing Wraith plant his large frame in the chair closest to the bed, she made herself busy enough for a small amount of time until the blond haired meta fell asleep. When he was out of it, she took the time to cover him with a blanket before she made one last check on Sigma then on her security system.

As soon as she was satisfied she could get a few winks in without fear of discovery or Sigma and Wraith trying to discover the face beneath the Tribal Paint on her face, Amazon practically collapsed ontot he couch that appeared to be in the center of the room dividing the large, open living area into a make shift living room. The back of the couch faced the bed and all Wraith and Sigma could see, if they looked over in that direction, was some strands of her hair hanging off one arm and her feet peeking around the back on the opposite end.

Just a few hours. That’s all they needed. Just a few hours. Once they got back to strength, well, Amazon and Wraith at least, they could go their separate ways and the sooner the better. Sigma, she was certain, would be ready to thrash her soundly for getting them mixed up on everything that went down tonight. Or was it last night now? She really didn’t know. And she was too damned exhausted to give it much thought.

Wraith was jarred awake by a stiff poke in the ribs. He rocked forward, bringing the chair down from its leaning position, yawning. Who jabbed him and what was this blanket doing across him? Where the hell was he?

It all came back to him in a split second when he was fully awake and there sitting up in the bed to his immediate left was Sigma. "Thanks for the recharge, Doc." he said, then looking around he asked, "So where the hell are we?"

"It's one of Amazon's safe-houses." Wraith answered after forcing back another yawn. He then gestured with a point of his chin to the couch where the tall woman was sleeping or pretending to sleep.

Sigma nodded. "Wild night, eh?" he commented.

Wraith nodded and sighed when he checked the clock on the wall. "Gonna be a wild morning too. First day on the job, in four hours."

Sigma just laughed. He didn't have to worry about such things, but he understood. He motioned to the i.v. in his arm and Wraith immediately unhooked him, then with a grimace he stood up and slowly buttoned his shirt, but before he did Wraith made sure to check the wounds.

"Sure you should be moving around?" he asked Sigma.

Sigma shook his head. "No, I should be resting, but we gotta blow this taco stand." he answered, then he pointed to his mask, wanting to know if Amazon had seen his face or not. Wraith shook his head, and Sigma was pleased that she adhered to that unwritten code.

"Well I guess we better say our good byes." said Sigma as he slowly moved toward the sleeping woman, "Com'on, we know you ain't sleeping. Just wanted to say thanks for putting us up." he called out to Amazon.

Amazon had awakened when she heard male voices speaking behind her, but she didn’t move. For starters, like the two men, she was a little disoriented at first until it all came rushing back to her. When she realized where she was and who she was with, she deducted Sigma must have responded well to Wraith’s doctoring. She couldn’t help letting a small smile ease over her lips when she heard the comment about a wild night.

When she heard Sigma call to her a little closer, she slowly sat up and peered over the back of the couch as she stretched like a lazy feline. Her brown eyes took in the two do gooders and she rolled her eyes before standing up and stretching a little more.

”I didn’t want to be rude and interrupt your male bonding moment.”

A hint of a smile graced her lips before she walked further away form them towards the kitchen area.

”It’s not the Ritz, but if you want coffee or breakfast, or what ever you can have it here. Or I can show you the elevator and you two can be on your way. I would just suggest you be careful. The neighborhood we’re in isn’t all that friendly to outsiders. Chicago’s south side isn’t known for being all that welcoming.”

She looked at both Wraith and Sigma as she leaned back against the counter near the coffee maker. Amazon looked tired, but other than that, she seemed to be fairing well. Or so it seemed, anyway. Truth be told, she felt like she’d been run over by a semi truck. Several of them, actually. But she wouldn’t let these two see just how bad she really felt. That would be admitting she was a lesser meta than them somehow and she just couldn’t do that.

Tim, watched as Morgan slipped back to sleep. He was still tired, dirty and probably had the aroma of a garbage dump. Slowly, he stepped out of the room and down the hall to his quarters. Slipping the mud caked boots and shirt off, Tim stepped over to his back pack, to get a clean pair of jeans, t-shirt, socks and underwear. As he knelt to open his back pack he saw the corner of an envelope. Pulling it out, Tim stood , turning it over to see the familiar Russian handwriting of Yelena. It had been many years since he had seen the elegant scrawl of Yelena’s. Of all those in the original group, it was her he felt closest to. Tim looked at Yelena as the sister he never quite had. Sure he had a biological sister but she had distanced herself from Tim right after she had left for college. In fact they had not spoken three words to each other since the funeral of Tim’s wife.

Shaking that thought from his head, Tim turned the envelope over, opened it up, unfolded the letter and began to read:


"Я знаю вы не будет счастливы с моим решением, но я чувствую он чего я должен сделать теперь. С всем которое случилось в виду того что я возвратил к положениям, я чувствую ограничиватьле чем всегда. Я не могу двинуть без быть поохощенным одной организацией или другими. Я не могу проводить моя жизнь живя ОН нелегально или в прятать. Я должен мочь чувствовать солнце на моей стороне и получать некоторый свежий воздух время от времени который не включает ход на моя жизнь.


Я знаю я не может пойти домой. Слишком опасно для меня даже думать перемещать назад там. Я сделаю моим путем самое лучшее я могу здесь в положениях. Возможно я могу сделать новый старт где-то. Возможно в Техас и имейте мое собственное ранчо козочки.


Пожалуйста скажите другим до свидания для меня и воспрепятствуйте им знать его был ничего они сделали что сделано мной разрешение. Специально Morgan. Она идет все успокаивание она может получить. Главным образом от вас. Не получите слишком разочарованным с ей. Она до конца много. Ей как только яркое сердце теперь изнурённый и она будет нужно вы помочь ей осуществить там жизнь, котор нужно найти которая не включает смерть и ненависть.

Позаботьтесь, мой старый друг. Zoe давал мне ваш безопасный номер в случае если мне нужно он. Я увижу вас когда наши пути пересекут снова.



Твое
Yelena,
Tim starred at the letter, then slowly lowered the letter to his side, stepping back, he sat on the bed, lifting the letter again, he reread it a second time. Yelena had taught Tim to read and write in Russian several years ago. Tim's mind drifted back to those days, simpler days when the lines between right and wrong were more distict. In those days, there weren't as many greys or things known as politically correct. There was just the good guys against the bad guys. ..... Tim sat there ..........

Totem slept soundly as Tim passed by. Even though his eyes were bandaged it was pretty evident that he was dead to the world. He would be at least a couple of days more in bed while his eyes healed and then it would be a matter of waiting for his vision to return. The whole process could take a week or linger into months depending on how damaged his eyes were.



Wraith seemed anxious to leave but Sigma coxed him toward the table with light shove. "Let's grab a coffee. You need one." he said in his usual stern manner.

The big Norwegian reluctantly sat at the table while, Sigma found the coffee and filters and prepared a pot. While the coffee brewed, he popped some bread in the toaster then it was ready buttered it and tossed the plate in the middle of table.

Wraith just sat back taking in the surrealism of the scene as it played out before his eyes. Three costumed meta-humans sitting about having breakfast and he considered if this was the portrait that truly immortalized them. As wretched as 'Dogs Playing Poker' it was a fantastic scene all too real and one that he had played a role in many times before. Wraith believed that in that present moment, the three of them sitting in the dingy kitchenette sipping coffee and crunching on dark toast defined them as much the powers that made them unique. It made him question the empty apartment and the nine to five that awaited him. Did he really need it? Sigma seemed content without any semblance of a socially acceptable life or was it just an act? Amazon need it. Who ever she was in the real world, this definitely wasn't it. The person who lived in that high rise apartment needed a persona to cater to her decadent tastes. Still, this hole in the wall hide out fit her like an old pair shoes. It was who they were. It was their world.

Sigma pulled his mask up and took a bite of toast then washed it down with a swig of coffee before pulling it down again. "You need to relax, Studio." commented Sigma using the nickname that Devil always used, "I can see why he calls you that... too dramatic."

Wraith didn't deny the accusation, Sigma was right, but it was who he was for better or worse. He just sat there silently drinking his coffee awaiting the caffeine to stimulate his foggy senses.

"So pretty soon we're going to know the whereabouts of all your hide-outs, then what are you going to do?" Wraith pointed out to Amazon in an non-serious manner, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Sigma looked around. "Yeah, how many do you have? I live in a garage." he remarked, then shot Amazon a look when it dawned on him that he shouldn't be sharing any personal details about himself around her. He had almost forgot that she was the enemy, but then again, he believed a person could be defined by their actions and according to that she was trustworthy.

As Sigma took another sip of coffee he studied Amazon. He could tell she blamed herself for last night's fiasco, but in his opinion, no one was to blame but those RAID bastards. "Don't beat yourself up about last night." he blurted out, the statement not directed to anyone, but it was obvious who he was addressing, "It could've happened to anyone. So why were you out last night flying around a hot bed of RAID activity?"

Amazon, if she could have read Wraith’s thoughts, would have realized they were thinking along the same lines. Here they were, three people with incredible, different powers that separated them from the ‘norm’ sharing a simply but sustainable breakfast of toast and coffee. She knew Wraith was eager to be on his way, but honestly she knew he needed to put SOMETHING on his stomach. Having these special abilities is great but they come with a high price to pay and that’s expending energy faster than normal folks. Luckily they all had more energy than normal folks to compensate for their powers.

As Amazon watched Sigma lift his mask then set it back in place, she couldn’t help but chuckle. It was strange seeing him do that but she understood why. That unwritten law was what kept them from finding out who they really were thus protecting their non-costumed life. If they indeed had one.

When she heard Sigma call Wraith Studio, Amazon blinked as she looked over the rim of her own coffee cup. As the cup was slowly eased away from her face, there was a smile as bright as the morning sun on a cold winter’s day on her face. While it would have been beautiful at another time, there was a devious twinkle in her brown depths that let the two men know she found the name to her liking.

”Studio? Oh how appropriate. Let me guess….Gabe gave that nickname to you. Sounds like something he would come up with. Tell me, is he at least a little funny when he tries to take the stage at that club of his?”

Before Wraith could answer he and Sigma was saying things about her hide outs and where Sigma lived. No one had shared anything with her like that outside her small circle and that small circle consisted of her and Jorge Ortega. Not really a circle, per say. Staring at the two men for a moment, Amazon recovered, blinked, and looked down at the coffee swirling in her cup. She trusted these two. After what they had just been through, how couldn’t she? Lifting her head once more, she let her eyes settle on Wraith then on Sigma and shrugged her shoulders.

”Truth be old, I’m not real sure exactly how many I have. A few here and there. I never know where I’ll be when the authorities show up and I need some place to go and lay low until it’s safe for me to move about again.”

It was an uncomfortable subject she didn’t like discussing with the two of them since they were from opposite sides of the law, so to speak. Although after last night, it was clear it didn’t matter to RAID if you were law abiding or not. Meta was meta and they were going to eradicate you for it. So when Sigma changed the subject (bless his heart!) she felt her cheeks color and she looked down again. Amazon DID blame herself for what happened and now she had to explain to them why she was there. Well, she didn’t HAVE to, but she didn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t. She would just leave out the part of hoping to run into Wraith.

Once more Amazon lifted her eyes and looked at both men, sipping her coffee and nibbling on her toast as she relayed the story of why she had ventured that close to the hornets nest only to get stung.

”I was looking for evidence. Evidence Apex was there. I don’t know who you are, Wraith, but I did some research on you and I know you would never have let that tornado get that much out of control. Hell, I doubt you would have even considered doing something like that if you knew it could have gotten out of hand. Anyway…Apex….he’s a power leech. He’ll take some of your power and use it against you. Ya gotta be careful from now on. He doesn’t need to be in that close. I’ve seen him do things from a mile away and have devastating effects. I’m getting off track again…so anywho….with Apex, he usually leaves SOME kind of strange calling card. One those lame assholes with RAID have yet to pick up on. I wanted to find out for myself if you had really done that or if he had done the unthinkable….again.”

Amazon’s let her gaze settle on Sigma then as she leaned forward and nodded towards Wraith.

”You’re a smart guy….educate him on Apex. The more he knows the better prepared he’ll be.”

Amazon’s eyes fell on Wraith then.

”Even then you might not be able to stop it entirely but at least you you’ll understand what’s happening. After all, knowledge is power. Right, gentlemen?”

Of course Amazon omitted details like she had actually helped Apex a few times in the past but that didn’t mean she liked doing it. It’s just that it was an advantageous business venture for her and she simply couldn’t pass up the rewards she’d received for the aid she’d given.

Morgan slept briefly, waking a little while after Tim had left the room. She felt weak and yet she had the urge to leave and head out, where she didn't know, she just knew that she had the strong urge to leave. It was as if something were pulling at her.

She slowly sat up, looking around. She saw Totem lying on another bed with his eyes bandaged. She saw another bed where Tim had been, but it was empty and he was nowhere to be found. Something wasn't right...she could feel it. Something was wrong with her. Something was pulling at her.

She lowered her feet to the floor, wondered for a brief moment if her legs would hold her then tried. She didn't realize how weak she was until she tried to stand on her own and her legs gave out from underneath her. She fell to the floor, knocking over a metal tray of instruments, the clatter echoing throughout the room. She looked around and saw that noone was there except her and Totem and Totem was out cold still. She used the bed to pull herself up, her willpower the only thing giving her most of her strength. Once she reached her feet again, she was sweating, her face pale. She had to get out of here....get to whatever was pulling at her....the part of her that was missing.

Using anything steady enough to hang onto, she made her way to the door of the recovery room. It took her over 20 minutes to get there and by then she was exhausted, but she kept going...somehow. It was as if she were in a trance....her lavender eyes were empty. She made it out to the hallway and stopped, unsure which way to go. Turning left, she headed down the hall, towards the common room. Her going was slow, her wounds not properly healed, but she kept going, her eyes forward...her steps determined.


Snap Dragon came walking out of the common room to go check on Totem and Morgan when she stopped, not believing what she was seeing. Morgan was up and walking....but something wasn't right. She made her way to the lavender eyed girl, looking closely at her and seeing that it was as if she were being controlled or in a trance.

"Morgan.....Morgan....honey, you need to be in bed. Come on, let's get you back to bed."

Snap gently grabbed Morgan's arm to turn her around and lead her back to the hospital room, but Morgan shrugged her off, mumbling something about having to leave.....have to find it. What she had to find, Snap didn't know, but she knew that Morgan was in no shape to head anywhere. She grabbed her arm again, a little more forcefully this time and again, Morgan shrugged her off....she was weak though and Snap couldn't figure out how she was standing, let alone walking. She didn't want to hurt her, but she had to get her back to the room, sedate her if she had to.

When Allie came around the corner, Snap told her to keep an eye on Morgan while she went to get some help so that they didn't hurt Morgan. Allie looked at Morgan curiously and then nodded her head as Snap ran off to find someone to carry Morgan back to her bed. While Snap ran off to find someone, Morgan kept walking towards the exit and Allie followed. She hollered for Mikala and when the seer got there, she stopped in her tracks, her light blue eyes becoming haunted.


"She is being by pulled by that which was taken from her. Her mind knows that it needs the other part to become whole again and instinctively is drawn to it. If RAID still wasn't a problem out there, I would say we let her go and follow, for if we don't.....the longer Morgan is without that which her father took from her, the weaker she will become. Her mind and will are the only things keeping her upright and walking. She must have that which was taken from her....her other half....that which makes her whole."

Snap headed for the hospital room and saw that Cowboy was gone. She wasn't sure where he went, but had an idea that maybe he'd gone to his quarters. Once she got to his room, she saw that his bag was open and clothes looked to be taken from it, then she heard someone in the communal shower and headed down there. Knocking on the bathroom door, she heard Cowboy's voice and knew that he was taking a shower from the sound of the water running.

"Cowboy....I'm sorry to bother you, but we need your help. Morgan is up and looks as if she's....well....like she's not all there. She won't be led back to her room and I'm afraid I would hurt her getting her to go there. She said something about having to leave and having to find it. I've got to get her back to her bed and sedate her if need be. Can you help me when you get done with your shower?"

Snap figured she should be able to keep Morgan from leaving until Cowboy got done with his shower. When she heard a mumbled 'ok' she told him where Morgan was and that she'd meet him there.

When she got there, Morgan was almost to the door that led outside and Mikala was telling Allie that maybe they should let Morgan go and follow her. Snap was against this and said as much.

"Wait for Cowboy to get here, Mikala. She is part of his group and he should make the call."


Sasha was feeling the same thing Morgan was and was headed for Green Street. She could feel something pulling at her and couldn't stop herself from going. She had tried to fight it, but couldn't so she allowed herself to go where this thing pulling at her led her.

Wraith didn't know how to respond to Amazon's comment about Gabriel. The big guy never mentioned just how well the two of them actually knew one another and since he was registered and working in a public establishment it was hard to tell if she knew him personally or not. He could tell that she studied her opponents and got to know them, just like she was doing with him right now, but he didn't mind. Wraith resided to leave their fates to chance, if she crossed the line on his watch he'd deal with her then, but until that day he'd leave her be.

When she began to answer Sigma's question about how many hide-outs she actually had, he held up his hand and gave her a few "Whoas", followed by a, "Hey, I didn't think you'd actually tell me. Look, Sister, this ain't no episode of 'Leave it to Beaver', you gotta protect yourself at all times, otherwise one of these days someone's gonna up and sucker punch you one good."

It was obvious that Sigma wasn't challenging her, just offering advise in his own callous way. As much as he believed he could trust her, she was still technically the enemy and his world was pretty much black and white. He was about to offer her some clarification when she revealed what she was doing rummaging around Wraith's miniature disaster. After she was done, the two men looked over at one another simultaneously and they were each sure that the other shared the same thought.

"Apex is a scum-bag." Cursed Sigma, "He killed a close friend of mine in an attempt to frame someone else and I suspected that he might have been behind Wraith's mishap."

Wraith was puzzled. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?" he questioned Sigma, "I've been bloody well thinking I've lost my control."

"Hey, I wasn't sure." Explained Sigma, "Now that Xena here has confirmed my suspicions I'm inclined to believe that he was behind your rogue tornado. Just relax."

Wraith drummed his fingers on the table. Releasing his anger into the activity, but he was quick to calm and rationalize the situation. Nodding he gave Sigma a "No worries." then turned his attention to Amazon. "So it seems we have a common enemy." he stated.

Sigma nodded and chimed in as well, "I know you and Apex have history Amazon, but from what I can tell, that's water under the bridge, so if you want to take this guy down give me a call. I got Studio's number so I'll keep him in the loop."

Sigma reached into his breast pocket and tossed what he procured across the table toward the leopard clad woman. It was a business card that simply had the sigma symbol, followed by the number seventeen and below it a cell phone number which was untraceable. "Call me anytime, unlike this guy I don't have a day job." he told her.

Grey pulled up across the street from the Water Front and eyed it with a groan. Memories from his childhood filtered back and a look of disgust crossed his hardened features in response. Taking a final pull on a cigarette, he tossed it out the window and turned to Scavenger in a puff of smoke from his mouth.

"Great," he said, "we gotta dress like faggots to get in this place." Scavenger leaned past him and screwed up his face at the sight of well-suited men shaking hands in front before stepping inside. Glancing down at the gun at his side, Greyson paused, considering for a moment as he envisioned himself running gun's blazing but quickly thought better of it. Even if he was confident he'd get out relatively unscathed, it wasn't going to get them any information and killing everyone but this Damien Vallens guy wasn't going to help them much. "We gotta hit up some place," he said reluctantly with a defeated sigh, "FAGGOT!" he then shouted uncontrollably as though the other part of his mind wanted to drive home the point. As usual, Grey simply stared expectantly back at Scavenger for a moment, not even acknowledging the tic. Scavenger started slightly at his sudden shout, but quickly turned his albeit foggy mind to the area around them, thinking.

"These kindsa neighborhoods usually have some fancy store somewhere," he replied. Grey rolled his eyes.

"Help me out a little?" he said irritably, "I ain't never been down here before, I'm from New York, remember?" Scavenger continued to think, unfazed by Grey's annoyance before he finally pointed in a seemingly arbitrary direction and said, "try down there." Grey paused, surveying him for a moment before he reluctantly rolled away in the direction in which Scavenger pointed. They drove for several minutes seeing nothing important and Grey was about to turn around and berate his friend when they came across the darkened window of a men's clothing store. Grey pulled up in front of it and gaped in shock, unaware or ignoring Scavenger's look of smug success behind him. He then swallowed and shrugged, saying "alright," before getting casually out of the car and moseying up to the store.

Pausing to glance around him and make sure the coast was clear, Grey peeked into the window, cupping his hands around his eyes until he found the security system. Gazing at it for a split second, the system quietly disarmed, rendered useless. Grey then turned his eyes to the door and listened as the lock cracked and dropped away as he pushed the door open.

"Wait there a minute," he said over his shoulder to Scavenger while he went inside. He emerged a few minutes later holding two suits and motioned for Stefan to join him in the store. When they were inside, they moved toward the back of the store in the dark and Grey tossed a suit over at him. "Here," he said, "put this on." His sharp eyes moved up to Scav's two-toned hair and he all but winced before turning to glance around the room again. Finding a fedora, he plucked it off its hook and tossed it haphazardly onto Scavenger's head. "Here," he said impatiently, "try not to look like such a f$*&in' freak." Before Stefan could respond, Grey turned his back to him and stripped out of his clothes, squeezing into the uncomfortable suit. The clothing brought back a flood of irritating memories that put Grey in a somewhat fouler mood. He could almost hear his parent's humiliated rage echoing in his ears as his face began to tic and a few grumbled swears escaped his mouth. He could almost see the disapproving looks, the quietly shaking heads, the looks of shock looming over him, the attention only making it worse.

Finally, he took a deep breath and shook his head slightly as he reached back and pulled the ponytail out of his curly hair. Scratching his had with the tips of his fingers, he did his best to smooth out his textured hair and pulled it into a neater ponytail before turning to face Scavenger again. At the sight of him, he had to relax as a sneer cracked immediately over his face. Snickering, he gave Stefan a once-over before meeting his unamused eyes with a cackling laugh.

"You look like a moron," he said, "but they won't notice at that place." Stefan rolled his eyes.

"You look a faggot," he shot back. Grey only continued snickering as he led the way back to the car which now reeked of cigarette smoke and sweat. Tossing his clothes in the back and stowing his gun safely in his belt hidden by his jacket, Grey dropped himself into the car and headed back to the restaurant. Parking around the back, they took the long route around the pub next door so that would approach from a less suspicious angle coming down the street.

"Just don't say anything stupid," said Grey quietly through the corner of his mouth as they approached, then he considered and added, "so, yeah, don't say anything," he said. Scavenger shot him a glare but obediently remained quiet, left to only wonder how Grey seemed to know so much about these fancy, high-end places. He had been a mere tool for his boss back in New York so he had his doubts he'd been allowed to go to these places with him. Swallowing and holding back an urge to shout something crude at an older woman in an evening gown, Grey and Scavenger cued up behind her and her husband, slipping easily inside.

It was one of those overpriced places lit by candles on each of the tables, soft Italian music creating an undercurrent for the buzzing and humming of conversation going on around them. The maitre d' looked disapprovingly at Grey's long hair and Scavenger's make-up but only gave them a stiff "can I help you?" Grey held his head up, looking down his nose at the man, his entire stance changing into something that Stefan had never seen in him before. It didn't suit the stoned killed Stefan knew he was, but somehow Grey was blending relatively seamlessly into the crowd that filled the restaurant.

"We're meeting someone," he said, casting his eyes distractedly about, "and my driver was late so if you'll excuse me." Before the snooty man could say anything, Grey pushed past him, snickering on the inside at his impression of his own father. Stefan quickly skittered after him, coming quickly up beside Grey who was already scanning the crowd.

"Dude, how'd you do that?" asked Stefan quietly, leaning close to his ear.

"Shut the f%#$ up," Grey rasped back out of the corner of his mouth, "and keep your head down, don't let people see your face." Stefan obeyed, his brows still furrowed at this new act of Grey's. Meandering around the idling crowd of the rich and powerful that hovered around the bar, Grey finally nodded toward a crowded but slightly shadowed corner. "There," he whispered, walking purposefully over to them, "stay behind me. Keep your face down."

As he approached the tough-looking Italian men who gathered in the corner, they all quickly turned, immediately sizing him up, their conversations ceasing. Grey's stance shifted to something in between his usual gangster and the society around them. Shifting his weight, he reached casually into his pocket and tapped a cigarette out of a carton.

"I'm lookin' for Damien Vallens," he said, averting his eyes to the cigarette between his index and middle finger to try to help quell the racial slurs that simmered within him. "You know where I can find 'im?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ayana, who had been lounging on a couch across from Shawn in the common room, sat up and peeked over the back of it with dark eyes widened. Snap and Allie were trying desperately to usher a walking, even weakly struggling Morgan away from the door. She immediately jumped up, rushing to her aid as Allie ran off to get help. Hesitating, Seizure peeked into Morgan's mind just as Mikala came running, her report of Morgan's feelings drifting in the background of Ayana's thoughts.

Morgan's mind felt oddly blank in terms of conscious thoughts, but something was pulling, a closeness to something else she couldn't quite grasp taking over everything. It was like seeing two pieces of something floating so close to one another that it was almost painful, like she wanted nothing more than to push the pieces back together the way they should be. Blinking, Seizure pulled out of her mind and turned immediately to the others.

"I agree with Mikala," she said, "whatever Morgan's looking for, she needs to find it and it's not far."

Amazon looked at the business card with the cell number on it then reached out to pick it up and study the number close up. Her eyes focused beyond the card to Sigma then and the slightest of smiles eased over her features.

”Forever the optimistic, aren’t you, Sigma? And here I thought you were just one of those dark mood, brooding types. You have pleasantly surprised me.”

Draining what was left in her cup, Amazon stood up from the table and walked over to the sink.

”Taking Apex down is an oxymoron. Like jumbo shrimp or baby grand. You don’t take Apex down. At least, not that I’ve figured out anyway.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Amazon turned to look at the men again, leaning her hip against the counter.

”You two best be on your ways. One of you has a new job to get to and I need to resume my other persona as well. Not that it hasn’t been fun….well…it hasn’t been all THAT fun, but it was nice to see what you two are made of. And no…I won’t use that against you should we ever meet up under different circumstances. Anyway…you shouldn’t have any trouble getting out of the neighborhood now. When the sun comes up the trouble makers are like cockroaches and seek shelter in dark places until the sun goes down again. Just watch your back and don’t let those government card carrying bastards find you. I won’t be there to save your asses all the time, ya know.”

There was a mischievous grin on her face when she said that. Walking past the men, Amazon walked over to where the elevator was waiting. Punching in a key code in a digital key pad, the doors opened and waited for Sigma and Wraith to enter.

”Be safe, now. I mean that most sincerely.”

As the door was closing, she looked directly at Wraith with another devious grin on her face and winked.

”That was one hell of a first date, Studio. Next time I want to be wined and dined.”

The door closed before Wraith could say anything and he and Sigma felt themselves being lifted up. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, they found themselves on top of a run down building and the sun was shining brightly.

As Tim sat on the bed and reread the letter, translating it in his head.

“Tim,

I know you will not be happy with my decision, but I feel it is what I must do right now. With everything that has happened since I returned to the States, I feel more confined than ever. I can’t move without being hunted by one organization or another. I can’t spend my life living underground or in hiding. I have to be able to feel the sun on my face and get some fresh air from time to time that doesn’t include running for my life.

I know I can’t go home. It’s too dangerous for me to even think of traveling back there. I’ll make my way the best I can here in the States. Perhaps I can make a fresh start someplace. Maybe in Texas and have my own goat ranch.

Please tell the others good bye for me and let them know it was nothing they did that made me leave. Especially Morgan. She’s going to need all the reassurance she can get. Mostly from you. Don’t get too frustrated with her. She’s been through a lot. Her once bright heart is now jaded and she will need you to help her realize there IS life to be found that doesn’t involve death and hatred.

Take care, my old friend. Zoe has given me your secure number in case I need it. I will see you when our paths cross again.

Yours,
Yelena”
His thoughts went back to the last time he had seen Yelena, just before the enactment of the R.I.G.G.S. act, they all going into hiding, her capture and her deportation. He wondered if she would remember what he had told her.
“Yelena, ‘member, no matter what happens. If’n ya ever need me ar a place to be safe, no matter when that is. No matter what tha trouble is, ya’ll always have a safe place ta hang yur hat. Jus’ git aholda Henery Timble at tha Circle T Ranch in Arnett, Texas. Ya tell ’im that yur a pardner a mine and I said ta take ya ta tha northwest line shack. Ya tell ‘im
Cap’in Rutherford told ya tha deer huntin’s good up thar. He’ll know what ta do.”

Tim then stood up, folded the letter, placed it back in the envelope and stuffed it back in his back pack. He then walked into the bathroom, shut the door, turned on the shower to hot and removed his muddy jeans. Throwing them in the corner Tim stepped into the shower.

Wraith's face didn't betray any reaction to Amazon's jab as the elevator took them to the main floor. He could tell, however, that beneath his mask Sigma was smiling and if the guy wasn't still recovering from multiple gun shot wounds and damage to his heart he would have slugged him one.

"Don't even think it." Wraith said aloud, his eyes staring straight ahead.

"Hey, I don't have to." Sigma emphatically replied.

Wraith just shook his head and sighed, the his thoughts turned to the original reason they had traveled into the 'RAID-Zone' in the first place. "I wonder how Morgan is doing?" he mentioned.

Sigma shrugged. "Well if you weren't busy playing Doctor, you could head back to the base and find out for yourself." he replied.

The doors of the elevator opened and Wraith gave Sigma a hand as they stepped out. "Look, I need some semblance of a normal life. I've lived in this mask before and believe me, in time, it'll smother ya."

Sigma nodded. He was a different breed, but he imagined that what Devon said, could be true for some people.

They walked out into a vacant lobby. The building obviously didn't have any occupants and was sealed tight but as they approached the main doors there was a buzzing followed by the sound several heavy locks opening. Wraith peeked outside the door. The street outside was reminiscent of some worn torn European country, a abandoned car, stripped of its tires was parked across from them. Garbage and debris were strewn about, old faded newspapers fluttering on a cool morning breeze illuminated by the slowly lightening sky.

"Nice place." Sigma grunted, "Look you stand out like a sore thumb. You should get outta here." he told Wraith.

Wraith tried to make an argument against leaving the injured man alone but Sigma wouldn't hear it. "Get the hell outta here, I'll see you soon. Half dead, I can kick the crap out of any punk around here. Besides, that costume of yours is just asking for a fight, I'll be better off on my own."

Wraith nodded. He hated to leave his new friend but he was right. "No heroics." he told him, then vanished into the morning wind.

Sigma pulled up his collar and dipped his mask low. His blue trench coat had been mangled by gun fire, but Amazon had been kind enough to provide him with a jacket. Seemed she kept some extra clothes around, and the big woman just happened to have something that wasn't fitted, a loose fitting, three quarter length black leather coat. It definitely had some feminine flare to it, but it would work. At a distance he looked like any guy out for a morning stroll, of course who the hell would stroll in this neighbourhood? Still, in the wee hours of the morning, even the scum bags were idle, so he didn't expect he'd run into any trouble.

Wandering down a darkened alley, Sigma-17 found what he had been looking for. The car had obviously been dumped, probably stolen a few days ago then abandoned after it served it's purpose. A few windows were broken, the hub caps ripped off, but it had four tires and the dashboard looked intact. Sigma jumped in, and worked his magic on the wiring. The car turned over and as he put her in drive and slowly pulled out onto the street he surprised there was still about a quarter of tank of gas, more than enough to make it back to his neighborhood. But, of course, he wasn't planning on heading back yet, he still had some unfinished business on Green Street.

Before nearing the Green Street area, Sigma took off his mask and parked the car. His chest and abdomen pained him, but he was healing. He could already move more fluidly and was able walk normally. In about another hour or two he'd be right as rain so long as he didn't push himself.

He wandered up a street that had been spared by the destructive path of Wraith's hijacked tornado and made his way toward the convenience store that had been miraculously spared. They were damn luck the twister didn't head north.

Clean up crews, had been working around the clock and as Slate wandered by keeping his head low, the workers just thought he was some guy dragging his ass to an early morning shift. There were a lot of warehouses and industrial businesses in the area so it wasn't uncommon for some guys to hike it to work.

Slate's black hair fell before one his eyes, the one that had the shiner, but already the other scrapes and bruises on his comely angled features had healed. Eyes, it seemed always took a little longer to heal, Wraith could probably give him a reason why, but he really didn't care to know. He rounded the corner, and up a head of him Slate saw something that was rather curious. A dark haired woman with brownish complexion staggered toward him, it seemed she close to doubling over but was able to keep herself upright. She was heading the Green Street way, toward the base and she drew nearer, Sigma recognized her face from the display that Wraith had rigged up.

As he passed by the woman, Slate nodded a good morning, his face impassive and kept on going. Now that he had located this mystery woman, he really had no idea what to do so he felt it prudent to just keep an eye on her. He headed up the street, not worrying too much about being exposed, "How in the hell would anyone suspect he was anything other than a guy heading to work?", and with his ability to nullify psychic abilities, even one with extra senses would not be alarmed. He basically looked like your typical industry worker, who was sporting a few bumps and bruises from his activities on the local bar. Only his jacket with the big buckles looked a little out of place, but unless the fashion police were in the area he was safe.

Once he was down the street, Sigma pulled out his cell phone. He never looked back once and made a call to Seizure.

"Hey, it's me." Said Sigma when Seizure answered, "I found her, that girl from Morgan's head, she's heading toward the wreckage right now, she'll have to detour around but she seems to be walking toward the area of the base."

Sigma wasn't worried about the base being infiltrated, it was locked tight, but he was curious why anyone would be heading that way. 'Maybe it was just common curiousity', he figured. There would probably be a lot of people swinging by to check out the destruction caused by the tornado, of course the big question was, 'Why in the hell was this girl in Morgan's head?'.

Sasha didn't see Sigma watching her, nor did she even notice him passing by her or aknowledge his 'good morning'. She was, however, in distress, the pain in her head making her sick to her stomach as the memories were coming at an alarming rate. It was like someone was playing a movie in fast motion in her head. The memories weren't even in order, they just kept flashing around. And the sensation that she couldn't fight was unbearable. She was being pulled towards Green Street, but she didn't know why nor where.

Her hands gripped her head as another memory flashed through and she gave a whimper almost falling to her knees. She stopped until the pain became bearable. Opening her eyes, she continued on.

Rounding a corner, she saw the detours that were still up and the workers that were cleaning up the devastation of the tornado. Looking around, she thought about how she would get through. Looking up, she saw that she wouldn't be able to go that way as the buildings had been so badly damaged she didn't dare risk it. That's when she saw her. A woman of the cleanup crew, about her size, wearing jeans, yellow shirt with an orange vest and hard hat. Now, how to get her to follow her into an alley, render her unconscious and take her clothes, enabling her to continue to wherever this thing that was pulling her wanted her to go.

Stepping into the alley and the shadows, Sasha leaned up against the brick wall, closed her eyes for a few seconds, wishing that her head would stop pounding. She watched, the woman making her way closer to the alley where she was waiting. Sasha looked around, wondering what she could do to draw the woman into the alley and then she smiled. Her eyes turning black, she called on the black ants that lived everywhere, calling to hundreds of them. She had them swarm to the entrance of the alley, then had them wait as she watched the woman walk closer. She was hoping that the lady's curiosity would give her the advantage she needed. Once the woman was close enough, Sasha had the ants form a line that led into the alley. As the woman walked towards the entrance of the alley, she looked down, noticing the ants marching in a line into the alley. Curious, she cautiously followed the line of ants, wondering what they were doing. Once she was about 25 feet into the alley, Sasha stepped out of the shadows and hit the woman, hard, in the back of her head with a board. Making sure that thw woman lived, she then drug her further into the shadows, having sent the ants back to their home, as she undressed the woman, taking her shirt, vest, and hard hat. As she left the alley, she was able to head to Green Street through the clean up crews looking like one of them. It took everything she had not to grab her head or double over in pain.