A figure wearing a pair of worn jeans, a plain wife beater and a jacket with thick boots was standing just inside the sewer system. He grunted and swat a fly away from his nostrils as he wondered when Elek was going to show up. He'd received the letter not long ago and came around but missed the leader of their rebellion.

He sighed and ran a hand through short, rich brown hair. It was pretty freshly cut and he was missing his ponytail but he didn't complain about it. With thick nails, he scratched at the scruffy hair shadowing his neck. Some of it was on his face as well but it looked a bit better.

Looking up the tunnel toward the entrance, all of his senses recognized Elek and he started toward him, "elek!" He called out, one hand stuffing the letter into his pocket and the other hanging by his side. The new person was with him, a woman, and she had a familiar scent that he couldn't quite place- until he saw her.

He'd never met her before but there were... things that were with her that was similar to other... things he'd come in contact with. Clearing his throat, he put his hand out for her to shake, "Amante."

Elek's face brightened as in his area of effect, something familiar appeared. Although he respected the mind freedom of his comrades and did not read their minds, Elek could recognize most of people by just the feel they brought into the area he always surveyed around him. And he certainly knew this 'aura'. It carried certain wilderness, under a smooth, warmth emanating layer, and felt 'prickly', but in a good, reassuring way.

Leila's eyes narrowed as she saw the change in Elek's face. Her shadow slightly swayed, flickered, and she felt that even her companions felt slight unease out of sudden. The girl's jaw clenched slightly and she was ready to defend. An ambush would not surprise her.

"Elek!" a masculine voice called out and someone appeared in the entrance. Her guide's pace quickened and he replied to the greeting in a friendly manner, adding that he was glad Amante had come. The new man turned his attention to her and Leila felt as if he scanned her, on various levels. She raised her thin eyebrows, face gaining a haughty expression, and looked the man over, from head to toe, then back, and stared in his eyes for a moment, in challenging manner. Then she passed him without a word, flicking strand of long silver hair over her shoulder.

Leila did not like most people, but somehow this guy ticked her off even more than the rest. Maybe it was because he had given such a uneasy feeling with his appearance, or maybe the 'stylish shaggy' appearance that 'I am such a stud' men usually possessed was at fault.

Elek looked at Amante and shrugged in 'I dunno' manner. Since the girl had went ahead a bit, he said: "her name's Leila Ragnarok, maybe you've heard of her. She is rather famous up here." He then, seemingly out of random, tapped his temple with index finger, a sign he usually gave when he was going to use his powers on friends.
Then he quickened the pace and caught up with the assassin, who was now waiting for them. She took position behind Elek, guessing he would probably be guarding her from back. "So careful, yet so foolish," Leila thought with distaste.

"I am sorry, Amante, for barging in, but this is sort of emergency. I will need to have a private word with you, when possible," Elek's voice echoed in Amante's mind, stressing the word private, which meant a mental conversation most likely. He respected that maybe Amante would not want to talk now, for whatever is the reason. Some felt like they needed to prepare before having telepathic conversations with him, although Elek never barged into any other thoughts than the one directed at him, during them.

Aiolia had been rather nervous for the past few hours. Not only she was worried about Elek, but also what would happen when the 'crawler' as she had deemed Evan would come. After the first meeting, she was sure the guards would be no stopper for this monster. And nothing would stop her from getting to Eve.

So, at the first noises in sewers, she hurriedly went to the house given to Eve and banged on the door. "Your buddy is nearly here, come and pick her up. I don't want any causalities," Aiolia called out, mentally cursing. She knew the base people would probably not pay much attention to the whole ordeal until there was bloodshed, but she still didn't like this whole business. At least, this chick didn't want as much money. It was small, but still existing, plus to Eve. However, Aiolia still doubted her reasons.

Hazel eyes blinked when she walked past him without a work and his features twisted, irked that she would simply look him over and deem him unworthy. He knew that look because he'd seen it thousands of times. His hand fell to his side and he turned, following after her with Elek nearby. The conversation was welcoming and he waited before responding.

It was hard, at first, pushing away your thoughts and trying to focus on just talking to someone else in your mind. But years of practice had helped him get to the point where everything else was at least a whisper and what he wanted to be heard would be heard. "Not a problem. Your letter was pretty vague so you should start briefing me. He needed to know if he needed to get on edge and stay there or keep a more relaxed tone.

Her shadow, at this moment, was his main focus. He saw it twitch and wither and he knew what was there, something of what she could do. An image flashed in his mind and it slipped past his "barrier"; a little girl with white skin, long, pure black hair and a matching black dress and shoes. Her eyes were bright red and the image of her vibrated for each moment it was in his mind and then it vanished with a shrill cry that was not human. Amante swallowed and hoped Elek had not seen it, or at least wouldn't ask questions about it. The same figure had appeared in his mind and Elek had the misfortune to experience a few... scenes of... something. Amante had never gone very far indepth about the details.

amante brushed a hand over his forehead and purgede the imagery from his mind and the subject altogether. He needed to focus on the mission.

She was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and... meditating? Totally lost from the world but, at the same time, completed connected in a half-way spirituality moment. The bang came on the door and she cringed, letting out a deep, guttural groan of pain as her skull pulsated and the flesh rose. Hissing in through gritted teeth, her eyebrows knit tightly toward the middle of her face but hardly seemed to move even as they trembled.

The pain subsided and she appeared more normal, choking on a breath and clearing her throat as she stumbled up to her feet. Eve grunted a call and bustled around the room to get ready.

After about a minute or so, she came outside looking a bit tired with a thin sheen of sweat covering her body. Without her jacket and gloves, she moved past Aiolia and headed down to the entrance. The top of her forearm wiped away from sweat from her forehead and she came to a slow stop by the gate. Sighing, she motioned to the men to move and when they gave her flack, she glared, "Get the fuck out of the way!" She was impatient, possibly tired and, to the most perceptive, she was not feeling well.

The newcomer open up her arms and waited.


More growls sounded and the creature hurried until it came out the top of the tunnel and ran up along the wall. It turned it's head and examined the area, nostrils flaring as it sounded and inverted snarl and leapt down, scurrying over to Eve and attaching itself to her body. The creature had the figure of a woman but mostly in the torso and somewhat in the face. Past that, it was more comparable to a demon or a burn victim with some freaky attachments or foot/hand replacements.

It snarled at the guards, clinging to Eve more but also swiping a claw out at them if they came to close or even looked at them for too long. The creature was pure muscle with some "fat" in the required female areas. Despite the obvious mass of the creature, Eve was able to carry her rather easily, despite the winding effect Evan, the creature, had forced her body to do onto Eve.

The darker haired female looked over at the guards and tsked, "Shoot and I'll shove your guns so far up your asses that it will be permanent." With an arched brow raised, she turned away and carried the creature clinging to her body to the assigned housing facility.

His eyes burned her. Leila felt the weight of his gaze, as if it was physical touch. And it irked her even more, that it was not set on her, but the extension of her, her shadow, the thing most never paid any attention. It felt as if she, and all her secrets, were exposed before those watchful hazel eyes. As a creature of darkness, Leila despised to be pulled out in light, to be seen clearly. Just his presence loomed over her like a giant, just as he did when the barely five feet seven inches tall girl was looking Amante in the eye.

Leila's buttons were not that easy to push, but this man, lover boy as her inner voice mocked the meaning of his name, had special talent for it. Especially since she felt like she is missing something that was going on between the two men. Only thing that eased her mind was the darkness that grew deeper as they went further down into the sewers. Here, she was the Queen and no scum, even group of them, could defeat Her. If she wanted she could flick her finger, and they would die a horrible death. Yes, that was a reassuring thought. It even compensated for the dirty water that stained her shoes and the stench.

Elek felt how stiff the girl had become. Although something did not let him reach her mind, her own emotions were hitting against the barrier like caged birds trying to break free. It showed in her pace and posture, even more straight and graceful than before, but it felt rather natural. Something had set her into turmoil, and he could only imagine it was Amante. Had they met before? It felt as if Amante, too, was somehow affected by her presence.

An image slipped into his mind, he recognized it and mentally shivered. But again, he said nothing about it. He respected his comrades and his friends - even more. Elek knew that each of them had past, had secrets they wanted to forget them selves. Why tear up an old scar, maybe even half open wound? So, he focused on how to simply explain the evolving situation.

"In upworld, Leila is the best paid mercenary and assassin. She says she dislikes the meaningless hatred and wants to put an end to it, but I think she only cares for her own personal goals and how much someone pays her. And that's the thing. Someone has hired her to infiltrate into Rebellion and most likely eliminate its leaders. We need to know who it is, who of the Top is aware of us and how much they know." Elek paused, so he could carefully walk around some box.

"Leila has something that block my mindwaves so I can't read her mind or control her - but I will find a way around it, I am sure. For now, we are letting her only to second outpost in this passage, no further." The man let Amante take in all the information and think it over. He knew this sounded like a crazy plan and Elek was slightly anxious how Amante would react.

"But I need someone to keep an eye on her, every now and then at least, see where she is going, if she contacts someone from Surface. If you don't want to or can't do it, it's fine, though," Elek finally added, silence settling in between them, except for a quiet sound that made one think that the air it self was charged with some energy and humming.

Aiolia followed Eve without a word. She took notice of how the other woman looked unwell, but said nothing about it. Aiolia knew she wouldn't want to hear anything about it anyways, most likely. If someone was a strange loner of sorts in their company, then it was Eve. Again, she wondered just what this all was going to end with. Was she truly trustworthy? But, Elek had been in her mind. If he felt they imposed true danger to Rebellion, he would have never done what he did.

As she watched the strange reunion, Aiolia shook head a little. What were these two, what were their relationships? They really seemed like a pet and beloved master that was sometimes tested in power, or a strange pair of siblings, where the youngest was half insane and oldest had strong need to protect the other. When the guards were uneasy and few aimed at the strange monster, in case it attacked them, or the woman it had 'hugged', Aiolia spoke up.

"Anyone shoots or otherwise attacks them, ever, and I will personally slowly kill him. That is, if there will be anything left after they're done with him."
Everyone nearby looked startled at the girl. She did not threaten like this often, but her word was an order, much like Elek's. And her last comment made everyone look at the strange pair one more time. However, used to strange scenes and even stranger people, everyone went back to their own business when Eve and Evan went back to their new home.

"Oh by the way, meals are normally at 7am, 3pm and 8pm, announced with bell. But you can always find someone cooking something in the mean time, too," Aiolia said as she passed them both (but in a safe distance) as she headed to her own business. She and Elek had been gone long enough for some things already go disarray. The girl really wondered how this whole ordeal would last without them sometime.

Amante listened to Elek and soon responded by flaring his nostrils and taking in a deep, deep breath. It didn't come back out, not from his nose, and his lips opened just slightly. He let the breath out and coughed, glancing over at Elek just briefly, "I've got her. He meant her scent. "I can do the job. Just keep me updated if you want something else." Like, maybe, if Elek wanted her killed or thrown out of the sewer system or watched without courtesy to her privacy.

She didn't thank Aiolia for her order but she did listen to it. With the figure attached to her beginning to tense up, Eve adjusted her grip and continued on to their little house. She'd been hoping no one would see Evan but maybe it would be ok. The last time they had been accepted into a settlement... she hugged the creature tighter, though it was mostly unnoticeable, and moved into the little house to be alone until she was ready to eat.

"Thank you," he said simply and Amante felt the slight pressure retreat from his mind, signaling that Elek had left. Rest of the journey went on in silence, tension never fully disappearing. Elek felt much more at peace now, though, when he knew Amante would be watching Leila. He trusted the man with his life by now and he would be ready to go far out of his way to help Amante. There were few people whom he had befriended, but if he did, it was for life. In a way, he indeed was like a canine - loyal to the bone and ready to relentlessly chase his goal.

In both outposts, Elek gave few orders and introduced the newcomer. Most of people gave her frilly dress and styled hair strange looks, smirks even, clearly thinking that this uptown girl won't last here long. Leila repressed a smirk in return, knowing she would give them not just a few surprises. She was made from tougher material than many of them put together. Her fist clenched a few times, but the girl quickly eased it open, and kept on stiffly nodding.

"Oh, by the way, I will give you a friendly advice: learn to treat your comrades and superiors, like Amante, with respect, if you want to survive," Elek told her quietly, a little before he departed.
Leila's eyes narrowed. "It is because he is your friend, isn't it? It's all about friends here, too." Her voice was low and sweet, but a menacing smile played in the corners of her mouth.
"No, I simply have a thousand more reasons to trust him than you and your attitude only takes favors from you. Be careful to not run too far into negatives." With that, he left, leaving Leila inwardly surprised.
So, this blind puppy had a backbone and some observation skills after all. He and his kind could not be underestimated, a mistake she had nearly, nearly done. What Elek had said, sounded awfully like a war announcement. If he wanted war, then war he would get. The girl gritted her teeth and spun around, going to build her tent quickly. She desperately needed some alone time and talking with her Shadous.

Ryan was slowly losing track of time. He had fallen asleep few times, in a restless, nightmare and pain plagued sleep, but as each time the light seeping trough the windows was just as gray and cold as before, it simply felt the time had come to a halt. However, one event made the man realize events outside this house had not stopped.

His employer contacted him, trough the phone that was in the bag. She (if it was the real voice) asked him how the girl was doing and when Ryan said she was asleep, instructed him to give her medicine and after she wakes, bring her to another location. Then she dropped the call and he didn't even manage to say he had already given her the medicine. Ryan shrugged to him self and continued taking care of the 'science fiction sleeping beauty', as he once deemed her.

Eve had been keeping to herself as she helped Evan adjust to their new surroundings. A lot had been discussed, as much as a discussion could with the... creature. Morning came and slowly turned into the afternoon. Finally feeling fidgety, Eve got up and left the house.

She looked for Elek's main tent, or house, or whatever the fuck he lived in. Once she found it, and saw it was a larger building, she went inside. It took her a few minutes to find his main room and she knocked on the door, waiting to hear from him. He was tired the night before and from some intel she'd gathered, this was where he slept.

The girls sweating spell had started to subside and with Ryans help with keeping her clean, she looked almost good as new. The fact that he had washed her hair was definitely helpful, the long white strands laying over over her head and the pillow.

White fingertips twitched and she began to stir. Her stirring consisted of a difference in breathing and her eyes shifting under pale lids. Finally, they opened and she could see clearly. The dingy ceiling visibly confused her and her eyes shifted about to take in the scenery. Finally, they fell on him and she simply stared, taking him in. She was actually seeing him now.

Elek had went to sleep only few hours ago, so it took a bit for the knock to reach him full, but when it did, the man woke up with a start. By now, his sleeping pattern was so messed up he was always so tired and could be found sleeping whenever there was free time, which was far too rare. He hurried out of bed, quickly ran fingers trough his messy hair and attempted to smooth down his clothes, but then gave up on it and went to door. Even before he touched the door handler, Elek was sure he knew who was on the other side. Her presence was rather unmistakable.

"Oh, hello, come in," he opened doors wide to let the young woman in. "Sorry 'bout the mess," Elek added with awkward expression, it making him look younger than he was, despite the tiredness that had left its mark in his face. The room indeed was rather messy, various maps, pages with thick text all over it, covering most of surfaces and a lone mug standing among the paper piles.

Elek gathered some of the papers from chair and placed them on table. "Take a seat, please."

Ryan shifted slightly uncomfortably, when the girl stared at him like that. After this time spent directly caring for her, it felt much more awkward for some reason. He coughed softly to clear his throat and adjusted her blanket a little and then looked back at her face, putting hands in lap.
"Hello there, what's your name? I am Ryan."

"What a awkward first line for a kidnapper," the man thought and wondered when she would try to throw something at him, even if that would be just harsh words. Then again, it didn't seem she was really, truly taken care of back at that facility. So, maybe she wouldn't hate him for getting her out of there. But what would happen when he handed her over to his employer? Ryan put that thought aside.

The evening and night had passed quickly and quite nervously. Leila was quickly instructed of all her new duties, and they weren't few. Before she retired, she did a quick round around the camp, taking everything in, and only then, she hid in the safety and darkness of her tent, shadows greeting her like the old friends they were. After few hours of inaudible discussion with Shadous, the girl finally could curl up and fall asleep.

Her dreams were consumed with memories, colored blood red and filled with horrid sounds. Few times she woke up, and considering getting up, for such sleep was not restful, but in the end, she was lulled into dreams again. Around 6am, she was woken by a yell and sleepily gathered that it was the 'wake up bell'. Quickly, she got up and took her daily 'medicine'. When she was half trough dressing, someone stopped at the entrance - she saw the shadow trough the fabrics.

"Get up, princess, we're all done eating alr'dy," the man said in a mocking tone and Leila rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm coming," she replied, finishing dressing and pulled brush trough her hair for few times. Tomorrow, though, she would be all adjusted to the new daily routine and no one would mock her. Not that she needed anything else than a cup of coffee to kickstart her system.

Grabbing paper cup of hot - and foul tasting - coffee, Leila ignored all the smirking grimaces around her. She didn't linger at the base and headed to the first spot she had to patrol to and from until midday. This was going to be a long day...

"I'll stand." She crossed her arms against her chest and looked at him, glancing over the look of the room. "Give me something to do. I don't like sitting around all day." She was hired, for a reason, after all and she wasn't about to sit on her ass all day while work needed to be done. Surely he had something that was above the capabilities of the others in his group.

Amante was sitting to the side of everyone else though not completely secluding himself. He ate the slop off of his tray and wiped his mouth with a napkin every few bites. Finally, he watched the newcomer come out of her tent and pick up a cup of joe- something he would never get because it smelled almost as bad as he tasted and the guy who made it was actually named Joe.

With most of the food on his tray gone, he swiped up the rest with a spoon, stuffed it into his mouth and washed it down with a splash of thick juice. He popped up from his seat, swished the juice around to clean his mouth and wandered closer to her direction and soon greeted her. "Sleep well?"

Her eyes shut and she inhaled a soft breath as he spoke. Her mind felt tense and her body still felt rather weak. She tried to lift herself up but failed, then tried just her arm. Her hand had arched but as for getting up, her fingertips still touched the mattress. Her head shifted from side to side, slowly, as she began to test the capabilities of her body. She wouldn't be able to move on her own, not a sufficient amount.

She looked at him when he said his name. Her lips parted but nothing came out. It looked like she tried to speak but still, nothing. After the failure, she eased into the mattress as she relaxed or, quite likely, felt more drained than before. She could not speak, or did not have the energy to, though both were likely.

Elek shrugged at her choice, but did not sit down either. His posture was casual, as opposite to Eve's somewhat defensive and closed one. After her requested he brightened up a little. At least she was not absolutely passive about this thing, despite her actual attitude (and he was also waking up).

"Ah, I wanted to talk about it with you later today. So, what exactly are your powers and skills? I recall, you were skilled with hand to hand combat. Maybe you could teach basics to people here, first of all?"

Many people were skilled with their powers, and with some weapon, but their defenses were lacking, and there could come a time, they lacked weapons and powers. After he had witnessed her battle, that thought had settled in the back of his mind.

Over the years, Leila had gotten used to consuming things that tasted horrible, or didn't taste like anything. This coffee came close to the unusable point, though. But the brown liquid did its magic quickly enough and although it together with chemicals was one of the worst combinations for health, it cleared her head and pain killers soothed her pains.

Leila felt that someone was approaching, and tensed up, even though she realized he was coming from outpost. No one was assigned here besides her, though... The mystery was solved when he spoke, though, because the girl recognized the 'lover boy's' voice. Her nostrils flared slightly, but then her face became just as expressionless as before, her voice monotone: "yes."

It wasn't the truth, of course. But if she didn't say anything else, maybe he would leave faster. In fact, Leila wanted to ignore him as a whole, but, Elek was right - if she wanted to melt into the mass of others rebels and not jump out, a quiet and relatively polite attitude would have to do. No one could fault her about being a bit of loner, though.

Ryan sat there for a bit, just looking at the girl. Various thoughts and scenarios played out in his mind, but finally he came to what seemed to be the best solution at the time. He helped the girl drink a bit of tea and then prepared to go out. Ryan's left arm was still painful and as he changed the bandage, he took note that it looked worse, not better. Something was definitely wrong there.

"I need to go, but I will be back soon, I promise. Don't worry about anything and try to sleep," Ryan told the girl, leaning over her 'bed', and then left. She probably had only vague feeling of how long he was gone, but when the man returned, he had various bags and packages. He set them down carefully and sat down next to her mattress to rest. Ryan talked with her, or maybe just mused to him self aloud, about various unimportant things, such as weather or music they heard on the old radio.

After a bit, Ryan felt better again and unpacked one of the bags which contained woman clothes. He had most likely stolen them somewhere, but they were clean and fresh. "Sorry, I don't really know your size," his tone was apologetic as he carefully dressed her in a simple, but warm turtle neck jumper, jeans and warm, woolly socks. They were surprisingly close to her size, though, and were quite comfortable. When he put her in the bed again, Ryan's breath was shallow and quick, pain radiating trough his arm, and vision a little blurry.

After a while, he unpacked another bag, which contained various softer foods and Ryan fed her some yoghurt ("I hope you like strawberries, but hey, everyone likes strawberries, right?"). He ate, too, although it was more forcing him self to eat. All Ryan wanted to do was curl up and sleep.

Eve frowned. Great, he was asking about her powers. The topic wasn't something she was normally open to and she stated, simply, "It's difficult to explain. You would have to see it and then I could fill in the blanks." She didn't want to have to put it into words, not completely. Plus, she needed to relieve herself and sitting around wasn't going to help in that.

"I have plenty of skills. Combat is my specialty and hand to hand is by greatest strength." She gave a shrug, "I'm not totally opposed to training some of your people in how to defend themselves- but I won't go easy on them." This meant broken bones were guaranteed.

He smiled at her as he was pleased with her answer, "Good. The cots suck sometimes and it's horrible for your back. The base has actual beds... I miss them sometimes." His features drooped toward the end of his words. He looked at her again and kept up along beside her but did not keep to close to her. "How's your back doing?" She was pretty small and quite lithe compared to the others, even the women. He wouldn't be surprised if she was already having problems.

She was a bit concerned when he voiced that he would be leaving her, but she could not say anything about it. He left her there, alone, defenseless and totally alone. Instead of dwelling on it she tried her best to adjust to the world again. Not knowing how long she'd been gone, she looked down at her body... and saw no difference.

Soon, he came back to her and helped her get dressed. She was impressed and delighted, this obvious by a subtle smile on her lips, with his selection of clothing. The feel of his arms supporting her was welcoming and her head turned into his chest and shoulder against her will as she could not even hold it up. Attempting to adjust it, she managed to get her head to tilt back a bit so he could feed her better. Her mouth could open and close without issue which was nice, she was sure, for him.

Elek was quite sure he senses uneasiness from Eve. So, her powers were something she didn't want to discuss. For a moment, he thought she would just ignore his question, which Elek wouldn't be quite fine with, but at her reply he nodded. "Fine, what do you need for demonstration? We can make it private, if you want."

At her comment about not going easy to her 'pupils', Elek quirked an eyebrow. "Sounds like our medics will get an extra work. But, if we add that as warning, I'm sure it will be fine. Battlefield isn't child's game either." He paused for a moment. "There are few who are also skilled with hand to hand, they can help you as side tutors or assistants. Or maybe also learn from you," he grinned suddenly, thinking Aiolia would blow steam, if she had to take lessons from Eve. "I can spread the word around today at dinner, we can start tomorrow's morning, if that's fine with you."

The girl glanced sideways and upwards, to see Amante's face, while taking the last sip of her coffee. Under normal circumstances, she found observing people, their expressions rather fascinating. Most never realized how much information they were giving away with a simply nose bridge pinching, head tilt, smile or forehead rub. But these were strained circumstances, to say the very least. And so, Leila lowered her eyes again, staring ahead in the darkness, as the man chattered.

She wondered, why he wasn't at base then. Leila even thought about asking that, but decided to remain silent. Although his presence made time pass a little faster, it still felt like he was too close (out of sight would be so much better). However, at his casual question, Leila nearly halted in her step and stared at him for a moment. "What? He was asking about her back, as if it was most casual thing in the world, on the level of weather talk. Why the hell would he care about her health? Was he generally one of those "oh, I take care of everyone" types? Then he had picked up the wrong 'care victim' to mess with.

Leila stopped and turned towards him. "Look, I am not good at small talk, so, if you have something important to say to me, get to the point already," her tone was cold and annoyance slightly reflected in her face. There had to be something he wanted from her. Some message from Elek or some personal agenda, threatening, whatever... No one picked her to 'just chat it up.'

Ryan fed and helped her drink few more times over the course of next hours, until it began to get dark. He then pulled another mattress next to hers, lit small mobile lamp he had stolen that day and put it near the top of the mattresses. It was more reassuring than actual light giving. It just felt to him that she wouldn't like to sleep in total darkness, after being in for so long.

Ryan changed his bandage again, trying to keep his groans and curses as quiet as possible. In all honesty, he didn't know why he was trying so hard to make her comfortable. No, he did. Ryan just didn't want to admit it. He felt awfully guilty for rescuing her from one group of monsters to likely give her to others. At least, what else could they be? The one giving him all that fancy information, had to be within. That person wanted Alice, for whatever she had been kept at the facility.

As he had taken care of her, Ryan's mind had often turned back to his family. Since all his siblings had different fathers, they weren't extremely close, but they still had depended on him, until street life claimed them all, and their little family broke to pieces. This girl strongly remained him of a sister, only weaker than his ever was. She was absolutely unable to defend her self, or even survive on her own.

His heart was heavy as he curled on the mattress, and Ryan talked about meaningless things for a bit more, until heavy sleep claimed him in nearly middle of a word. For a change, he slept good six hours without waking up, and felt a bit better. He fed her, helped her drink, even brushed her hair gently, although with her hair so long, it wasn't really easy and he cursed a little each time he pulled on a knot too hard. After that, he took care of him self, always trying to speak when he was out of her sight range, to assure Alice of his presence.

Finally, he quickly threw few things in the 'borrowed' car and came back for the last and heaviest package. Picking up Alice bridal style, Ryan carried down to vehicle and put her in the backseat, making sure she was as safe and comfortable as possible. "Don't worry about a thing," he told her again as he got in driver's seat and started up the car.

She gave a low nod and continued, "Get me a tank and something to throw. It needs to be heavy and thick like a wall of concrete or a block." Eve crossed her arms against her chest but motioned with a hand, "You'll want to get someone with super strength. All they need to be able to do is aim and throw." Not knowing if he had a person with such strength, she asked, "Can that be done?"

He stopped with her and watched her as he spoke, his eyebrow slowly raising as she seemed to get defensive or just downright defensive. Amante answered, "I was just trying to make small talk." He ran a hand through his now short hair and continued, "It gets boring down here pretty quick. Small talk usually doesn't hurt but if you don't like it, I can leave you alone." He waited for her to answer him and give him a sign as to whether or not he should stick around or just wander off. Either way, he would still keep an eye on her.

Whether he noticed or not, she listened to every word that came from his mouth. Even when she rest her eyes, she still listened. With her eyes closed it was difficult to tell if she was awake or not. Most of the time, she was, but she was guilty of falling into little naps here and there.

The only sign of appreciation she could show was a smile as he did little things for her and even sometimes as he spoke. He was odd, or funny, as he seemed to speak about everything, even tiny unimportant things. She found him sweet, caring and maybe a bit more critical about himself than he realized.

Finally, after many hours, feeding and drinks, he'd carried her down to a vehicle. Her head had moved down against his chest and shoulder, much like it did when he fed her or helped her drink, but when he put her into the car, she was able to keep her head upright. When it became too much for her, she let it fall back against the headrest. Her body didn't move at all is if she were a ball-jointed doll. You could put her into any position as long as something kept her up like a chair and a seatbelt, and she wouldn't move. On occasion, she would lift her head up again or adjust it so she could look out the window.

"Tank?" he echoed, raising eyebrows. The thought of a tank in sewers seemed a little absurd, but, knowing Keyth and Mike, in the piles of mechanical parts that were put along one of the walls, not only tank could be buried. "I don't think we have that down here, but we have bunch of huge blocks that we've wanted to move for a while anyway."

"We have few that could pick up those blocks, I will have to go and arrange it, then. I will stop by your house when we're ready. Now, excuse me, please," he finished politely and left. There was nothing in particular to hide in his room, so Elek easily let her stay behind. Everything that was truly important was locked in safest place within the base: his head.

It took him about an hour to hunt down one of the local men who wielded power of immense strength. It would have been quicker, if people didn't stop him all the time to ask this, that and something else. But Elek always quickly and politely replied. By now, he was used to such routine. Finally, that hour later, he knocked on Eve's door, with a puny looking man next to him. This man looked like a typical nerd, with big glasses, scrawny body and a t-shirt far too big for him.

When Eve came out, Elek introduced the man as Ralph and they went to the far east wall, where in one corner there was huge pile of stone blocks - they seemed to be nearly blocking something - and not so far there was big mile of mechanical parts. "Okay, say when you're ready," Ralph said.

Leila resisted urge to roll her eyes and maybe even slightly snort disgracefully. What he said, sounded rather absurd. Then again, maybe everyone was already sick of this 'lover boy', and he really did have no one else to talk with. Well, solely his own fault then, and the girl didn't feel sorry for him in the slightest.

"You can stop pretending you're polite. Elek asked you to keep an eye on me, didn't he. I am not as sheepish as you might think," she said, nearly snapping at him. This thought had crossed Leila's mind a few times and her intuition said it was right. Everything pointed at it. On top of it, it seemed that Amante was not aware that despite her girly, youthful look, she was the most merciless and prizes mercenary on the Surface. She wasn't just 'any' girl that would give him an easy time!

"So, your generous offer of leaving me alone is not going to stand, I bet. But, do keep out of my way as much as possible, because I am not nice to those who don't." Her eyes narrowed and the girl's tone became ice cold. In fact, she was never nice in regular meaning, but, if he had any brains, Amante would realize that soon enough. Her 'nasty' was deemed hell by most, though.

Ryan drove slowly, trying to avoid most bumps and holes in the road, so the ride was smooth. So, it took a while for them to arrive to the destination. It was another apartment building, looking only just a bit less rundown than the one they had been staying at. Either his employer wanted to stay completely anonymous or something was terribly wrong with this whole ordeal. Well... something was horribly wrong with it anyways.

Ryan freed Alice from seatbelt and took her out of the car, picking her up bridal style again. He hissed slightly at the pain going trough his whole arm and kicked the door shut behind him. At least she was very light, inhumanely so. No one should be so thin. The man was glad she had become somewhat responsive, though, smiling like she did before, and resting head against his shoulder. It was also safer and more comfortable for her that way.

Ryan carried her in and moved to first apartment on right. As expected, the doors were open and he saw a man in a black suit, standing next to a table. They stiffly greeted each other and when Ryan came closer, he was given an envelope which he knew contained half of his payment. He took it, wishing that Alice would be asleep and never realize he had 'sold her', although the chances of that were zero.

"Put her in there," the man told him, gesturing at the simple wheelchair, and took out his cellphone. Apparently, he was informing the employer of mission being accomplished.
Ryan put her in the wheelchair and knelt down, so their eyes were on a more even level. He took her small hand in his rough one and smiled a half hearted smile. "You will be going with this man now. Don't worry, you will be..." Ryan tried to force him self to lie, tell her that she will be alright, but couldn't. "I wish you all the best, little one."

Little was said, on her end, as he spoke. She found the scenario acceptable as their resources were likely quite low. After he left, she returned to her home and waited.

Sure enough, an hour or so had passed and he came knocking. After opening the door she say a scrawny young man and quirked a brow, but did not necessarily judge him. She followed the two out to an area and approached one of the blocks. Looking to Elek, she pointed at it, telling him to watch. Eve moved back and thrust a fist at it, punching it. It seemed totally normal and nothing had happened.

She walked back a good distance from the scrawny male and motioned for him to throw one of the large blocks at her.

Amante frowned, "I never said you were sheepish. But, yes, he did assign me to watch over you." He gave a subtle shrug, "It's fine if you don't want to be my friend, though your stay would be a lot easier." He scratched at the stubble on his chin and jaw, "Feel free to keep acting like the boogeyman- I hear he's rather ugly and pretentious. But those are just rumors." It was likely he was jesting at her, in his own productive sort of way. Being mean and vile wouldn't get her anywhere and he was trying to tell her that without being blunt.

The fragile doll felt limp in his arms but there was a very slight weight to her and her head did rest against him. Her hips were slightly wider than normal, probably adding to her almost nonexistent weight. It was just a few moments before she'd been placed into the wheelchair and, though she had seen the transference of money, she was not so gullible to think him horrible.

When he took her hand, she felt it tense and ease all at the same time. It... sort of hurt to feel confined but maybe it was just something else because feeling warmth from someone else was oddly comforting. The girl smiled down at him, her fingers gently gripping his hand and giving it an understanding squeeze.

A voice sounded inside of him. It was sweet and soft like a moist, unfinished taffy and kind while understanding and.. weak. Weak and soft like the delicate petals on a flower that bloomed prematurely. Thank you... for taking care of me. Her eyelids bat and began to close, though her hand did not move away from his but the grip did lighten up. She was beginning to drift as the simple communication had drained what little energy she had.

Elek stepped back in a safe distance, or at least what felt as safe to him. He was rather curious, to finally find out what were the powers of this unusual woman. He felt the energy crackling around her nearly always, but the man couldn't make out what exactly it was, or how it worked. He took note that her punch did nothing to the stone.

Ralp eyed her one last time, as if hoping a wet spot wouldn't be all what's left after this experiment and then picked the bolder with ease. The moment his hand touched it, it ceased to have the horrible weight, but the moment he flung it at Eve, the bolder's weight returned to normal and it crashed with huge power at the woman. Ralph wished he could squeeze his eyes shut, expecting a nasty thud, but forced him self to keep looking.

His attitude... it was quite intolerable! Although she usually appreciated honest and direct personality, that Amante seemed to possess, Leila couldn't stand that he seemed so lazily, self-confidently laid back. It was like he 'knew' he was absolutely amazing and it was just a matter of time till everyone else realized it, too. And he even mocked her...

Her eyes fluttered shut for few seconds, and when Leila opened them again, a mockingly sweet smile spread on her lips. "Thank you for your most kind permission, I just have to do that from now on, so it is not wasted. Now, if you would excuse me, Sir... Some of us have to do other things than just stalking!" With that, Leila spun on her heel and quickly walked away, shadows obscuring her form from his sight faster than it would normally happen.

Ryan's eyes widened in surprise as he felt her respond. The squeeze was light, but certainly there, just like smile on her lips. It felt... so wrong, though, that she was reassuring him, trying to make him feel better, although she was the victim here and all he had done for Alice could seem rather selfish.

As her soft voice resounded in his mind, he felt as if someone had stabbed him. Ryan was sure Alice knew what was going on, yet she tanked him, as if he had done some great kindness to her... And in that moment, he came to a decision. It wasn't one of those things you think about long and hard, ideas like these simply appears in your head, and you go with the flow, not thinking if it is wise, or what outcome it will have.

Ryan stood up, letting go of the girl's hand and glanced at the man. He was still busy discussing something over the phone, much to Ryan's relief. Quickly, he changed his position, now behind the wheelchair and moved towards the door. Relying on left arm, he led the chair, and grabbed envelope on the table, stuffing it in his pocket swiftly. Few more moments, and they were out the apartment. Thankfully, the wheels did not make much noise, and the man did not pay any attention to Ryan leaving - after all, he had no reason to linger here

Ryan ran full speed, few times nearly tripping. At car, he pulled her out of chair and put her in the backseat, buckled the belt up, trying to be careful and gentle, but his mind was occupied with few hundred of possible escape routes and plans. After a bit of struggle (mostly due to rushing), he managed to put the wheelchair in the car bad he got in the front seat. This time, he wasn't so careful with driving, but speeded down the street, heading to a part of the town he knew he would get a new car with number this organisation wouldn't find out right away.

The stone came flying at her and slammed into her body, but she didn't move. At all. The boldertapped down to the ground and she took a few steps back. There wasn't even any sign of dirt or dust on her person. Pulling her fist back, she looked over to Elek to make sure he was watching, and then she slammed her fist into it.

The concrete block shook and then collapsed into itself, torn into chunks and little piles of dust. She'd decimated it using the force that it had tried to use against her. Originally, she wanted to show this to him using the tank. Her plan was not to turn it into a pile of rubble but to show that even though it hit her, it would not do any damage and that said tank could be bent in half just by touching her.

He slouched after she walked off and grumbled under his breath. Stubborn. Why was he not surprised. Amante stood upright and started to wander off, grabbing a small loaf of bread from a table and munching on it as he pondered about her, her powers and just who she was.

It all happened rather quickly and though she felt ill from being jostled around so much, she couldn't help but focus on the fact that he had seemed to have a changed of heart. The girl pondered on this as she started to fall asleep while his hands fumbled with the seat belt to buckle her in. The girl made sure to force her head back against the head of the seat so it would not dangle and hurt when she woke up.

Ralph watched in amazement, and Elek along with (and trough) him. The nerdy man didn't even try hide his surprise and openly cheered: "that was awesome!" He approached Eve with a big grin, but decided against giving her a pat on shoulder or something like that. She didn't seem the type to appreciate it.

"That was impressive indeed, but just how did you do it? Did you manipulate some kind of energy field around you?" Elek questioned, coming up to her side. He thought for a short moment. "Or the energy that came with the thrown boulder?"

Leila felt that today had started really well. After a long day spent walking and brooding (and doing some horrible things to Amante a few times in her mind), the girl had managed to sleep for a decent amount of time and even get up before anyone else. But the best thing was that after schedule, she was to stay at outpost, sit back and relax, as someone informed Leila. While the group was still vary of the strange newcomer, she had not complained about anything and that made her a bit better in their eyes. Not to mention, realizing where she was going to live now, Leila had put away her frilly dresses and now wore dark grey sweater with matching pants and jacket. They were of a soft, warm material (and warmth was certainly appreciated down here), and rather simple, besides small silvery embroidery around the neck and end of sleeves. The only thing that seemed impractical were her high heel boots, but no one commented those.

Leila sat on one of the shabby chairs that had long since lost its original color, with one earphone plugged in ear, other hanging down. Her legs were crossed neatly and the girl seemed to be deeply engrossed in a book. Pan pipe music soothed her mind, and although she was rather relaxed, anyone would have a hard time sneaking up on her, or past her. She had learned to never let her guard down, despite what ever she was doing. Then again, few pairs of watchful eyes that aided Leila from shadows and walls, were certainly a help.

Ryan slumped down in the only chair within the rundown room - it creaked dangerously. His head hurt, and arm felt like it was on fire, while his body begged for sleep. But the man felt too nervous to fall asleep, and while they were not somewhere safe, there would be little to no rest for him. The problem was, he had no idea when they would be safe.

The man glanced at the frail from in the bed. He leaned back slightly, moving the tense and painful shoulders, from driving basically nonstop for ten to eleven hours. The pain reminded him acutely of the shot wound, but he was getting to the point where it mattered very little now. The events of these hours zoomed trough his mind again - he saw how they fled the city in hurriedly stolen car, using small roads, and keeping on bigger ones as little as possible. He didn't even know the roads that well! But his destination was clear - reaching Chicago as soon as possible. In his opinion, it was the safest place for them to go. The city was huge, far enough from Knoxville for them to not think of it at first, and... There were rumors of someone helping people in trouble, some sort of hippy-rebellion group. That was his main goal.

During the insane drive, Ryan had stopped only few times, to give food and drink to Alice as well as take care of his personal needs. This was their first full stop. The man had gone far out of their, a half circle around the area, to enter finally enter Chicago from completely other side than Knoxville, but before that, he had picked a room in a rundown hotel which seemed to never have seen better days. Tomorrow, tomorrow, they would reach Chicago, and then the Hunt would begin... Ryan's head slumped on his chest and he slipped into nervous sleep.

Eve pointed at the boulder and began to explain, "The force from the boulder was absorbed by my body and multiplied with energy I have absorbed and stored from another time." She put her hands up and clenched them into fists repeatedly. "I just have to know how to fight and let everything come at me. The more you throw my way, the more I will throw back." Therefor, she was the perfect battle maiden for them if things got out of hand.

He'd been watching her during most of her time there, though not really staring or anything intense. It didn't take him long to find her relaxing on her lonesome and came up behind her without any concern for stealth. Amante let his torso lean over her head, his body bent slightly, and he looked down into the book she was reading.

"You know," he started, "no one wears heels down here at the outposts- only in the base. You never know when you have to start running or, you know, step in some sewage." He was trying to be helpful but he was anything but suave at this point.

The girls day had been long and filled with wonderful sights. He'd taken the scenic route so she could see all sorts of trees, flowers and other plants as well as some wild animals. The whole ride, with the sun grazing her face through the window, was a nice outing for her.

As the sun had started to set, she'd fallen asleep and kept silent in the back seat as she always had. She hadn't even woken up when he carried her out of the car and inside their motel room. Still sleeping, she wondered in her dreams where they would go next and what she would see...

Ralph looked at Eve like a fan would look at true super hero few centuries back. Being a just turned 4th rank, the awe about super powers had not wore off of him and such a power display truly amazed him. Not to mention, she seemed so cool altogether! Cold, distant, but certainly with impressive past. However, when Elek asked him to go and do something, he hurried off, because the rebellion leader happened to be another idol of his.

Elek was quite impressed as well. They truly had gained an ally with powerful ability that certainly would aid them in various ways. "That's extremely handy, to say the least. I am quite amazed. Thank you," he said with a honest tone and smiled a little. Somewhere in distance bell rang. "It's dinner time, will you come?" he asked Eve.

With a loud thud, Leila shut the book, revealing the title: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. Apparently, this girl had a liking for classics, because the book was certainly not read for the first time. However, it also looked like antique on it self. Just like "The best of Edgar Alan Poe" that stood on the other creaky chair next to her. She stiffly stared at the cover of the book, trying to ignore how close Amante was, but it was rather hard.

"Well, now someone does," she replied plainly. "I know what I am doing," Leila added in just as dry tone. In all honesty, she simply did not have other type of shoes with her, so she was stuck with these until allowed to go to the Surface. Normally, she did not run anyways and boots like these were perfect in battle, as a unexpected weapon.

"By the way, big guy, don't you have somewhere else to be? Or you
are stuck here with me? I nearly feel sorry for you." Smirk appeared and she glanced sideways up at him. "But only almost. So, please, leave me alone and let me read." With that, she opened the book again, on the correct page even.

Ryan woke up, or rather, became full aware of his surroundings few hours later. He felt just as horrible as before, or a bit more horrible, even, but when he looked at Alice, he calmed down a little. In his nightmare-ish visions, he kept seeing that the men came for her and locked her up again in a room he had kidnapped her from. Now, Ryan preferred term 'rescue', though.

It was far from completed, though. After he hurriedly ate something, man flung his bag over the good shoulder, opened the doors and then carried her out to the car. The hotel keeper paid no attention to them. Apparently, nothing was strange here anymore, nor anyone would care what Ryan was going to do with an unconscious girl. Ryan had paid for the room before they settled down, so, for they could disappear from Earth completely, for all the hotel owner cared.

After about fifteen minutes, they were already on the road and going at a good speed towards their final destination. He only hoped, it would not be the very last stop in his or Alice's life.

It wasn't the first time someone had fawned, from afar, over her and it wouldn't be the last. As long as a youth existed there would be fawning and she could see it in the boys' eyes. She said nothing and turned to Elek, not responding to his thanks for a skill she'd been lucky to receive. When the dinner bell rang and he asked her join him, she figured why not and shrugged, "Sure." She needed to eat something anyway.

Big guy? He couldn't help but grin and leaned away from her so as to not be in her bubble. "Please, I prefer the outposts. And the surface. I like the fresh air and it gets kind of muggy down here." The mugginess could have been compared to the beard that would have been on his face had he not shaved every once in a while.

"So, you like classic books?" He moved to her side so she could see him without feeling threatened with him at her back, "I didn't like Jane Eyre very much. It was... bland and mostly descriptive. It's a good book if you have time to waste but it's not entertaining."