Unlikely Heroes IC

[Cerulean]

"I got the magic in me
Every time I touch that track in turns into Gold
Every body knows I got the magic in me
When I hear hit the floor the girls come snapping at me
Now everybody wants to press the magic"

Adam was trying out something different. Not busking. That he has done plenty of times before, with about as much success as you can expect from such an endeavor. This was his first attempt at mixing songs to tell a different story. His voice matched the transposed note and it filled him with warmth because this story was about his own expression of self. Perhaps he wasn't actually swarmed by girls, but it was nice to think of what that would be like. It was him coming out of his own shell and that feeling never ceased to amaze.

Pressing fingers to keys, on his little keyboard, he hummed a little bit. The composition was treated with a methodical grace and now the performance was starting to warm Adam. He was really getting into it now, adjusting in the comfy chair that was never left at home. The voice had a deep, gruff tone to it. It was the voice of a future star. At least, that was the goal.

"I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly"

Adam can frequently find his mind is different places, but this was the one thing that could hold together long enough to get something wonderful out. It helped him battle back his demons and at the same time make other people happy. This in turn made him happy....ier.

"Ha La La La La
Now listen closer to the verse I lay
(Ha La La La La)
It's all about the wordplay
(Ha La La La Love)
The wonderful thing it does
Because, because
I am the wizard of ooh's and ah's and fa-la-la's
Yeah the Mister A to Z
They say I'm all about the wordplay

I built a bridge across the stream my consciousness
It always seems to be a flowing
But I don't know which way my brain is going
Oh the rhyming and the timing
Keeps the melodies inside me
And they're coming
Till I'm running out of air
Are you prepared to take a dive into the deep end of my head
Are you listening to a single word I've said"

He had finally opened his eyes, as the last phrase fell out. The last sound that was made come from the chord on the piano.

 

[Weaver]

It didn't take long for Wilson to diagnose Vida's injuries. The necrosis was identical to Garret's injuries, if more severe. He still had no idea how to treat the condition, but first aid was a clear starting point. Wordlessly, he worked to wrap up her hands, but not before taking a skin sample.

He avoided her eyes. He didn't want her to see what was in his. Without realizing it, Wilson had been a little rough with his attentions. He was angry. No...not angry; angry wasn't the right word. He was offended. He had risked all to save this group of people, to establish a better life and a secure future for them, and they had -on their first outing tangled with a common street gang. Was there any thought to their own safety at all? And what had been the reason? He'd have to remember to ask that when everyone else arrived at the base.

"Hopefully, without New York's entire criminal population in tow." He thought bitterly.

Vida needed a drip, just in case her body's fluids had been depleted by her ability. It was standard medical practice to prevent dehydration, but in Wilson's case, it was all the more important. They still hadn't fully explored the effects of the Charlies' abilities on their own physiology. For all he knew, the use of Vida's powers could have far-reaching and lasting side effects, which could be dangerous or even fatal.

"Lie back and stay here," Wilson said quietly. There wasn't enough force in his words to come across as gruff. His tone was hollow, subdued. It almost sounded like the voice of a man who'd given up.

"Ester, your turn."

It had been a while since Wilson had to sew up a wound. On examination, it appeared as though the bullet had made just enough contact to produce a nasty gash in her side, but it had thankfully done no more damage than that. He spent a few minutes to stop the bleeding, then administered a local anesthetic to numb the area while he worked to close the wound.

"Keep still and don't touch it," He told Ester. "We'll start you on antibiotics if there are any signs of infection."

With that, he turned to face Josiah, who had seen this expression on his face precious few times. Wilson did not need to indicate that he wanted Josiah to follow; it was understood. The door clicked gently closed behind Josiah.

"I don't care," Wilson started, with a forced calm in his voice. "I don't care how this started, I don't care who's responsible, and I don't care how much you want to get back at them. It stops, here and now."

"They still have Sam and Christian."

There was dead space in Wilson's grand speech. Those few words knocked the air out of his lungs. They crippled his ability to speak. He took off his glasses and absently worked to clean the lenses while he struggled to come up with a response.

"Who?" He managed weakly.

"Don't know," Josiah replied. "But, from what Daniel said, it seems like they took them to a separate facility. We don't even know if it's the same people the Charlies tangled with. It doesn't really seem like their style, if you ask me."

"Daniel could sense them?" Wilson inquired, waving off the rest of Josiah's opinions.

"Well...yeah, but he said it was at the edge of his range. We can't really be sure it even is them. He hasn't spent enough time with them to tell them apart from other supers."

"We obviously don't have the skills to take on a street gang. We need more information, more training, more...more time."

Wilson paced while he talked, his brow furrowed to the point where it more closely resembled a freshly tilled field than skin. He stopped abruptly and, without turning to face Josiah, simply uttered the words: "Can you still find Masaru?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Do it."

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Alley: Post Fight - Daniel, Jenna, Cal and Pat (+ unconscious Tom)

"And don't worry about the grabbing thing, just give me a warning next time."

"S-sure. I'm glad you aren't upset," Cal looked visibly relieved. She was a little upset that she seemed to have annoyed Christian earlier today, so no offending a second person so soon would be great. Even though the old man managed to get back on his feet, Pat's expression showed that he was in a lot more pain than he let on. She had to find a way to help without actually touching him, she concluded. Her eyes fell on a nearby a nearby dumpster.

She ran over. Seeing the lid was closed, she wiped the drying blood onto her shirt and threw the lid up. A quick rummage unearthed a long metal rod, possibly an old curtain rod, which could be used as a temporary cane. "I – you look like your back's hurting." She paused as she offered him the rod. "I can't carry you, so maybe a cane will help? It's just a short distance to the start of the alley …"

"Oh …" She remembered the van. Josiah, that arrogant jerk, mentioned they had to get back to it. Wait! Since he was with Daniel, it meant that this other person was in-charge. She sighed and took a deep breath in an attempt to clear the fog building inside her head. The burst of oxygen provided a small relief. She was just so goddamn tired now that the adrenaline ebbed. Still there was work to do and now one else asked the obvious. "Oh Daniel! Do you think we can back the van closer towards alley?"

She walked over to him. "Maybe we can decide on the more important things once we are all comfortably seated." She looked discreetly in Pat's direction, trying to see if he was alright. She fished around for an excuse that didn't put the man in the spotlight. "I still aching from earlier and you don't want to deal with me when I'm grumpy." She pouted.

"Not that I'm not worried about Sam and Christian," Cal added quickly. "I think it's more private and comfortable discussing the matter in the van … and yeah hanging out here any long is a baaad idea. There were several shots earlier." She paused to catch her breath. She didn't realize how fast she had been talking. "And we appear to have a body." She pointed to the unconscious Tom.

Inside the Van: Daniel, Jenna, Pat and Cal (+ unconscious Tom)

The last bit, while an odd addition, seemed to galvanize them into action. Callie was the last to board the van. She shut the rear door and made her way to the driver's seat. Pat was currently sitting shot gun, while Jenna was directly behind and Daniel sitting opposite Jenna. Cal adjusted herself in such a manner she could see most them. "Now back to all important question. Are we feeling confident about rescuing Sam and Christian or do we want to head back and regroup?"

She composed herself and did a brief headcount. "I mean there's only Daniel, Patrick, you – Jenna – and me. The Fed doesn't count since he's still out cold at the back. And oh, Vida and Ester went back with – " She stopped herself from saying Jerk-siah. "Josiah. No offense, Dan. I'm sure you're a great guy and all, but yeah. We lack the numbers."

She deliberately avoided mentioning the fight earlier. Killing the morale wasn't going to help their missing friends. Callie watched Jenna closely. "I prefer going back, but I'll follow if the rest of you want to do this." She smiled warmly at the brunette. "Trust me, I want Sam and Christian back safe too."

 

[Perry]

Max had no fucking clue of how late or soon in the day it was and he could not care any less. The only concern he had with the time was how long he had until the painkiller's effect faded enough for him to need the next bunch and how long until Viktor was back from the job interview and took him to a fucking doctor who could finally fix this whole shit. Viktor had left him on a park bench with a bottle of ice tea, a blindfold, and the promise of seeing a doctor who was not a complete retard in less than two hours. Juicy Russian swearwords kept mixing in his mind with whatever it was the retarded street musician was singing in the park. The guy was at least honest enough to admit that he even remembered losing his mind, which he might as well have not found yet, for all Max could tell.

»Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly«

"Fuck yeah!", Max muttered somewhat loudly when the guy kept singing if something made him crazy. Max was sure he had already heard whatever it was that should have made or not made this lunatic crazy, but keeping track of the text was tougher a task than he had known before all this. The drowsiness from the painkillers he had swallowed after lunch – and the past days – and the growing impatience about not knowing what the hell was wrong with him – which he shared with at least two doctors – made him wonder if maybe he himself was going to share the insanity with this guy in the park who had smoked whatever had made him think he was a fucking wizard. Maybe that was what could help him with the blindness and the headaches. Why not? Modern medicine seemed to be as clueless as any other person on the streets, so maybe he needed a wizard instead of doctors and hospitals. And for what Max knew whatever this dude had smoked could be much more effective than regular painkillers.

"You said too many fucking words." Max said loud and clear this time, right after he sang if people were listening to a word he was saying. "Not a single, too many singles."​

 

[Cerulean]

This wasn't the first time someone shouted during a performance and, it sadly would not be the last. At least the song was over before the heckler did anything more. He looked over to the park bench to find that the asshat was blindfolded. Of course the guy had a blindfold, because why not? Debating whether or not to bite his tongue, instead of the man's, someone came over and dropped a few dollars in his case. It simmered him down enough to not say anything and just hope that maybe Stevie Wonder would wander off or a meteor would hit him. Just stick with it a little longer and then break time.

Deciding to give his voice a rest, Adam took a deep breath and began to just play a little instrumental music. It was classical, in composition, and baritone in Db. Overall, the day have been pretty good so far. The sun was shining when clouds didn't cockblock it. In his head, there were ideas swirling around as to what he should do if the heckler goes off again. A stinging one liner should do the trick.

Or something.

 

[dpickle]

Pat got to his feet just as Josiah disappeared with the two seriously injured members of the party. It was a bit disorientating to suddenly be looking at empty space where three people had been a moment before. Why couldn't he just teleport us all back? It's not like there's anyone left back here to notice. Pat knew that he could sure use a teleport right about then. A soft bed and about a million pain killers wouldn't hurt either. Pat's back had mildly improved from when he had first stood up, but he still wanted to get out of his current standing position as soon as possible. As if reading his mind, Callie suddenly appeared with a makeshift cane.

Upon being offered the cane, Pat quickly accepted with a short thanks. Under ordinary circumstances Pat may have protested, but he was far to sore and exhausted to consider refusing some help. The added support significantly reduced the pain of walking around, a big boon considering the van was a fair ways away. The trip back to the van gave Pat just enough time to be embarrassed about the previous events. Pat considered himself very proficient at masking pain Callie seemed to see through it right away. Granted there's a drastic difference between migraine pain and "Just been in a gang fight" pain, but it still stung the ego none the less.

Once they were all back in the van, Pat got a bit of relief and they had to decide on what to do about the missing members.

"I also say that we should also go back to base. If Sam and Christian aren't in any danger they can wait for a while and if they are in danger we're not in a position to do anything about it."

 

[IzKripp]

Vida was extremely uncomfortable with the doctor. She could tell that he was angry, but she could not tell who he was angry with. With no one specified she just assumed that he was angry with her. She avoided looking at him a little too obviously as she kept her head turned away from him as he dressed her wounds. She did not even notice him take a piece of her skin; even if she had the day had been too long for her to care anymore.

When he spoke she jumped a little. She knew that he would say something eventually, but she was not excepting it to be so… distant? She turned over if that was the right word that she should be using. Without protest she did what was told of her, but not before picking up her jacket. As she lay down she pulled the jacket over her head so that her face was covered. Honestly she was still in a lot of pain from her wounds, but she had never been one to voice out her discomfort to others.

Why are you crying again?

She was not crying.

You know what will happen if they catch you crying.

The familiar voice that played in her mind was one that she had not heard in a few years now. She was not crying, but she did feel like she could start at any moment. Laying there under her jacket she felt her eyes getting heavy. She was tired again and she was hungry. Since she was told to stay where she was there was no way that she could go get food and even if she could go she did not remember where the food was. Left with only one option she ended up closing her eyes so that she could drift to sleep.

 

[Weaver]

Kurosawa Dojo
Corner of Ninth and Pine

Josiah paused outside, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say. Masaru had been there for the previous run of supers, and it hadn't gone well. Part of why the program had been discontinued had been the unpredictability of some supers' behavior; both before and after the change. Masaru had been no exception.

Before the end, Masaru had shown a deep contempt for the program's administration and policies. He had disobeyed orders, had interfered with investigations and pursuit of targets... Ironically, this was precisely what the Reformers needed. It was not fear that kept him beneath the decorative awnings outside his dojo; it was worry.

"Ok," he told himself. "Let's not screw this up."

He got as far as the front counter before he noticed the kneeling form of a man in the center of the practice mats, facing away from him. As Josiah had already had his fill of surprises this week, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and resolved to sneak up on the man. After all, TSP forces had already blackbagged an entire generation of supers; what was to stop them laying a trap here?

"We agreed you would not come back."

Josiah immediately recognized the voice as belonging to his old colleague. It was not a hostile tone, but there was still a little ice hanging from his words. He wondered if that meant Masaru would be unwilling to help.

"How'd you know it was me?" he inquired, instantly regretting the commission of a movie cliché.

The kneeling man rose, bowed to the room, and calmly returned to the counter. Here, he indicated several recent newspaper clippings relating to the bus crash.

-Bus Crash Kills Twelve
-Several Still Missing from Downtown Bus Crash
-Mysterious Incidents Plague New York. Police Baffled.

"Let me think," Masaru said quietly, leaning on the wall next to the counter. He put a finger to his lips, parroting Wilson's favorite musing. "There is a large accident, several people go missing from the scene, and a week of abnormal incidents later, I get a visitor too nervous to enter my dojo."

"Yeah, I get it." Josiah grumbled. "Fine, Sherlock. If you're so smart, then you tell me why I'm here."

"If I had to guess, I would say Wilson has finally run into an enemy who will not settle for words and promises."

"You're half right. We've got two missing, and we're not sure who's got 'em. Could be TSP, could be street thugs. We've got an idea of where they might be, but things could get..."

Josiah trailed off. He didn't like the look in Masaru's eye.

"...messy?" Masaru finished the thought for him. Josiah nodded.

Without a word, Masaru took the keys to the front door and locked it. He emptied the till into the drop safe and shut down the main power to his dojo. When he returned to Josiah's side, he simply held out his arm.

"We're wasting time."

 

[Rina]

"Either way it looks like we are too late now." Daniel said with a small sigh as he continued to try and focus on finding Sam and Christian. "They are too far now."

"What do you mean they are too far? We can't just loose them just like that." Jenna said, the tone of her voice slightly rising as worry and panic settled in. "We have to go. We have to find them again. We have to..."

"We can't." Shaking his head sympathetically, Daniel turned towards Jenna. "My powers can only go so far and without Josiah here with me to help rapidly catch up and find them, we're S.O.L. Once we get back to the base we can regroup and Josiah and I can go out and search for them but there isn't..." Confusion was written on the man's face as he paused and closed his eyes to block out any unneeded stimui.

"What's going on?"

"It can't be them but I think I found another pair of Charlies. I was too focued on the other source that I didn't notice them and from what it looks like, they are not too far away. Let's go investigate."

It didn't take too long before the van pulled up in front of a park. It took Daniel a few seconds to look around from the parked vehicle and identify where exactly the two Charlies were. "It looks like the street preformer and the angry foreigner is our winners." The man said pointing out the two.

"We're going to ruin their lives now aren't we? Everything changed when you and the TSP got involved and now here we are doing the same exact thing." Jenna said looking at the two.

"You got it wrong Jen. Everything changed before we were involved. Your life was different ever since the crash whether or not we got involved. Even if they refuse to join us, the least they deserve is answers." Daniel said before exiting the van. "I'll hop in if I needed but I'm going to leave this conversation up to you three."

~.~​

"Guys! Guess who's here!" Garret said with excitement as he opened the door to the infirmary. Although his hands were wrapped up from the accident that happened earlier, it didn't dampen his mood in the slightest.

"Masaru." Wilson said looking up from his desk in the corner of the room.

"How did you know?" Garret said a bit surprised.

"I asked Josiah to get him earlier. Now will you please settle down. This is an infirmary and Vida was trying to sleep before you came in."

"Sheesh, you can be such a party pooper sometimes." Garret said, this time in a calmer voice although the excitement on his face stayed the same. "They wanted me to notify you of their arrival so that you can catch up. But I also thought since the two of you haven't had the chance to meet Masaru yet, you might like to. That is, if you're feeling well enough to do so."

 

[Weaver]

Masaru simply bowed, though the gesture was far from the deep flourish of his ancestry. It gave him the flavor of a man trying to chase after his heritage, and never quite catching up to it. Ordinarily, he'd have smiled at the two young ladies in the infirmary, but it had been grim news that had brought him here.

"Josiah tells me," Masaru said, turning to Wilson. "That your new team is already missing some vital pieces. Are we no longer doing the caution and stealth thing?"

Wilson's lips were not quick enough to stifle an exasperated sigh. He looked up at Masaru from his desk and willed him to feel bad for what he just said. When that did not have the intended effect, he frowned and elaborated on the situation.

"I can help to prepare these people for the changes in their lives. I can help them to stay safe, to develop and use their gifts, but I can not prevent every change in the wind which might get them into trouble. I had labored under the insane notion that going shopping was still safe in this world."

Masaru simply folded his hands behind his back and waited for the rest of Wilson's tirade. It was difficult to say which bothered Wilson more: Being interrupted, or being so expected to rant that his audience held their questions until the end of the tour.

"I'm sorry," Wilson abruptly changed course. He laid down his clipboard and folded his hands in front of him. "You couldn't have known what happened. I only just found out myself, and only the bare bones of the situation."

"Samantha and Christian apparently pursued a pickpocket for several blocks. They were separated from the group, who obviously felt it was necessary to rehearse a remake of The A-Team in response to the theft of Samantha's card. Josiah can fill you in on the details."

"Let it suffice to say that, not only did our new team not find its two missing members, but those two members are now in the hands of an unknown party -perhaps even associates of the thieves they were trying to fight- and, as far as we know, completely off our radar."

"Now," Wilson allowed himself a breath, while carefully selecting his next words. "I know you don't agree with what happened during your participation in The Sierra Project. I know you left to go find yourself. I understood and respected that choice enough that I didn't send my team to go get you back."

He leaned forward, wearing his most serious face. "But this is not The Sierra Project. These are not soldiers. They are civilians. Poorly-prepared, ill-equipped, and almost totally defenseless civilians. They did not sign up for this, nor were they recruited by a military selection board. They were forced into it by a cruel amalgamation of chance, fate, bad luck and bad timing. It's our fault, Masaru, and I aim to see they're made ready for what's going to happen to them as a result."

Masaru said nothing during Wilson's explanation. He simply stood there, waiting for his turn to speak. His face wasn't altogether whimsical either.

"I will help you," he replied quietly. "I need some supplies, some information, and a place to start looking. After that, as you well know, there are no guarantees."

Wilson cast his eyes at Garret, then made the "get him what he wants" gesture toward the supply room. On their way out, Wilson called for Masaru's attention one last time.

"I know this doesn't mean you're rejoining our team, Masaru. I know you're only doing this because you want to help. I won't try to make you stay. Just...please...find those two and find them in one piece. We're responsible for them. They deserve to live."

Masaru nodded curtly and followed Garret through the door.

 

[ReganOs]

The whole time Dr Wilson tended to Ester's side wound Ester was less nervous than she thought she would be. Heck, she even looked at the wound on her side. Once the anesthetic kicked in on her side it was like nothing happened.

He instructed her not to touch it, and that if infection were to occur then he'll start her on antibiotics. Ester nodded and carefully lifted herself up. 'Thank you.' She said, 'I'll be careful.'

Ester left the infirmary and made her way to her quarters. She might as well have her free time to herself, collect her thoughts on what the everlasting hell is going on. How her life as taken such a sudden change and her having superpowers of all things. She needed to collect and think.

Resting herself on her bed, Ester stared at the ceiling, hands on her stomach as she began to recall what has happened to her.

'I should be home. I should be taking care of my clients. I was going to go see my mom. I was normal. I was happy. I am still happy- No. No. No, I can't lie to myself...' Ester stopped and covered her face with her hands, sighing.

'I'm not happy. I'm not. I'm not happy anymore.' Ester repeated in her head. 'I might not be happy again.'

All these thoughts and emotions started to make Ester feel conflicted about herself. She's not happy, she's angry and scared. The fact that she became this, got dragged into this fiasco between two factions. Over time Ester began to think of ways to get herself out of this. She could run away. She could go back to her own life. But she also has to stay. She needs to be a hero. She needs to learn how to control herself and these powers.

Suddenly, Ester remembered.

'The phone call.' She realised. Sitting up Ester needed to find a phone. Hurrying out Ester needed to find a phone. She noticed Garrett and another man walking somewhere and hurried towards them. 'Garrett!' Ester said 'I need a phone!'

Garrett turned around to her. 'Oh uh.' He said 'What for?' He asked

'I need to make a call to the school I work at.' Ester explained.

'Oh god um-' Garrett turned to Masaru then back to Ester. 'There's a phone in the command centre but it's locked.' He explained. 'I can unlock it but you have to lie. We can't have anyone else knowing you're here.'

'What should I say?' Ester asked

'I don't know, tell them you're in rehab!' he suggested.

Ester sighed. 'Alright.' She said.

Garrett turned to Masaru 'I can't let her go down to where the phone is by herself.' He admitted.

Masaru nodded 'I understand.' He said.

Garrett sighed in relief 'Thanks.' Garrett said. He turned to Ester. 'Follow me.'

Garrett then walked off, Ester following him to a locked door with a key card lock. 'We got a phone line that's protected in this room. So nobody that's on our side can find us through phone calls.'

'Smart.' Ester admired.

Walking down the small hall behind Garrett the two entered the command centre. Ester never really got a full chance to soak the room in.

'Phone's over there.' Garrett pointed out to a small phone on a desk, next to a computer with a screen fit to the wall.

'I'll be quick.' Ester said hurrying over. Picking up the phone she pressed the buttons and had waited, until she heard a familiar voice.

'Welcome to Sundale elementary school this is kerry speaking.'

'Kerry. Hi it's Ester.'

The woman gasped 'Oh my god Ester.' She said. 'Where are you? You haven't called the school in weeks! All of Zach's appointments have been cancelled.'

Ester sighed 'I'm sorry. I just... There's something that i need to tell you.'

Ester took a breath in 'Here goes nothing.' She thought

'I'm in Rehab... I... got caught doing drugs and was sent in for rehab.' She lied.

'Oh...' Kerry said. 'I'm afraid if a teacher or counsellor is caught doing dangerous activities, they have to be replaced.'

'I'm aware.' Ester sighed, her other hand on her non-medicated hip. 'Tell Zack I'm sorry.' She requested.

'I will inform Mr Nevogan.' Kerry promised. 'It was nice working with you Est.'

'You too Kerry.' Ester smiled. 'Goodbye.'

Hanging up the phone Ester sighed and groaned. 'I'm never lying again.' She said. 'I just lost my job...'

'Damn.' Garrett sighed, arms crossed.

'Well. Means I can start a new life after this.' Ester admitted. Garrett turned and walked out the door, waiting for Ester to follow him. Ester exited the command centre, Josiah shutting the door behind him.

'Thanks.' She said, walking next to him down the hallway.

 

[dpickle]

Pat gave a small sigh of relief as the Van came to a stop. He could now add "multiple car rides" to the list of annoying things that had happened this day. At least the pain in his back had died down to manageable levels.

"It looks like the street preformer and the angry foreigner is our winners."

Pat stole a glance out the window to see the two new victims for himself. They sure didn't look like much. Just another two ordinary people who got punched in the gut by Lady Luck. And now it was their job to break the bad news to them. With a small groan, Pat managed to haul himself out of the van. Standing up seemed to rekindle the pain in his back a bit, and now Pat was regretting leaving the cane behind.

"Even if they refuse to join us, the least they deserve is answers." Daniel said before exiting the van. "I'll hop in if I needed but I'm going to leave this conversation up to you three."

"So we're just going to talk to them? No stabbing them with a needle before throwing them in the back of the van?" Pat muttered loud enough to hear. "That method seemed to work so well last time."

Pat knew he was being a bit harsh, but he wasn't about to let the Reformers live that one down just yet. If Pat was being honest, he would probably have preferred they use the knock out method in this situation, talking with people wasn't his strong suit. "Let's get this over with," Pat thought to himself before walking over to where the two new Charlies were.

"Hey, you on the bench. And Mr. Mozart on the keyboard. Random question, were either of you involved in a bus crash about a week ago?"

 

[Cerulean]

Break time. It had been a decent afternoon but now it was time to pack up and move on. The heckler was still sitting on the bench and could explode into rudeness/obnoxiousness at any time and no one would want to be around that. Putting everything away and gathering his spoils, a van had pulled up to them. It just sort of stayed there, as he was packing up. Just as his case snapped shut the van door had opened someone was making their way towards them.

This was one of a few things. Either this guy was from a record label, or maybe another heckler coming to fuck with him. Or maybe he was here to kidnap him. All the years of paranoia had payed off and now someone was here to take him to some isolated cabin and perform Chinese nipple torture. No...not my nipples. That would be horrible. Instinctively, he covered his chest as if he was a swimsuit model for some random random magazine.

When the question was asked, his blue eyes widened. Yup. Here to kidnap and torture my poor little nipples. Get out. Get somewhere safe. Now.

"Nope. Never rode a bus in my life. I usually walk. Yup. Bye now."

Adam grabbed his case and began briskly getting the fuck out of dodge. Whistling all the while, hopefully there might be witnesses is he is pursued.

 

[IzKripp]

Vida laid on the bed with her head and most of her upper body covered by her jacket as the men talked in the room. Besides the doctor and Ester she recognized one other voice. It was the voice of the man from this morning. The one that she had hurt. She shifted uncomfortably as she thought about what she must have put him through. Under her jacket she pulled her hand up to her face so she could look at the bandaged digits. They did not hurt as much as they did earlier, but she could still feel that they were hurt. She went to clench her fist then stopped before she could. It was not time for her to wallow in self pity, there was things she needed to do. She was hungry, she needed to get something to and to feed her...

Suddenly Vida sat up and threw her jacket clear across the room as she remembered. She had not been home, which meant there were two cats that did not have any food. She did not stop to rationalize as she jumped out of the bed and started to walk off. She was halted briefly by the sharp pain in her arm from the IV coming out. She stared at the blood that pooled on her arm for a moment before turning to the door and walking out. She was completely engrossed her in her own thoughts and walked sure footed without any direction.

"I need to get home. I have to get home. Home is where I need to be. I need to get there. Cats, cats. Yes. My cats. I need my cats. They are hungry. I need to them, they need me."

She rambled on and on about her cats ignoring everything around her, even her own body. She was still tired, but she ignored it. She had a mission that she had to complete.

"They need me. I bet they are going 'Meow, meow. We are hungry!'"

She reached up and scratched her head looking down a hall one way and then the other.

"A way out. There must me a way out..."

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Callie caught sight of herself in the rear view mirror just as she was about to exit the van. The horrors! Her hair was a mess, which exacerbated the fact that she was not wearing any makeup. No, oh god no! Walking out like this was bound to chase anyone, man or woman, away. The blonde frantically tried to style her hair without the use of her usual hair products. No matter what she did, strands of blonde fell down over her eyes. She slammed her face down on the wheel in frustration, resulting in a loud beep.

"Where's Pat?"

From where she sat, Cal saw Pat following the musician and her mouth rounded to form a slight 'o'. Jenna was already going after the two. That meant she was left with the foreigner. She wondered what nationality he was and whether he spoke any English. Well, when all else fails, speak to the dark haired person in Dutch. That rule worked about 30% of the time and in the remaining 70% she'd resort to impromptu gesturing and broken English. She took a deep breath and turned to Daniel.

"Goededag! Spreekt u Nederlands?" The former air hostess beamed. That sounded close enough, though it was hard to tell with just Duolingo and Youtube for guidance. She flashed him a mini victory sign. "Let's hope the foreigner speaks Dutch or English."

She leaped out of the driver's seat and bounced over to the man. Upon noticing his blindfold, her enthusiasm dipped a bit. Poor guy! Usually having a blindfold at this hour usually meant one thing – a terrible headache. She decided to take it slow instead. "Hey, are you feeling alright?" She asked, focusing on sounding as concerned as possible. "I saw you sitting here with a blindfold and at this hour too."

This was straying from the topic, but she didn't have the heart to leave the guy like this. After all, Daniel never said that approaching and recruiting them didn't exclude the possibilities of providing these strangers with the necessary medical care; plus, no one liked being in pain anyway. Speaking of medical aid and doctors, here was a compromisable solution that might work, provided the guy was agreeable to it, of course. "My car is nearby, I can take you to the doctor's then call your family. Please consider, I'd really hate to leave you out here like this."

 

[Rina]

Getting out of the van, Jenna followed Pat towards the two. It wasn't the same as finding Sam and Christian but these two were in the same boat as they were and Daniel was right, they deserved answers. However before they could even get a good conversation going, the musician was already trying flee. The idea of another pursuit wasn't something Jenna was interested in especially now that there was four of them, or rather two since Cal and Daniel went to the man on the bench. "Can this day get any worse." The woman mumbled as she ran after the musician.

"Please stop, we're not here to cause problems." Lie. Getting involved in his life would bring nothing but issues. "We just want to chat." Lie. She had a feeling helpful dose of sedatives wouldn't be something Daniel would be against if the man wouldn't cooperate. As long as she wasn't the one in charge of a tranquilizer gun, she was more than fine. It sounded like a disaster waiting to happen and for all she knew, she would mess up horribly and shoot someone else such as Daniel instead. "We just want to help. We were in that crash too." Hey look, there was finally some truth in what she was saying.

"This might sound totally crazy but strange things have been happening since. Things that I couldn't explain. You've seen some strange things too haven't you?" She could see the strange looks she was getting from the people she passed but she didn't care. Although guns and freaky powers wasn't something she was comfortable with, people were different. At least interacting with people wasn't something that changed. "Please stop and...let's talk." Jenna said pausing just enough to gasp for some air. "I can't run and...yell...forever."

~.~
​

"It's going to be a new start but don't worry, it won't be a new start alone." Garret said to with a warm smile as the two made their way towards where Masaru and the others were. They seemed to be heavy in conversation as Ester and Garret got into hearing range at the tail end of the conversation.

"Don't worry Ester, I'll be right back. Wilson might need some help with Vida later on and anyways, she'll need another friendly face around her." Garret said with another smile before going with Masaru to gather supplies.

"I'm glad to see you around Masaru. I know you're here for the Charlies but Cameron has been worrying me recently. The others have been too focused on the vials and the Charlies to notice but Cameron changed." Garret said, his smile vanishing from his face as he spoke in a serious tone which was rare for the man as the two walked alone down the hall. "I tried talking to him but won't listen. Maybe he'll listen to you if you tried talking to him once you come back."

~.~
​

"I'll be right back. You all are forcing me to drink another cup of coffee to keep up. I presume that you and Josiah will be fine staying here in case Vida wakes up." Wilson asked before he headed out of the infirmary a few minutes after Masaru and Garret left. Taking a seat in Wilson's chair, Josiah looked around the infirmary. It was a few minutes before Vida woke up.

"Oh shit!" Josiah exclaimed as the woman woke up in a frenzy. "Please don't tell me you jumped onto the crazy train." Josiah muttered quietly to himself. "See if you can try and stop her, I'll go grab Wilson." Josiah said before disappearing. He wasn't the best conversationalist nor skilled in medicine and in a situation such as this, he was more than fine leaving things up to the doctor.

 

[Perry]

For a while, a very short while, it got a little, a tiny bit of little, better. The guy decided to quit pushing next Jim Morrison and stuck to the same boring street music routine. It almost sounded like silence, and with the sun shining not too intensely on his head Max thought he might actually survive this until Viktor got back and took him to the promised doctor. His hopes grew when the guy decided to call it a day and seemed to be packing. Max drank some ice tea in celebration; in small sips of course, since swallowing down huge gulps echoed too loudly in his skull.

Right about when he was washing the sweet remains of the ice tea with his own saliva, though, someone came to collect the »Mr. Mozart on the keyboard« with a loud shout in their direction. More facial muscles than he cared to know about were suddenly creased in pain and aversion. For what Max could tell, though, even the musician was not really interested in the pick up, and Max believed to hear him run away fast. It was little comfort to know that the jackass attempting to blow Max' head up had a chase caught out for him now, and Max realized he was rooting for the musician to get away with whatever he had done that had to do with the crash. Yet the little fun he had picturing the fucker having to run like hell to catch up with the – probably younger – keyboard player did not change the cringed expression Max was wearing. The blindfold suddenly felt as though it were all of a sudden of much thinner material and Max had to cover his face with both hands.

Now that the musician and his pursuer were gone Max hoped for things to get quiet again, but the fucking blindfold just had to attract unwanted attention and pity from a total stranger. "Hey, are you feeling alright?", a female voice asked, loaded with pity and ready to shoot all maternal concern right at him. "I saw you sitting here with a blindfold and at this hour too." With ears as sharp as they could have ever been – how the hell was he supposed to hear and feel if she was after his wallet, or dangerous in another way? - he carefully took one hand off his eyes and reached for his cellphone. Viktor was the last called number so that he did not need to see what he was dialling to reach him. Yet making sure that he was indeed calling Viktor and not doing anything else took him a couple of seconds more than usual. She took advantage of exactly these few seconds to talk before Max had a chance to open his mouth or call Viktor.

"My car is nearby, I can take you to the doctors then call your family. Please consider, I'd really hate to leave you out here like this." She was after his wallet for sure, or maybe worse, his organs. There were all sorts of crazy stories and Max had certainly no clue of the criminal world. Viktor's number was already dialing, and a second later it was on mailbox. Fucking job interview. It was still good enough for a fake conversation, though, which Max decided he was having with his pal in Russian. The best way to shake most people off was usually to speak Russian and pretend not to understand a single word of any language they were speaking. He had heard no accent so the chance that she could speak any Russian was pretty slim. Hopefully she would then fuck off and find another victim to rub or dissect. He sounded extra angry and urgent, which was not far from the truth. Were he to perish then, Viktor would have last words from Max not only to play for the police, but also to burn all guilt into his brain for all fucking eternity. Now it was up to him to think fast about what to do if her accomplice came and dragged him by force.

 

[Weaver]

Masaru could not help but smile as Garret walked him toward the supply closet. He spoke with such certainty; that was rare, in these chaotic times. He had already decided Masaru was 'coming back'. Still...Masaru had to admit...here he was, walking the halls of yet another Reformer base, escorted by yet another TSP-created Super. The irony was not lost on him.

He walked in silence for the moment, allowing Garret to fill him in on some of the recent goings-on. Cameron had not necessarily been a Boy Scout in his eyes, but it was good to know that something was amiss with him. Masaru allowed himself to imagine the continuance of their current timeline, had he not had that information. The places it took his mind were not pleasant.

Masaru decided not to correct Garret. It would only confuse their current issue and raise further questions. It was sometimes best to let people have their assumptions than to bog down progress with needless conflict. That was one of the primary principles in his study, after all. If it served his purpose, allowing Garret to believe he had returned, Masaru would not argue. There would be the eventual confrontation, naturally, but that was the future. Masaru lived in the present.

"Garret," Masaru finally said, softly, once there was an opening in the conversation. "I have come back for your missing team mates. It is vitally-important that you tell me everything you know about the two. What do they like? Where would they go, assuming there were no restrictions? Where were they last, and who were they last seen with?"

"I realize there has not been enough time to befriend these two, but you must know something. Any information you have can mean the difference between recovery and permanent loss."

He let that sink in as they approached the door which read, in giant block letters, 'Authorized Personnel Only'. This was the store room accessible only by trusted Reformers. This was the room in which the weapons were kept. While he awaited Garret's response -as well as his keycard- he allowed himself a moment of reflection. He was about to take up arms again. He was about to violate his vow of peace again.

Was it worth it?

 

[dpickle]

Well that could have gone better. Pat was prepared for several different reactions but taking off running wasn't one of them. Pat started to run after him, but it was soon made abundantly clear that he had a snowflakes chance in hell of outrunning the madman. Pat slowed down to a jog, letting Jenna take over the pursuit while he cursed under his breath. "Of course the guy decides to run away from the only people trying to help him. Why not? This day needed another problem to go with the ten thousand it already had," Pat fumed. Pat momentarily considered turning around and seeing if the blind fold guy was a bit more reasonable. However, that would leave Jenna chasing after this guy alone, and he didn't seem like the kind of person you could trust to not suddenly get violent. Pat sighed and trudged on. He hoped one of the two would stop soon, his back was still far from perfect and he didn't know how long he could keep even this mild pace up.

 

[Cerulean]

Oh god, another pursuer. Why is everyone after me today? As the second chaser turned out to be much younger, and significantly more attractive, Adam grew more worried that danger was in their wake. As she seemed to try and explain herself, the musician slowed and the subject of the crash came up. Squeezes his eyes shut, and somewhat hoping this doesn't come back to haunt him, the running had stopped. Turning around to Jenna, he sighed but didn't walk towards her.

"Fine. I was at the crash. IN the crash, I should say. But I don't have a clue about these weird things you seem to be seeing. If I remember correctly, that might be a sign of brain damage. Which means you should be at the hospital and not out here looking like a bunch of kidnappers. Nothing out of the ordinary has been happening other than right now, so I don't understand what you want from me. It's not like I had anything to do with it either. I wouldn't be dumb enough to crash a bus I was already riding on, just to be poked and prodded by you people either."

He shrugged, watching her pant.

"I have nothing to offer and nothing to take. So where do we go from there?"