Frank was getting ansy. He'd been staying at the flea-dive of a motel longer than he thought he would. Where the hell was she? Why did she disappear when she came around Troy? He could sense her, but damn if he could pinpoint her.

He'd held off calling Birkshire for the first few days and when he did finally call the man, it didn't go well. Birkshire was spitting nails when Frank told him that he could sense her, but he couldn't pinpoint her exact location. Birkshire ordered him to stay put and keep him advised of the situation. But, there'd been nothing to report, nothing at all. He'd sensed her in town, but he couldn't very well go into town, not after the last time. They'd arrest him in a heartbeat.

So, he waited, pissed off, thinking and planning. His plans for Morgan were getting worse by the hour the longer he waited.

And, to top it off, the last time he'd gone into the office to pay for another few days on his room, his picture had been on the t.v. and the angels had given him their power to make the elderly couple forget that he was even there and that they couldn't rent out room 14. That had made his skull feel as it was splitting and blood to seep from his nose and ears.

Toril lead the Haida man into one the seedier areas of Ukrainian Village. A section of town, with boarded up windows and shabby allies off the beaten path. Understandably, Toril noticed as, Russel began to ever so slightly put some distance between the two of them as they entered an alley through a hold in the fence that barricaded it. He would have been disappointed if the man would not have exercised caution.

Russel didn't like the situation one bit. The alley was narrow and up ahead branched off into more corridors, anyone could be waiting round one of the corners.

"So where are we going?" Asked Russel, his eyes shifting about nervously.

"I told ya. To talk to the wind." Toril answered as he rounded a corner.

Russel smiled weakly. He was starting to get pissed off by this white guy's mocking tone and thought once they rounded the corner he was going to put an end to all this. "Hey, man —" He called, but stopped short when the big blonde has simply vanished.

A wind stirred in the alley, tossing the native man's long black hair across his face. He looked all around. Nothing! Then he heard a noise above him, the clang of metal from the fire escape hanging off the four story building behind him. 'How in the hell did he get up there so fast?' Russel thought and if he did, this guy wasn't normal. Looking around one more time, to make sure there were no one lookers, Russel exhaled slowly then whispered and repeated a few words in his native tongue, as if chanting. He closed his eyes and when he opened them once more they had transformed. His yellow irises extended across the entire eye and pupils were large and black, just like that of an eagle. He focused in on the roof top, his eyes zooming into to the most minute of objects, then he spread his arms wide, his bag hanging under his arm. Slowly he crouched down then looked upward and leapt into the air, but he not descend, instead he soared high, flying toward the sky and gracefully landed on top of the building.



When the big man materialized in front of him, Russel wasn't surprised. "You are the wind." He stated.

Toril smiled, "And you are amazing!" He commented, "You can fly!", he then took a step closer peering into Russel's changed eyes, "Eagle?" The native man verified his assumption with a nod. "I thought so. So you can channel the abilities of that animal then?"

"And others." Added Russel, "They once called me Totem."

Toril nodded. "I remember. You emerged a little before the time they passed the Riggs Act. I was really sorry to see you go. I admired the stand you took, I've even dealt with a few poachers in my day. They never made it out of the woods either."

"They had it coming." Explained Russel.

"Indeed they did." Agreed Toril. "I never disagreed with what you did. I think I all poachers should be strung up by their nuts and skinned. I only regret that you had to pass judgement on your own people."

Russel's eagle eyes regarded the meta-human before him. "So, this was a test, eh? 'Talk to the wind'. Y'know you were starting to piss me off with that bull shit."

Toril laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that. Just wanted to meet the real you." He held out his hand, "I'm Wraith."

Russel shook the hand of his new friend firmly with a curious look. "Wraith, eh? Thought you'd be older."

The two men spent the afternoon and part of the evening getting to know one another and when Toril was satisfied that he could trust the young man, decided to take him to meet the Bronze Devil. They went back to the house first to pick up the car that Bronze said he could use to get around, since he had turned in his rental, but Russel offered to drive. His old red pick-up truck was parked a few streets over from the house and so after, Toril changed they hopped into it and headed over to the Devil's Grin.



Russel had expected the directions of the seer to be metaphorical but after meeting the 'wind' and now the 'devil' he chuckled at just how literal they were. He shook hands with the giant, devil-like man and explained his story with some interpretative assistance from Toril after which Gabriel, scratched his head and said he'd talk with the Resistance later and see what they knew. Until then, the Bronze Devil treated the men to what ever they wanted. Russel didn't drink, but sure was hungry after chasing the big man around the roof tops and was very appreciative of the meal. As they ate, Gabriel pulled out one of his business cards, on the back of which was written a name. He handed the card to Toril. "You know anything about this? She called over an hour ago, asking for a Doctor Carson."

Toril looked read the card and recognized the alias immediately. "How did she sound?" he anxiously inquired.

Gabriel shrugged his massive shoulders. "I didn't talk to her, but the girl who did, didn't let on that anything was out of the ordinary. You know this person?"

Toril sighed and smiled. He was pleased that Yelena and Cassius were alright. "Yeah. I know her." He put the card in his pocket, "I'll give her a call first thing in the morning."




An hour after Frank had gotten off the phone with Birkshire there was a knock on his door. Looking through the spy hole he was surprised to see the Supervising Agent standing there with a few of his men. He couldn't see why he should fear them, so he opened the door.

"Frank." Acknowledged Birkshire with a nod, then he immediately presented him with laminated piece of identification.

Frank looked it over. His name and his picture were beside the capitalized, bold red letter, 'R.A.I.D.' and below it was 'Operative' and aside that the designation of 'Tracer'. At the very bottom was an expirery date for next year, which would let people now that he wasn't a real RAID operative, just a rookie, but it gave him the same authority nonetheless.

"If you keep your nose clean I'll see what I can do about getting you off the hook with the F.B.I.", Birkshire told him, "That, I.D. should help you open a few more doors, but don't go abusing it. You hear me." The tall black man awaited for Frank's nod before continuing, "From now on, I will refer to you as the 'Hunter', that code-name has been entered to the RAID database giving you unofficial status. You're not the first meta-human we've employed in this manner, Frank and if you prove to be asset we can offer you a good life."

Birkshire shook Frank's hand. "Welcome to the team." As he started to walk away with his men, he looked over his shoulder, "Oh, and Frank. Buy yourself a suit, that will open up as many doors as that piece of I.D. will."

The RAID agents disappeared down the hallway, leaving Frank alone with his 'Get out of jail for free' card and the promise of a fruitful future. It was not uncommon for RAID to utilize the talents of meta-humans and use fire to fight or find fire, and that's just what they were doing with Frank. As long as he remained useful to Birkshire, he'd get they're full support, but the moment he straid from the path, the hunter would become the hunted. One thing Frank was certain of though, was the fact that Birkshire didn't care one bit, about his daughter, or what he did with her. He wanted the man, he called 'Cowboy', the one he had learned was the same guy that the media was calling the 'Wrangler'. A guy that he admired, before he learned that he was the son-of-bitch protecting what to him was demonic whore that had be destroyed. The all did.

Cigar smoke filled the tiny room creating undulating shadows that masked the dull light. The Boss stuck the fat tobacco tube between his teeth as he cracked blood-covered knuckles and glared down at the meta at his feet.

"I thought your kind were supposeda' be advanced or somethin'," he growled through his thick New York accent. "I'm disappointed... very disappointed..." There was a pause in which the room fell silent and the Boss straightened in between his two large lackeys who stood grinning quietly behind him. He then abruptly thrust his foot full force into the body that lay in a heap on the floor, breaking the silence with a sickening crunch and a pained grunt, barely escaping fading consciousness. As the large humans leaned over and sneered down at him, coughing and sputtering as he curled into a tight ball amidst splashes of his own sweat and blood.

Leaning over him, the boss's grin widened as he took the cigar from his mouth again and leaned his putrid mix of smoke and sweat in close to him. "You're f#&@'d now, Greyson Pyre," he grinned before stepping over him and slamming the door shut, letting it hit the defeated meta on its way.


Grey's breaths were rasped and wet, his entire mouth tasting of blood, his eyes swelling shut as his entire body throbbed. He was beginning to succumb to unconsciousness when the muffled voices outside the door fell into painful clarity, ripping through his ears like knives.

"RAID . . . Meta . . . defeated . . . Greyson Pyre . . . " the words faded in and out with his consciousness and Grey struggled to keep himself awake, knowing now he had to get out of here if it killed him. With every ounce of his remaining willpower, Grey forced his muscles to move through the pain that pulsed through him with every movement. As he slowly lifted himself off of the floor, a stream of blood splashed from his head and his face onto the floor below him. Gritting his teeth, he nearly fell twice before he finally got himself unsteadily to his feet. A tic that jerked his head sent another wave of pain through him before he leaned heavily on the wall and dragged himself toward the window.

Instinctively, he reached for his gun only to find that the Boss had taken all of his weapons. After a few shaky breaths, he thrust his elbow into the window, shattering it. He then put all of his remaining strength into forcing himself through it and collapsing in the bushes beneath it. For a moment, Grey didn't move. He just lay there, his body throbbing as though he had been run over by a few cement trucks. He knew he couldn't stay, however, and once again willed himself into unsteady motion.

Stumbling down the street, trying desperately to hold every part of him that was in agonizing pain, he found himself glancing over his shoulders, flinching at every siren or uniform that patrolled the night. Finally, he hailed a taxi who pulled up and looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Damn kid... hospital?"

"No..." Grey shot back, collapsing into the back seat, gasping through cracked ribs, "middle . . . of f@#%ing . . . nowhere. . ."

"But..."

"GO!" The shout sent a wave of sharp pain stabbing from his ribs out and he buckled over and ground his teeth. Holding up his hands in defense, the cabby sped off down the city streets, each buck and turn sending a fresh wave through Grey's battered body. Finally, he dug into his pockets removing the wad of cash he kept in a hidden pocket in his jacket. Tossing this in the front seat, he managed to mumble "take me as far as this'll get me..." before he passed out.
* * *
"Kid... hey.... kid... wake up..." Grey's eyes barely fluttered open through the bruises and swelling that weighed them shut. His vision was blurred, his mind foggy and exhausted, but somehow he managed to recognize the driver and remember the night's events. The sky was now a royal blue, the sunrise just barely starting to bleed over the horizon. "End 'a tha' line, kid," said the cabby, a touch of sympathy in his tone as he glanced at the wilderness around them. Nodding, his breathing still shallow, Grey climbed out of the cab and began dragging himself into the shadows of the forest. The cab driver watched him for a moment, at war with his conscience before he finally sat back in his car and drove off.

Grey's body was in no more fit state for running after the drive then he was before he passed out. The entire side of his torso was turning a rather deep shade of purple, his face was swollen and dried blood was crusted over a good half of it. He made it a few yards into the forest before he collapsed again, dropping out of awareness once more.

"So you spent the day chasing this old fool around, eh?" Laughed the Bronze Devil as he slapped Toril on the shoulder.

The three meta-humans were still working on their meals, their eating slowed by conversation. Gabriel had learned that although, Russel lived in Oregon, he was Haida and well known native artist as well. The young man carried a small portfolio around and had laid it on the table for the two men to look at.

"Holy crap!" Exclaimed Gabriel as he looked through the small photo album of Russel's paintings and carvings. Toril who, himself had an artistic eye was also very impressed. "Now this is eye catching, maybe I should get some this stuff for the club." The Bronze Devil considered.

Russel humbly nodded to their accolades and remained silent trying not to stare at the devil-like man flipping through his portfolio. The whole experience seemed so surreal, but he was quickly getting used to Gabriel's appearance. The man hardly acted like one would expect a supernatural being to act, and he had learned that there was nothing at all 'other-worldly' about the man, just that for some reason he was born looking like a devil.

Gabriel handed the book back to Russel. "Great stuff, kid." He complimented, "So, did this woman tell you anything else, except that her niece would come from the east?"



Russel shook his head as he swallowed a mouth full of food. "That's all she told me. It's strange, and don't laugh," he said while accusingly pointing his fork at his two new friends who he had quickly learned were both quite cynical, "but I feel... I don't know... drawn to her."

Toril and Gabriel exchanged mischievous looks, and Russel just shook his head. He couldn't believe that they were both decades older than him, when they started acting like teenage boys. Still, he had to admit, it sounded pretty lame, but he really did feel a connection, but little did he realize that it was only due to the girl's animal telepathy that he felt compelled to protect her. The spirit's of the very animals she summoned and controlled existed within him and when her aunt had made him aware of her, a connection was formed and her powers began to effect him.

"Well, Russel, we'll talk to some of my friends later on tonight. They'll know if this girl is in town." Mentioned Gabriel then he turned his attention to Toril, "In the mean time I have a business proposition for this guy."

Toril recognized that toothy devilish smile. "What?" He said curiously, while suspiciously regarding his friend.

Gabriel pulled an innocent face. "What d'ya mean, 'What'?" He said, "I just thought you might wanna pull some of that disappearing stuff on stage. You ever watch Criss Angel? People love that escape artist, shit! And you can get outta anything."



Toril took a swig of his pint and leaned back while his eye squinted in disbelief. "Well if you only tie me up with rope or tape.", he reminded the Bronze Devil.

"Oh, yeah. Shit!" Said Gabriel, "What's that metal you can be in contact with and still fade out?"

Toril answered slowly, emphasizing each syllable of the word, "Pla-ti-num."

"Damn! That could get a little expensive." Considered Gabriel who quickly abandoned the idea of adding Toril to the act. "Well, even if you are a bum right now, you've gotta home at my place as long as you need." Gabriel then looked over at Russel, "You too. If you need a place to crash, I've gotta an extra spare bedroom in the basement next to Toril's. There used to be a suite down there so you guys have your own facilities and a kitchenette." offered the Devil.

Russel thanked the man and decided to take him up on his offer, but first they prepared to go out and meet these friends of the Bronze Devil and learn if this girl Morgan Shepherd might be in the city.

Yelena and Morgan started their morning out as usual. Before anyone else was up or even thinking of getting out of bed, the two women were up, dressed in shorts and tank tops and outside stretching. Thanks to Zoe’s generosity and her secret caring nature, she had supplied the group with all new wardrobes and for that, Yelena would forever be grateful to the young woman. As they started out on their daily job, Yelena glanced over at Morgan with a half smile on her face.

”As much as I love nature, please keep animal friends at distance. I not want to have squirrel jump on head and me end up with nasty bite marks from such big teeth in such little mouth. Deal?”

Morgan giggled and nodded her head. Of course she was still remembering the look on Yelena’s face from the other day when the animals started running along side the pair and the squirrels ran overhead. The Russian didn’t know rather to stop, go faster or curl into a little ball and wait for the danger to pass.

Thankfully, the job was uneventful and the duo were heading back to the safe house when Yelena noticed fresh tire marks in the soft ground and pulled to a stop reaching out to have Morgan stop with her. Panting from her jog, Yelena stood and studied the tire marks carefully. Morgan gave her a puzzling look. Using the pet name Cassius had started calling Yelena, Morgan asked the shape shifter what was going on?


”What…is it….Lena?”

Yelena pointed to the ground.

”Tire marks. They were not here yesterday when we came through.”

Instantly Morgan’s thoughts drifted to Franks and she felt a shiver run the length of her spine. Yelena started following the tread marks and saw they stopped a little ways up the dirt road. The Russian furrowed her brows when she saw they didn’t go any further. Standing where the tire marks stopped, she put her hands on her hips and looked around. Again Morgan was confused and now frightened as they stopped.

”Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Tire marks stop. They not go any further than here. What ever drove in here, backed out same way.”

As Yelena studied the area closer, she saw the foot prints left behind then saw what appeared to be drag marks, but the foot prints didn’t follow the markings she found. Just about then she heard a moan and instantly went on defensive. Morgan heard the noise as well and like Yelena was instantly defensive. Yelena looked to Morgan then put her finger over her lips as the universal quiet sign.

Both women carefully eased forward to look beyond the high grass along the side of the dirt road and what they saw made both of them gasp. A young man had the living crap beat out of him so badly it was hard to see the features of his face. Yelena was extremely cautious while Morgan wanted to be Florence Nightingale. Yelena stopped the young woman from getting to the man with a forceful halt.

“NIET! No!”

Morgan looked at Yelena like she was some sort of mad woman.

”Are you CRAZY! He needs help! Look at him! He’s barely alive! We can’t just….leave him like that.”

Yelena blocked the way so the young woman wouldn’t see the man or try to go to him again.

”We can and we will. At least, you will. We not know who he is or why he is here. For all we know, is plot to get to us by RAID or Beacon or some other f*#!ed up agency we not know of yet. Go get Tim. Tell him to bring hummer and weapons. No need to take chances.”

Yelena saw the hesitation in Morgan’s eyes.

“I promise….I stay here and not hurt him.”

Morgan hesitated just one more second before she took off running as fast as she could to the safe house to get Tim. Yelena watched Morgan run out of sight then looked to the young man on the ground again furrowing her brows even more.

”You pick bad place to die, dorogaya moya”

Morgan ran all the way to the safehouse, panting hard by the time she got there.

Running inside, she looked around for Tim, not seeing him in the kitchen, she headed upstairs to his bedroom. Throwing open the door, she hurried over to his bed, where he was still sleeping.

"Tim.....Tim....wake up!! We have a possible problem."

Morgan backed up when Tim shot up in bed, looking around, wide awake almost instantly.

"Lena and I found a guy while out jogging this morning. He's been beat up pretty bad. Lena's with him now."

While she was talking and Tim was dressing, Morgan ran to the bathroom, shoving first aid supplies into a small bag. Bandaids, peroxide, dressings, gauze, etc.

"Yelena said to bring the hummer and weapons." She ran to her room, grabbing her two small daggers. Rushing back out, she saw that Tim was ready to go and followed him downstairs. When he turned and tried to take the bag from her, telling her to stay put, her lavender eyes grew hard.

"No. I'm coming and that's all there is to it."

Once the booby traps were undone and the pole barn open, she climbed into the passenger seat of the hummer.

"Shall we go?", she asked Tim, who was glaring at her.

The three meta-humans left the Devil's Grin a little after midnight. Russel made his way through the parking lot followed by the his two larger companions and as neared his truck the Bronze Devil nodded approvingly.

"Now that's fine." Commented Gabriel as he walked round the faded red truck checking out the body. "A 1967 M715 Kaiser Jeep. Haven't seen one of these, since... well, since the seventies. Where'd ya find this kid?" Asked the Devil as he lit up a cigar.



"It was my grandfather's." Answered Russel.

"Well the man has good taste."

"Had." Corrected Russel, sadly.

"Sorry, kid." Offered Gabriel while still checking out the truck. Then he walked over and pointed out his baby, which at the far end of the lot. "There's mine." he said pointing with his chin.



Russel didn't know what kind of vehicle it was but his grandfather would have.

"It's a 1942 WC-53 Dodge Carry All, bought her right off the assembly line." Informed Gabriel.

"Wow. You still have old Kerry. Thought you would have retired her." Remarked Toril

"Never!" Retorted Gabriel, looking offended. "Don't listen to this bum, baby. And you're not old, you're perfect." He said to the truck in a consoling manner.



Toril just shook his head and smiled. "He's kinda nostalgic." he whispered to Russel who was grinning at the Bronze Devil's display.

They drove back to Gabriel's house where Russel parked his Jeep and got into the back of the old dodge while Toril ran inside to get something. As soon as he got into the vehicle, he was amazed at the interior; everything had been modified through the years. There were video cameras in the dash and several buttons and gadgets he couldn't figure out and behind him was yet another console. "Everything in here is state of the art, kid." Gabriel told Russel while he watched him nose around the interior in the rear view mirror.

Toril returned and Russel was puzzled when he caught a glimpse of a super-hero costume under his clothes. "What's with the costume?" He asked.

"Well, these people we're going to go and see don't like to reveal their identities and neither does Toril. It's just safer that way, for everyone." Answered Gabriel, "Me on the other hand can't exactly remove my costume, if ya get my meaning."



"Well, I'll take my chances." Said Russel.

"Suit yourself, kid." Was all that Gabriel could say, since it all boiled down to personal choice.



The Bronze Devil drove south and they eventually reached their destination off of Green Street North. He turned down a narrow alley way, his truck just fitting, and parked behind a place called Three Walls which was an art gallery, sharing a building with the Wendy Cooper Gallery and Bucket Rider. They doubled back to a door in the alley, which was marked with a '116' and Gabriel proceeded to punch a code into a key pad then pulled out a key and unlocked the door. It opened to a stairway going down and Bronze Devil lead the way into the darkness, turning on a light switch once they reached a corridor that took them under the galleries. At his point Toril put on his mask to conceal his identity and brought up the rear with Russel in between him and Gabriel.

The hallway took them to a storage area that apparently dead ended, but Gabriel just kept right on walking forward and when he reached the far wall, reached up above him and unscrewed the light bulb in one of the pot lights that lit the room. When the light went off, a secret door way opened in the wall and after screwing the bulb back into place they proceeded through it and at the end of another corridor found a series of rooms and monitoring station with several computers.



A man with dark hair sat with his back to them, staring into one of the computer screens. He wore a blue trench coat and before he turned, pulled up a black mask over the lower part of his face. "Bronze Devil." He greeted.



The Bronze Devil nodded and gestured to the two men with him by pointing his horns at them. "This is Wraith and Totem. Guys, this is Sigma, but the cops call him Sigma Slayer." he introduced. Then a tall masked women came round the corner, with white hair and wearing a dark blue coloured camouflage uniform, "And this is, Ultramarine." He added.



Sigma did not rise nor extend a hand, he just nodded and stared blankly, but Ultramarine came forward and shook their hands. "Did you tell him yet?" She asked of Sigma who shook his head.

"Tell me what?" Questioned Gabriel.

"Silicone." Sigma began, "She's dead." He informed Bronze Devil with no emotion nor any concern for the emotions of others.

Gabriel sighed and his chin began to fall. "What happened?" he growled.

"RAID." Answered Ultramarine. "Ambushed her last night. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Who was she?" Asked Toril.

Bronze Devil then went on to explain that Silicone was the controller for the Green Street Safe House location. She lived in the underworld and had kept everyone apprised of RAID's whereabouts and coordinated meetings with other resistance groups. He was only just getting to know her, as she had only been at the Green House for a couple months but showed a great aptitude for the system. Now they would need a new controller, but as far as he knew there wasn't anyone else with her skills that was up for the task.

"This is what it is coming to." Bronze Devil whispered to Toril as they strolled out of ear shot of Sigma and Ultramarine. "RAID keeps picking us off and the bad guys are left free to do what ever the f*&%# they want, and these members of the resistance are a new breed. Back in the day, we'd probably be hunting THEM. Sigma is practically a serial killer and Ultramarine... well... let's just say, I don't think all of her pistons are firing at times."

Tim slammed the Hummer into gear, with tires spinning gravel he sped to where Yelena was. He brought the Hummer to a skidding stop, he looked at Morgan and sais "Stay in the Hummer!" then jumped out of the Hummer with both of his 40 caliber semi-automatics drawn and quickly approached Yelena, looking around for any adversaries. "Yellena are you alright? Who is this guy? Step back away from him.""

Yelena calmed Tim’s concerns.

”Is OK, Tim. He not threat right now. In fact, I not entirely sure he will survive. He looks pretty bad. Like….bruised prune. See?”

Yelena pointed to where the man still lay, breathing shallowly. When Tim saw the condition the man was in, he would know Yelana wasn’t in any immediate danger. But the big questions still remained.

”How the hell did he get here and where the hell did he come from. And better yet, what we do with him now? We no can leave him here like this but….to take chance of bringing back to safe house is risky. He could be RAID operative or worse yet, puppet for Vicily.”

Glancing towards the hummer and seeing how ansy Morgan was getting, Yelena lowered her voice for only Tim to hear.

”Morgan will have kitten if we leave him here.”

The shape shifters eyes settled on Tim’s.

”Can you handle her wrath if that is what we decide as well as make sure she not sneak back to help?”

Ayana’s dark eyes moved immediately to the tiny light in her room as she listened to the flat tone on the other end of her secure line.

“Okay,” she said, acknowledging that she had heard while her mind searched through her memory, wondering who had just come in. They hadn’t been expecting anyone, and it had been quite some times since a stray meta had found their way to them. Now her curiosity had been stirred and when she hung up the phone, she immediately headed downstairs into the basement by the secret entrance.

One the way, she paused to make eye contact with her other housemate who seemed to be headed in the same direction. After a significant glance with his serene gaze, he motioned for her to go on ahead and she lead the way downstairs. She was surprised to find the Bronze Devil along with two strangers, but relieved to see Sigma and Ultramarine already having greeted him.

“Hello, Bronze Devil,” she greeted, smiling tentatively with her eyes flicking curiously to the other two.

“These are Wraith and Totem,” Ultramarine filled her in, motioning to each of them and making her relax a little bit.

“Ah,” said Ayana, smiling in full now, though not without a hint of caution, and holding out her hand to them. “Any friend of the Bronze Devil is a friend of ours,” she said, standing straight, her slender body now at its full height as she pushed a thin braid behind her shoulder. “I’m Seizure.” At this, a young man emerged from behind her, slipping in and leaning against the wall to smile almost dreamily at them. His bronze skin and slanted eyes showed native descent but his somewhat full face would throw off some speculation. The Polynesian young man wore his long, black hair in a ponytail and looked like he had just come back from the beach, wearing nothing but a gray wife-beater and a pair of black linen pants. His bare feet looked even stranger in the high-tech room and guarded security of the place. His bare arms, adorned with intricate, distinctly Hawaiian tattoos, settled at his sides as he leaned on his hands.

“Hello new friends of Bronze Devil… and hello Bronze Devil,” he said, his eyes drifting over to Gabriel as though he hadn’t immediately seen him. There was a pause as his gaze moved slowly over to Sigme and Ultramarine before he landed on Totem and Wraith again. “I’m Kekoa,” he said, his smile warm, friendly, and almost too comfortable as he showed none of the caution that the others held. “You’re a native of the land I see,” he added to Russel, “such a sad minority we are.” Despite his words his smile never faltered and he said nothing more as he then turned his attention to the others in the room. A slightly awkward pause followed before Seizure turned to Ultramarine.

“I talked to Killswitch,” she said, “you remember, right? The one I told you about. She said she could take over for Silicone. I’ll tell you more about her abilities, later,” she added with a quick glance toward Wraith and Totem. When Ultramarine merely nodded, Seizure turned back to the Bronze Devil. “So,” she began, “is everything alright?”

Morgan sat in the hummer for a few minutes watching Yelena and Tim. Finally, having had enough, she got out of the vehicle with her bag of first aid supplies and walked over to the man on the ground, ignoring Tim.

She gasped when she saw his face. Opening the bag, she began to clean his various cuts and bruises, her hands gentle. Once she was done with his face, she lifted his shirt, seeing the bruising along his ribcage. She didn't know what else to do for him and looked up at Tim.

"What are we going to do with him, Tim?" She turned her gaze to Yelena and saw the woman look away from her. That was when she knew. They were going to leave him here. Her lavender gaze grew hard, something Tim had been seeing more and more of late with her.

Throwing her things back into her bag, she rose, no longer looking at either one of them.

"Fine, if that's the way it's supposed to be, then fine. Who am I to argue with you."

She stormed past the hummer, clearly not riding with Tim nor Yelena back to the house. She was angry, that much was clear in the way she walked away, and she was confused. She couldn't believe that they would leave an injured person just lying there, someone who needed help. Well, she'd just have her four-legged friends keep an eye on him and sneek back whenever she could from now until they left to care for him. She, herself, couldn't just leave him.

Morgan stopped walking, not too far from the hummer. Getting herself under control, she turned back around, walking back until she stood in front of Tim, glaring up at him.

"How can you just leave him?! You didn't leave me or is that because you figured I was a helpless woman so I wasn't any threat?! He's injured, for God's sake!! He needs help!! I don't believe you!!"

She stood there, waiting to see what Tim would say, seeing that he was becoming angry as well. She didn't understand the dangers that he could bring, all she saw was someone needing help.

Tim's eyes became hard as he struggled to keep his temper in check, but Morgan, even seeing this, for once, stood her ground.

"He could be part of RAID for all we know, Morgan! He could be a plant from your father!" That got her attention as fear flared up in her eyes for a brief second then was gone. She had forgotten in her anger, that Yelena was still there.

"My father isn't smart enough to plant someone here! He's nuts, remember!!! And are you telling me that RAID would beat someone to a pulp then plant him near us?! That's utterly rediculous!! If you don't want to bring him back to the house, fine!! I'll care for him myself, out here!!" Her lavender eyes were now turning dark, very dark with her anger. "If it was me laying there, and you didn't know who I was, would you leave me, Tim? Would you have left me, even if you didn't know who I was?"

Allie walked into the building through the secret entrance along the alley, heading up the stairs to where everyone was at. She had come to find out if they needed anything that her money could buy. It was how she helped out as well as fighting alongside them when needed. She supported the resistance finanacially and her father, unbeknownst to her mother, did as well.

Walking into the room, she smiled at Bronze Devil, waving to him, giving him a questioning look regarding Toril and Russel. Once introductions were made, she relaxed, smiling at everyone else, except for Kekoa. Him, she stuck her tongue out at. She couldn't help it. He grated on her nerves and even though it was childish, it somehow made her feel a little better. Thing was, he grated on her nerves because she liked him and his carefree nature. But, it went against her more serious nature. Having spent time in the meta-human juvenile delinquint compound, she had learned that life didn't give you much to be care-free about.



Once Bronze Devil, Toril, and Russell left, Allie walked over to the others, sitting down at the table.

She looked at Ayana, "I know that you guys are needing supplies, and with Silicone gone, I wanted to find out if you're needing any extra finances this month. I was figuring you do, so tell me how much and I'll make the deposit."

Yelena didn’t like where this was going and while she was proud of Morgan for standing her ground, the young woman was still very naïve in the way things worked with Meta-Humans and the way they were treated by agencies like RAID.

Tim and Morgan were too angry to talk this out between them and while Yelena didn’t like getting between them, she had to step up or they were going to get caught with their asses hanging out and no way to protect themselves.

Putting her finger and thumb between her lips, she pursed her lips and sent a rush of air past her digits and lips to create a loud, piercing whistle that got both of their attention. Giving a hard look to Tim, Yelena turned her attention first to Morgan.

”Your need to help is touching, da, but you not know what Tim and I know. Too often we fall victim to such tricks and find selves fighting for life all over again. Are we going to leave man here? You bet your ass we are. And yes…RAID WOULD beat someone if it meant they could catch us. Self preservation comes first, Morgan. Right now, that is all that matters. Nothing more.”

Taking a threatening step closer to the younger woman, she lowered her voice and narrowed her gaze.

”Offer aid now if you think you have to. But I will chain you to bed myself if I have to so you not come back out here alone.”

Looking over at Tim, she furrowed her brows.

”Is time for us to leave area. Toril is in Chicago. While I not get confirmation of it yet, gut tells me that is where he went. We need to get back to safe house, pack what we can then get the hell out of here while we still can. The sooner, the better.”

Glancing at Morgan then back to Tim, she turned and started walking away.

”See you both at safe house.”

After a few steps the Russian started jogging again like nothing had happened but in truth she was deep in thought. Why couldn’t she remember anything about the man other than he was beat and bruised all to hell? Something was very strange about him. And the more she thought about it, the more she didn’t like how she the feeling about it all. It just wasn’t….right.

Morgan took a step back when Yelena stepped closer to her. She'd never seen the russian like this and she was thinking that she'd rather with a pissed off Tim than her right now.

Realizing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with this, she finished patching up the man with what she had and headed back to the hummer, climbing in waiting for Tim. She realized that she also couldn't remember anything about him except that he'd been injured. She rubbed her temples, wondering what was going on.

When Tim got into the vehicle, she saw that he was still upset with her, but she said nothing.

Once back at the house, she went upstairs and grabbed her bag, which was already packed as she'd never unpacked it, just used what she needed from it when she had to.

Heading back downstairs, she saw Tim talking to Zoe and Dominic and walking over to him, she looked up at him, feeling confused as she could remember an injured man, but that was all. "I'm ready, Tim whenever everyone else is ready to go." She headed out to the back porch, standing there, upset but now quite knowing why.