---

The Eldritch being's hidden eyes focused on the blinking red dot that represented an active crime in what was clearly the section of the city referred to as death row. He leaned forward and placed his hands on the desk nearby, hunching over it as he read the lines of text accompanying the large red dot. Not a particularly large amount of detail was being provided, which wasn't surprising; aside from the reports of gun-fire and the address of the warehouse it was occurring at, nothing was acutely described. This was exactly why Nicodemus tended to focus on taking out higher ups in the criminal scene; mob-bosses, local kingpins, etc. There was a wealth of information that could be provided for those cases, which allowed Eld Fen's visits to be as devastating as they often were.

Alas, that didn't seem to be the way the evening would progress.

"Going in alone is suicide, I'm not good for crowd control. When Olive is up I'll take us in." He said, answering Guardian's question before his attention turned to his now-awake associate.

"Speak of the Devil." He murmured softly with a chuckle, shaking his head softly at her request for a late-night snack.

"I'm afraid none of the Local places would be too keen serving an abomination and a giant vigilante, perhaps we can find a drive-through." He responded jokingly, before offering a hand to his two companions; contact was required for him to teleport others with him, and the rest of the Saints knew this well enough. "Shall we be off then?"

---

The woman was clearly intrigued by Nee's half answer and introduced herself as Acheri. She also did something very unusual. She offered some warmer attire to the clearly underdressed Neaera. Nee gratefully accepted the winter clothing and immediately slipped the mittens and hat over her head. Feeling warmer already, Nee thanked Acheri profusely and rubbed her still chilled hands together. The gloves helped but her hands had already been touched by the cold.

"Thank you so much! I suppose you could tell how cold I really was. My name is Neaera-", she continued, practically cutting herself off, "-most people just call me Nee." She hesitated, if only slightly before the next sentence, "I.. probably should not tell you this, but you seem so nice. I'm looking for the Saints!" She lowered her voice for the last phrase but it's excited tone could not be hushed. "I wish to join them! Her smiled beamed for a moment before she looked around, embarrassed. "I met a Saint, and he told me their headquarters was somewhere in Red Harbour. He was light on the details which has left me, well lost." Nee tittered softly at the absurdity of the situation. Here she was, prowling around in one of the most dangerous boroughs of the city, after midnight, in the freezing cold, looking for... something. Not a situation the average nineteen-year-old girl would think to find themselves in. But.. Neaera was not the average 19 year old girl. Which is why she found herself trying to join a superhero group which honestly may or may not exist. Nee was still determined to get to the bottom of it. If they did exist, she would join them. If they did not, well.. she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

Interacting with: @Amaranth

That was unexpected.

It did explain a few things, firstly. Why her sleeves were singed, why the muggers in the back alley were scorched. Hard to pin down exactly what, but the girl probably had some heat-based powers. Fire, maybe. Or light. And the irony wasn't lost on her that they were having this conversation a few hundred yards from their headquarters. But now she had to decide how to handle it. If she came out looking once, she'd come looking again. And probably find trouble. Maybe she'd be fine, maybe she wouldn't, but either way she would open herself up to plenty of danger. If she were willing to tell anyone else what she was looking for, someone a whole lot less sympathetic might take exception to it. Or, worse, try to manipulate her.

She couldn't in good conscience turn her away. But telling her the truth was a risk all its own.

"I see." Acheri kept up her smile, but she couldn't quite decide... If the kid wanted to help, that was up to her. But there were plenty of people who might like to know where the Saints made their base. It could be a trap for them, hoping one of the more sympathetic Saints would try to help. Just like she was doing. "... Could you tell me a little about the Saiint you met?"

She already knew their base was in Red Harbor. If her description matched up with someone she knew, she could blindfold her and take her to the base. Prevent her from knowing anything more until they decided they could trust her. She seemed like a good kid, and Acheri wasn't about to turn away someone looking to do some good.

"I know where to find them. But I can't take you there unless I think you're on the level, okay?"

@hagroden@Agent 47



"I'm sure we can find a McDonald's that won't mind the business." Justin said as he draped a large grey trenchcoat over his tactical gear. The guy might be unnaturally creepy but at least he had a sense of humor.

The combination of clothing was hardly going to win him any fashion awards. Fashion wasn't the point however. Eld Fen wasn't always there to teleport them around the city, which meant occasionally going out and travelling to trouble spots. Even in a car it was best not to take chances. That meant covering the collection of weapons and gear attached to the tactical harness on his torso.

He quickly scribbled "HERE" in big bold letter on a sticky note, slapping it atop the big red dot on the screen. If any of the other Saints arrived while they were gone it would be very helpful if they knew where to head. Preparations all done he turned and took the proffered hand.

Faye was slumped back on her bed, a wall of countless pillows providing her make shift chair as she played a console game. It was just something to pass the time, a first-person shooter, but it barely interested her. Of course, not much did. She took another sip of the 40oz beer and placed it back on the night stand within easy reach. Next to her current can were several others, some with cigarettes stuffed inside when they found themselves being made into unwitting ash-trays. She let out a burp in time with killing one of her opponents, only to have some one come behind her and shank her with a plasma sword. She shrugged and took another long slurp of beer. [[Whatever, bro. Have your laughs while you can.]] She respawned in the game and immediately the VICTORY screen was splayed across her TV, signifying that her teammates had secured the win. She tossed the controller aside, bored of playing.

She fumbled around for her cigarettes in her blankets and pillows, desperate to walk outside on to the fire escape with a beer and a smoke. She spotted the pack of her beloved death sticks peeking out from underneath a pizza box. She went to snatch them, but they were pulled further under the box by something. She frowned, knowing that one of those little fuckers was messing with her. She lifted the box and raised her eye brows, a bored expression on her face. A small creature highly resembling a certain pokemon had its arms wrapped tightly around her pack of cigarettes. It gave her a goofy smile and leapt off of the bed with them, scuttling out of the slightly ajar door that led into the rest of the apartment she shared with two roommates.

With a groan she got up and followed the stupid little Unseelie fey. This one in particular loved stealing her cigarettes and taking off with them. When she stepped outside of her door, she noticed something was off. Though everything would have looked normal to anyone else but her, she could see a small swarm of Unseelie fey were clinging to her roommate Denise's bedroom door and cackling. Though she was certain that her roommate couldn't see or hear the fey yet, their presence could be felt. The Unseelie gave off sinister, dark, or mischievous vibes, and the Unseelie usually gathered around misfortune or conflict. She folded her arms and gave the troublemakers a no-nonsense look, and they immediately scattered. Their gleeful cackles echoed as they escaped into the bathroom further down the hall.

Faye ran a hand through her hair, debating whether or not to check up on Denise. She preferred to avoid drama or anything resembling unnecessary work as much as possible. Her decision was made for her when the stupid little Unseelie from before took her pack of cigarettes and somehow managed to squash the pack underneath Denise's door, disappearing along with it. This wouldn't have been the first time she witnessed the asshole managing spatial manipulation just to annoy her. Faye rolled her eyes and trudged forward. She stopped in front of Denise's door, taking a moment to consider if she even wanted to explain how her cigarettes got in to her roommates room again.

Suddenly, a swarm of Seelie fey gathered around her, pulling on her sleeves and trying to peek through the keyhole into Denise's room. Obviously something was terribly amiss here tonight, otherwise these little do-gooders wouldn't have bothered her like this. She took a breath, shrugged, and then knocked on the door. "Hey, Denise. I, uh, seem to have lost my cigarettes. Again. Yup." She called out in time with her knocking, then paused, a pained expression coming across her face. She seemed to struggle internally before she added, "Is everything, y'know, okay in there?" Her voice sounded awkward and a bit forced, even to her.

She wondered where Kessler was. He was way more charismatic than her and better at dealing with this sort of thing. She glanced at the master bedroom door at the far end of the hall, which was Kessler's domain. He was originally the only person in the apartment until Faye had met him and moved in. Denise was the most recent addition to their lives, and she was unsure of how to approach the younger woman.

Death Row-Cartel controlled apartments. @Kaesus @LordofthePies

Adam sat and watched, still in the clothes he took off of a homeless dude. When he saw two women show up looked at his watch, he watched them talk for sometime. Both of them seemed out of place at a "Gang Shooting" He smiled as he walked forward, he kept the shotty sitting in his hiding spot, but he still had a piece tucked into his waistband just in case things got sour. As he walked forward he found himself getting more and more nervous. If they were saints he could do one of two options. He could try to kill them, turn them into his former boss maybe he could get his old life back, or he could help them. He had done enough killing for a lifetime, and maybe for once it was time to do something right, help clean up this city rather than throw it down the stairs as he was used to.

He pulled up the hood of the dirty hoody as he got closer. "Are you ladies lost?" He asked, taking the both of them in. One of them had a cat in her hands, the other was dressed in all black which looked out of place. He was tempted to give the other girl pointers. Like don't wear all black when you go out at least if you are trying to be stealthy black left a silhouette, dark blue was where it was at if you were trying to sneak around. But he shook his head thinking it was just for fashion. "Why are you here? Os Anjo's are inside that apartment, and they will kill you if they see you out here." He said. Seeing what they would do next, hopefully both of them were saints with the ability to call in backup because he wanted to send a message to his old boss.

..Os Anjo's? Aro rolled the name around in her mind. It sounded familiar. And dangerous. She couldn't remember for the life of her, but she knew that this man was bad news. Aro hugged the cat, whom she dubbed Charles, closer to her chest in case it sensed her discomfort and tried to bolt. That was something Aro should do. Get out of here. Her night was going fine until she met this woman. Either that or it was the cat, but she always thought bad luck coming from black colored cats was silly. Maybe it was silly of her to blame it on the woman. It sounded like she was eager to help Aro, this man, on the other hand, seemed to have something up his sleeve. Maybe it was a knife, maybe a trick, maybe it was just his arm. There was something there for it, and Aro wasn't ready for it.

Aro wasn't sure she should admit to the stranger that she was lost. They might take advantage of it. Then again, now that she thought about it, she shouldn't have even talked to the girl. Both of them could easily be killers, it didn't matter if one of them felt less dangerous than the other. She put herself in prime position to run. She suddenly felt like she was in danger. She had to go. Although, like a dog, you couldn't run from a man. They'd pursue, and most likely attack. Instead, she went for the next option. The option to make it seem like she wasn't a threat. If they made a move, she'd slash and dash.

"I was, uh, looking for a pair of scissors. Although, I can't quite seem to find my way around. Do you, uh, know where I could maybe find some?"

@Enalais@Kaesus

---

Kinestia looked at the man who had just arrived, was he part of the gang or part of the Saints? Her doubts ended when the man mentioned that the gang was inside so that meant that he was not part of it, so probably he was with the Saints. The woman seemed to be just a lost person.

"Yes, I know that they are inside, actually that's what I was hoping for. Not that I'm looking for troble, no. I'm actually looking to end it. Are you..." she finished the sentence in a whisper "with the Saints?"

@LordofthePies@Enalais

The soft knock on her bedroom door prompted Denise to shake off whatever amount of dread had crept up on her. She pushed the phone aside as she attempted to get the intrusive images out of her head. Images of what would happen to her if Max followed through with his threats. Images of what she would look like being left for dead on a ditch somewhere in town. All very real possibilities, and all just as equally terrifying.

"Just a minute!" Denise finally called out, grabbing one of her snacks as she got up. Like Faye had mentioned, her cigarettes were indeed by the door. She picked up the small pack before opening the door, coming face to face with her roommate. "Looking for these?"

With a smile, Denise quickly tossed the pack of cigarettes over to Faye. She leaned against the doorway, opening the bag of corn nuts before she started snacking on them. "I'm fine, just had a bit of a rough night. You know how it is, right?"

Denise was actually surprised her roommate had shown some concern for her. She obviously wasn't okay, not with Max's words lingering somewhere in the back of her head, but she wasn't about to get into that mess. Denise was never one to share her misfortune with others, and tonight wasn't an exception.

"I know I went straight for my room, but the outside world has that effect on me sometimes..."

@Aphelion

---

Nee watched Acheri's smile waver for a split second but she had no idea what it meant, other than that her smile slightly wavered. The would-be Saint brushed a tress of her messy blonde hair out of her face and looked back at the other woman. If this answer phased her, she surely did not show it. Although she did mention the State Attorney's Office, so perhaps not much phases her. Neaera continued to watch the woman, full of hope that she would have some sort of clue as to where the Saints' are. It was, of course, a long shot. After all, what are the chances that a random citizen would have any idea where the secret base of the city's watchful protectors is? They couldn't be very good, and although Neaera was not a gambling-type-of-girl, if she was, these were not odds she would take.

"... Could you tell me a little about the Saint you met?"

Nee's brain kicked into overdrive. Was it too early to get her hopes up? Does this mean she does indeed know where to find them? Will getting her hopes up jinx the whole thing? There's no way it worked out... But maybe, it was the kind of cosmic coincidence that the world seemed to enjoy springing on people.

"I know where to find them. But I can't take you there unless I think you're on the level, okay?"

The second sentence kicked Nee out of her stream of thought and brought her back into the here-and-now. Right. Answer question. Freak out later. What did the Saint look like?

"Well... He was older. Middle aged, I think. He seemed angered by my questions and did not give very specific answers. I seemed to annoy him. He must have been very busy."

Neaera did her best to recall the encounter. It was a few days ago by this point but it was still fairly fresh in her memory. She could practically still hear the sirens and the screeching of tires. Nee herself had shown up to the scene in hopes of stopping the robbers but by the time she arrived the Older Saint had already caught most of the thieves. It truly was an impressive sight.

---

Eld Fen chuckled at the retorts of his companions, like most aspects of Eld, his chuckle seemed to be slightly off. It didn't seem forced or mechanical, but it felt... wrong. It was akin to something trying to replicate human interaction without being wholly human itself. He felt his partners makes contact with his flesh, which felt icy-cold, as if no life was left within it; and the trio began to move. He had become used to the sensations of movement using his powers, it felt as natural as walking for the abomination. His companions however weren't so lucky; the movement through distorted space made every inch of one's being feel off, as if it were being moved from within. The experiance caused a range of nausea the first few times, caused by the constant shifting of space.

It took a few minutes for them to arrive to their destination, however they had successfully arrived on the roof of a warehouse, filled with crates. After a moment, he released the hands of his companions and gestured to the roof-top door a few feet away from them, then whispered quietly.

"Wait out the Vertigo and nausea, you're both useless when you get clumsy. I'll go in first, get an idea of what we're looking for."

And with that, he disappeared into the warehouse below.

Interacting with: @Amaranth @Silvan Haven @Plank Sinatra

Hrm.

It wasn't very specific, but it did line up. The description, and the incident she described. It wasn't a hard test; it wouldn't have been hard to get a description, even a more detailed one, off anyone who witnessed one of their interventions. There were still plenty of ways she could have been lying. Exhausting them all would take more time than she had and there still wouldn't be any certainty. Only a greater chance of it. But this was part of her job. Deciding who to prosecute, who was earnest and honest and who was lying through their teeth. Little psychology, lot of reasoning, and a lot of gut instinct.

Acheri was a big believer in gut instinct. It wasn't a whim, it wasn't some unexplainable premonition. It was you telling yourself that there was something you could see, even if you didn't know it yet. Tells that you could perceive, even if you didn't realize. Your instinct was something to trust.

And hers said the kid was on the level.

Ohhh, it was gonna be a long night.

"Alright, Nee, I need you to trust me." There wasn't really a way to hide where the base was. If she was some sort of operative, she had already found their base. Like, she was a hundred yards from it. If a criminal faction had gotten that close all they didn't yet know were the defenses, and those she could keep the kid from seeing. "... And follow me."

A little voice in the back of her head reminded her that the kid had seen her face, knew her name, and where she worked. If this turned out to be a trap she was already fucked. But that was part of having faith, she supposed. So she started walking towards the clothes factory and fished two phones out of her pocket. The first, her smartphone, she used to tap out a quick text to her assistant.

>Early morning insomnia. Going to need coffee and aspirin at work tomorrow, if we don't already have them at the office. Please and thank you.

He'd have them ready for her, she knew. He was good like that, even if the guy could be a pain sometimes. She pocketed that phone again, and flipped open the other one; it was a cheap, disposable phone. A burner, like criminals used. Not a notion she loved... Still, she pressed the first number on her speed dial list.

"Guardian. Warden. On my way in, with a potential recruit in tow. Might want to make sure anyone that's not in a mask gets one on quick."

Cast never stayed the night.

The hours from dusk to dawn were best enjoyed when awake, when active, roaming for the darkest corners under the night sky in the name of prowling for action. Independence City may not have been as sleepless as New York or Atlantic City, but the parts there were awake at this time of night were alive the way that terminal patients liked to live. This was the city for screw ups with bucket lists; this was a place for Castor to find some action.

Blonde, bubbly, boring action. Sitting up in bed, slipping on his jeans, with his whistling rendition of poor old dead Merle Haggard in his ears, Castor arched his back until he felt a crack and beamed. He was already anticipating finishing up the beer his date had poured for him and slipping out with a kiss on the nose and a fake phone number to slip her. He shouldn't have even come over. She was close by Cast's own apartment in Chinatown, which made her place a neat little pit stop before finishing off his night, but she was a secretary for another attorney in the state attorney's office, someone he'd been chatting up for a couple months between visits to the office - not his office, the office. It felt uncomfortably like mixing two lives - mixing work and play could be like that. If she talked to anybody or made a thing about it, it would royally fuck things up with...

bzzz

iMessage
Notification

He left the phone over his face for a couple of seconds, until the government-provided smartphone unlocked and he could read the notification.

>Early morning insomnia. Going to need coffee and aspirin at work tomorrow, if we don't already have them at the office. Please and thank you.

Castor grinned.

Ey-heyyyy.

The woman he'd really spent all night thinking about, chipping away again at the graveyard shift. Bless Acheri and her commitment to the American way. It kept her too busy for dates.

>Hot, strong and dark. Just like my gal. I'll leave the expense bill under the French press : )

"Hey babe, time for me to hit the road," he said over his shoulder to the other occupant of the bed. He stood up, buttoning his pants, and began searching for his shirt and jacket before he could be stopped. It didn't seem like it was gonna be much of a problem, though; in the past five minutes she'd ebbed out of consciousness like a rock. He walked over to the kitchen counter and sipped on the beer he'd opened, a beverage that had long gone lukewarm in the hour or so it had been since he'd taken his last sip. For a second, he saw her roll over in bed, reach out to grab an invisible physique with one arm and scoop it closer. She thought he was still there.

Heh.

Girls were the coolest.

Castor wiped up the ring of condensation from his beer and tossed the rest into the recycle bin; the heavy glass thunked against the bottom of the pail, followed by the heavier thunk of the front door closing shut. As was customary, he checked his suppressed gun - the one he always carried inside - to make sure nothing had been knocked out of order or stripped from the weapon during his brief sojourn. When he was happy, he looked out to the parking lot where his Chevelle was parked. His eyes narrowed when he saw that one of the street lights above his car was flickering rapidly, probably in desperate need of a new bulb no one had the time, money, or concern to send all the way to Chinatown with a maintenance crew. It wasn't much of an inconvenience to people asleep in their apartments...

But to Castor, it meant fearing an ambush.

Let there be light in this sumbitch...

Rolling his hand over in the air so that his palm faced upwards, into the starless night that hung over Independence City, Castor snapped his fingers once. The bulb shone brightest among any in the parking lot, and didn't flicker again until he'd peeled out and left his Chevelle in another parking lot, closer to home. After that he would spend the rest of the night on foot, looking through every crack and crevice in the eclectic Chinatown district.

Looking for adventure.

Looking for meaning.

Looking for escape.

For coffee and aspirin.

@hagroden@Agent 47@Krayzikk



It took a concerted of will not to flash his power and abort the jump partway through. The entire thing just felt so wrong. But it would also save them crucial time traveling across the city. That time could mean the difference between life and death for a lot of people. So Justin held it in until they arrived on the roof of the warehouse in question.

Of course that didn't mean he had to put up with the nausea the teleportation induced. A small effort and a soft glow behind his eyes were all it took to banish the feeling. Straightening up he placed a hand on Olive's shoulder, sending a similar surge of power through her as well. The large man was just turning to follow Eld Fen when his phone rang. It was the burner phone of course. He never brought his regular phone on these excursions. You never brought identifying items on a black op.

"Guardian. Warden. On my way in, with a potential recruit in tow. Might want to make sure anyone that's not in a mask gets one on quick."

"Understood Warden. Be advised the base is currently empty and security systems have been engaged. The entire team is currently deployed to an ongoing gang related incident in Death Row. I marked the location on the map."

He hung up when he finished passing on the information. As much as he would have loved to sit and chat with Acheri this wasn't the time or place. She would understand. Putting the phone back in its pocket on his tactical vest Justin withdrew his Glock and followed Eld at a crouch.

"Thanks, I don't know how they keep getting in there." Faye caught the cigarette pack Denise had tossed her and fought the nearly overpowering urge to just light one up right in the apartment. She went to pocket them, but stopped short when she noticed the cigarette-stealing Unseelie looming in the depths of her pocket - it's beady black eyes shimmering expectantly. She raised her eyebrows at it, as if to say "Not this time, you little shit". Instead, she fiddled with the pack while she listened to Denise, popping a cigarette in and out of the container over and over.

Something about the way Denise spoke triggered all of Faye's holy shit it's drama, run away alarms, but there was an underlying urgency to the last thing her roommate had said. There was having a bad day, then there was having a bad day. And to Faye, it seemed like Denise was having the latter. But she wasn't prepared to delve deeper unless Denise had an actual problem that Faye could see or touch. And even then, maybe not. It really depended. She put her cigarettes in her bra for safe-keeping, away from the slippery fingers of a particular fey.

"This world is a fuckin' cesspool. It'll eat you up if you let it, so tell it to piss off. C'mon, you need something more than snacks." Faye gave Denise a rare lopsided smile and nodded with her head towards their spacious kitchen. She made her way over to their fridge and rummaged around. Without preamble she extracted some hamburger patties, buns, and all of the accoutrements to go with it. Which meant a bottle of hard liquor and two shot glasses, of course. She poured Denise a shot and slid it along the counter, then poured herself a shot. She raised the drink towards Denise in a mock "toasting" gesture, and then threw her head back and downed it easily.

She set out to cooking everything up, and spoke over her shoulder while she did so. "Nothing better than a burger and some liquor on a shitty night. Plus, this crap will go bad if we don't cook it up soon. Win-win." With every flip of the patties in their skillet, the fey gathered in closer - all drooling at the sight of the sizzling meat. Some even tried to hang off of her spatula, but she shook them off with a quick flick. "What are your plans for the rest of the night?" Faye asked as she leaned against the counter and poured herself a second shot.

---

Nee popped up to her feet in a flash.

"You mean you will take me to them? You trust me?"

Neaera stared at Acheri with a radiant smile. The other woman looked plain exhausted. She wanted to hug Acheri and weep tears of joy and also jump around. Possibly in reverse order. If she had any of her powers left she would have made fireworks. The woman told Nee to follow her and Nee did just that. The wannabe-Saint looked around at all the buildings. None of them looked any different from the average bog-standard-run-down-harbour-district. One of them had to have the Saint's headquarters in it, Acheri basically confirmed that it DID exist. So which was it? So many of them lacked signage or even indication of what purpose it served. Breaking and entering was not really something Neaera was interested in adding to her repertoir, so it really was sheer luck that Acheri had come to save the day, like a real superhero. The thought made Nee suppress a giggle. It didn't really matter which building was the hideout. The night just got a lot better either way.

Interacting with: @Amaranth @Silvan Haven @Plank Sinatra

"Yeah, kid. We'll see what the others think."

Acheri barely had time to acknowledge what Justin said before he hung up, but she wasn't offended. If they were on a mission he only had time to relay the basics. She pocketed the phone again, focusing instead on leading Nee to the entrance and keeping an eye on her at the same time. The security system was pretty well hidden, the keypad tucked away inside what looked like a long disused electrical box. She kept her body between Nee and a view of the pad, though, there wasn't any sense in letting her see what the system looked like or what the password was. Not yet.

She didn't get to pick the passwords, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes a little as she punched in "dolphin157" and stepped over to the door. It swung open without too much difficulty now that the lock was disengaged, and she gestured for Nee to step in quickly so she could close the door behind them both.

As always, she checked the wards once she was inside. It had been a pretty long process to set them up. With the exception of her apartment they were the most resilient defenses she had ever set up, designed to reinforce the walls and entrances of their base. None of the others could see them, but to her they showed up as faintly shimmering planes across the exterior walls. The reservoirs inside them were massive. It had taken weeks to set them all up, and she still topped off the energy in them when she could. The security system was excellent, but if someone physically came after them... Acheri wanted some protection.

She didn't say anything to her new recruit just yet, instead taking a quick look at the map, but refocused her attention pretty quickly.

"Please stick with me, don't go exploring 'til we can talk to everyone else." She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and dropped her coat, revealing the more combat-oriented garb beneath. Durable boots, dark jeans held up by a utility belt that held her tools, and a long sleeve black shirt. She was planning to add a kevlar vest, but she still needed to talk to Justin about getting one. Her leather gloves she set aside on the table, since she didn't need to worry about leaving fingerprints here. "The others should be back before too long, but Guardian said they were working. Until they are we should just wait here. I can answer some questions, though, if you'd like."

She sank into a chair and sent out a quick response to her assistant, with the faintest of eye rolls.

>Appreciate it. I'll slip you the cash at work.

@Kaesus @LordofthePies

Adam couldn't help himself, he ended up laughing at the sheer irony of things. He had managed to attract everybody except the people he wanted, he moved towards the girl with the cat and started to scratch the little beast under the chin. "I thought you were both saints." He said, not bothering to whisper it. The apartments were starting to become more active, it seems the gangsters inside found the bodies he left which meant they would be coming out of there soon. Adam began to shift uncomfortably but he didn't let it show instead he busied himself with the cat. "You're cute little cat aren't you?" He asked the cat, he shifted his hand to a section of string and burnt through it. The flames were localized and small enough that they didn't burn for every long but hot enough to cut it away. Soon enough he had burnt away the string, and had the creature free.

It was at this moment that someone exited the apartments he had an AK in his hands as he approached the group. "Who the fuck are you?" He asked the group pointing the chopper at them. As he approached Adam whispered quietly. "If you aren't saints, then help me clear this place out. These guys are not good guys." He man with the chopper got closer, and Adam struck quickly. He knocked the barrel down and brought his hand up to the guys face, he used his flames to essentially boil his former comrades brain inside his skull. The body dropped, a burnt handprint on his face. "Are you with me?" He asked.

"Oh, my plans... Well, I don't have any," Denise laughed, although there was a slight trace of fear in her eyes, one that she was trying extremely hard to conceal. She smiled nervously at Faye before pouring herself another shot of the liquor and downing it, cringing at the burning sensation that it left down her throat. The coughing fit that subsequently followed made Denise tear up, but she quickly apologized to her roommate before taking a few deep breaths, the smell of the burgers that Faye was cooking helping her quite a bit.

"In all honesty, my boyfriend, or rather, ex-boyfriend, sent me a threatening message which I obviously did not appreciate." Two shots in and Denise surprised herself. Not even a moment ago she was completely opposed to the idea of sharing her personal drama with her roommate. But maybe it was the relaxed atmosphere and the fact that she let her guard down that prompted her to disclose such information. Not that Denise didn't appreciate a good girl talk, but her situation wasn't that simple. "I mean, I'm just supposed to stay with him...or else? He doesn't own me, and while I'm somewhat intimidated by him, at the same time I want to be confident enough to be able to confront him and get this crap over with."

She shook her head, sad by her own story. "But hey, those burgers you're making might make the rest of my night just a little bit better," she smiled, subconsciously changing the topic.

@Aphelion