"Hello." Zoe turned calmly, a cigarette still dangling from her mouth as she stared unfazed at the solid shadow that formed in front of her. Removing the cigarette, she spoke through a puff of smoke that clouded around her head and drifted up into the rafters where it dissipated.

"Can I help you?" she asked in her cold, monotone voice.
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Cassius's eyes fluttered open to a tall and broad blur standing over him. His entire body ached as though he'd been thrown off his bike and then run over with it a few times. Squinting through it, however, his eyes managed to focus on Toril and, despite his obvious pain and his muscle's sheer reluctance to move, a crooked grin slid across his shaggy face.

"Dude..." he said in a weak, raspy whisper, "you gotta cigarette?"

"Not really. Mostly just curious." As it seemed kind of dark in this room Sean removed his hood and sunglasses and revealed those white eyes of his. "Wanted to see where you snuck in from. If I'm intruding just say the word and I'll go somewhere else."

Zoe snorted, sending two jets of smoke from her nostrils before she crushed the cigarette out into the ashtray by the computer. Leaning back, she brought up and closed over a dozen windows on the two computers in front of her at lightning speed before she replied.

"Intruding?" she said, "you don't know who I am do you?" She turned now, looking over at Sean out of the corner of her brown eye before she continued, looking back at the screens. "I'm part of an underground network fighting for meta freedom. We give safe haven to metas on the run. This house is hidden in many ways. Metas stay here as long as they need to before they move on or get back on their feet." Her speech was cold, metallic, almost robotic, as though she were trying to take the compassion out of what she was saying-- and she could have been successful. Her gaze was icy and distant, the monitors reflecting inside her irises like two tiny, flashing bulbs.

"Underground network?" Sean was a little shocked to hear that. He knew things were getting bad but not that bad. "Sounds like I should have come out of the shadows sooner." He looks down at Zoe but is forced to turn away by the glare of her monitors. "Look. If there is anything I can do to help while I'm here don't hesitate to ask."

Zoe didn't turn, the computers still whizzing at her silent command. "I'll let you know," was all she said.

Sean watches her a moment then replaces the hood and glasses before melting down again. No one would hear or see him until the next day. In fact there would be no sign of him until he found his way into the kitchen that morning looking to see if anyone else was awake.

Toril smiled at Cassius' request. "You got spirit kid." He commented, then he quickly sprang to his feet and folding a wad of paper towels into a compress wet them down with some water from a rusty old sink. He returned and lightly dabbed the soothing cool over Cassius' swelled eye and jaw.

The marines had really worked him over. Toril knew the drill, they were just softening him up, breaking his spirit so even if he had the opportunity to escape he'd be hesitant. Cassius was strong, but in time even he would break, everyone did.

"You just try and relax kid. Those bastards won't lay a hand on you again, I promise you that."

Toril looked over the old metal door and took note of the rusty hinges and a plan began to formulate in his mind. It would be risky, but he didn't know when the others might try and rescue them so he had to act.

"Cassius." Toril whispered. "Yelena is going to be out for some time and I can't pull this off alone. I know you're hurting, but when the marines come back I am going to need you to watch my back. Think y'can pull it off?"

Pressing the cool cloth against his face, Cassius grimaced slightly but managed to grin and flash Toril a thumbs-up. "Dude," he replied.
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The next morning, Zoe awoke with her head buried in her arms, folded over her desk. Slowly lifting her aching neck up, she yawned and wiped a small trickle of drool from the corner of her mouth as she squinted at the computer screens. Only a blank window was up on one of them and the other had gone into hibernate. Though she was unsure of exactly when she had finally collapsed to sleep at the desk, it did little to distract her from the data she had stored in her mind.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a battered packet of cigarettes and shook the last one out between her two fingers. She then looked down at the empty package with an aggravated sigh before tossing it into a small garbage can that was threatening to overflow. Shutting off the computers, she leaned back and stretched her tense and tired muscles, pausing only slightly when the smell of coffee reached her. Taking the cigarette unlit between her fingers, Zoe ascended the ladder and padded silently into the kitchen where she found a pot of coffee and a huge stack of pancakes. Furrowing her brow, her lip curled as she headed for the stack muttering "Martha Stewart."

Confident that Cassius would come through when needed, Toril nodded and walked over to iron gate of the cell and looking through the bars checked to see if there were any guards. To his right the hallway ended at a dead end and to his left there was another gate, and no guards, and for that matter there were no cameras as well, at least none that he could see. From the looks of their cell and area beyond they were in a very old part of the base that probably wasn't used anymore.

Toril grabbed hold of the bars and threw his weight against the gate, testing it's strength and at the same time stretching his back and limbering his muscles. His arms flexed, and he focused his telekinetic powers to enhance the power of his pull as he tugged on the gate. Winds began to blow and stir the dust in the cell as Toril pitted his heightened strength against the rusty iron door. The old hinges began to bend under the strain and when Toril felt their integrity weaken, pulled with all is strength at the side of the gate until the hinges snapped, the weight of the gate resting in the large meta-human's exhausted arms. As tired as he was, Toril managed to push the gate back in place and slip the broken pins back in enough to ensure the the door would not fall apart when opened.

Breathing heavily, Toril walked over to the sink and splashed some cool water on his face. He drank some, and ignored the tinny taste of the old pipes as he gulped down several hand-full's, drinking so quickly that he began to choke. Coughing, he leaned against the sink and felt his strength returning. The over-use of his power, especially utilizing his raw telekinetic abilities drained his electrolytes, giving him an incredible thirst for water to replenish them.

Toril noticed Cassius' questioning look, obviously curious why he didn't just bend back the gate so they could escape. "There's another gate and we need key cards and uniforms to get out of this place." he explained as he sat back on to a cot beside Cassius. "Now we wait."

A little over an hour later, the three marines that had previously worked Cassius over opened the gate at the end of the hall and stood before the doorway to the cell. One of the marines pointed his weapon at Toril and told him to get to the back of the cell. He reluctantly complied and then the marine told him to kneel down and place his hands behind his head. The marine then opened the cell door and he and another entered the room.

Toril hardly noticed the two men enter as he was completely focused on the hinges as they creaked against the strain of the heavy door as it swung open. One marine stayed behind and secured the door and as he slammed it shut, Toril could see one of the loose pins slip, and nearly fall to the floor.

One of the two big marines walked over and kicked Cassius' cot while the other kept his weapon trained on Toril. "Rise and shine, Cassy." he ordered.

"Leave him alone." Said Toril, defiantly.

The guard spun around angrily, his rifle raised to the ceiling. "What did you say, boy!"

Toril cleared his throat. "I said, leave him alone, you piece-of-shit, jar-head."

The guard looked at his partner and laughed. "Well, well. Looks like we have ourselves a real hero here. Doesn't it seem that way, Bull."

"Bull?" Questioned Toril looking at the large marine still pointing his weapon at him, then he glanced over at the other, "So does that make you, 'Shit'? Bull and Shit, how fitting." Mocked the big meta-human.

"Hey!" Called the third man outside the barred gate. "The Colonel specifically ordered us not to engage the big one. We're just supposed to shackle him."

Toril could see the rage boiling in the eyes of the marine and knew it wouldn't take much to push him over the edge. "So, 'Shit', is that a family name or just a nick name the boys gave you?"

The marine flew at Toril and kicked him full force in the abdomen with his thick soled combat boot. Pain surged through Toril's body from the force of the blow, but he kept his hands behind his head and only buckled slightly. Straightening up, Toril laughed. "Is that the best you can do?"

"%$@&, I hate mutants!" Growled the marine as he reached back and threw a solid round house punch across Toril's granite jaw causing the man to shake his hand out and check his knuckle against the force of the impact.

Blood trickled from the corner of Toril's mouth but he continued to smile.

"Bull." Called the marine, "How 'bout you take a crack at this 'mutey'."

"My pleasure." Replied Bull who shouldered his rifle while the other stepped back and kept his weapon trained on Toril in case he tried to fight back.

As Bull lumbered toward him, Toril could see that the other marine had turned his back to Cassius. Now was the time to strike. As Bull wound up and threw out a hulking right hand toward Toril's face he lunged at the man with incredible speed driving his shoulder into his body and taking him off the floor. As he picked up the large man and drove for the gate, he was protected from the third man but not the second marine standing with his back to Cassius. He aimed his rifle at Toril as he prepared to throw Bull through the gate and into the last marine who didn't expect that the door to the cell was off it's hinges. Toril just hoped that Cassius could take down the other marine before he got off a shot as he hurled the big marine through the air and into the open gate.

When the 'cowboy' came riding up along side his SUV, Kaleb suddenly felt as if he were in some old western movie and had the sudden desire to respond back with a 'Howdy' and 'I'm the law round these parts'. Instead he stepped out of his vehicle and flashed his badge. "Agent Mitchell, FBI. Are you Henry J. Timble?"

The cowboy nodded and remained seated on his mount, his leathery face impassive.

Kaleb tucked his badge away and pulled out a piece of paper. "I have a warrant here to search your premises, Mr. Timble. It seems that a black 1967 mustang, driven by a suspected felon — ah, shit!" Kaleb exclaimed as he stepped into something squishy and leaped back shaking his foot. "Crap!" he groaned when he saw that he stepped in horse droppings. "These are Italian." he said referring to his shoes.

Kaleb walked over to a pile of rocks and proceeded to scrap off the sole of his shoe and continued, "Do you have knowledge that License Plate DPDCD1 is registered in your name and that the car it was on was driven by a wanted man in the state of New York, we are calling the 'Wrangler'?"

Tim, stepped around the side of the barn and saw Morgan standing at the door. "Morgan, don't move." he said calmly as he stepped behind her. "Step back from tha thar door, direc'ly back. Ya keep backin' up srait one step at a time, till y ar har in front a me."

Morgan stepped back as if she were on a tight rope, only stoppinng when her back was against Tim's chest.

Tim wrapped his arms around Morgan, holding her close to him, "Well now darlin' sum traps ya just can't see, by lookin' 'round." Tim pressed the button on a remote he held in one of his hands, and said calmly "Ya see this har? This har is aremote tha' activates a laser beam, that laser beam shines on a triggerin' device. Ifin' that beam is broken it triggers two claymore anti personell mines thata blowd ya ar anyone else, clean ta the moon. Ya was about a coyote's wisker frum breakin' that beam."