Willa thought about her hair. It was the most beautiful shade of red. It's color is what made it so beautiful, so memorable. She knew that although he was right she knew she had to change it for a while. On the way back to the motel they went into the grocery store and found a color that she thought might cover most of her natural color. It was just a plain old brown that when it was going over her natural hair color would become a brilliant auburn. Pretty but not red and right now she would do just about anything to keep them from getting noticed. She grabbed a couple of boxes and a couple of tank tops off of the seasonal isle. She had no idea how long it would be til they were safe.

When they got back she smiled at Paon's snoring. "I hope he isn't hibernating for the season." Willa brushed her hair and then looked at the boxes. "Ok, here goes nothing. Let's hope it looks decent. This stuff is going to make my eyes water. It might make you run for the hills. I'd open a window if I were you."

She looked at herself and then into the bathroom she went to dye her hair. An hour later she blew dry her hair and when she raised up and could see it she didn't recognize herself. She was satisfied with it she brushed it and came out into the room. "Well the new me has multi-tonal hair. People won't immediately know me by my hair now. That will keep us safer. I can always let it go back later if I want to." She hoped that Benji thought it was ok. "So? How is it?"

@Helo

Benji was pretty quiet during the trip to the grocery store, he was still abnormally focused on their surroundings, his heart beating faster than it should and his body tense in expectation of danger. There was a group of teenagers in the checkout line ahead of them that smelled like they bathed in that cheap spray cologne. The smell made his nose burn and his stomach completely nauseous. He was thankful when they left the store and returned to the motel. He smiled a bit at the sleeping Paon. If it wasn't for the guy's snoring he might have checked for a pulse but he seemed to be breathing. He chuckled at Willa's comment that he could be hibernating. He shrugged and opened a window like she had asked but didn't really pay too much attention to her advice, how bad could it really smell.

He had definitely made a mistake in underestimating the smell of the hair dye. It was horrible, it was ten times worse the smell those kids at the grocery store wore. It blocked out every other smell and made his nose feel like it was on fire. He could only stand it for a few minutes before he went outside the room, closed the door, and sat next to the door as standing by the door made him look too conspicuous. He could still smell the foul chemicals from outside but it wasn't nearly as bad. Although he was exhausted he was still too alert to fall asleep even if he wanted to. He'd failed Willa earlier, as much as people he knew might joke about it Benji truly saw himself as a supernatural guard dog, protecting people from danger was his role. Today he failed in his role and he had failed Willa. She had done her part, disabling the guns, using her powers to their fulfillment. He had to try harder and to be better not only to protect those he cared for but because he was the last of his family and he had to honor their memories and be worthy of being the one who survived.

When Benji heard the hairdryer on he pulled his phone, a disposable plain cell, from his pocket and dialed up a nearby pizza place. He figured the pizza would there by the time she was done. The pizza ended up arriving before Willa was done with her hair so he went back inside and left the pizza box on a table. The horrible smell had mostly left the room but he still caught hints of it and of course none of the smells or noise had disturbed his sleep. He wished he could be that relaxed for a even a minute. He grabbed a beer from the small mini fridge that was in the room, he kept beer and water in it. He sat in one of the rooms chairs and waited only another couple minutes before Willa came out of the bathroom with darker hair. She asked him how it was and he immediately smiled.

“You look stunning, as always. How do you like it?” He replied. He knew how much she loved her hair, it was important to her and while, if he was totally honest, he liked the red slightly better, hair wasn't important to him. She could shave her head for all he cared and she'd still be Willa, he liked her for the person that she was not for her hair color.

----------------------------------------------------------

Charlie drank quite a bit more than he usually did and his mood was clearly more somber than it had been earlier. Thoughts of watching a creature burn seemed exponentially worse than skinning a sedated creature that looked like a monster already. He took another shot of well whiskey with Murphy. Charlie made a face like he was going to hurl but held it back.

“You okay bro?” Murphy asked. Charlie said nothing but nodded a yes. “Well let's go outside, I need a smoke.” Charlie was thankful for the suggestion. The fresh air on the bar's patio made his head feel a lot better and after a few minutes his surroundings stopped spinning. “Feeling wary about tomorrow?” Mack asked as he lit up a cigarette.

“Yeah a bit, is it that obvious?” He asked. Mack nodded while inhaling and offered the pack to Charlie who shook his head in reply.

“I guess some of the things we do seem cruel. Some of them seem human.” Charlie said.

“Yeah they do, but it's act man, they aren't human. I'm not some psychopath, I wouldn't do this shit to person or even an animal but what we're dealing with is pure evil.” Mack said as he knocked ashes from the cigarette into an ashtray. “I had an older sister, she was always looking out for me, keeping me out of trouble. We were pretty close and she was in school to become a doctor. A vampire murdered my sister in a parking lot. If these were people I wouldn't do this, but these are monsters. No one else is doing a damn thing about it either, except Dr. McConnel and his labs. The government, the police they know about these monsters and they keep it a secret and cover up these murders and people keep dying. We pull these monsters off the streets and we keep them away from good people. Being a hero isn't easy Charlie, what we do is hard but everyone at those labs is a hero in my eyes. Sometimes doing what's right means getting your hands dirty.” Murphy said his piece calmly and with more sincerity than Charlie had heard from anyone who worked at the labs.

“You really think they're all evil?” Charlie asked, though he was pretty convinced by Murphy.

“I know it, I see it them every day at the labs man. I'm not the only one whose lost someone; Dr. West's son was a toddler when he was killed by werewolf on a camping trip, Baker in accounting's wife was killed by a demon, Barnes nearly died from a witches' curse and Dr. Harper's infant was stole by fairy's. Those are just a few, I know they recruit people who've been victims of these monsters, helps give us a sense of justice.” Murphy said proudly.

Charlie liked the thought of doing something heroic. He knew he'd never be a traditional hero but if his work in the labs and through science could really make a difference then that was more than he could hope for. “You make a good point Murphy, I guess it just takes some getting used to.”

“No shit it does, some of this stuff is intense.” Murphy agreed as he left the cigarette butt in the ashtray and followed Charlie back into the bar.

Willa's eyes had burned from the hair dye. She had turned on the bathroom fan on and it didn't seem to work very well. After doing everything she could to lessen the stench she dried her hair which still stunk like rotten eggs. Next she bounced over the bed and opened all of the windows in the room. She kept the room aired out as much as she could. "I am all for going outside to eat if you want to." She ran back into the bathroom and got the remaining dye and package and came out with them. "First I have to get rid of this." She went down to the garbage can at the other end of the motel parking lot.

Willa came back and sat outside and breathed the mostly clean air. Willa sat outside having grabbed a slice and slipped her shoes off. She was enjoying the flavor of the food and the feel of the grass on her feet. She was comfortable in the tank top and jeans that she was wearing and she could look over and see Benji smiling at her. She felt freer than she had in a very long time. She wondered if he knew how he made her feel. She thought he might but she didn't want to mess anything up. They had already lost too much time. She lay back in the grass and looked up at the white puffy clouds as the sun was starting to go down.

Willa heard someone and she sat up thinking it was Benji. When she opened her eyes there was a big man and another more averaged size. They both reeked of booze and they were dirty. The big one grabbed Willa's foot and she screamed and kicked at him. "Let go of me!"




Maren went home and marvelled at the chances that she would have run into her savior. She was just as she had remembered her. She was concerned knowing there would be another round up soon. She was concerned that Willa and her wolfman were in the vicinity.

@Helo

Benji grabbed the food and followed Willa outside. He sat beside her in the grass, trying focus on the moment and relax some. He watched as clouds and birds went by and as the moon started to rise. The moonlight calmed him a great deal, he thought for a moment about saying something to Willa but she appeared to be sleeping and decided not to bother her.

He smelled the booze on the man as he approached and Benji tensed up as he kept an eye on the man. The second and larger man was quickly behind him and the man smashed a bottle across his head as Benji turned to face him. The first man went after Willa as Benji struggled to his feet. He swung at the second man knocking him back and grabbed the mans arm as he swung the broken bottle at him. He twisted the mans arm until he dropped the bottle and kicked it away from the assailant and knocked the man to the ground with a punch that broke the mans nose.

Benji heard Willa scream and that was enough for him to let go of control. He hadn't planned on killing the men, he thought that might upset Willa, but any plans of mercy quickly left his mind. He relinquished himself to the wolf and strength, power, and rage took him over. He snarled but suppressed the urge to howl, not wanting to attract onlookers. His bones stretched, broke, and reformed as his appearance radically changed. The transformation was quick, violent and painful. His skin gave way to thick gray fur, he grew razor sharp teeth and claws, and fervid yellow eyes. His shirt hung around him in ribbons, his jeans torn in several places ended above his calves, and his shoes were completely shredded by his now large and wolf like feet and claws.

He focused his attention and rage at the first man he saw who had grabbed Willa's foot. He grabbed the man by the shoulder, dug his claws into the man, and tossed him several feet away. His attention focused back on the on the the second man and quickly pinned him to the ground, his claws digging into the mans shoulders. His teeth snapped, going for the throat as the man fought desperately to keep Benji's fangs from finding flesh. Benji snarled and growled as the man clawed at his face and snout. The man grabbed a nearby shard of glass and drove it deep into Benji's side, gaining just enough time to squirm his way out Benji's grasp. He chased after the second man and quickly ended his life with a powerful swipe. He then locked eyes with the first man and prepared to pounce.

------------------------------------------------

Charlie was seated at a table with a few of the other guys, including Murphy, playing a game Charlie vaguely remembered from college called Asshole. Charlie was really enjoying the sense of comradery shared by his new co-workers. He didn't really party much when he was in college, he was always busy with class and had felt like he missed out most of the fun part of college. Here he felt like he really belonged, they didn't mind that he had some doubts and his colleagues had all be willing to reassure him of the importance of their work. It was Charlie's turn to play a card but he was distracted by one of the bartenders. He watched as the average looking man toughed the pint glasses and caused them to frost over.

“Any day Charlie.” Murphy said.

“Check that guy out, I'm pretty sure he just frosted those glasses with magic.” Charlie said in a hushed tone.

“Nice work, you've spotted a witch.” Dr. Randall said.

“Warlock, dude witches are warlocks right. Could be a frost dragon or something else?” Murphy asked.

“Who cares what it is, someone tell Dr. West. We catch a subject quietly and West gives us a raise.” Fisher, from security, responded.

“Good point.” Murphy said as he went to inform Dr. West, who sat watching a boxing match with some of the older scientists. Charlie could see a pleased smile on West's face as Murphy talked to him.

Willa kicked and screamed at the large booze hound and she cursed herself because it caused Benji to transform. She watched the terribly painful transformation and saw him attack the large man. While he did that she barely had enough time to get herself off of the ground. Benji pinned the second man and the guy managed to pull over a large shard of glass and stab it into his side. When he did this he managed to wiggle enough room to get away and Benji took off chasing him. Willa saw him deliver the killing blow and about that time the first guy had gotten to his feet and he was between her and Benji at this point. That was really not a good place to be in her opinion. Willa grabbed a broken wrought iron railing near the bottom of the stairs and she came up behind the large drunk and shoved it through his chest. She lifted his weight up off of the ground to make sure it went all the way through. The drunkard gurgled blood and went limp. She dropped him and ran to Benji.

"Inside, hurry I'll move these two." Willa threw a large rock and broke the only light in the area.

Willa carried the bodies a half mile away behind the motel. On her way back she went to a discount store and grabbed some more clothing for Benji. By the time she got back to the room the drapes and windows were closed. She went inside and found Benji on the floor. She went to the bathroom and wet a cold cloth and grabbed her bag.

He was transformed back to his human self. She pulled some things out of her bag before she did anything to him. Her heart was beating a million beats a minute she thought. She gave him a beer and "Drink, this is gonna hurt and you need to be quiet if you can." She took her belt off and gave it to him to bite on. She pulled the shard out carefully and sewed the internal tear back together before she could sew the outter layer of skin back.

He had been a good patient but she knew it had hurt and her heartbeat hadn't slowed down yet. She was still in panic mode. She was quite aware that she hadn't been this scared to lose someone in decades. She lifted him onto the bed and covered him up. She made sure the room was locked down and she took her jeans off and climbed into bed next to Benji in her top and panties. She rolled over on her side and hugged him to her laying her head on his arm with her arm across his chest.




Maren was almost ready. She had put a duffel bag near the woods behind her work. She knew where all the cameras were and she had her disguise set too. She was wearing several layers of black clothes so she looked bulky, more masculine. Men's shoes, larger than hers so several pairs of socks. She even wore one of those bald hair covers so her hair was plastered onto her head so hard it hurt her skull a little. Next came the men's blond wig and hat. She had put on a fake mustache, beard and glasses. She had all of her skin covered by something. She put the gloves on last.

She snuck into the building went towards the lab. She saw one technician and she opened the door and froze the room. She checked each creature and opened the cages and she unfroze the supernaturals one by one and told them to go to the door and wait. After all of the living and mobile supers were free of their cages she went to the door to the outside and opened the door freezing everything outside. She went out and ushered them all into the woods and told them to go and run for their lives. By the time the freeze wore off all of the lab creatures, including the Phoenix were gone.

Maren was at home watching television when she heard about the break in and they showed pictures of her in the disguise. She was pretty proud of that disguise. It was impossible to tell it was her. She immediately went to Facebook to tell all how shocked and sickened she was about the situation.

@Helo

Peter Pan strode into the main headquarters with his full glory. Today he seemed to be shirtless each muscle on full display. His wide grin exposed that he was up to something today. The reasoning appeared to be that they had managed to catch a hydra...and this was one of his favorite messy projects.

A few hours later Peter left, having worked to collect a good amount from that beast with minimal waste and minimal mess on him. He earned going out and crashing anything dr.west was doing. However, this plan was cut short as the rest of the supernaturals were freed. Anger outlined his facial features...he had caught many of those...those were his meals.

He went to inspect the labs finding left over frost and a snarl ripped through him. Dark markings writhed about his skin and he followed the frost outside. He muttered something about catching them all in the morrow before he left.

He burst into the place with dr. West and Charlie in his human disguise...still shirtless of course. He strode to them and sat among them. He could sense the frost being, but now he wanted to watch.

---

Meanwhile.....

Something in the labs stirred. Large chains hissed on the floor in a secret section. Unearthly green eyes pierced the darkness and the sound of feathers rustling on the ground echo. the words "justice...vengeance...will come to those whom interrupt....my duty will be done" are said softly in an unknown language. The sound of metal against metal clanging almost as if something is trying to get out of a cage echoes in a corner....

Benji locked eyes with Willa as she ordered him back into the motel room. It took him less than a second to reign in the wolf. She knocked the light out and Benji hesitated for a moment before doing as she had asked. He let her handle the bodies and didn't want his injuries to slow her down. He returned to the room, careful not to scratch up or get blood on anything, and slowly calmed himself down to the point of transforming back into a man. He closed the windows and drapes, grabbed a half empty bottle of whiskey from his duffel bag and headed into the bathroom. His head throbbed and there were a few scrapes and probably a mild concussion. He poured some whiskey onto a towel and cleaned up his head wound a bit. It stung a bit but it sure beat an infection. The glass in his side was the real problem and he knew it would be stupid to pull it out by himself in case he should start to bleed out. Instead he poured the remaining whiskey on wound and snarled at the sting.

The concussion made him nauseous and the pain, blood loss and loss of energy from the transformation made it hard to stand. He leaned on sink for a few moments as he washed the blood from his hands before his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor. He leaned his back against a wall and used the whiskey towel to slow the bleeding until Willa got back. The pain alone was manageable, as werewolf he'd been trained to deal with pain especially when it came to the transformation. It was all mind over matter and he'd been through worse. A full transformation took a lot of energy, he'd already been exhausted from the day so the little energy he had was expended during the change and the small fight.

When Willa returned she handed him a beer and a belt. Truthfully a beer wasn't going to have much of an effect on a werewolf or even a man of his size but he drank it anyway and quickly placed the belt in his mouth and bit down. As Willa pulled the jagged piece of glass out and sowed the wound closed, Benji kept quiet allowing himself only the occasional wince. He could hear the quick beat of heart and stayed stoic so her panic would not increase.

When his injuries were done being cared for she carried him to the bed, the one without a sleeping dragon, and after a moment she climbed in next to him. Benji would have gladly offered to sleep on the floor if he thought the arrangement made her in any way uncomfortable but the way she hugged close to him made it clear she was fine. Her head rested near his shoulder, her arm lay across his chest while his own head rested close to hers so that each breath he took smelled like Willa. He reached his arm across and rest his hand on her arm, then lightly stroked her arm with his fingertips. He was thankful for the closeness of another person, werewolves were naturally a lot like wolves; affectionate pack animals.

Benji had loved Willa for a long time, and not in a strictly platonic way. He knew she felt similarly about him but he never acted or spoke about his feelings for her. She was strong and kind, as hard as she tried to keep herself safe from the scientists he had seen and heard of several instances where she had put herself in danger for the sake of another. She was the best person he knew and he hated the thought of her not being a part of his life. He'd never acted, not because he feared rejection, if she just didn't feel the same he could go on being just friends, but because he feared he'd destroy their friendship. He'd never been in a serious monogamist relationship, he didn't want to fail at it with someone as important to him as she was. He didn't want to lose her or fail her or most of all bring danger to her. Everyone he had truly loved had been taken from him, his family, most of his closest friends, anyone he'd ever said the words to. Maybe it was the concussion talking but he was tired of letting fears hold him back. “I love you.” He said softly, he wasn't sure she was awake but he felt better for having said it.

------------------------------------------------

Charlie and the others waited for an extraction team to arrive, a nondescript black van that parked near the back exit and waited for the supernatural bartender to go out for a smoke or a break. His mind started racing with things he could create from such a being, many of the ideas were ridiculous as he had been drinking for most of the night. A shirtless Right walked in and sat among them without a word.

“Right, whats up?” Charlie asked, his words slightly slurred. “You want a beer?” He added gesturing towards the pitcher of beer on the table and nearly knocking over his own glass in the process. Dr. West got a phone call and while Charlie couldn't hear the conversation the doctor looked pretty angry about it. West gestured towards the the television above the bar. The news was on reporting a break in at the lab with “research materials” having been stolen. Charlie could guess what research materials was referring to.

Just then the bartender they were watching headed out the back door and Murphy and a few of the other men who worked security headed out the front to make sure everything went smooth. Dr. West paid the tab at the bar and headed over to Charlie.

“They've released the majority of our subjects. We're going to have to replenish our stock, I'm thinking we send out all possible extraction teams to gather what they can. Every day those cells are empty our profits are going down. ” He said to Right. “Any idea how this happened?”

Charlie wondered how anyone could get passed the massive amounts of security the lab had. “You think it could've been an inside job? Like a supernatural sympathizer helped them get in?” He asked.

Willa's eyes were closed until he moved his hand onto her arm and began to lightly stroke her arm. She watched his fingertips on her arm and wondered what he was thinking. Her heart leapt when he softly said that he loved her. It was the one thing she had always hoped he would say to her. Willa rose up to meet his lips in a long overdue kiss that said everything. She pulled him tighter to her and said, "I've loved you for so long. I would do anything for you. Don't you know that?" Willa kissed him for several moments and just when things seemed like they might go further she heard Paon's loud snore not more than seven feet away. It was the metaphorical bucket of ice water. She giggled as she remembered that there was a man/dragon also in the room with them.

Willa was content to lay in his embrace and feel the freedom of being able to express her feelings for him. She cuddled up with Benji and slept more peacefully than she had in a very long time.




Maren walked into the building the next morning and the break in was the only thing on everyone's mind. It seemed like security was somehow tighter than normal even though it was exactly the same. It was more that everyone was focussed on what they were doing. Things had gotten a little too real for the staff. It appeared that they were looking at this as a possible inside job. Maren let security do what they needed to do. She went to her desk and saw that Charlie's door was closed. She couldn't tell if he was in there yet or not. She sat down and got to work. She was trying not to look any different than any other day. She knew that the scientists would be on a rampage looking to accuse any sympathizers so she was doing her best to focus on her work.

One of her friends from downstairs, Beth came in and stopped by her desk. "Did you hear about the break in to the lab? They got everything, even the Phoenix that they were so excited by."

Maren gave a look of confusion. "What is wrong?"

"Well you know I love animals, all animals." Beth nodded.

"Well I'm sorry for the scientists because it is so much research lost. It really is. On the other hand I'm glad the animals are alive. I can't help but wonder if this is karma somehow. I don't know. I do think it is creepy though that someone would break in, that is actually kind of scary to me. I hope they catch the guy." Maren was a decent actress and no one would think she had any knowledge of the incident.

"Me too!" Beth said and she hurried to the copy room as one of the lab assistant's entered the room for coffee.

@Helo@Blackpanther

(Part 2 of the collab between myself and @Unknown100, Deal with the Devil)

For a moment, “Tori” was silent, lips pursed as though she was pondering Jane’s words. Well, well. Isn’t that interesting. Swinging her foot beneath the desk, she tilted her head and let her eyes drift to the ceiling. It was obvious that this girl didn’t have much experience dealing with negotiations. The… brusk manner in which she carried herself suggested that she was more used to solving her problems by beating them than talking to them. So why, I wonder, did they send her to me? Did they think they could scare me with this… child?

Bringing her attention back to her companion, she lounged back in her chair. ”Why?”

For more than just a moment, Jane weighted the one word Tori had spoken. “I don’t think I fully understand the question. Why what? .. why you would find Edge to be very generous? Cause there’s an easier way for you to get your answer: simply name a price.”

“Tori” grinned. “First of all, you must realize how absolutely daft your claim sounds. I mean really; a secret hideout filled with thousands of supernatural creatures? You honestly expect me to believe that ghosts and vampires are real? If you were talking to someone less, shall we say, open-minded, you’d have been laughed on to the street.” She started swiveling slightly in her chair, resting her head on one hand. “But, for the sake of argument, let’s say you’re right, that such a group does exist and that I know how one might find them.” She leaned forward, a curious gleam in her eye. “It would seem to me, that such a group would place a great deal of value on maintaining their privacy. After all, people don’t go into hiding because they want to be sociable. And I am in the business of making people happy. So,” her voice dropped slightly, and a very critical look formed on “Tori’s” face, “Why are you so interested in them?”

“You take one long look outside your establishment, and you’ll realize people don’t have much reason to laugh anymore. Not after a night like the one, we just had. Casually Jane had reached into her pocket and once more played the news on her phone.


“… a ruthlessness of unimaginable strength! And I ask: How do we protect ourselves, our love one, our children from such a threat? The Theater Incidence has taught us what happens when we lower our guard and don’t take a closer look at the person next to us. He or she could be Jane Doe! And he or she-“

After a second for Tori to take in the message, Jane opened her mouth: “This most likely will be the world from now on. In the medieval ages women were burned, and that’s the direction we are going from here on. People with… special abilities… have a right to defend themselves and need all the help they can get. And Edge is more than willing to fight for that right and reach out to help them. It’s about family; we are in this together. And families help each other. That’s why Edge is interested.”

Jane scratched an itch on the back of her head. Sitting still always made her feel like an easy mark. Like a sniper scope was aiming right at her, and a still target was always the easiest to hit.

“Now... I bet you have a million other questions you think is relevant to ask, and my answers will probably make your cute smile even wider, but really I must be going. Places to be, people to meet. So at this point I… no, Edge must respectfully ask you: Are we in business or not? And what are your terms?”

Talith remained silent, not so much listening to the other woman’s words as she was tasting them. No matter how well guarded someone kept their emotions, they couldn’t stop themselves from feeling at all. Here, Talith had the advantage; she could always tell when someone was trying to put one over her. And this… Jane, was making her more and more curious. At the very forefront was a sincerity that Talith found refreshing in someone that she had just met; she genuinely did wish to do what she said. And underneath it was a fire, a burning passion that made her horns tingle with delight.

She pursed her lips. Underneath it, however, was a slight current of frustration and distraction. Which, when combined with her little slip of the tongue, told Talith volumes.

Smiling, she bent down and pulled a sheet of paper out of a drawer. Tearing off a strip, she wrote something down, keeping it concealed from her companion, and folded it in half. ”You are correct in that I have more questions. If I’m going to be getting into bed with someone, I consider it common courtesy to at least get to know them a little. But…” She sighed wistfully, “I suppose we would have to leave something for the second date.”

“So that settles the first question. As for the second,” “Tori” smiled coyly, ”There are three things I want, and all are non-negotiable. However, I think you’ll find them relatively easy to grant. First, I want you,” She let the sentence hang for just a moment, and her expression hardened slightly, ”To apologize to my employees. Burnie was only doing his job, and Beth is rather sensitive about her height. And I do not tolerate rudeness in my home. If you’re not going to be polite, then I don’t want to see you.”

After looking at her hands for a bit, Jane answered: “Sure, if that’s what you want. What’s number 2?”

”Second, the next time that this… Edge, as you call them, wants to do business with me, the only face I want to see is yours.” “Tori” settled back in her chair. ”Don’t think that we didn’t catch your little friend trying to sneak in. He’ll be waiting for you outside.”

”I suppose that…” Jane interrupted herself. And her voice became full of confusion. “Hold on! What friend? What could you possibly be talking about now?” Somehow Tori’s last line seemed to have some weight to it. Jane recognized that this was not just another game.

“Tori” blinked, then smiled again. ”It seems a young man with scruffy brown hair and a tattoo of a spider on his neck tried to follow you inside. He seemed to be very good at not being seen, but unfortunately, Burnie and Joel are very good at what they do, and when they searched him they found a similar cufflink like the one you showed me. They weren’t particularly inclined to let him in after that, nor would I have allowed it in any case. I don’t know his name, nor do I care to find out. I have my own family to protect you know.” She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. ”Is he not a friend of yours?” Her voice was the picture of innocence and curiosity.

Here was something that triggered a reaction in Jane and for a moment, she did nothing to hide it. Just sat there with her eyebrows raised. Why would Edge send another? Don’t they trust me? And… I don’t remember a guy like the one, she just described.

Jane shook off her expression of surprise and answered: “That guy most definitely is not my friend, but I’m gonna look into it. The only face you’ll see is mine from now on. Got it.”

Clapping her hands in delight, “Tori” felt pleased enough that she could almost kiss the girl. The combination of surprise, frustration, anger and suspicion, everything about this girl was delicious. There was such a fire in her soul. Oh, I’m going to enjoy this one. “Wonderful! As for the third condition,” she smiled coyly, ”I want a favour. To be named at a… later date.” She allowed a sly note to enter her voice, her hooded gaze locking eyes with the other girl.

That later date will need to come after your end of the bargain then. You acknowledge that, and you got yourself a deal there.” Though this kinda felt like selling your soul to the devil, Jane was ready to even shake on it. Then again, her partnership with the founders of Edge had worked out great, so there probably wasn’t anything to worry about.

Rising from her chair, “Tori” sashayed around her desk and perched on the corner, holding out the piece of paper. ”It would seem that we do. I do love meeting new people.”

As Jane reached out to take the paper, “Tori” suddenly flicked it back out of reach.”There is one last thing, however. Call it a piece of friendly advice.”

For a few seconds Jane merely sat there with her arm reaching out. Then very slowly she lowered it and looked right into Tori’s eyes without blinking. Go... on... she mumbled just as slowly.

For the first time since laying eyes on Jane, “Tori’s” eyes grew hard and dangerous. The game was suspended now. ”Here’s the thing, my dear. When you walked in here tonight, you expected that I would know who you were and why you were apparently so important. The truth is that I’ve never heard of either you or your little group of friends.” She shrugged slightly. ”Though, to be fair, I don’t often pay much attention to the news. There’s always something going on in the world and it usually boils down to a dick measuring contest between fools, which gets dreadfully boring after a while.” Her eyes narrowed. ”That said, if you are any indication, then this… Edge, as you call them, aren’t very good at making a good first impression.”

Talith leaned forward, her eyes glowing now and giving the Jane the impression that she was much older than she appeared. ”Now, you have said that you are interested in this group because you believe that family should look out for one another, and I happen to believe you. In fact, that is something that we have in common, you and I. And there are those among this group that I consider to be family. I don’t know what you intend to do when you leave her, but know that I will be keeping an eye on things.” She inched closer, until she was nearly nose to nose with Jane. ”And if I find that your intentions are harmful, I will look after my family.”

Abruptly, she withdrew, holding out the piece of paper and smiling pleasantly. ”So, do try to make a good first impression. You’d be surprised how far you can get by being nice to people. Trying to be intimidating all the time can be awfully tiresome.”

“Playing endless games with people tend to be so too.” Jane shot a wink her way and took the piece of paper. Without looking down she folded it with little effort and put it in her pocket.

Jane wasn’t exactly surprised when girl’s eyes glowed, and she revealed herself to indeed be a Supernatural. However, for the first time since Jane got there, she did considered whether Tori indeed was someone who could take her on in a fight. Obviously, Tori did not look for a fight right now. Still the news made Jane tighten her body, as she would when facing a possible opponent, and assess the situation and threat level. Jane simply couldn’t help herself:

Tori had a home field advantage, and Jane was completely lost in this strange place. Whatever powers, Tori had, was not to be taken lightly, and Jane had not consumed a major power source before this meeting. That fact was supposed to be a sign of good faith, unfortunately it was completely lost on the owner of the place.

Jane took all these things into consideration, when she reminded herself of the other factors: Tori had absolutely no idea about what powers Jane processed or how to fight her, and Tori’s home was teaming with electrical sources just there to be absorbed. In addition: People who were overly confident always fell the hardest, and Tori amazingly failed this lesson. Jane had seen such beings before, they all died with their eyes wide open; Their last moment had been a dreadful moment of clarity. Had Jane been much crueler, she would have considered Tori’s employees, or “pets”, a great weakness also. But that was one weakness Jane had not intentions of using against her.

Though no emotions escaped, Jane did feel a tiny bit of sorrow when looking back at Tori. Once the war started, places like Angel’s Embrace were the first to suffer, and so would her beloved “pets”. That confident smile might just be Tori’s undoing.

Jane threw the cufflink and watched it land perfectly on the table. “My number is in the description… until Edge makes me change it again, that is. Oh well, I’m off to apologize to your people. Take care now. I’m glad we got to an understanding.”

“Tori” chuckled to herself. ”Life is a game, my dear. It’s just one with very high stakes. I look forward to our next meeting.” She sent the wink right back. ”And do wear something a little nicer next time. The homeless look went out of style about a thousand years ago.”

Watching the girl walk out of her office, Talith sighed and shivered. Delicious. She did so enjoy having conversations like these, it made things so much more fun. She did hope that the girl came back.

“Excuse me, Mistress?”

Talith cocked her head. “Yes Abby?”

“I think we’ve found who you’re looking for.”

The demoness’s smile widened, and she crossed her legs. ”Wonderful. Tell me about them.”

@Helo@Wick
Peter inhaled slowly and shook his head at the offer. "I much prefer wine when I do drink but thank you" he ran a hand through his hair and sighed before looking at west.

"We did lose a chunk of our resources....but we still have the aquatics and the materials that were already harvested. Worst case scenario we can ship some supplies from a different location. Those locations are smaller so we would not be able to do bulk shipments but smaller ones would be possible in emergency cases. This was a small thorn. In no way will this cause us to shut down." he looked between the two and ran his hand through his hair again.

"it had to be an inside job. That would explain how the rooms were opened." he tapped his chin. "we will have to change the codes. Possibly do some behavior tests...we can work out the details later."

---

Paon's snores ended abruptly as he woke up. Being in an unfamiliar room caused a bit of a panic as he bolted upright in a sitting position with claws exposed on his hands. Breathing heavily he looked around the room with eyes that seemed to be lit in the darkness. An ability he does not have access to unless he felt threatened.

After he figured out he was in a hotel type room he looked for his glasses, found them, and put them on. He figured the other two fell asleep and ended up looking out the window.

Benji gazed deep into Willa's eyes as she moved closer to him. His fingers stopped moving when her soft lips touched his, and he rested his hand near her shoulder. He closed his eyes and allowed his other senses to focus. They had never been this close before and he could clearly hear the quickening of both their heartbeats. His mind cleared in that moment, his thoughts of danger or scientists all gave way to a singular focus on Willa. She was close enough that he could smell nothing else. He felt her nose against his skin, and his against hers and felt soft gusts of warm breath against his skin as they kissed. For a long time he had been looking for something worth dying for but what he had now was something worth living for and that was so much better.

“I know, and I'd do anything for you.” He whispered back in the moments when there lips were apart. They both pulled away at the sound of Paon's snoring, Benji had forgotten the dragon was there for a few minutes. “As long as you promise not to get a cat, I know how you witches can be found of them.” He whispered, teasing a bit. He slept abnormally well that night, partially due to the exhaustion the day and his injuries had cause and partially due to the calming effect Willa's presence had on him.

When he did wake he saw Paon finally up and about looking out a window. “Hey you must be Paon, you look a lot different conscious.” He joked as he sat up. “You feeling better? I'm Benji, by the way, a friend of Willa's.” He added wincing slightly at the soreness of his side. He got up and turned the small television on, keeping the volume low enough that it would be inaudible to most. A news program was broadcasting footage of the destruction of the theater and a few other buildings. A woman hooded woman was said to be the cause. He watched in amazement at the power this one had. The following story told of a break in at the labs, the release and theft of research subjects, another crime suspected to have been committed by unnatural creatures. It looked like word of the existence of supernatural creatures was leaking out to the masses.
----------------------------------
Charlie made a face at Right's comment on wine. “It taste like spoiled grape juice.” He whispered like it was a secret and shook his head in disapproval. West shook his head in disapproval at Charlie's less than professional manner.

“Still, I hate any profit loss no matter how small.” West said to Right, glancing at Murphy and the others who came back in from outside.

“The Iceman is bagged, tagged, and on his way to a cage.” Murphy said, softly and with pride as he approached the table. Charlie went to high five Murphy on a job well done and nearly fell out of his chair. “Ok well I think Charlie needs a ride home so we'll be going now.” He said laughing a bit a Charlie's current lack of balance. West handed Murphy a blue vial.

“Have him drink this tomorrow morning.” West said and Murphy nodded. He helped Charlie to the car and handed him the vial. “You're lucky bro, this is West's personal hang over cure. I've had a few times myself it is a bottled miracle. I don't know why he doesn't sell it, he'd make a goddamn fortune.”

“It looks like a glow stick.” Charlie said in amazement as he played with the vial.

Murphy drove Charlie home and returned early the next day to take Charlie to get his own car from the bar. Charlie had woken up with a hangover that ranked in the top three of his life, immediately drank Dr. West's cure, which tasted surprisingly like coconut, and felt better than he did on an average day. He'd never been more excited to get work and was nearly bouncing in the seat as Murphy took him to get his own car.

He was a bit late to the office and hadn't even bothered to stop for coffee opting to drink water knowing that he ought to re-hydrate himself a little. He stopped by Maren's desk on the way in and did a drum roll with his hands on her desk. “Maren what's up? I'm assuming you heard about the break in? People for the ethical treatment of monsters or some equally insane group I'm guess. No need to worry though, we are going to get to the bottom of this. Production should be back on track soon enough. I just hope nobody gets hurt by all those loose monsters though.” Charlie said with an abnormal amount of energy even for him and an increased enthusiasm for the job. “Maybe we should think about tracking devices for the most desirable and dangerous subjects.” He said thinking aloud.

“Oh last night I kind of help catch a new subject we found him working at the bar. We're gonna have to do some interrogating to figure out what sort of thing her is though.” He added raising his hand in anticipation for a high five of a job well done. “Pretty cool right?” He asked.

Willa felt the change in the air of the room as she awoke. She stretched as she felt Benji getting out of bed. Her eyes opened and she saw Paon up and about. Benji turned the tv on. Willa sat up in bed and grabbed her jeans and yanked them on. Her attention was on the tv. "Turn it up." She requested. The volume went up as she put her shoes on. She sat on the bed and watched for any sign of the events she and Benji had been party to last night. "I'm thinking after last night maybe we should get out of here."

"Wow, that girl at the theatre has some very volatile powers. I'd rather she not be on our enemy list." Willa was thinking about Maren and wondered if she were the person in the disguise that they kept showing. She did work there. Willa looked at Benji and the question was in her eyes. "The break in at the labs... do you think?"




Maren looked at Charlie "Did you have too much caffeine this morning? Yes, I heard about the break in. I'm more concerned about the creep who did it getting the identities and addresses of the people who work here. What if the break in was really a distraction so they could get our personal info to take out the people who are doing these experiments? I'm not worried about the animals I'm worried about us!"

Charlie looked entirely way to peppy this morning. He was way too energetic. She watched him and wondered if someone gave him some speed pills or something. "What is wrong with you? Are you on something?"
@helo@blackpanther@thundercrash@unknown100

@Wick @Helo @BlackPanther @Thundercrash


To call Jane’s apologies awkward would be an understatement. But part of the deal with Tori had been to tell her employees I'm sorry, so she went all out in order to honor that agreement.
When that mysterious place was behind Jane a thought struck her like a lightning bolt: She should pretend for now, that she didn’t know Edge had send another operative. It might prove useful to drop that A-bomb at a later time.

As she had returned to the founders of Edge, she had expected excitement over the discovery of the Supernaturals' secret hideout. The Grand Train Station, as she had already dubbed it on the way back. However, that was far from the case. Mark, one of the founders, merely put the coordinates in an envelope and placed it on his expensive desk. The suit he wore also seemed to have been ironed a thousand times into perfection; not one single fold showed. Jane always preferred the other guy, Rick. He seemed a lot less pretentious, unfortunately he once again kept quiet; merely standing at the window of the office, looking out.
However his strait back seemed to lower itself slightly when Jane asked: “You two didn’t send me to Angel’s Embrace to die, did you?”

“Of course not, why would you-“

But Jane did not let Michael speak: “Tori was a hell of a lot more dangerous than you warned me about. I’m not sure what kind of predator she is, but a predator that girl… that woman is!”

“And now that you have been close to her, do you recognize she will be a threat?”

For this, Jane hesitated. “Not for the moment, no. Once she realize all the things, she takes for granted, aren’t gonna last, then... who knows.”

With an arrogant stare, Michael nodded. “Very well. Normally I would prefer you were in a 24 hour quarantine, until we are sure Tori haven’t affected your mind, but since we know you will greet that proposal with your middle finger, Edge instead wants to show you something."
Once again Michael had turned the place into a movie theater and presented a new show on his ultra-sized Tv-screen. Luckily this time the plot was not revolving around how much Jane had messed up.
It seemed to be a recording. The footage was rather low quality, but good enough to make out what was happening:

*Grocery store.*
*Two people had been auto-corrected to seem slightly more sharp on film. A woman and a man.*
*They were merely putting something on the counter and paying for it.*
*Then left.*

“Alright, what in the mother of fuck am I looking at?” Jane wanted to know, sitting on the coffee table, as if it was a chair.

“Two very dangerous people. Willa and Benjamin. They were at the Theater Incidence, working for the Scientists. They really made them selves known fighting some hobos, and the camera feed here gave us a good look at them. We have reason to believe they have assembled enough information about you to narrow down the search.”

Jane only now got a very real look of concern.

It was as if Rick had waited for that moment before opening his mouth. “Jane?.. If they really can narrow down the search they might learn your name - your real name. And if they can do that, they can-“

“Lisa!” Jane interrupted and thought about the only bright, beautiful thing in her life. She stood up, her dirty shoes now directly on the table.

“Yes. But we are Edge, so of course this footage is from today, and not even six blocks from here. And we’ve followed Willa and Benjamin's movements through each camera back to their motel. That is where you will find them.”

“Wau," Jane mumbled, “who would have thought you cared this much for me?” She put on a fake smile the best she could, while still worrying about Lisa.

“We care about our operatives. We always have. And we thought you might be most comfortable handling this yourself.”

“You thought right. I’ll walk up to them, and hell will follow with me. Now… give me everything you have on these two.”

“Three,” Michael corrected and jumped back into the conversation. “A dragon follows them.”

“Do I look the least bit scared?” When saying it, Jane didn’t even blink.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5 minutes after Jane had rushed out of the door, Rick could finally be frank with Michael. “You think it’s wise to manipulate her feelings like this? Jane is far from stupid.”

“Agree. She is a visionary, a rebel, and when she wants to: a born leader. Yet when it’s about her girlfriend, she instantly becomes blind. We need that; we need her to keep busy for now.”

Rick took off his glasses and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief before speaking: “Yes, and if Jane ever suspects what we are really doing, she will turn this building to ash in an instant and us along with it. And let us not forget: Half of all our Supernatural agents follow Jane and her vision, not our.”

Michael joined Rick at the window, and for a moment he just stared down at the tiny people below. “Relax my old friend. We have the location of the refuge for Supernaturals. Soon this city will be ours and absolutely no one will see it coming. They will all just go about their little ant lives until it’s too late.”

Benji glanced at Willa and turned up the television. “I saw the that girl at theater, Jane, she was amazing. Saved a lot of our people there, taking out scientists and their army left and right. No way she works for them so why should we be enemies? As for the break in it didn't really look like Bobby but who knows with the right disguise anyone can look different. I agree though, we need to get away from here.” He said making sure to keep Maren's name away from it, he wasn't sure how well they could trust Paon and he didn't want to put her in danger if she was on their side. He went into the bathroom to shower and carefully cleaned his wound with some antibacterial soap. He rebandaged the injury and changed into fresh clothes.

As he exited the bathroom the news had moved on to a story of bodies found near the motel they were staying at. One was suspected have been a bear mauling while the other stabbed with a piece of iron, they currently had no suspects or even an idea of what happened but it was suspected to be connect with the theater. “Well I'd say whenever we're all ready we should start putting some distance between us and this place. It's a big city we could head to the other side of town, maybe steal a car or something.” He suggested.

-------------------------------------

“Actually I had no caffeine this morning and no I'm not on drugs if that's what you're implying. I did have a wonderful hangover cure from Dr. West and I'm pretty sure it's given me more energy than large can of Red Bull.” Charlie said, awkwardly lowering his hand which had not been given the high five that he expected. He started thinking over her point about people stealing there personal information. “Well I'm pretty sure they have personal files under heavy encryption but they'd probably go after scientists and people who work more hands on with the subjects. You're probably safe from that sort of thing, safer than me at least.” He added laughing a bit, normally that would be something he'd probably worry a lot more about but today he felt very carefree and uninhibited. For a second he thought that was strange, it also felt vaguely strange that he felt none of the ethical concerns that had bothered him for the last few days. He quickly found those thoughts unimportant, it seemed ridiculous to worry about not being worried. "Anyway I'm running a bit late, we've got some big plans today." He said before heading off.

Charlie entered the room where Dr. West, Murphy and two other men from security who were even larger than Murphy. They stood around the bartender, a tall man who looked to be of Scandinavian descent, sat retained to a chair with chains, cuffs, and mask that reminded Charlie of Silence of the Lambs. The man spoke to them in a language Charlie didn't know. “Is that Swedish?” He asked Dr. West.

“I believe that would be old Norse.” West said sounding intrigued. He nodded towards Charlie who approached the man and attempted to draw blood from him. "What are you?" West asked.

“I am Hod, God of Winter.” The man hissed in English with obvious sarcasm as the needle pierced his arm, froze over and the blood tube shattered. West began to chuckle and the others joined in with him.

“What you think Doc? Ice Dragon? Warlock?” Murphy asked studying the man who reverted back to speaking old Norse. While Charlie couldn't understand the words he could hear the rage behind them.

“He's no dragon, I brought in an ichneumon earlier and it had no reaction. No, I'm thinking he's something even rarer.” West said before glancing at Murphy. “Our friend here looks a bit cold.” Murphy nodded and stepped outside the room for a second only to return with a butane torch. “We'll need a sample to confirm it, but I suspect we are dealing with a Jötunn.”

“He looks a bit small for a frost giant.” Murphy said.

“Tricks and magic, what else do you expect from these things.” West with a shrug and Murphy lit the blow torch.

It was a couple hours before Charlie returned to his own office. They had spent quite a bit of time studying and working with the collected tissue samples that confirmed what Dr. West suspected. Everyone who worked with West was pretty excited about it, there were plans for new weapon developments. Charlie, being the geek that he is, was very excited by possibly working on making a freeze ray. Dr. West had told him not to call it that but Charlie was very excited about the plans.

Willa grabbed everything of hers and shoved it into her bag. She threw the clothes to Benji to put on and gave him the shoes. She went over to the window and she didn't see anything indicating that they should be worried. When Benji was finished she looked at Paon and he had everything Willa grabbed both of their hands and she went invisible taking them with her. "Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand or they can see you."

Once they opened the door and stepped out they went in the direction opposite of where she had put the bodies.




Maren kept looking at Charlie oddly, as soon as he mentioned the hangover cure she smiled. "That must be it. I've heard it's quite the concoction. If you ever get the recipe for it let me know, I have a couple of friends who could use it regularly." She chuckled and went back to work. Marren wondered what was in it that made him lose his inhibitions about killing.

@helo@unknown100@blackpanther

Peter seemed angry this morning. One look at him was enough to explain why...the fairy was coated with dark liquid and in one hand held a creature by its arm. Upon closer inspection it was clear that his claws went through the creatures arm and prevented it from getting anywhere. The creature in question looked like a regular human, but had deer like eyes and hooves. The creature struggled and yelped as the claws that held him tightened. Desperate the creature speaks: "No please no..." A glance made the creature realize where it was and become more desperate. "Do you people even know what he is?? He's a monster..he's a horrifying creature and you willingly work with him?!"

Peter snarls and tosses the being into a room and made sure the door slid shut. He then made his was to a shower. As he walked past Charlie a small tear in his wing was visible.

---

Paon felt his eyes roll at the sound of slight distrust in Benji's voice. He had to be honest...he was not in the least bit surprised to hear it. At the suggestion of stealing a car he chuckled. "I can buy one. A stolen car is more suspicious then a bought car." he turned to look at them. "though if you insist we will also need to steal a license plate to swap it out. More confusing for police"

He found a shirt and held it up to Benji. "mind if I borrow this?" before he could recieved and answer he was grabbed by Willa and they were taken outside. He had to wonder what her plan was...and why they were being kept invisible. Even with his questions though, he made sure just to keep hold of her hand.
@Wick@Helo

@Wick@Helo


The Barracks was located under the same building, Jane had just conversed with the founders of Edge. However, in more than one way this place was in the opposite end. While glass and oval shapes dominated the office on top, The Barracks were little more than sleeping quarters build on dirt and filth. This was where the Edge operatives, or agents as some of them preferred to be called, slept, trained and kept themselves safe. Not exactly The Plaze, but Jane found it sufficient.
She had just gone down there to get a few things and wipe away some of that atrocious makeup from earlier, but was faced with far more demanding trials than that.

“The broadcast is a lie,” a Supernatural said out loud, when Jane passed him bye.

“You didn’t do it,” another yelled and pride was in his eyes, as she turned her head and looked at him.

From their reaction, to her mere presence, Jane guessed that the news stations were still going on and on about how Jane Doe had caused the death of all those innocent people. Yet not a single of her brothers in blood seemed to believe the facts. Their faith in her seemed unwavering. This proved to inflict several mixed feeling in Jane, because she was in every way guilty. A demon bitch strait from the lowest pits of hell had manipulate her actions, but it was still her actions and hers alone.

When the operatives all started chanting “A lie! A lie! A lie!” she thought about silencing them all by roaring like a lioness, but she ended up just raising her hand. This completely emptied the room of noise and everyone quietly watched her grab a grenade, pull the pin and have it explode in her palm. Then she grabbed a second and yet again absorbed the violent blast into her body. This not only made her feel pure, untapped energy running through her veins, but also produced quite a lot of sweat on her forehead. She had never absorbed 2 right after each other, and decided to delay the 3.

---------------------------------------------------

After jogging like crazy in order to be there...

From behind the corner, Jane watched the motel door. She had been promised it sheltered her targets. Benjamin, Willa and mr. Fairytale Lizard, for lack of a better term. While reports mostly seemed to be speculation about the trio, Jane felt she had come prepared and had a more than fair understanding of their powers. Because of it, it was not just any dorky looking goggles she wore, but heat vision goggles, showing thermal imagery. The uncomfortable headgear was not the only thing making Jane unrecognizable. Gone was the hoodie and jeans, replaced by a black t-shirt and runner shorts. Even her shoes allowed greater maneuvering and in her back pocket the 3. grenade hid. Her brown hair was tied up in a knot as she prepared to go all out, like she had never done before.

Her body tightened for a second as she watched from afar the door open.
1-0 to thermal imagery, Jane thought as the trio stepped out, or rather their heat signatures did. Light might have passed through them, but their bodies still affected the temperature around them just like everything did.
The experience, Jane had acquired over her rebel career, served her well, as she was able to see what could not be seen, yet not be spotted while doing it. Only when all of them had their backs to her, did she remove herself from the corner and follow in a steady pace. Getting just a little closer with each step while also keeping her head down.

Benji shrugged when Paon offered to buy a car. “Well if you've got the money to just go around buying cars whenever go for it. Probably should have guessed you'd have cash, every story I've ever heard has dragons guarding treasure.” He said joking around a bit. “There's a used lot a couple blocks from here, they look less than reputable I'm sure they can be quick and discrete for a price.” He added and nodded when Paon grabbed a shirt to borrow. Willa seemed to be more freaked out than Paon or himself and she grabbed them both by the hand, turning them invisible, and headed out the door.

“Hey, Sparkie, calm down. I should probably go check out first, it'll look pretty suspicious if I skip out on the motel bill the morning after bodies were found right near here.” He whispered to Willa. He'd used a fake name and ID to book the room but they seen his face so the last thing he needed was a sketch of him on the evening news. He stopped walking suddenly and sniffed the air. He'd caught a scent that didn't belong near the motel and it took a few seconds to place it and when it did he felt an overwhelming sense of danger. “Something smells like explosive filler, military grade, and hot metal.” He whispered.
--------------------------------

Charlie stepped out of his office to buy a snack and was having a difficult time deciding between corn nuts and spicy snack mix. He eventually hit the code for the snack mix and headed back to the office. On his way back he saw Right dragging a deer man into a room, the guy was covered in something that looked slimy and his wing had a tear. “Hey horrifying monster man, what are you covered in?” He asked wondering if it was something he should collect a sample of. He tossed a handful of snack mix into his mouth and studied Right's appearance which which incidentally didn't freak him out the way it would have a few days ago.

Willa held onto their hands and headed them into the crowds at the busy strip mall down the street. Willa looked at Benji and then at Paon and whispered to him, "Paon, Benji and I had to defend ourselves that resulted in bloodshed last night. I'm thinking we should let you go since you were asleep." This was the only thing she could think of to keep him safe. It was going to be Benji and her people would be after. Willa didn't want to drag her dragon friend down with them if they got caught. She already saw how quick his temper was and they were going to need to keep their cool.

"Be quick and safe getting home my friend." Willa kissed his cheek and let go of his hand. She and Benji went deeper into the crowd. "Benji, d'ya think we are bein' followed?"

@helo@blackpanther@unknown100

@Helo@Wick
Peter stopped before he got to the showers and grumbled at Charlie. He was not thrilled about being covered in the mixture of goo and wanted it off of him as soon as possible. "it was a trap that was set up by the herd of perrytons. This goo would have stopped a human...since its tar like. The other stuff in covered in would be perryton blood. I...got upset. Now I'm going to shower then explain what a perryton is since I'm sure you're curious"

With that he goes and showers, wincing as the water hit his human form's back, which now has a cut where his wing was torn. Once finished, he got out dried himself and clothed himself. His wings back out he stopped by Charlie and crossed his arms. "perrytons are deer like creatures with wings and fangs that consume meat. Not the most harmful thing you'll run across, but they are still dangerous." he then waited for questions.

---

Paon was somehow able to pull on the shirt before he became visible. He was slightly upset that the wolf and the witch thought he wouldn't be able to handle danger, but he was going to offer himself as decoy anyway. He stood and lightly inhaled. There was definitly a scent that did not belong.

He inhaled again and pinpointed where Benji and Willa where so he could go a different direction. He smoothly went into his being blind, occasionally bumping into people and apologizing by saying he can't see. Hopefully the stalker would take the bait of an easy target.