Ace sighed and smiled as her expression softened. "...so you CAN control yourself...... That's good... The power inside you... I'm afraid of it... Earlier in the kitchen with Luciel... I saw your powers seeping out.... David... I want to trust you... I want to trust everyone... And I want to protect them..."
She paused, then replied, "David... To be a leader doesn't mean that you are fearless... Actually... A leader must almost always be afraid. not for himself but for his people. A leader needs to be strong to protect the ones that are close to him. And except the help, kindness, and the wisdom of others.... David, I don't want to see you get hurt or lose control... But I won't just sit and watch you kill others if you were to lose control... I... I want you to help me and I want to help you...so please... Don't forget who you are and who your friends are..." Ace slouch over and pressed her forehead on David's shoulder. The stare down she just had really got to her and she was worn out by it as a result.

David still wasn't used to much human touch. So again, his mind's first reaction was to blink away. But he didn't. He could recognize Ace being a little exhausted. While he still had the adrenaline pumping through his system from burning a house. He wasn't certain to what degree his emotions and actions were influenced by his powers. Sure, what he said to Ace was probably because of them. Due to the hormonal cocktail of adrenaline and endorphins in his body. But with Luciel, he wasn't so sure.

He was grateful though. For the fact that Ace cared. In some way, he hoped he could return the favor. But was release control, even just a little bit, really that bad? Could it be a necessary evil? He knew that almost everything in life was in a moral gray area. When one action is allowed but when is it not? Those were questions that haunted him at night.

"I'll think about what you said...I really will." he told her, with a smile he hoped felt comforting. Slowly he picked her up from her legs, and carried her towards the couch. Where he put her down and covered her with a blanket. "Rest up. We're moving out tomorrow." He didn't leave her side though. He remained in the living. He had the first shift, and he was going to keep his promise. Despite that he really wanted to sleep.

After Ace was placed on the couch; she grabbed David's sleeve and exhaled deeply, then her body relaxed and fell limp. She wasn't used to sleeping on a soft surface but she was too tired to care. The events that occurred earlier was enough to take more than just a few years off of a person's life; Ace was almost certain that she had lost about 10 years of her life. Her mind slowly faded into sleep as she blinked a few times before finally closing all together, her breathing and heart slowed becoming almost nonexistent.

Apollo noticed Luciel enter the kitchen and leave the kitchen. He didn't move and pretended to keep sleeping. He begun thinking about the mark he saw on Ace it look very familiar and it made him tense up. If that mark was really the mark he thought it was then things could have gotten far worse than he had imagined. He had shown her his power and she may have recognized it. He is going to have to stay quiet for a bit to avoid confirming any suspicions.

Stallman muttered with his eyes still closed when he noticed someone in the area around him. He peeked up and thought almost immediately, drunk?

Not that he could complain, he was half-asleep himself. So he awaited whatever would come next.

((Hit writers block on here and a bit short on time, so sorry for it being this short))

The treads squealed in a shrill high pitch as the Schwarzkopfs continued on their path. By now they had gone off the road, and were beelining between the trees. When too clustered, they would merely drive over them, the trunks fortunately thin enough for them to not pose much of an obstacle. By this point the two troop transport Schwarzkopfs had fanned out ahead, and the "special" was in the rear. The special did not have turrets, but the lead two did. These turrets swiveled from position to position, their camera periscopes similarly restless. Crewed turrets were a thing of the past; they were now remotely controlled from the safety of the fighting compartment.

The soldiers inside the Schwarzkopf were in a similar state of readiness, all clinging to the ceiling rails with one hand, their weapons with the other. Not much farther now Kyle thought to himself. "An army marches on its stomach," Kyle had explained during an earlier briefing. "An insurgency isn't much different. Most of the targets are young, urbanized. It's highly doubtful they have much ability to live off the land, unless if one of them can some how summon steaks with their Hex powers." This got some laughs. He had no idea why. It was a bit of a shit joke. He just let it happen, then continued as soon as it died down. " Survival skills are similarly doubtful. Which is to say, they'll certainly have to scavenge. Break into places. Steal. No one with half a brain will let them into a Walmart or what have you. To be honest, we could probably just let them wander aimlessly and inevitably starve to death. But we wouldn't be doing our jobs, would we? They could harm or kill many if we just let them go free. Now, there's only so many places they could have reached in the hours since they broke out, and only so many destinations in the direction they're believed to have headed..." With a gesture, he had summoned a holographic map.

It had been hours since that briefing. A lot of the possible places had been crossed off of that map. No recent signs of people moving through, only those who had evacuated. But the hunt continued, with eyes wide and scanning, and an ear perked attentively for any news from the other search parties.

A few hours passed before Ace woke up to the sound of sirens going off in the village. "Huh.....? They found out our hiding spot already....?" She mumbled sleepily. Ace rubbed her eyes as she sat up and looked at the others slightly concerned and confused. "Should we be getting ready to leave already? And I was just starting to feel relaxed, too..." She sighed, stretching.

Apollo woke up to the sirens and got up and checked out the window. He could see the the soldiers going into the houses across town. He heard Ace and sneaked into the room and said "They haven't checked the neighboring buildings yet, so if we leave now we can get away."

Ace hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to leave without Luciel and Drex but ultimately knew that if stayed any longer; it would mean not only giving up her new found freedom and friends but it would also compromise her companions lives and freedom as well. Finally she nodded reluctantly then looked at David to signal him that it was time to get going. "We have no choice.... I don't want to leave Luciel and Drex behind..." She murmured.
Ace paused then looked at Apollo with a deadly serious look in her eyes before replying, "you and David get out of here. I'll go and look for the others and then we can all meet up in the woods." Before any replies of protest could be made, Ace dashed out of the back doors of the house and into the dark of night and made sure to keep herself well hidden by using the dark to the best of her abilities as she desperately tried to locate Luciel and Drex.

Apollo nodded and went to wake up David. He shook him awake and said " We have to get out of here, the people who are looking for us are in the town." Apollo then made a few orbs and sent them out through the windows and set a few trees on fire on the other side of the village.

Drex shot up at the sound of sirens. "God damnit! I was just starting to enjoy self." Drex rushed to the door, grabbed an apple, and exited the house. He rocketed up into the sky, and from that view he could see a few battalions coming at the village. He noticed a familiar figure running around in the shadows. He came down in an instant, in front of what looked to be, a distressed Ace. "Ace!" He shouted as he ran to her. "There coming, maybe 40, 50 feet away. We have about 5 minutes to get the hell outta here."

Ace pulled Drex close to her and covered his mouth as she backed into the bushes and hid. A squadron of officers then ran by yelling, " quick! I saw the brat go this way! Don't let him escape!"
A few minutes passed before Ace finally whispered, "where were you? I was worried about you!" She paused for a moment then sighed before continuing. "I guess it doesn't matter... Look. I can't leave yet.... Not without Luciel. I gotta find him then we can all high tail it for the hills and get out of this god forsaken town." She then released Drex. " if you want to; you can go ahead and meet up with David in the woods and wait for me there. But when you start running, don't stop until you can't hear the sirens anymore, okay?"

"There were a few officers trailing us, and I couldn't let them catch up." Drex stopped to catch his breath as he listened to Ace. "No, it's fine, I'll go with you." "Where's that damn brat?" "We have to go." He took Ace's hand and cut behind houses looking for Luciel. Once they were safe from the gaurds he released her hand, paused, then continued looking for luciel.

After almost a complete hour of searching, Ace managed to spot Luciel on a park bench with a stranger whom appeared to be homeless. She quickly and quietly rushed over to him and lightly touched his shoulder then noticed the cocktail in Luciel's hand and thought, " so he's an adult? I guess the eyes often deceive..."
Ace replied quietly, "we have to get out of here! The military has already found out about our little hiding place here! The others are waiting for us in the woods. If we don't leave now then it's back to the hell hole we go!" She then glanced over at the man next to him and replied, " if you are a Hex; then I'd probably leave if I was you. The Hex containment unit is everywhere!"