HEROES Chapter 8

Sara-lynn laughed aloud. "YOU are making demands of ME?" she questioned with an incredulous expression on her face, "Arrogant child! You have two choices, one of them involves living in a polyhedron cell block for the rest of your life and the other will allow you to live in the free air, now why is this such a difficult decision!"

The woman was upset but she controlled her anger and after her brief rant, composed herself, tossing her hair back along with her shoulders. "I honestly haven't the time to explain the extent of Beacon's control over this world or what we do for the sake of Meta-kind. All I can tell you is that there is a war on the horizon and you best choose a side."

As Sara-lynn stared down at Morgan, her eyes began to glow brightly, beaming like two miniature suns. "Now, you want to know what I am capable of?" she asked and Morgan could feel the temperature in the room rise. Her left hand rose before her and as she pointed her index finger at the girl and a thin golden beam of light appeared, radiating from it. The heat of the minute ray burned her cheek, but in reality no damage was done as she had not intended to harm the girl, but the intensity of the heat made it feel as if she were struck.

"That was nothing, Morgan. I can do far worse but you needn't worry. So, have you had a revelation or shall we proceed on to the isolation chamber?"

Morgan flinched at the burning sensation in her cheek, her eyes wide at what Sara-Lynn showed her. When the woman stopped, she looked down at the table, thinking hard. What Sara-Lynn had done had accomplished two things. It got Morgan's attention, snapping her out of her withdrawal completely and it silenced the whispers. She felt as if she didn't have a choice in the matter. It was Beacon and Sara-Lynn or, for lack of a better word....prison.

"You speak about free air.....do you mean that or do I become a puppet with you and whomever pulling my strings?"

Regardless of Sara-Lynn's answer, Morgan had already chosen......Beacon. She just hoped that it was the right decision and if played right, would buy Wraith time to get her out of here. Before the woman could answer, Morgan continued. "I truly don't have a choice if I want to have a life. Fine.....Beacon it is."

The commotion in the other room was getting to Zoe in a way that not even cigarettes could dull. Narrowing an eye, she turned towards the sound with an irritated expression and pressed a button that connected her to Seizure's cell.

"What the hell is going on up there?" she demanded irritably.

"I was just heading that way to find out," came the reply. Zoe sighed and rolled her eyes before she reluctantly got to her feet and headed that way. Maybe she had over-estimate the Helen Keller kid. She liked to think that Cassius wasn't easy to defeat, but there was always the chance. Of course it was possible that the twitchy captive up there had been better trained in stealth than Cassius had, but Zoe couldn't help but have more faith in her shackles than that.

She arrived outside of the room with all the racket about when Ayana did and the two exchanged a look before Seizure stepped aside to let Killswitch take a peek into the room. Shawn was standing by the door, facing the young captive. The book was closed and sitting on the table and if they didn't know better, they'd think the boy was watching the other and laughing, or at least sneering. Grey was slumped over and covered in sweat and panting as though he'd run a marathon... and from the looks of his restrained chair, he may as well have. His shoulder was twisted in an unnatural looking way and the floor was scraped all to hell around the chair. Slowly, Grey's eyes raised to Seizure and Killswitch. They were narrowed as he grimaced in apparent pain. Killswitch stared coldly back at him but something in Seizure twinged as her eyes met his. The images of his past flicked before her eyes and she found herself looking away.

Zoe's eyes scanned him. As she took a step closer, Grey made one more, albeit weak struggled against the restraints. In reality, his body simply sort of jerked as though he were planning to lunge at her, completely forgetting about the chains. He grimaced again in pain as a sharp fire shot through his shoulder and all but snarled at her.

"Just gimme one," he growled, his voice rasped with exhaustion. When he glanced over at the bottle on the table, Zoe followed his gaze before returning back to his. She examined him silently again. Most of his eyes were taken up by pupil as he stared at her, nearly no color left. He was trembling, sending little streams of sweat raining off of him, and matting his hair to his face. After a moment, she turned away to look at Ayana and move off towards her. Pulling her slightly outside of the door, she shook her head nonchalantly.

"He's a junkie," she told her, "he's in withdrawal. Anyway, there's really no more use for him. I think we've found out all we can." Her expression calm, Killswitch reached to her waist, slipping under her shirt, and pulled a handgun out, cocking back the hammer in one motion.

"Wait!" Seizure exclaimed, reaching towards the gun to pull it away. Killswitch stopped and looked at her impatiently. As Seizure opened her mouth, however, the phone rang and she sighed irritably. "Kekoa!" she called after a moment, "can you get that?" She did not wait for a response, but rather for the phone to stop ringing when she turned back to Killswitch and took another deep breath. "Do we really need to kill him?" she asked quietly, glancing nervously into the room at the young man. He did not seem to hear however as he had resumed his position slumped over himself and shaking.

Zoe cocked and eyebrow. "Do we really need to not?" Seizure paused and glanced at him again.

"I . . . maybe . . . maybe we can use him," said Seizure. Zoe gave her a look that showed her patience were a delicate and waning thing.

"Ayana," she said, "tell me some random things you've learned about him." Seizure furrowed her brow and paused.

"I . . . well . . . he's a skilled assassin. Kind of a natural ability, no real training and--"

"What's his favorite color?" Zoe cut across her. Seizure paused a moment then replied.

"Black," she said.

"What kind of music does he like?"

"Hip-hop and rap mostly," Seizure replied quickly.

"What about his childhood? What do you know?" Seizure didn't miss a beat.

"He's the youngest of seven. From an affluent family, actually. But they were really cold to him. He got diagnosed--"

"That's the problem, Ayana," said Zoe, cutting across her again. "You get too much. You get all of this extra shit you don't need and it clouds your mind. Makes you think of them as people. There's really no room for that here. If you need to walk away while I do this, then walk away. But everyone in the world has shit in their past, especially in this world. It doesn't make them any more worth saving than a RAID agent. Walk away and forget about him." Zoe cocked the gun again and started to raise her hand.

"Wait!" Seizure cried out, this time grabbing the gun because she knew Zoe well enough. Zoe glared at her, a look that sharpened with every second Seizure hesitated. She knew Killswitch was right, but she still couldn't get past her thoughts. Even knowing what she sometimes had to do, she never liked killing, even RAID agents. Maybe it was a side-effect of her powers, but it didn't stop them being people and she just didn't see the need for indiscriminate killing that Zoe did. "May... maybe we can use him," she suggested, speaking quickly.

"You already told me he tried to get you to buy him off. I'm not buying it..."

"But he was serious," Seizure pressed, "I know he was. That's the kind of person he is. Like it or not, even I can see the use in that."

"Even if we could use him," Zoe argued, "we can't possibly pay him more than he was already getting paid without raising suspicions and frankly, I'd call it a waste of resources, no matter how much we have."

"Maybe there's something worth more to him than money," Seizure suggested quietly. There was a pause in which Zoe paused, seemingly taken aback. She eyed Seizure with something bordering on impressed before she shook head again.

"He can't be trusted," Zoe said finally, moving with her gun again which Seizure easily slapped out of the way.

"But he can be controlled," Ayana pressed. Zoe stared at her another moment, then glanced over at Shawn who was standing nearby, eyebrows furrowed with curiosity, like a soldier awaiting command. She sent a message to his device telling him to hang on a second and stepped into the room. Taking the pills off of the table, she shook the bottle and moved towards Grey. At the sound of the pills rattling, Grey's head shot up and he stared at her with unrestrained desperation.

"You want these?" she asked, "you gotta do what I say. If I give 'em to you and you stray from what I tell you... and I will know..." she held up the gun and pointed the barrel directly between Grey's eyes. From the look of any barely remaining color draining from the young hitman's face, she knew she'd gotten through and there was no more she needed to say. Killswitch paused a moment, staring at him, then dumped a single pill into her hand and held it over him. Grey opened his mouth and let her drop it in. Even with his mouth as dry as it was, he easily tossed it back and leaned his head over the back of the chair, relief already falling over him.

Turning, Killswitch's eyes flashed red for a moment as she filled in Shawn then she muttered to Seizure "I'm sure I can come up with something." She started to walk away before she paused and glanced back at Grey in the chair, her eyes falling on his clearly dislocated shoulder. "And get 'im some medical attention," she mumbled before walking off.
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Kekoa picked up the phone and gave a standard answer: "Uncle Tony's pizza."

"Great, the water boy." Thought, Sigma when he heard, Kekoa's distinct voice answer the phone, "You put too many damn pineapple's on your 'Hawaiian Special' last time I ordered." Joked Sigma then immediately got to business, "Put 'Sugar' on the phone." he requested, unfortunately she was occupied with her captive, so Sigma reluctantly relayed their plans to Kekoa.

"Okay, Kahuna, here's the deal. I'm hopin' you're aware of what's going on top side right now, otherwise this ain't going to mean shit to you." Sigma told him then paused to take a drag on his tipped cigarillo, "Apparently, this serum that's being dished out to the locals to counteract that plague is highly addictive and we suspect that it's been designed to allow easy influence over the general population of the city. Wraith's been trying to figure out how to reverse the serum's effects, but it seems he can't even replicate the stuff, so he went ta Texas to find some guy named, Jacobson, seems he engineered the antidote." Sigma stopped then, wondering if Kekoa was still there, "I am goin' ta trust that heavy breathing means your still with me. You writing this down or recording this conversation? Anyway, he found out that some R.A.I.D. corporation, called the Eden Foundation up around Lake Placid has been manufacturing the antidote, they're the source, so we're heading down there to shut off the tap. You guys in? Oh, and I forgot to mention, that this foundation is sitting on top of a R.A.I.D. Detention Centre. What's Sugar up ta, anyway?"

Back at the R.A.I.D. Processing Facility...


"A wise choice." Complimented Sara-lynn as she now began to usher Morgan out the door she had originally entered, "Come, I'll take you back to your cell and inform the judge that you have decided to cooperate and on the way you can describe your abilities to me."

As the stepped out of the room, the corridor was empty, not a guard in sight. Sara-lynn gestured to the right and walked along side of Morgan as she shuffled her way along, listening intently to her as she described her abilities not particularly considering whether or not she was telling the truth.

Kekoa listened to Sigma with a blank expression. He took in every detail, the strange man's words penetrating the stranger man's mind like a tape recorder, only without the static. When he asked about Seizure, Kekoa turned towards her as she was heading down the corridor in his direction looking some odd combination of stressed and relieved.

"I'm not sure," Kekoa replied, then handed the phone over to Seizure and stood by, waiting to relay Sigma's message as she took the phone from him without batting an eye.


"Seizure," she answered, then seemed to let out another sigh which could have been disappointment or further relief. "Oh, hey Sigma... Oh my God... you're not going to believe this. We now have a hitman working for us. We're paying him in addictive narcotics to feed his addiction. And oh yeah, he has Tourrette's and keeps calling me a n%&#er bitch every time I come into his line of sight." She flashed him a sarcastic smile she knew he couldn't see. At his questioning, she filled him in about how Zoe was going to kill him and how she convinced her otherwise, giving him the short version of all that had taken place. "So right now, Shawn's guarding him. Yeah, Shawn. Yes, the deaf-blind kid is keeping an eye on our captive worker. And I need to get a hold of some kind of doctor because our hitman's messed up his shoulder really bad and if we're going to use him, he needs to be in one piece. Any idea where our ghostly medic is?"

Morgan didn't see any reason to lie to the woman, so she told her about her being able to control animals, insects and sensing other metas. The latter, she made sure Sara-Lynn knew was not a strong ability. The mind control she didn't say anything about as she didn't know she was capable of doing it, having only used it on a subconscious level. She also left out the voices of Sasha and Frank that she sometimes heard and would overpower her sense of decency if she let them. Devon was the only one who knew about it and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. Where he was concerned, she said nothing to the woman and adamantly refused any information on the big guy, always replying when she would ask a question about him with an 'I don't know' and a blank face. Luckily, the questions were few regarding him.

"Hey, Sugar..." Acknowledged Sigma in his deep downtown Chicago accent, then he patiently listened while she filled him in on the newest member of their team and the latest 'Resistance News'. He honestly wasn't that surprised about the kid, he gave him the creeps from the get go, like something was off but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The hit-man she was talking about must have been that lunatic that was defending one of the towers generating the signal causing the plague.

"The hit-man's a liability, Seizure." Said Sigma coldly, "And he ain't some stray dog that's gonna listen to ya 'cause you're feedin' him treats. You should put a bullet in his head and be done with 'em; he's rotten to the core. Dammit, where in hell is Killswitch? She'll waste the guy for ya and hopefully before the 'White Knight' shows up. He'll be right along side ya fixing that bitch up once he get's back, which I think will be pretty soon."


"Mental domination." Said Miss White out loud as she typed one handed on her ipad while they walked down the corridor. She then looked over at Morgan to address her puzzled look, "That's the specification of your ability." she explained, "It fits within the realm of telepathy, a classification that covers a multitude of skills that often do not cross over into the area of another. More appropriately your skill would be classed, 'animal telepathy' as the two rarely co-exist, your father was a telepath, exhibiting the same mental domination, except he was able to push only 'sapien' minds. Curiously though, his ability drove him insane, which can apparently happen in forty percent of all cases. You haven't been experiencing any mood swings or paranoia, have you Morgan? There are psy-scramblers all over the facility which will nullify your ability, but they have no adverse effects."

They were now in front of Morgan's cell and from out of no where it seemed, three R.A.I.D. guard appeared. One opened the cell door, but before the other two ushered her into the cell, Sara-lynn raised a staying hand as she awaited, Morgan's answer. "She is cooperating so please do not adhere the tether, it will not be necessary." she informed the guards who complied with a nod.

Morgan looked over at Sara-Lynn and smiled her thanks to her not having to be tethered like an animal. "As for your question...no, I've not had any mood swings or paranoia. I don't particularly like using the insects as I find them repulsive, but other than that.....I am NOT my father."

She walked into her cell, sat down on her cot and waited for the door to be shut. As she heard the 'click' she looked over to see Sara-Lynn walking away and laid her head back on the wall behind her closing her eyes. ~Find the answer, Devon.....quickly and then get me out of here. Before I lose it completely.~

Sara-lynn smiled to herself as she left, Morgan thinking Surge would indeed be pleased with this latest recruit as one in his position could always find a use for a 'pusher'. Even if her ability did only effect inhuman minds the surreptitious power would be a valuable asset once she developed it.

Morgan was not in her cell for more than an hour before her door opened and she once again taken away by the guards, this time to a high tech looking court room. There she was guided toward the stand, a chair that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie where her arms and legs were bound to it by metal clamps through which she could feel the slight tingle of electricity. Above head hung a disc, mounted on a curved arm attached to the back of the chair and it to gave off a static charge that Morgan could feel on her scalp.

Across from Morgan sat a panel of ten individuals round a table the shape of half circle and to her right was the judge sitting in a very intimidating chair that appeared to be made of black stone. He and everyone were wearing black uniforms with red highlights and all at once, Morgan felt as if she was at some sort of Nazi tribunal.

To her left was another table facing the judge and behind it stood, Miss White and another woman in a R.A.I.D. uniform who was obviously the prosecutor. Both presented compelling arguments then Morgan was cross examined after being warned that the machine she was sitting in could distinguish a lie from truth, 99.9% of the time. In truth a flawless record but no lawyer or judge in America would support such a device and exploited the 0.01% discrepancy as if it were the end of the entire judicial system, despite the fact that 100% consistent accuracy was an impossibility.

Morgan's responses consisted mainly of a series of one word answers and at the end of it all she was convicted and sentenced to length of time to be determined by her behavior in a R.A.I.D. detention centre. Originally the judge was leaning toward sending her to the Western Detention Centre but then, Miss White was able to dissuade him and get her sent across the country to the Eastern Detention Centre near Lake Placid. She would be flown by private jet to Buffalo and from there be transferred into a RAID ground transport and driven upstate to her new home and hopefully at some point along the way, Beacon would be able to arrange a rescue but that was yet to be seen.

Morgan waited in her cell for the guards to come and get her to take her to her transport to the private plane that would fly her to Buffalo, NY. She closed her eyes, a tear sliding down her cheek and thought to herself.

~How did things go so wrong?~ She thought back to when she first met Tim on that road in New York when he almost ran her and those stray dogs over. She smiled at that and how he'd taken her under his wing. Only to screw up so many times being as naive as she was. And now this. ~I just wanted to see him....see if there was anything there. If there wasn't, then I was going to leave. But, I couldn't even do that right.~ She knew that she was mentally knocking herself down, even though she knew it wouldn't help her any, but she couldn't seem to help it.

The guards arrived and she noticed that Sara-Lynn wasn't with them, but it was clear that they had their orders and she was treated nicer than before. Although she was still shackled, they made sure that she was comfortable. If any of them noticed her quietness or depressed behavior, no one gave any indication.

She boarded the jet and sat down in a comfortable chair next to the window. As the plane took off, Morgan stared out the window and wondered if Devon had gotten any closer to finding the secret to the antidote. ~How's he gonna get me out now? He doesn't even know where I'm going or that I've left. Who are these people? What have I gotten myself into?~ She laid her head back on the back of the seat, closed her eyes and saw Sasha behind her closed eyes. She was laughing at her, calling her pathetic and weak. Maybe she was, but she would be strong enough to fight Sasha and her father's essence, or whatever it was that made her see and hear them when they were both dead.

Right now, she just had to get through whatever was about to happen. Whatever that turned out to be.

"I hear you, Sigma," said Seizure patiently, "and you know what my thoughts are and that we probably will never agree on this subject, so there's no sense arguing about it. Killswitch was ready to shoot him, trust me on that, but I convinced her I guess... and no, I didn't use any funny business before you ask." She turned for a moment and looked over at Kekoa's passive expression for a moment before she turned away and spoke again. "We'll go check out this Eden foundation. Killswitch'll hang out here I guess and make sure our new stray puppy doesn't piss on the carpet. You looking for a lotta numbers here? I figure I'd bring along Kekoa and Shawn. Killswitch and Cassius swear he's really useful, actually." There was a pause in which she let him digest her words before she spoke again with a lowered tone. "Also... if the 'White Knight' as you called him has a chance to stop by, I'd love his opinion on what else to do about these mutations with the humans. I'm really worried about Cassius. You know how he is, but I can tell he's starting to freak out. Last time I saw him, he still looks ok but I think if we keep him confined down there much longer, he's gonna crack. He hates being out of the action... just a request." With that, they exchanged their goodbyes and Seizure hung up the phone.

"Wanna go up to Lake Placid?" she asked, turning to Kekoa. Kekoa shrugged and began the search for his shoes.

"Sounds like a good plan," he replied.

She then turned and peeked her head into the room where the hitman sat. She looked at him and shook her head. He was slumped crookedly over the back of the chair, staring at the ceiling and clearly tweaked out of his mind. What a waste. She knew better than anyone that there was a good mind in there, even if he did insist on turning it into melted swiss cheese on a regular basis. She then turned and knelt before Shawn who immediately raised his head letting her know he knew she was there.

Wanna go to Lake Placid and help us investigate something? she typed on his device. Shawn's fingers ran quickly over it and he shrugged not unlike Kekoa did and said "sure."

OK, get ready, she typed back and stood to her full height. She looked awkwardly at him as the boy got up, shutting his book, and moved smoothly off into the headquarters. She never did quite know what to say to someone who couldn't see or hear, but she found herself fascinated at how he got around completely on his own. She wondered if she would get a chance to see what Killswitch and Cassius found so valuable in him. Sighing, she turned back to Grey and crossed the room to stand over him.

"You need a doctor," she said, "but we can't let your shoulder stay like that." She looked down at him but his head simply lulled and his eyes stared off, cloudy and distant, his only response a faint, stoned giggle. She rolled her eyes and sighed again. "I guess you can't feel much pain right now, so..." without warning, she took his shoulder and shoved it back into place with a sickening crack. The hitman grimaced and let out a surprised "ACKH! in pain, but seemed otherwise unfazed. She then turned her eyes to his shackles and freed him. "I'm locking you in here," she said, talking over his shouting "n#$&%er" at her. "Someone will be back later to feed you. We'll figure out that bathing situation as fast as we can... trust me," she added, wrinkling her nose and taking a step back. She then turned and walked swiftly out of the room as the stoned young man let himself ooze out from the chair to the floor, clearly relieved to change positions and have his shoulder back in its joint.

Sigma, ended the call and leaned back in his chair in thought. He wondered what was in store from them up in Lake Placid, trying to anticipate what he should bring along for the trip, but figured if they had the help of three other Meta's he could pack light. Getting up he moved into his cafeteria-kitchen area and poured himself another cup of coffee and he was just about to take a tentative sip of the steaming beverage when in blew in Wraith... literally.

Sigma actually jumped, which didn't happen very often but he wasn't expecting the big guy for at least another hour or two. "Jeezus 'H' Christ!" Slate swore as he entered the bay area brushing the coffee off of his shirt, "Dammit, Wraith you ARE a goddamn ghost. How and the hell did you make it here so fast?"

Pulling off his mask, Devon moved quickly to Slate's computer, ignoring his question. "Can you track RAID prison transfers?" he posed to Sigma.

"Well, 'hello' to you too. Ya bring back any souvenirs?" Jeered Slate as the moved toward the computer, placing his coffee down and sliding in front of the keyboard, "What's the prisoner's name?" As if Slate didn't know.

"Morgan Shepherd." Wraith told him, knowing very well that Sigma knew who he was talking about.

Slate logged into the network as his alias, Agent Carter Wilkes and tried to access the prisoner database. "She hasn't been processed yet." he informed Wraith, "We'll know more in an hour. Guess ya rushed down here for nothing."

Wraith wasn't amused by Sigma's callous attitude, but he understand that's just who he was so he wouldn't hold it against him. He turned to head up the stairs to his room, but after a few steps he wavered and would have hit the floor if Slate would not have caught him.

"Easy there, Doc. I think you better take a load off for a while, looks like ya over did it with your flying thing."

Devon sat down on the couch in the living room area that, Slate had set up in the middle bay area between the cafeteria and his work shop. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes for a moment and realized that his friend was right, he HAD over taxed himself. "Say, wanna grab me a gatorade." he asked Slate, "I left some in your fridge."

Slate wandered over and took a large bottle of the blue stuff and handed it to Wraith who immediately began to chug it down as if were the ultimate cure-all for hang overs. He then picked up the TV remote and turned on one of the many TV's that were mounted on the wall at the back of the bays, surfing the channels to find the latest news on the Chicago plague. It was then that, Slate relayed Seizure's request to him and her concern for Cassius.

"Cassius?" Repeated Devon as he gulped down another swallow, then he remembered that he was Human. "He must be developing the deformities by now." he figured and pulled himself off of the couch to remove his small backpack. Rummaging around in it, he pulled out some weird looking mushroom then a small vial of the serum sample he had obtained from his boss. "We have to get this to him and then get him the hell out of the city. Once he's out of range he should be fine."

Slate took the vial from Devon and stuck it in his pocket. "So how in the hell are we going to get out of the city? In case you've forgotten, Chicago's been quarantined, anyone trying to escape will be shot on sight."

Wraith furrowed his brow. They still hadn't discovered that was causing the illness was a signal and not a virus. "That could be a problem, but your a resourceful guy, you'll figure something out." he assured him then moving past Sigma, Wraith slapped him on the shoulder, "I'm heading upstairs to change, I suggest you gather up your gear and we head over to the base."

Morgan didn't sleep, she didn't even relax the whole flight. When the plane landed, she was even more tense then she was when she'd left Texas. She didn't know how much longer she could hold it together and if truth be told, she was pretty damn proud of herself for holding it together this long. Every now and again, Sasha and/or Frank would pop up inside of her head and taunt her, try to get her to fight her jailers but so far she'd been able to resist them. It was getting harder, though.

Her lavender eyes took in everything outside the window, which wasn't a whole lot as of yet. Her guards came over to her and unlocked her bindings that kept her chained to the seat. She didn't even look at the guard, she didn't see any point. His face was covered by the mask and helmet and he didn't care about her anyway. All he cared about was getting her from point A to point B without any harm coming to her, unlike the previous guards who had first captured her. For this, she was grateful.....somewhat.

As she shuffled along, she thought again about Wraith and the antidote. ~He'd better find whatever it is he's looking for. I don't want to have gone to meta prison for nothing.~ She didn't want to be here period, but she'd made the decision to sacrifice herself so that Devon could save Chicago's population. That was when she thought of Cassius and she shuddered. Was he okay? Had the virus affected him? Then she thought about the others, wondering how they were doing. It didn't last long, though, as she was ushered into a building for processing.

Tim turned to Yelena, seeing her tense and her eyes turning stone cold. "Yelena this har is Michael T. Timble [url=https://servimg.com/view/13825355/942] , Henerey an' Katryn's youngest and if not tha best lookin boy he shur is the brightest, at times. He be goin' ta the Naval Academy come fall. An' right handy ta have 'round. ....... So what ya doin' pokin 'roud cher boy?" Tim said

Michael tipped his hat to Yelena and said .... "Right pleasure ta meet ya ma'am. ..... Uncle Tim i'm afraid I have some bad news fur ya." he looked down towards the graound the straight into Tims eyes ...... "Stubby's been murdered by that Harley DeCamp's boys. Beat the holy shit out him then burned him alive." Michael looked over at Yelena and said "Pardon the language ma'am."

Tim,stiffened and his expression turned dark, his yes turned as cold as icebergs, and his fist clenched. "Where they at boy?" he said coldly "Ya best be tellin' me Michael and right damn quick."
Tim then moved quickly to a shelf and startes removing boxes marked "EXPLOSIVES - C4". "Harley wants a war? Well he's got himself one, an one he ain't gonna win." Tim said

Zoe's cell phone rang, when she answered it, the display told her there was a text message from Cattle Rancher, from a prepaid throw away cell phone. When she opened the message it read "Shit about to hit the fan big time on southern range. Goatherder here with me and safe. Will contact again. Watch yur ass."

Tim then looked at Michael and said "Ya look aftur Yelena now boy, an don' git no wild haired idea's uf followin'. Thars a world of hurt gonna come down, an I don't want ya ta be apart uf it. Ya got yur ma and pa ta consider, ya hear me. .... Now open up that thar door and close it aftur I leave, don't be open it fur nobody." Tims eyes were cold as steel on a January morning in Michigan.

Michael looked at Yelena and said "Ma'am, I seen that look and have heard those words about a world of hurt before twice. Once when Uncle Tim left my aunts funeral and once when my brother left, the last time, to go on a mission with Uncle Tim. I reckon you already know Uncle Tim use to be a Navy Seal before he became a cop, he brought my brother back, so he could be buried on the family ranch. And them druggies that gunned down his family, well, he sent em' off ta thar home in hell, pardon my language ma'am. Nobody could prove he did it, but he did, sure as it snows in the mountains. ...... I promise ya, somebody's gonna wish they never pissed, pardon my words again, Uncle Tim off."

Jessie was watching customers come and go out of the small corner diner in Arnette, Texas where she was sipping at a cup of coffee and eating a piece of chocolate cake. It was her birthday. She was twenty-five years old and celebrating it alone. She didn't mind that...not really. She was used to it by now as she'd been celebrating her birthday alone since she was sixteen and truth be told, she preferred it that way. She pretty much kept to herself anyway.

Her brown eyes were thoughtful as she watched a small family enter, the father saying something funny to the little girl who began to giggle, bringing a smile to the mother. Jessica sighed, remembering briefly her own family back in Scotland. The family who wanted nothing to do with her since she was a meta. She gave herself a mental shake, pushing the memory back where it belonged....behind a door that had been shut long ago, only to open when she least expected it. She scooped another piece of the cake into her mouth, shutting out the family that had just come in.

"Can I get you anything else?" This came from the young waitress speaking with a Texas drawal and a shy smile. "No....thank ye. I be fine." The waitress stood there longer than needed and Jessie quirked an eybrow at her. "Anything else, lass?" The waitress looked uncomfortable then spoke, "I couldn't help but notice your accent. Are you from England or close to there?" Jessie sighed, "Aye, I be from Scotland but I am now an American citizen." The waitress stammered out that she'd not meant anything by asking, just was curious that's all. Jessica smiled gently to the girl, "Tis alright. No offense was taken."

Jessica finished her cake and coffee, left a tip for the young girl and left after paying the cashier. She climbed into her '68 mustang and headed out of town. She had spotted a good place to set up camp for the night on her way into town and wanted to check it out and make sure it was safe.