The Windy City's name rang true as cold air rushed against the small woman winding her way through its streets. The street lights began to flicker on as the sun sunk lower beneath the horizon, some of the porch lights lining the street following suit. Addison pulled her jacket closer, the thin material barely holding up against the chilly evening temperatures. One hand kept her hood pulled close over her head. A couple passed by from the opposite direction, the woman laughing, hardly noticing as Addison ducked by. A couple more blocks and she'd be in the clear.

"Hey," a gruff voice suddenly barked to her left, along the walls of one of the alleyways. Addison instinctively reached for the switchblade in her pocket, nearly yanking it out and stabbing it forward as a man stepped in front of her. She backed up a step, the grizzled man eying her strangely. His breath reeked of whiskey, swaying slightly on his feet. "You got a light?"

Addison looked the man up and down. Too drunk. Not an undercover cop. She shook her head, biting out a quick "no" before weaving past him. The man continued to mumble as she strode off, but she didn't even bother to look back. It was time she got inside.

She bordered on jogging by the time she made her way back to the decrepit street she'd called home for over a week. Other than a passing car, which she let pass with her hand to her ear as though speaking into a phone, the block was empty as usual. Taking a quick few looks around, she made her way into a nearby alleyway behind one of the small factory buildings. The light of the streetlamps gave way as the alley went on, and she resorted to patting along the wall as she walked. Her fingers finally found purchase on a pipe, and she hoisted herself upward until she again found her landmark, a windowsill a few feet up.

Pushing the window inwards, she dropped inside as quietly as she could. A small lighter from her pocket allowed a couple of feet of light, enough to work her way amongst the hulking, rusting machinery around her -- ruins of the economy's downfalls. Tucked into one of the corner offices, she found her backpack and sleeping back still tucked beneath the desk.

Addison sighed. "Home sweet home."

[deleted]

Catherine stepped onto the curb, pulling the key to her front gate open with one hand, the other holding the bag of groceries. She had snatched some random guys wallet on the way home, and had been able to buy some basic supplies from the twenty-four hour store down the street. It was a cold night, and Catherine welcomed the warm, safe sensation she got from returning home.

The house that she lived in with her mother was not large one, having only three rooms. A shared bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen attached to the living room, which doubled as a dining room. Turning to close the door, she took down the note her mother had taped to the door. She made her way into the kitchen as she read it, setting down the groceries.

'Cathy, I won't be home until late tonight. I've already eaten, so don't wait up for me. Love you. -Juniper'

Catherine set the note down, smiling slightly and running a hand through her hair. She and her mother were struggling to make ends meet, but they never forgot each other. Catherine perched on the windowsill and turned her body, so that she was looking at the patch of vines that let up past the window and onto the roof. She tugged on one, making sure it was stable, before climbing up. The fog that came around the city in the morning had disappeared, making it so there was an almost clear view of the stars. Even if she couldn't see the stars, the city was almost like a mirror, it's lights twinkling innocently, making it hard to believe the amount of crime that went on around the outskirts where Catherine lived.
She was actually very lucky for a shifter. She had a home and someone who loved her, and enough supplies to get along well enough. Catherine smiled, closing her eyes as she contemplated this.

Satisfied. Jean supposed that would be an appropriate description of his mood right now despite the dreary weather. Gloves were removed as he stepped out of the alley and into the streets to avoid attention the blood stains would have drawn. Placing them into a pocket carefully, he joined his hands behind his head, running his fingers through his hair to hide the claws that tipped them. This part of the city was the type that most people stayed away from, but Jean walked self-assuredly and with confidence. He was vigilant of course, quite a few people had bones to pick with him, but gave off a lazy, unconcerned air. His reputation wasn’t unknown to those in the business nor was his employer, so people gave him a wide berth when he strolled down the street, whistling a chippy tune. Someone had a job tonight, and someone must have done well.

His cheery mood was easily crushed as he drew closer to his residence though. More and more checkpoints had been popping up throughout the city as the military took over in lieu of the regular, and less well-equipped, police force. While he was able to bypass and avoid them for the most part, their numbers were starting to worry Jean. Turning down an alley while still a few streets away from the blockade, he followed the twisting turns for several minutes as the noise began to fade away. Although it took some work: hopping fences, cutting through abandoned buildings and lots, it wasn’t as if he had an alternative. Eventually, he managed to sneak his way back into a more respectable area of the city, where the middle class citizens rather than criminals lived.

His residence was a small flat that housed him comfortably. A single bedroom and washroom with a small living room and a kitchen area. Nothing extravagant, but more than most Shifters could ask for. He eyed the apartment complex that he called home from the street for a moment before he figured that the night was still young and a well-done job called for some celebration. It’d been a while since he had gotten one, and now that he had some funds to look forward to it was the perfect time to treat himself. Turning away to wander the streets as he wondered where to go, Jean didn’t let the chilly winds bother him one bit.

Seamus had been walking across stretches of fields and trees for a while now… had to be at least 24 hours. Where ever the facility he’d escaped from exactly was, it was off the beaten path for sure, he’d discovered. He was hungry, tired, and feeling an empty hole in his stomach thinking about Natasha who’d helped him escape. He knew she was dead and it was all his fault, but she’d only wanted him out of there. And here he was. Doing nothing but wandering. Pathetic he scolded himself, though his face only twitched slightly at the thought.

He was wearing a plain white tshirt, that had been modified to let him wings out of the back. He had a black denim jacket he was wearing that covered his wings, but it was suffocating. He currently had it slung over his shoulders, wings spread a bit to relax them. His normal looking jeans and tennis shoes completed his average look, minus the black feathered appendages of course.

He started to come across houses in his journey now, though. And although they looked abandoned, he slipped the jacket back on and continued walking. Before long, he approached a population sign with some graffiti on it. Plainfield it read. Hmm… rather boring, but that probably meant average people lived here. The population count had been sprayed over so he had no idea how many average people be might encounter, but he just dipped his head, black hair falling and brushing his nose, as he continued on in the direction he was headed.

Freedom was a people watcher. She loved to stay just out of sight to have a full unfiltered view of the world. Her best friend didn't think this was a good use of her time but she insisted to Eve that getting to know humans better will help them interact and avoid them as needed. Freedom never considered herself human. Although she basically was a human with animal DNA (rather than an animal with human DNA) she felt so different, and shunned from normal society, that her perception of her blood and 'normal' blood grew as a distinction between a humanoid verses a new species; evolved from homo sapiens to animal shifters, whatever that would be called. And yet society treats them as if they are a sort of error of human evolution, afraid to accept their abilities as something good merely because they are afraid of the new and unknown...and History repeats itself.

"Alondra!" Eve called, snapping Freedom out of her usual racing, day dreaming thoughts, focusing back to her friend. Freedom was her chosen name when she came to the states for a better life, which didn't work out as well as she and her parents had hoped for, but Eve knew her life story, knew who she really was down to her core, and knew if she needed to get her attention she would use her birth name. Free turned her crystal blue eyes to Eve and smiled sheepishly. She didn't need to explain as Eve knew she day dreamed often.

Eve brought her attention for a good reason though. Freedom turned to follow Eve's serious gaze and her smirk dropped. Free saw a young man walking down the street ahead of them. Eve and Freedom sat on a large wall, to the side under some shadows. This was Free's favorite place to people watch, the evening being the safest time to linger in the open for so long and in one place. In a few minutes the young man would be walking right by their wall. They had a decision to make. Essentially, if they remained quiet, they would go unnoticed. Most humans didn't notice their hiding but most Shifters did, due to their enhanced sense of smell. "Oh Eve!" Freedom whispered, trying to get a good look of his face through the strands of black hair that fell down around his face. "Do you think he's a Shifter? He looks kinda...lost, doesn't he?" Freedom turned to look at Eve with pleading eyes. She would do what she wanted but loved when her best friend joined in on her. She wanted to go up and introduce themselves. Freedom looked back to the young man and tilted her head. "His jacket looks kind of bulky, doesn't it?" She asked softly, curiously. She looked back to Eve, waiting for what she would say or do.

Seamus continued walking, glancing around now and again to take in his surroundings. He wondered if he was near any truly populous city, or if he was somewhere like the countryside of Wyoming that could stretch on forever. Of course, that was just a stereotype, but it’s not like he’d ever been to Wyoming to dismiss it. Or any state for that matter. He knew all about the US and other countries, he could prattle off facts all day. But it was a laboratory type of knowledge. Nothing with meat.

He was thinking to himself when he suddenly felt like he was being watched. After being watched on the daily for so many years, one kind of got used to the feeling, but still recognized it when it was there. Frowning, Seamus lifted his head in a very bird like fashion, twisting his gaze this way and that until he spotted some legs dangling down. Following their lines upwards, he saw two girls sitting in the shadows on a wall almost right above him. His frown lifted and he tilted his head in a curious way that let his hair fall out of his vision.

”Um, hello…” he said, his first words ever spoken to someone who wasn’t a scientist, nurse, or doctor. That was how people greeted each other out here too wasn’t it? Perhaps. He’d have to wing it nonetheless.

When Seamus looked to Freedom and Eve directly she raised her eye brows, her body tensing by natural reaction, fingers gripping the wall and ready to flee the moment she was given a reason to. Eve did more than ready herself; as Seamus spoke she fell backwards off of the wall and out of sight. Behind the wall a small bat fluttered away in the night. Freedom glanced behind her with a frown, quickly turning her eyes back to Seamus. Clearly they were found out. She was too curious though not to investigate. Her curiosity was a trait that helped and hindered her on many levels, but she loved exploring and taking risks and she calculated in her mind that this individual was most likely not patrol and not a threat. Most humans she came across who were not patrol were not a severe threat. Freedom smiled down to Seamus, unsure how much he could see of her in the shadows up on the wall. "Hello" she replied simply.

With that, Freedom hopped down off of the wall. Her lithe frame was fitted in skinny jeans, converse, and a black t-shirt under a navy blue unzipped hooded sweatshirt. She placed her hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt and stepped boldly forward towards Seamus. Once she was close enough she surveyed him intently, her eyes scanning from his face, down his body, then back up to his face. "Are you?..." she started softly, more to herself, as she raised a hand towards his jacket. Unless he stopped her her hand moved to his jacket to pull it backwards, curious to see what made it bulge slightly, having suspicions of what he was hiding.

Carefully climbing back down the wall, Catherine slipped back through the window and into her room. She grabbed the her dark jean jacket and slipped it over her her green floral shirt. Making sure to grab her leather gloves, she walked quickly over to the door. Leaving the lights on in the front hallway, she shut the door quietly behind her. The gate had easily been jumped over, And now, here she stood, stretching in the dim light the street lamps offered.

And then she ran. The cold wind whipped around her face as she dashed around obstacles and jumped over fences and walls. Things passed by, barely a blur. Stray pieces of litter flew past her feet, and she jumped around a passed out man in one of the dark allies. Graffiti adorned the faded brick walls,the messages that they held unreadable as Catherine ran past. She loved it. She loved the feeling she got out of this, the feeling of freedom she got by just letting it all out. Letting her instincts take over released a sizable amount of stress, and in this part of the city she was just regarded as a normal girl from the slums. No one had ever stopped her, and if they tried she was gone before they could get a grip on her. Quickly climbing up a ladder, she pulled herself up onto one of the low roofs and over into the alley parallel from the one she was in before.

She was suddenly shaken from her joy when she forcibly slammed into someone, knocking them and herself to the ground. Catherine held her head in her hands and growled before looking up at the person she had collided with, eyes narrowing as her slitlike pupils locked onto them. They had long blonde hair and azure blue eyes. Catherine almost assumed that the person was female, but upon further inspection she found that they were most likely male, and seemed taller than her, although she couldn't be sure since they were both on the ground.

"Urg, sorry. Are you alright? Didn't see you there." Slowly getting up, Catherine offered a glove clad hand to the man.

‘Damn,’ had been Jean’s first thought when he heard rapid footsteps approaching from behind. He spun on his feet, despite knowing that he wouldn’t be able to raise his guard on time; the other individual was just too close if the sounds were anything to go by. And they were. The young lady crashed into him as he managed to get a glimpse of her appearance and sent both of them down on the ground. Successfully holding back a snarl, Jean snapped up and sized her up as quick in the moment she was still holding her head. Definitely not someone out for him, or he would have already been bleeding out, curse his lack of attention.

His expression calmed somewhat with that knowledge, though an eyebrow was raised when their eyes met for a moment. He didn’t dismiss them as a trick of the light or just imagination, her eyes had been slitlike like those of a Shifter. “Interesting…” he murmured to himself as he waved off her attempt to help him and instead picked himself up with little trouble. He paused momentarily, taken aback by just how short the girl was in comparison to him. For that moment, he was glad he hadn’t decided to throw himself back in an attempt to surprise his “ambusher”, she could have gotten hurt pretty damn bad. “It’s fine,” he reassured her with a small smile, “though, it’s a bit late to be out running the streets. Not as safe as you might think at this time, specially for a Shifter.”

He leaned back on a foot as he finished speaking with a grin, wondering what she would do. Would she run? Or try and have him keep his silence? Or maybe she’d bluff? Frankly he didn’t know what her reaction would be, she was the only other of his “kind” that he’d met since moving to this city. He knew how he would act if someone had found his “secret”, but then again he wasn’t exactly your average guy, Shifter or normal.

Seamus frowned just slightly when one of the girls fell back off the wall. He could only assume she was just that shy, not noticing the bat that flew away after she did so. He hesitated, wondering if he should just keep walking, as it seemed to him that he’d disturbed them, when the other girl said hello. He gave a satisfied nod, glad he had not been completely ignored. Perhaps it was just the other girl’s nature and not him and his hello that had unnerved her. He would have to believe that in order to keep interacting with people.

The girl who stayed hopped down, and Seamus was better able to take in her appearance. Short, bright red hair, very blue eyes and tanned skin. Definitely shorter than him, maybe older? Maybe the same age? He couldn’t tell. She didn’t look younger than him though he was pretty sure. Her outfit looked fairly casual, not unlike his own, and it made him more comfortable. He was used to seeing coats and suits and scrubs. Jeans and tshirts were nice.

Are you…? the girl spoke, making Seamus raise an eyebrow. ”Am I what?” he asked, his tone simply confused as the girl came closer. He took a step back, something in him skittish a bit. Were people outside the lab this forward? With the other girl disappearing over the wall, he’d begun to believe already they were shyer. But the red head’s hands now gripped his jacket and moved to pull it back. He again hesitated, but slowly let her, looking at her while biting his bottom lip. Had he just made a huge mistake? What if his wings scared her? A few black feathers fell as he just took off his jacket, looking back towards his wings. ”Umm… I didn’t know if it was safe…” he said, hoping to explain why he wore the jacket in the first place, his voice even and on the soft side.

Freedom pulled the jacket back just far enough to get a good look of the black wings folded underneath. "Wow" she said in surprise.

”Umm… I didn’t know if it was safe…”

"Oh!" she exclaimed, letting the jacket fall back down to cover the wings beneath, giving it an extra tug to ensure his wings were completely hidden. "You're right, it's not safe" she said, lowering her voice. "There are a lot of patrols roaming the city looking for Shifters. I've only heard the worst stories of what they do to them if they're caught." She spoke in a matter of fact kind of way as everyone in the city knew what a Shifter was by the given nickname. She glanced down the street to her left then to her right, making sure there was no one coming their way.

"I'm Freedom" she said, turning her bright eyes back up to him and extending her hand. She looked at him more closely through the dim light provided by the nearest street lamp and frowned slightly. "You look exhausted. Are you from around here? If you want a place to stay you can crash at my apartment, get some warm food and water." She was curious to hear his story as she guessed he had been traveling for a while and was new to their city.

Catherine watched the man stand up, realizing how tall he was compared to her.
“It’s fine,” he reassured her with a small smile, “though, it’s a bit late to be out running the streets. Not as safe as you might think at this time, specially for a Shifter.”

Watching as he leaned back, Catherine studied him for a moment. She was slightly surprised by his immediate knowledge of shifters, but that only fed into her current belief.
"I could say the same for you." She replied with a smirk, holding up one of the gloves that had previously been on his hand. "You really should be more careful. This place is full of thieves, and these are some pretty nice gloves." Leaning against the wall after throwing the man his gloves, Catherine shoved her hands in her pockets. The cold was starting to get to her. Looking up, she smiled as she got a glimpse of one of the bright stars.

"So, whats a shifter doing in a place like this? Shouldn't you be at home or something?" Looking up to see his reaction, she smirked again. "The claws kind of give it away. Plus you smell like lizard." She pulled her jacket closer, sticking her tongue out. She didn't often get to talk to another shifter, and this one seemed interesting.

Seamus was surprised by her reaction, expecting her to say something out of fear, or something that said she expected such a malformation. After all, she’d gone right for his jacket, and he figured people out here were either used to this kind of thing, or afraid by it. But she seemed impressed. He shrugged his jacket back on, eyebrows furrowed slightly but expression grateful as she said he was right about it not being safe. ”Oh alright,” he nodded, making sure the jacket was tight on him. He tilted his head in towards her a bit as she lowered her voice, expression darkening.

Shifters Hmm, he hadn’t recalled ever hearing the term before. Was that what he was? Apparently. And he didn’t want to get caught. He could only thank fate, luck, whatever was watching out for him, that he’d met this girl first and not someone who would be afraid of him or turn him over to these ‘patrols’.

As she extended her hand, Seamus took it, shaking it and tilting his head a bit when she said her name. That was different. Wasn’t freedom a concept, not a name? Then again, he supposed anything could be a name. ”I’m Seamus,” he said firmly before letting go of her hand and hesitating at her question.

”Um, sure, food and water would be great,” he smiled slightly with a nod, letting her lead so he could walk next to her, where ever they were going. ”I don’t exactly know where I’m from. I’ve been walking for a day so… well I’m just really not sure,” he said, frowning heavily and exhaling deeply. It suddenly dawned on him that she might diagnose him with amnesia, and he looked up at her with a less concerning expression. ”I mean, well, I don’t know the name of the place. You see I’m from this lab, where they kept me my whole life, so… all of this…” he indicated, waving about them a little, ”Is new to me,” he finished, not knowing if someone like him was rare or not. Not many people escaped from labs did they? Surely not.

He had noticed the cold night air on his hand the moment she had managed to swipe the glove. She had deft hands, he'd give her that much. 'Probably feline strain.' Swiping the thrown glove out of the air, Jean placed it in a pocket before removing the other and doing the same. Dropping the matter of her essentially pick pocketing him in favor of answering her question, he took up a spot on the wall opposite to her. He began with a shrug before saying, "Some jobs are better done at night. Mine is one of them."

Jean guessed she was trying to get a rise or reaction from him, though for what reason he didn't know. She seemed tricky enough that she could have been one of the boss'... and actually that wasn't too far out there. If she was though, it'd be best for him to stumpy act as if he suspected nothing. All that raced through his mind, and he was speaking again before the silence turned strange. "Cute, kid, cute," he muttered in a dry tone as he raised an eyebrow at her stuck-out tongue.

"In your own words, I could ask the same. A young girl out and alone after dark is much more unusual than someone like myself." Noticing that the chill seemed to be getting to her though, Jean moved away from the wall and started to walk out of the alley. "But I was planning to grab something to eat, if you really must know." It wasn't the most inviting gesture, but he paused at the alley's entrance.

"Seamus" she repeated back to him. "Lovely name" she said with a smile. He was not like many Shifters she had come across before. She wasn't sure what it was about him but she was interested. When he showed interested in food and drink she began to lead the way down the street. When Seamus began speaking of where he came from she turned to look at him, giving him her full attention. But when he finished she came to a complete stop and stared at him, her mouth slightly open, the tips of her fangs just visibly grazing her pink lips. Escaped from a lab? She had never heard of any Shifter escaping from anything.

"You...escaped from a...a lab?" she repeated, as if she couldn't understand English and comprehend what he had just said. Her face was in surprise as he obviously had given her new she had never heard before or didn't think was possible, something as grand as someone walking on water. "That's not...possible" she continued, seeing the look on her face and imaging what he must be thinking. She had so many questions for him. "I mean, how could you ever escape any facility meant to hold in Shifters? And...what did they do to you?"

A sound down the alley way alerted Freedom to glance over her shoulder. Her eyes, seeing well in the dark, made out two figures, their police caps recognizable by shape.

"Uh..." she said in barely a whisper. "We gotta go...like now." She grabbed Seamus by the hand and began speed walking forward. She gave a second glance behind her and realized they had been seen.

"Oi folks, hold up, we just have a question." The policeman's voice was friendly enough but his urgent walk that quickly broke in to a jog made it clear they were out on patrol and looking for Shifters, a routine Freedom knew so well.

Catherine quickly walked over to Jean until she was beside him. A cool breeze blew her hair, making it whip at her face before falling back onto her shoulders. "Really. Well I hope you don't mind if I joined you." She replied, smiling up at him. She had ever, not once in her life, had a conversation this long with another shifter. As Catherine sniffed the cold air once more, she noticed two things. One, was that her new 'friend' smelled like blood, and two, there were distant footsteps coming closer. Brushing off the latter as just two of the many people that resided in the streets, she focused on the formers. Looking down at her gloved hands, she noticed there was blood on them also. The gloves he had...

As they stepped just out of the alley, Catherine was determined to get to know this man. "Hey, um, did you like, kill someone? You smell like blood, plus you kind of have it one your gloves. I don't mean to pry, it's just that I-" Before she could finish, she was interrupted. A body had slammed into hers, catching her off guard. As she fell back, sitting up by Jeans feet, she scowled. That was the second time this night she had forcibly been introduced to someone via body slam. Scanning over the person, she noticed that this time they were female, With short orange hair. She also noticed that they weren't alone, as there was a man standing next to her. He had black hair, and an oddly bumpy looking jacket.

"Urgh, sorry. Are you okay?" Catherine tried once again to stand, only to almost fall, leaning agains't the wall to catch her self. Cursing mentally, she looked down. Her ankle had been sprained. She cursed again, out loud this time. A sprained ankle means she could't run if these people proved dangerous. Turning to Jean, she was about to ask what they should do when more footsteps caught her attention. Whipping her head around and straining to hear, she caught a few words, one of them being 'shifters'. Catherine suddenly realized why these people were in such a hurry. Quickly helping the girl up, she grabbed the mans wrist and pulled them into the alley just as two men clad in police uniforms ran past. She stayed pressed agains't the wall for a few more minutes before straightening herself out and letting the two strangers go. "Sorry again. Um, are you two, er," She couldn't find the courage to say it out loud, there might still be cops around. Leaning in, she whispered the word. "Shifters?"

Giving the people her personal space, she leaned agains't the wall. She looked around at them before addressing the group. "Do you guys have a place to stay? My place is just down a few streets, and it's a shifter friendly house."

She might have only got a shrug in response, but Jean’s expression showed that he wasn’t adverse to the idea of company for his late meal. He wasn’t hurting for money at the moment, and even felt a bit generous tonight. With Catherine at his side he began to walk, counting on her to keep up. His grin grew just a bit when she broached the topic that must have come to mind when she handled his gloves. Turning to her to answer, Jean found himself instead stepping out of the path of two individuals. He tried to pull Catherine out of the way, but only managed to somewhat break her fall so she didn’t go down too hard. Looking up quickly, he scanned the two individuals before determining they weren’t dangerous. On the contrary they seemed almost panicked for some reason, one that Jean quickly figured out from the two cops that seemed to be in pursuit.

Stifling a chuckle as Catherine basically dived back into the alley with the two in hand, Jean shook his head as he turned to approach the officers. He wasn’t blind after all, she was limping after that fall, and he wasn’t counting the officers to be either. Pressing themselves against the alley wall wasn’t going to stop the officers from noticing if the pair actually bothered to look. Sliding his hands into his pocket, he gave a small nod when the two came close enough to turn their attention on him. “Nice night for a jog isn’t it,” he called out with a disarming smile as he watched the two for their reaction. It was quickly apparent who was the senior in charge out of the pair, especially when his junior was shooting him nervous glances now. The officer stared at Jean for a few moments before recognition hit, and the scowl that came with it.
“You’re one of Malko’s?”
“That is what the boss likes to be called at times, yes.” He secretly relished the nervous gulp the junior made as realization seemed to dawn on the younger officer. It seemed that the boss’ influence extended to these individuals as well, like it did for most of their colleagues. They might not have been paid off directly, but someone above them certainly had. So the two sides tolerated one another, and just generally kept out of one another’s business. Malko would feed the police information and money, and the police would leave his “employees” alone.
“You seen two individuals walk by?”
“Can’t say I have officer,” he replied, his smile not even faltering for a moment with the flat out lie. He met the officer’s stare without any hesitation and after a few moments the man finally looked aside, not finding what he wanted.
“Let’s go.” With the gruff order, he marched past Jean, still scowling. The junior seemed relieved at the least, hurrying past him without so much as a glance. He looked over his shoulder as the two moved past the alley without so much as even looking into it. ’Ah, frustration.’ Smiling to himself, he walked ahead for a while before turning into a random alley. From there it was only a few twists and turns before he found himself back in the original alley, dropping to the asphalt and grinning at the sight of Catherine and the two finally relaxing.

“Wow…” he murmured to himself. He could understand looking out for others, but inviting three strangers she’d just met to her house? He wasn’t sure if he should be impressed or appalled by Catherine. “I’ve got my own apartment, but thanks for the offer anyways. If you give me the address I can bring by some chow.” The three of them didn’t look, or act, like they could wander the streets as freely as he could after all.

”Thanks. Freedom is neat, too,” Seamus responded to the girl, smirking friendly like. When he finished his story, he took a few steps forward, and then realized Freedom wasn’t walking next to him anymore. With a frown, he turned back around and looked at her, confused by the gaping expression on her face. You… escaped from a… a lab?

”Umm… well, it wasn’t easy,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. That’s not… possible Seamus looked at the ground a bit, wondering if she thought he was a liar. He wasn’t sure how to get her to believe him, but maybe she never would so was there a point really? He looked back up to her, still looking at her with a questioning look on his face. He hesitated to continue answering her questions, thinking about the right way to do so, so she wouldn’t think he was lying. He was interrupted by a noise though, and his eyes lifted at the same time that Freedom looked behind her.

He didn’t understand why they had to run, but maybe these were people after him. Maybe they were after her for some reason? Oh well, he nodded and began running alongside the redhead to get away from the men in uniform. ”What would they do to us if they caught us?” he asked as they went quickly away, not looking where he was going really. Apparently neither was Freedom, because next thing he knew she was running into another body and Seamus skidded to a halt. Looking in front of him, he saw a tall blonde fellow, and down on the ground to his side, Freedom on top of a girl with long brown hair.

”Ummm…” he said, unsure what to say to the two, but he wasn’t given time to think when the brunette grabbed his hand and pulled them into an alley. He shut up and just listened as the girl whispered and her blonde friend went to talk to the men chasing them.

”I uh… can’t speak for Freedom. But she offered her apartment to me already,” were people outside the lab always this protective and friendly? He should have escaped long ago… And he simply shrugged when asked if he was a Shifter. Apparently he was according to Freedom, so, he supposed so. He looked to Freedom with raised eyebrow, wondering about her take on what was happening here.

”What would they do to us if they caught us?” Seamus asked as they moved.

"You don't want to know. Well...if you do, I have plenty of stories."

Freedom glanced over her shoulder to see how much distant they had gotten from the policemen, looking for a few moments with such intent on being out of sight that she didn't see the figures in front of them. She didn't think for a moment that anyone else would be on the streets at this hour but police, a warning her friend had told her so many times before, urging against her late night people-watching routines. When she slammed in to Catherine, she rebounded and hit the ground, rolling over once. Stunned she got her her hands and knees, her head spun for a moment. Her right side and shoulder ached slightly. Her mind light up with adrenaline as the first thought she had was they had been cornered by the police! She had been caught before, almost taken away, and it was frightening enough to kick in enough adrenaline for a strong fight or flight reflex. Feeling trapped and off-balance she was ready to fight, looking for the policemen but only seeing Jean and Catherine, would was bending down to help her up. Before she could get a word in the woman ushered them to the side alley way, out of sight, leaving the man behind. Freedom was breathing heavily, catching her breath. but realized by the smell of Catherine that the strangers they so literally bumped in to were Shifters just like them.

Freedom looked to Seamus then back to Catherine. "It'd be nice to get away from my place for awhile. I share the place with a few others and they are...uh, tough company. I could use a break from them anyway." she looked to Catherine. "Thanks for the invite. I'm Freedom, by the way."

Before she could extend her hand though, Jean came back to join them. Freedom looked at him, glanced behind him to see no policemen, then looked back to him. "What the hell was that?" she asked in disbelief. It was never this easy to get away from patrol men. Usually by now she has shifted completely for a swift getaway.