Mutants & Masterminds: The Indigo Children - [Prologue 2]Jordan & Isaac & Ross

[Evo]

Ross' eyes opened blearily, and then snapped open as he leaned on a bruise. As he rolled over- using a slightly bit of telekinesis to assist his movement- he first caught sight of the black-clad four, or three. One seemed to have vanished. In the distance towards the warehouse, he caught sight of the one of the girls, and a woman standing nearby protectively over her, the family guardian obviously.

Which certainly confirmed that the black-shirted man wasn't after their-

Speaking of which, the man had moved over to Ross and rasped threatening words.

Ross got up, staring back at the man. Cocking his head in a manner that happened to point out the bruise on his chin that he'd been given, Ross responded to the questions. Or the second one anyway.

"I found out about the rave from the cops, and I wanted to make sure that nobody tried to prey on any of the teens that were scattering through the streets. I got more than a little worried when I saw you with the girls, you realize."

A growl built in the man's throat, but Ross raised a hand. "One friendly-looking man, yes, but he leads two somewhat scantily-clad, drunk, doped-out teenage-"

Jaime interrupted, "Only Izzy took-"

"-Teenage girls, deep into the concrete jungle, away from prying eyes to his... home. That does tend to be a mite suspicious, doesn't it? And the knocking, I wanted to get you out and away from the girls until things were sorted out. Of course..."

Ross cast a glance to the black-coats, then turned back. "By now, it's established that the situation is resolved and I was wrong, eh? I think things have been explained then?"

As the last line was uttered, Ross was tapping his chin, in a manner that brought major focus to his bruise on the chin. He was waiting to see what the man had to say, about that and Ross' words.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jordan quickly glanced at the prone figures in black then back at Isaac, her eyebrows raised, face paling slightly. He was shot too?! She took the proffered rope and knelt over the three black-clad men, her short dress sliding further up her thighs.

"If you don't what to go to a hospital, that's your call, Isaac," Jordan told him over a shoulder. "But you've taken a real beating on my sister's behalf and it'll take more than a couple of Tylenol and some bed rest to get better."

With one hand, Jordan easily manhandled the assailants, placing them back to back, then tying their hands together and then each other. While engage in securing them, she brushed her hair back over an ear, listening to the exchange between Isaac and the white-costumed figure. With her back to them, she subtly altered herself to a more common configuration, losing the unnatural hardness for a restored suppleness, sight and hearing sharpening. She also lost two inches of height, still leaving her at six feet, but with the pounding the men took, she didn't think they'd notice.

As Ross finished his explaination, Jordan ripped the masks off the men and turned around, giving both Ross and Isaac a stunning, grateful smile. "Okay, mistakes were made. You thought something bad and offensive about Isaac, and Isaac decked you. Let's leave it at that, okay boys?" Jordan arched a dark red brow, her smokey voice urging them to agree. "Important thing is that the girls are safe, right?"

Jordan nodded at Isaac then at the door to his home. "Don't worry about Isabella. I'll go get her and put her in my car. Her father should be here soon and he'll deal with her." The gorgeous woman put a hand to her chest and looked down, taking a deep breath before looking at them again and continuing. "I'm extremely grateful for what you've done for my sister and her friend, Isaac, and for that, you have my sincerest thanks."

She stretched out a hand and gave Isaac a surprisingly firm handshake. After a moment considering his battered appearance, she pulled him into a tight but controlled hug that almost made him groan. "Thank you. Jaime is all I have left," she whispered in his ear.

Jordan stepped back and straightened her dress, then gave Ross a rueful smirk. "I'm afraid I only got here in time to see you land on your back. But it seems like your intentions were good." She gave him a firm handshake too. "Thank-you, mmm... Mr. White. I'm not sure what I can do to show my appreciation, other than giving you guys a place to clean up and a meal - or a great deal on a used car - but it's yours if you want it." Her turquoise eyes twinkled... then narrowed as she focused on her sister, her silence not keeping her hidden. "Jaime, you have anything to say?"

"Oh! Right!" Jaime blushed bright red, then galomped closer, her sister steadying her with a hand when she almost fell. "Thanks, Isaac." Both her hands couldn't cover Isaac's meaty one, and her blood-shot, blue eyes gleamed with a gratitude her simple words couldn't convey. "You too... I guess," she offered to the man in white with a nod. After all, she hadn't even seen him.

Jordan sighed, wrapping an arm around her sister and giving her a hug. "C'mon, sis, show me where Izzy is so I get her in the car and we can wait for Nico to show up. If you don't mind of course, Isaac?" She asked politely, but didn't wait for his assent as she turned to go inside the warehouse and retrieve Nico's daughter.

Her eyes fell on the bound intruders - as Isaac called them - and widened in surprise. "Motherfuckers! They all look the same!" The curse sounded even more emphatic coming from such a sultry voice. Jordan had a very fine eye for faces and personal characteristics - she knew even identical siblings had differences to varying degrees depending on their life experiences. These three didn't. "Exactly the same!"

[z-Isaac Ward]

Isaac didn't know when people were trying to be subtle or use innuendo; he rarely understood the subtext. But he had learned when someone was treating him like shit. And he got passive-aggressive behavior. His own response to that was to reply with aggression. He stared at the man for a moment then said, "You one of Apex's bootlickers? I don't see how he takes a shit with all of you trying to crawl up his ass."

Turning - and dismissing Shove - Isaac looked at Jordan and Izzy. That was when events spun out of control for him. Before he'd really had a chance to catch what was happening, Jordan was telling him she was taking away part of his pack. He couldn't even speak for the shock as Jaime shook his hand. "You can't take them!" he said, but his exclamation was lost in Jordan's discovery. To Isaac, that was secondary to his concerns.

"You can't take them," he said, grabbing Jordan's arm.

"The men? I-"

"No. Izzy and Jaime," Isaac replied, his gaze unflinching. Jaime looked scared, which puzzled him. Why was she scared of that?

Jordan's eyes narrowed. "And why not?" she asked icily.

Isaac opened his mouth and remembered what he'd forgotten when he took Jaime and Izzy into his pack - and his heart. He'd been taking care of them, but he'd forgotten a crucial detail: they were human. They weren't abandoned babies; they had families. Isaac remembered that, with other kids: they had parents who cared about them. He never had, but he had understood - understood and envied.

He'd forgotten that Izzy and Jaime were humans, and they were almost never abandoned.

"Sorry," he rasped, dropping his eyes and backing down. "You're right." It still hurt. He'd lost members of the Pack before: to old age, to the mating urge and to accidents, but never so soon after getting them.

He looked at the men. They were identical. "I can take care of these," he said to Jordan. He'd recovered, or rather, locked out the emotions plaguing him. "But I need some help first. I need one of you to dig this bullet out of my back."

[Evo]

Ross ignored the comment about Apex, he'd heard so much of that. But he noticed the bullet in the man's back and he honestly decided he could do something here.

"So you do. I'll take care of it." Issac turned to look at him suspiciously, and Ross quietly looked back at him. "Getting it out will hurt, but you're bound to get more pain the way you're suggesting. And I know you've probably had your fill from that fight. It's your choice, but I'm making the offer."

"Not a chance in hell."

Ross decided not to ask what was wrong with this guy and nodded. "As you wish."

He headed off to the nearby wall, then stopped and looked at the men in black. "All the same? Exactly down to every wrinkle? I don't recall anything about human cloning in the news..."

He stepped closer and bent down to inspect them.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jordan kept her eyes cool, if her expression still pleasant, as she heard Isaac give his curt dismissal of Ross' help. His tone had been very odd, almost possessive, regarding Jaime and her friend. Her lips curved a trifle. "Hmm, very well. I guess I'll volunteer, then, it's the least I can do." She lips turned down slightly with a rueful frown. "Though you may not find it a fair show of gratitude, this is hardly something I'm proficient in. You will have to walk me through it, if you can." I rather hope I don't make it worst.

She stepped to his side, putting an arm around his waist, giving him surprisingly sturdy support. "Here, let me help you inside, you can barely stand as it is." Jordan saw her sister looking queasily at the suppurating wound on Isaac's back, then glancing towards the car idling on the street. Jordan caught her wrist with her free hand.

"Oh, no, you don't! You're staying with me. See if you can get Isabella up - she might stand a slightly better chance of surviving her father if she's conscious - then you're joining me, to provide any help if needed. Even if it's just holding Isaac's hand, trying to keep him calm so he doesn't flinch."

Jaime wanted to protest, but really, she couldn't. She wouldn't've been able to break Jordan's grip anyway. She nodded and followed with overly careful steps. When Jordan got Isaac inside and helped him up onto the 'kitchen' table, Jaime went back to the cat-tree jungle and crawled back in to try revive Izzy.

Jordan looked down at her patient, then around his domicile. "Okay, how do we do this?" she asked uncertainly. "Do you have a first aid kit and... and whatever else I'll need to get the bullet out? And scissors, I'll need scissors to cut your shirt off, to do this."

[jameson (ST)]

Originally Posted By: Shove

He stepped closer and bent down to inspect them.

They were identical as Jordan claimed. Apart from their injuries they were the most perfect set of identical siblings Ross had ever seen. The others moved inside to see about removing the bullet lodged in Isaac's shoulder. As the door slammed shut the three men's eyes opened and their bonds fell away. Freed, the three men sprang quickly to their feet. One of them immediately grappling with Ross. He had only a second to defend himself when the lights went out accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. Darkness plunged into the alley and Ross was tossed aside into the building as the three men fled.

Click to reveal..

Fiat induced escape, +1 HP to Ross

[z-Isaac Ward]

"There's some things in that cabinet," Isaac grunted, pointing at one of the detached units near the mini-fridge. He sat down in one of the chairs and allowed himself to sag a bit.

Jordan found the 'first aid kit' - a former apple box that held everything from guaze to dewormer. Seeing supplies for man and animal jumbled together in a mess seemed appropriate for this man - and a symbol of his life. She poked through the box and added, "I don't see any scissors."

The sound of ripping cloth told Jordan it was unnecessary. She turned as Isaac peeled the shirt off his torso, revealing more bruises. Dried blood had coagulated down most of his right side, as if someone had poured blood over his shoulder. Blood trailed down the left side from a wound high on his back. That small hole must be the wound he'd mentioned before. Aside from that, it was a well-built chest.

A sudden thud against the building had Isaac surging to his feet with almost no wobble. "Izzy, Jaime, stay in here," he ordered, moving toward the door.

[Evo]

Ross pushed himself up off the ground and got up, brushing himself off. He knew the darkness would prevent following them effectively, and he adjusted his mask to make sure it wouldn't fall off.

He did spy a solid static shadow at the exit of the alley and getting closer with a quick 'flight', he could make out the only streetlight that covered the alley, the glass broken.

Figured, there had been one of the Four not there. He turned around and quickly returned to the warehouse, wondering how they managed to react so quickly to the door closing.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Isaac could feel Jordan appraising his bared chest, though there was nothing sexual in the raised brow over a turquoise eye or her pursed lips. Still, her look was very thorough. "I suppose that's one way of doing it, though I doubt it's doing your wounds any-"

The sudden thud against the building made Jordan's head snap around to stare at the wall. "Jaime, Izzy, stay in here," she said right at the same time as Isaac issued his own order, heading for the door, her strides long and surprisingly swift. She saw Isaac moving too and put out a hand to stop him. "Isaac, don't be an idiot - you're hurt way too much. Stay here and let me look.

Isaac gave her hand - and her - a flat look, that clearly said, 'That is not going to happen', slapped her hand out of the way, then stalked towards the door.

Jordan sighed with a silent curse of, Men!, and followed him, hoping she wouldn't have to do something drastic to prevent him from being turned into paste. Do I actually get that pig-headed when I have cock, too? Probably. I haven't figured out the biological component to macho stubbornness yet.

Isaac yanked the door open and Jordan slipped out right after him, almost treading on his heels. Both of them paused, taking in the scene, the burnt-out or broken streetlight and the lack of black-clad triplets.

"What the fuck? Where'd they go?" Jordan asked the man in the black-trimmed white costume, her adjusted eyes scanning the darkness, looking for the men.

[z-Isaac Ward]

"You lost them?" Isaac asked Shove, then shrugged. "Oh, well. They'll be back." Time to move the Den, definitely. Invaders always came back unless you soundly beat them, and Isaac was pretty sure he hadn't soundly beaten them.

He tilted his head at the man in white, noticing the new grime and dirt on his suit. "Were you what was thrown into my wall?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. He didn't seem to be upset, just curious. In truth, he just wanted his bullet out of him so that he could start to heal up.

Except there'd be no rest for him; he had to find another warehouse that could serve as the Den. Isaac didn't groan or grumble to himself about the lack of rest or food awaiting him; he simply resigned himself to the necessity of it as he waited for Shove to speak.

[Evo]

"They seem to have simultaneously woken up AND gotten free of those ropes as soon as you closed the door." Shove took a deep breath and continued. "Probably whoever you didn't get smashed the lights back there, and yes... They reacted so fast, the three of them caught me by surprise and hurled me into the wall. Why would they come back though?" He asked of Issac, curiously.

"You know who they are then?"

[z-Isaac Ward]

"No, I don't know who they are," Isaac said softly, his grey eyes hard. "I know what they are, though." He glanced at Jordan. "Let's get this done so you can get Jaime and Izzy out of here." He looked at Shove. "You should go, too." This time it wasn't a threat; there was an air of 'before they come back' to his words.

Jaime was just inside the door; from her pale face, it was clear she'd been listening to them talk. Izzy hovered behind her, staring at nothing, not unlike three of the cats were already doing. Neither girl spoke as they came back inside and Isaac turned a chair sideways, sitting in it. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, putting his forehead on the table. "Alright."

Jordan looked at Jaime and jerked her head toward the slouched man. "Isaac?" Jaime asked hesitantly. "Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"No," Isaac said, his voice slightly muffled as it had to squeeze past his bulk and the table to be heard. "I might hurt you." He turned his head and looked at her, a slight smile on his face. "I'd like it if you held my wrist, though."

"I can do that." Jaime smiled at the strange man and wrapped her hands around his wrist. "Izzy, you want to hold the other one?" It took three times for the request to sink in, but the other girl mirrored Jaime.

Jordan finished her preparations and looked at her sister. Talk to him, she mouthed. Distract him.

"Um, Isaac?"

"Yeah?" Jordan touched his back and both girls felt the thick muscles under their fingers jump in response.

"What did you mean by you knew what they were, but not who?"

Isaac stared at the floor for a moment before answering, "I know they're predators." He gave a sudden hiss of pain; Jordan had started.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jordan pressed her tongue against her teeth as she felt Isaac flinch beneath her hands. Her strong, yet gentle, fingers dabbed the blood from the wound with a wet cloth, so she could see what she was doing. Not that this was something she was used to. Predators... Yes, that sounds like just what they were...

The wound was shallow, but the bullet had slid between skin and muscle - she could see it as a distinct, hard protrusion on his back. Cautiously, she prodded it, seeing if it would slide out, then winced as Isaac hissed in pained. But the rounded bulge did move slightly. "Sorry, Isaac," Jordan apologized with sincerity. "It's not deep, but the bullet slid under the skin. I'm going to try to slide it back. It's... it's going to hurt." God! I hate guns.

"It hurts now. Just do it!" Isaac growled into the table top.

Jordan nodded then glanced at her sister, her eyes telling him to continue. She carefully placed her hands on his hot flesh, and using her thumbs, guided the bullet towards the entry wound.

Isaac's teeth gritted audibly with the effort of not screaming, muscles twitching like living steel cables beneath Jaime's and Izzy's hands. Jaime felt her own jaw growing tight with Isaac's pain. "Predators... like wolves?" she asked, giving hims something else to focus.

"Yeessss!" Isaac groaned, the wooden table top creaking under his crushing grip. "Just - Fuck! - just like wolves. Using pack tactics to bring down prey."

"Almost, almost," Jordan whispered under her breath. Jaime's breathing heightened as she saw fresh blood suppurating from the bullet hole and quickly looked away, her face pale. She gave a trembling giggle. "Guess that makes you and sis wolfhounds, then?"

Isaac's response was a noise that couldn't quite be called a whimper, but couldn't really be called anything else. Right over top him, Jordan exclaimed, "I see it!" The tip of her tongue peeking between her full lips, Jordan reached slightly into the wound - making Isaac convulse, nearly throwing the girls off his arms - pinched the bullet between her nails, and eased it free, then flicking it onto the table. Jordan let out a long sigh as Isaac went slack, panting. "There, out!"

The rest was mostly clean-up, though it took a most of Isaac's supplies to staunch the bleeding. With Jaime and Izzy's help, Jordan got them to hold him steady, his arms out, so she could wrap the roll of gauze around his back and shoulder to cover the wound. Then she used the remains of his shirt and a bottle of water to clean her hands and wipe more blood from his back. "It's not pretty, but it's all I can do. You really should get to a hospital."

She studied him as he composed himself, her turquoise eyes intent, taking in the breath of his shoulders, the slabs of muscle and scarred knuckles. He reminded her somewhat of a less weathered, harder edged Sal. She wondered what he hid inside his brutal exterior. She ended her appraisal by glancing around the warehouse, noticing all the animals staring there way.

"You said you think you have to move now, right?" Jordan confirmed. Her velvety alto was honest, if a little uncertain. "If you want, in thanks, I can help you. Maybe rent a truck, though I'm not sure how you're going to move this many animals."

"I'll help," Jaime offered in a small, but firm, voice. Still in a stoned daze, Izzy finally let of Isaac's wrist, then plopped down in her ass, idly scratching a kitten behind the ears.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Outside, Ross could hear the roar of a high-powered engine, then saw a gleaming, sable Dodge Viper squeal to a stop next to the red Rav4 idling on the curb. Before the luxury sports car had even settled, a tall man dressed in a mandarin style tuxedo stepped out the car, looking around in quick arcs before zeroing in on Ross, heading his with a coiled intensity in his stride.

[jameson (ST)]

Nico very nearly jumped from his car. Long strides took him to Ross as he leveled an appraiser's look over the man. To Nico, Ross looked ludicrous, were he in a better mood he'd likely have laughed but instead he just ground out, "Where is she? Where's my Isabella?"

"Who? Oh, umm, inside." Ross replied.

Nico hauled the door open without preamble and stormed in. His penetrating eyes quickly took in the scene laid out before him and its pure oddity forced him steps to slow, "What the hell is this place?" he asked as he looked around. "Isabella!" he cried upon seeing his daughter and quickly rushed to her taking her into his arms. "Don't you ever do that to me again. Ever. Are you OK?" She nodded and buried her face into her father's chest like a child. Nico looked at Jordan, then at Isaac, all but passed out hunched over the table. Turning back to Jordan he said, "What the hell is going on here?"

[Evo]

Ross let the man go, but assessed the situation. Seeing as the two parents were here, it didn't see he had much point in sticking around anymore. But, he didn't want to leave without any sort of goodbye. Spying a loose brick on the pavement, he picked it up and focused his telekinesis on the surface of one long side.

Once he was done with his proceedure, he laid down the brick in front of the door, but out of its swinging arc. Then, he took a running start, and flew up into the sky. And off for home.

As for the brick left behind, two words were inscribed into the surface of the brick as if finely engraved by a precision machine.

Good luck

*************

Ross, having finally returned to his apartment building and having changed at the rooftop, unlocked the door to his apartment and after closing it behind him, walked in to crash exhausted upon a chair. Well, all in all, the debut night could have been worse.

Putting away his costume and setting his various needs in order, Ross sat by his laptop, and tapping keys, entered the Indigo Network. He had knew what the reception to his beginning would be...

And he didn't care.

(OOC: This is where Ross 'enters' the IN Superhero 'fic' or whatever Jim terms it. TBH, I think his involvement in this prologue will also end here, unless Jim has otherwise in mind.)

[z-Isaac Ward]

Isaac rose to his feet unsteadily. Jaime's hand remained around his wrist as if she could stop him from doing something stupid. "This is my home," Isaac said, managing not to sway as he spoke. "I brought Izzy and Jaime here to protect them. Jordan just took a bullet out of my back."

Some men would have implied that they were owed thanks, perhaps tilting his head or tapping Izzy in a subtle reminder of what Nico owed him. Instead, Isaac said, "You should get her home. She's had a bad night." There was unmistakable gentleness in his tone when he referenced Izzy, or glanced at Jaime.

Once pack, always pack. That was why he gently pulled away from Jaime and found a scrap of paper to scrawl his number on. "Here, if you guys need me, you can call." He gave the scraps to Jaime and Izzy.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jordan and Nico both looked at Isaac, eyes of turquoise and grey sharp and intent, but they couldn't see anything other than genuine concern for the girls. It was unusual to see such, especially for a pair of girls he just met, under-aged and under-dressed, but not unwelcomed, considering. Izzy still had her face buried in her father's chest, but Jaime took the scraps of paper, holding them tightly in her hand. Impulsively - maybe due to being drunk - Jaime gave Isaac a hesitant hug, trying to be careful of the wound her sister had just patched up.

"I will - we will," Jaime promised, "I'll make sure Izzy gets your number too." She looked back at Jordan, a question in her eyes. Jordan continued her appraisal - being able to manipulate her own body at will, she was good at reading body language and she believed that this man could be trusted, at least in this manner. She gave her sister a small nod, then Jaime dug clumsily in her purse for a pen and scribbled her cell number on one of the scraps of paper and handed it back to Isaac. "Here's my number too, in case you just want to talk or anything."

Standing next to Nico, Jordan softly murmured what she knew. "When I got here, he was holding off four guys by himself, trying to stop them from getting inside where the girls were hiding. I was able to get the drop on them from behind." She paused, then added, "There was also a guy in white - trying to be like Apex, I suppose - who was trying to help, but Isaac apparently didn't know that and knocked him out too. I don't know where the bullet came from."

Nico glanced at her with a raised brow. He had only known her for a day, but she didn't strike him as the flighty type and though she hardly looked dangerous - except possibly to a man's fidelity - he was beginning to suspect that he shouldn't put anything past her. If she was willing to put some trust into this man, he couldn't do anything less, especially as he found his daughter safe, except for her own poor judgment.

Without letting go of his daughter, Nico stretched out his hand and gave Isaac a firm handshake, one man thanking another. "I fully intend on getting my Isabella home right away... and I don't think she will be leaving it any time soon. It seems I have a lot to thank you for then... Isaac, was it?" Isaac looked away from the scrap of paper with a girl-woman's number on it and simply gave Nico a level look. Nico returned it, then gave the warehouse a quick once-over, before pulling out his wallet. "Here, I don't have much on me at the moment, but if you come to the place on the card, I can offer you more. And a job if you want it." A slight smile appeared on Nico's face. "After you clean up, of course. We do have a dress code and an image to maintain."

What Nico didn't consider much turned out to be several hundred dollars in various bills. The card was of crisp, firm, pristine white paperboard with raised lettering in gold-coloured ink. On the front, it proclaimed, 'Big Apples' with, 'VIP' written underneath. On the back, it gave a number and Manhattan address, as well as indicating that it waived the cover charge and was good for one free drink per visit.

[z-Isaac Ward]

Isaac stood stoic and bloody as Nico spoke. "I don't need any money for saving your daughter," he said bluntly. "What's Big Apples?"

Nico blinked. Relatively few people wouldn't get the reference or realize the implication from the card - especially people who moved in Isaac's apparent social circles. "Jordan, would you see the girls out to the car while I finish here?"

Jordan nodded and said firmly, "Let's go, guys." They went with no complaints and Nico turned back to Isaac, wondering if he'd said that to embarrass Nico in front of his daughter. He saw no guile in the man's eyes, just a patient regard. Nico was reminded of a wild animal - patient until the moment of attack. "Big Apples is my gentleman's club."

"You want me to bounce for you?" There wasn't a single leer, or even a glint of lust at the thought of working around mostly-naked women all day.

"Well, I'm not asking you to strip," Nico said wryly. Again, there was almost no reaction, just a snort that might have been a chuckle.

"I'll think about it," Isaac said. "I'm not great with a regular schedule."

"You're not selling yourself here," Nico chuckled, deciding that this guy was just dim. What he'd thought was patience was just a lack of wits.

The man shrugged and winced. "Ok," he said. "Thanks for the offer."

Nico had thanked him again and was out the door before he realized that the guy didn't have the wits to even realize what an opportunity this was. Shaking his head, he walked up to Jordan and said, "What an odd guy." Still, he was grateful that he was so odd; he'd probably never considered what he could have done to the girls.

Isaac watched him leave, thinking. He might need the money, so Isaac shoved the card into the cigar box where he kept the few papers he needed to retain. That done, he began to strip out of his clothing. Shower, then he would patrol the territory, looking for their new home.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

If you only knew how odd some people were, Jordan though wryly, hiding the sentiment behind a small smile, as she watched Nico approach where she stood by the two cars, each one holding a teenaged girl who knew they were going to be grounded for life.

"Odd isn't necessarily a bad thing, Nico" Jordan noted, wondering how Nico would respond to knowing what she could really do. She'd only ever shown one person the full limits of what she could do, and Pete had been there when she changed so drastically for the first time. Ha! Was Pete ever shocked to suddenly sharing the room with a girl that had the best of Lara Croft, Kimiko Mueller, and Rachel McPhee. Then again, suddenly being that girl shocked me too. "It certainly wasn't tonight. Isaac seems like a decent enough sort."

"I can't disagree with that, especially finding my daughter safe save for her own poor judgment." Stopping in front of Jordan, he glanced over her should to give Isabella a frown, before looking down at his date, putting his hands on her waist. "This isn't exactly the excitement I'd planned for tonight, I'm afraid."

"Oh, I don't know," Jordan said with gracious amusement. "Beating the crap out of a couple of men after a hard fought win at mini-golf is just the thing to cap off a wonderful date-night." Her eyes still sparkled, but her smile turned a touch wistful. "Family first, and we both have a teenager to deal with. But I did have a good time, despite how it ended."

Jordan's arms tightened around his back and Nico suddenly found himself pressed against her SUV, her head tilted up to give him an ardent, breathtaking, tongue-tangling kiss. Nico was just about to begin worrying about a lack of oxygen when Jordan broke the kiss with a smirk. "Call me, we'll do this again some night... after finding a babysitter for our girls."

Jordan gave a smokey chuckle then strutted around the car and slipped in behind the wheel. Her hand reached out the window with a final wave, then she and Jaime headed home. Nico watched the red SUV drive down the road with one of the most spectacular women he had ever met, then got in his own car. "Why did you have to act up tonight, 'Bella?"

Jordan and Jaime drove towards the ferry and Staten Island and home, the silence stretching between them. On the ferry, they were the only ones, and the quiet was pervasive, the waves lapping at the hull serving only to emphasize. Jaime glanced over at her sister, who had a hand on the wheel while she stared out the window, and licked her dry lips. "You're pissed."

"Don't you think I should be, Jaime?" Jordan replied tiredly, not turning from the window. She sighed. "I'm not pissed, you don't know what I was doing at your age, sis. I'm just disappointed. You could have told me. We'll take about this tomorrow." Her lush lips pressed together into a tight line. "I'm a little frustrated too. I haven't been on a date for a way too long time and I was hoping the night wasn't over yet."

They rode the rest of the way to Sunnyside and prepared for bed in silence. After a quick shower that made her feel halfway human and putting on her comfy PJs, Jaime went downstairs and to the living room, where Jordan was sitting in a recliner, and gave her a tight hug, which Jordan returned with almost rib-crushing force. No words were necessary to share their feelings.

Jordan watched Jaime go up back the stairs, then heard her door close. She was calm for a long minute, then finally let the tears, tears of worry and fear for her sister, her head in her hands. She was too young for this responsibility, but she was all Jaime had. A sister, a brother, just her.

Unnoticed to her, flesh and muscle and bone shifted and fluctuated, her knit-dress melting and flowing, as her appearance changed through a kaleidoscope of forms.