<<< This City, Sabre, Mercury

[Sabre]

Time of day: 6:02am
Place in the timeline: September 20th

---

“Gah!”

Drew reached out with superspeed to quickly wrap his fingers around his cell phone, only vaguely noticing how muffled the sound blaring from the device's small speaker sounded in comparison to what had pulled him out of a pleasant dream. It had been very pleasant... some blond had been straddling him as he lay shirtless on his stomach and had been rubbing copious amounts of sun tan lotion into his shoulders as she spoke to him. She'd sounded familiar, but the speedster had never gotten a look at her face. He remembered the sandy beach, the sun, enjoying that husky voice... and then death metal seemed to roll over the waves that lapped gently on the shoreline. A few moments later, Drew had popped his eyes open as realization hit him...

With a groan, the speedster rolled over on his back as he squinted through heavy lids at the display on his device. An email. Why would he get an email that would wake him up? There was only one reason something like this would actually pull him out of his sleep at six in the morning... someone on the surface was trying to contact him. There were only about four people who had the ability to do that. Drew was suddenly much more awake as the shock of what he was looking at settled in. And he quickly sat up, scrubbing a free hand through his matted blond hair as he accessed his email to see what was so urgent.

Blue eyes widened in surprise at the message as they began to speed across the small screen.

Eight hours later

After checking his cell phone one more time, Drew looked around from beneath his hood for a telltale sign that the person who had reached him was actually coming. A speedster's reaction allowed him to quickly check the details of every person currently sitting on the little coffee shop patio. There was a woman who had blue hair – likely dyed that way as being a mutation would have attracted unsavory attention. He wondered if she received any of that anyway. A small chihuahua lay at her feet on a leash that was looped over the end of an empty chair; the little animal looked around, shivering as if afraid one of these strangers would step on him. There was a man reading a paper upside down; likely reading the answers for the crossword puzzle or something. That would explain it. Though he kept eying the elderly woman sitting at the table next to blue-hair.

Drew dropped his eyes back down to his plate... his stomach in knots. Not because he was waiting for a girl to arrive – a cute redhead – but because he was bringing a virtual stranger to Sanctuary. It was his first, and the many scenarios of how this could go utterly wrong played out in his mind, one after another. All of them ended with him sitting in solitary confinement in Sanctuary's prison or Magneto making his head pop like a zit. Neither were pretty pictures; a long gray beard didn't suit Sabre... neither did headlessness.

He checked his cell phone again. She was late. Seven minutes late, but still... it made him antsy.

[Cessily Kincaid]

Twenty days; almost three full weeks, of sitting around in a hotel suite, twiddling her metal thumbs, trying to act as if she didn’t exist. As if she didn’t mind that the destruction of her home had been covered up. As if she didn’t care that out there on the streets, anti-mutant sentiments were rising viciously. For so long, she’d disliked the fact that she was a mutant…But suddenly faced with a city of bigots, a world that hated and feared her because of a simple genetic anomaly – suddenly, Cessily Kincaid wasn’t that quiet girl who sat back and accepted the court’s decision. She chafed at the bit, wanting desperately to go out and do something, anything, to get some kind of interaction. To prove to the world that she wasn’t dead.

But leaving the apartments meant putting on the image inducer. It meant needing to pretend she was something she wasn’t. For once in her life, Cessily wanted to show off her shiny silver self, and ignore all those people who whispered that she was a monster. She’d already been warned against that, of course. As much as she balked at the idea, each time she left the apartments, she’d dutifully worn the inducer. There was only so much she could do. Shop, to replace some of the clothes and items she’d lost during the attack. There was no security job now, no income…She felt like a mooch, living in Warren’s building.

When one doesn’t sleep, it’s amazing how long a day takes. Cess tried to rest, lying on the bed in the suite, doing her best to relax – but images of the attack would surface randomly and break up her calm. It was like a waking nightmare. Twenty days afterwards, and she was at the computer in the suit before the sun had even risen, staring at a website. The message was typed up, waiting, the mouse hovering over the post button, her hand hesitating over the mouse. Sanctuary. The name sounded so right. A place where she could…Be herself. All of herself, every silvery, red, moldable part of her. Even more – a place where she could truly find out her own strengths, in the real world…Kind of.

Could she be normal? Hold a job, an apartment? Could she function without the support of the school, and the people in it? There were so many questions she needed to answer, and while the thought of leaving her friends, her family, behind hurt…Some things; a girl has to do for herself. She clicked post. There was plenty of time for her to get her small amount of personal items together. A backpack was enough to fit the changes of clothes she’d gotten.

Cessily was nervous all day. Worried if he’d show, worried about her choice…And then, a few hours before the meeting time, she met with her biggest worry. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, inducer turned on to portray her as a normal nineteen year old, ivory-skinned redhead – the appearance she’d have, if she weren’t silver and shiny naturally – and she got on a bus. A public bus. Filled with people. She managed to squish herself into a seat uncomfortably, pulling out a cheap booklet of word searches she’d picked up for the ride.

It was not a comfortable ride, even for a girl who could carefully shape herself to fit into smaller areas. People jostling for seats, and she’d had to switch buses a few times. Fortunately, each one seemed less crowded than the previous, although by the time she made it into North Salem, she was understandably irritated. Escaping the people who insisted on standing directly outside the door to the bus, as if purposely blocking the exit in an attempt to piss her off, the redhead breathed a sigh of relief, whole-heartedly sick of public transportation.

The butterflies in her stomach – solid metal ones, no less – started up again as she approached the café, suddenly struck by the same questions she’d been worrying over earlier. What if Drew wasn’t there, or had changed his mind? Her pace slowed a bit as she got closer, and she lifted one hand, raking her wild hair out of her face, tugging nervously on the ends as she scanned the people sitting there. When she finally spotted him, Cess approached with an anxious smile, glancing down for a moment when she realized that he may not recognize her. Stupid inducer. Green eyes were uncertain, as she strode over, trying not to seem as utterly awkward as she felt, hooking the other chair at his table and flopping into it.

“…Hi, Drew.” She really hoped she didn’t sound as stupid as she felt. “It’s, uh, it’s me. Cessily.” No, she definitely did; the redhead pointed to the watch-like device on her wrist in explanation for her appearance. She let out a rather quiet, nervous laugh. “Don’t tell me you changed your mind?” The girl winced at having said that aloud, glancing away in embarrassment as she felt the inducer react to her – a blush, something she normally wouldn’t have on her bloodless metal cheeks, showing up on the image projected by the watch.

[Sabre]

He was just flipping through his phone to check out the news as it was something to do to keep his mind off his jumpy nerves when a familiar voice said his name. Drew's head shot up to see a pretty redhead with ivory skin and freckles looking at her as if she was unsure whether the young man sitting before her would leap up and attack her or give her a hug. He did neither... it took him a full two seconds for his brain to register who it was standing before him – a long time for a speedster. And then it was all he could do to jump to his feet... instead of answering her question, he threw a glance around the area once more from underneath his hood.

“Cessily... wow. I didn't expect you to look like that. Not that I expected you to just come out here looking like... you. Just, I didn't think you'd be you like, eh never mind.” The last time he'd seen the girl, she'd been a shiny silver color... liquid metal with red hair, able to shape her body into any form, and it was thanks to her mastery over her own abilities that Sabre was able to eat the five muffins, three danishes, and four cups of coffee today. He could have easily been a poop stain on the Xavier lawn.

“Hey sit down,” he said a little brusquely as he motioned to the chair across from him, casting another furtive glance to his right once more. “Sorry.” Finally he smiled that face-splitting grin that seemed to flip his entire demeanor on its axis... it was as if the worry and concern that etched his face a few moments ago never even existed. “You look good,” he said softly, trying not to call any attention to the pair of mutants. “You look great, actually. I liked you better the other way though.”

His green eyes flickered to the inducer on her wrist, thinking it was really a shame that everyone around them couldn't see how cool she looked without the holographic mask on. He then looked back at the redhead, “Listen... before we actually did this... I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into. I mean, Sanctuary is safe, but there's some stuff you're going to have to do in order to live there. I'm pretty sure the people at your school are looking after you. If that's the case, sounds like you have a pretty sweet gig. You really want to come to the bad guy's HQ?”

[Cessily Kincaid]

A small part of her enjoyed the anonymity of walking through the town without getting stared at – oh, she got a few looks, probably because of her vibrant hair color, but for the most part she was treated just like everyone else. A month ago, she would have enjoyed that. Now, she was disturbed by just how many people judged her based solely on her appearance. Drew’s reaction caused her to raise her eyebrows, surprised, wondering for a moment if he didn’t believe it was her. Embarrassed a bit by his words, she still grinned crookedly, shrugging a shoulder and glancing at her hands for a moment.

“Uh, riding a bus as, well…Me, probably wouldn’t have ended well.” Talk about a disaster waiting to happen. He somehow managed to seem even more nervous now that she had arrived, but she took the offered chair, sliding her backpack off to rest on the ground near her feet. Shifting awkwardly in the chair, gaze flicking around as if expecting someone to throw a rock, she looked back at Drew to find him beaming at her. Cessily couldn’t help but to smile back, although she blushed at the compliments, lifting a hand to tuck a lock of hair behind one ear.

“…Oh, uhm, thanks,” She muttered, scratching at the skin near the inducer’s band, glancing at the device. Her gaze lingered on the normal looking skin of her hands, wishing she didn’t have to hide. This ivory mask simply didn’t feel like her. When he spoke again, his tone was far more serious, and she looked up to meet his gaze, smile fading a bit. Of course he would question her, her motives, whether she was sure – hell, she questioned herself all the way here. Scooting the chair forward a bit, resting her elbows on the table, thinking over what he was saying.

“The school…Don’t get me wrong, I love it there. They’re my friends, my family now. But…” She buried a hand in her hair, looking away from him, feeling guilty just for thinking this way. “But it’s also all I’ve ever known. I’ve been there since I mutated. I lived there, worked there…But I can’t help but wonder if I stayed there because…Because I was too afraid to try and live on my own.” It hurt, admitting to that. She loved the school, always had. Tugging her hair nervously, she sat up a bit, glancing at him again.

“Yeah, I could stay in the city. Hide in an apartment, only go out if I pretend to be this,” she motioned to her appearance, scowling, “I could go into hiding with the rest of the school. I could look normal, act normal…But it still feels like hiding, to me.” Swallowing uselessly, nervously, she shifted in her seat. “It sounds stupid but…I want to be me. A life, a job, an apartment…To make my own decisions, rather than rely on those in charge at the school to choose for me, or needing to hide behind some stupid hologram every time I take a step outside.”

[Sabre]

Drew nodded at her reply, expecting something like that based on the brief conversation they had shared out on that rock after he had stirred from his sleep. It was slightly disconcerting to see her like this after he'd been somewhat groggy the last time they'd met. Looking at her now, it almost felt as if he'd dreamed her up as a slivery angel who had saved him and cried silver tears as he sat there unable to even give her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

“It's not stupid to want something no matter what it is. I say what's stupid is to want something and never act on it. How are you gonna know if it's really want you wanted or needed if you don't actually do anything about it? It just ends up haunting you till the day you die... like some kind of flea or something gnawing on the back of your brain. I don't imagine that's really fun.”

“So yeah... I just wanted to make sure you were really okay with this. I mean... I don't mind doing this, but it's not really that different from moving to say... Canada or something. We speak the same language – most of us – but we still have our own laws and our own way of doing things and we have people who are gonna protect our borders. Y'know what I mean?”

Leaning forward, began tracing idly on the surface of the table the pair shared as he continued, “You're gonna have to have your bag checked, be interviewed, and all that stuff, and you're gonna need a job and a place to stay. The interview is conducted by psychics, but they don't invade your mind... they have this really strict asshole who monitors them and they get in serious trouble if they do that, so that's not a worry. They mainly just kind of graze over surface thoughts to detect lies. Anyway... after you've cleared all that – what we call decontamination – then you have to sit through like some kind of orientation. It's only thirty minutes long, and I'll be there with you.”

“After that, if you'd like, I'll show you around a bit and we can get you set up. I'm guessing you don't really have a place to stay or know anybody down there, right?”

[Cessily Kincaid]

Cessily felt selfish just thinking this way, having almost talked herself out of this decision a few times over the past few weeks. Part of her felt as though she were abandoning her friends, as if it were selfish and cruel to be thinking of herself right now, instead of the whole picture. It seemed wrong, in a way, to be focusing on just herself, but she knew that in order to accept herself, that was what she needed to do. The school would go on without her, just like it had before she’d been there, and she’d learned so much there, enough that she wanted to try taking a step in her own direction. A ghost of a smile tilted her lips at his words, because he was right. If she didn’t take this chance, she’d forever wonder what would have happened.

The redhead nodded in agreement, paying attention to what he was saying. It made sense, with Sanctuary being a country of its own. The immigration laws would be in place to help protect it, and of course they would have their own version of border protection. A small voice in her head muttered about the Brotherhood, but she refused to dwell on that thought. The military protecting a country may not always be viewed well by foreign countries. Nodding her understanding, she smiled a bit at the description of the process.

“Decontamination? I’ll pretend like that doesn’t sound intimidating.” The grin on her face gave away that she was joking – mostly. It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking of an idea, especially the psychics, although she certainly understood the necessity. The description of the boss was amusing though, but it was comforting to know that there would be someone keeping her private secrets private. Of course, the need to know that someone wasn’t lying, especially when entering a place as thoroughly hidden as Sanctuary, was understandable.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” She smiled at the offer to show her around, shaking her head slightly at the question. “I don’t know – I knew a few people in Mutant Town, but I don’t know if they’re still there, or in Sanctuary. So let’s just assume I’m brand new, and don’t know anyone there. Uh, well, except you, that is.” Cessily tilted her head thoughtfully, lips smiling crookedly, because it had been a long time since she’d been the new person. Thinking back to his nervous looking appearance earlier, she arched an eyebrow at him, before asking, “You’re not gonna get in trouble for this, are you?” Cessily had to wonder, because she couldn’t imagine there wouldn’t be some kind of backlash for bringing an X-student into the secret city base of the Brotherhood.

[Sabre]

“Get in trouble?” Drew repeated as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, “I told them you're coming. You have a passport, right? It'll make everything a lot easier if you have a passport, but if you don't then that's cool too. See, we allow people to come and go within reason, because we regulate who comes and goes and when and how. Cyclops could walk into Sanctuary and be allowed to visit. I imagine he'd be watched because he's a pretty sharp guy from what I've heard.” He paused, “Jean might not be allowed in... she's a pretty powerful telepath and her and Magneto have had a few disagreements in the past, but I dunno... I could be totally wrong.”

Drew made a show of looking down the street that lined one side of the coffee place they sat at, but in truth he gave the man with the paper a long hard glance before looking back at Cessily. He grabbed a napkin and slid it over to her, “Hey, you got a pen? If you do, reach in and get it and write down your phone number. And giggle like I said something funny or something. And blush... yeah. You're cute when you blush.”

His green eyes scanned the area quickly to do a head count... all without moving his head. “See that guy two tables behind me on the right, Cess? Don't look at him directly... don't want to call attention to ourselves. I'm pretty sure he's a cop or a SHIELD agent or something. He hasn't flipped a page in that newspaper since I got started on my third muffin, and it's been upside down for at least ten minutes.”

Drew tapped the napkin as if indicating where he wanted the number written, “Are you sure you sure you want to do this? I'm pretty sure he's got me pegged for some kind of mutant thing.” God... he couldn't recognize Drew... the speedster had not been caught on film as far as he knew, and he wasn't about to get identified now. Not after he'd done so well for so long.

“I'm gonna have to leave soon, and I'm pretty sure we won't get a chance at this, so if you're coming now, then this is it. Otherwise, I don't think I'll be able to get you there. It didn't take too long for this guy to get hot on my trail.”

[Cessily Kincaid]

The mention of a passport was only a slight surprise to Cessily, because she had wondered if one would be needed…Falsely green eyes glanced down at her hands, picturing the normally silvery skin, shiny and smooth. Frowning momentarily, she looked up at him and shook her head. “Uh, actually, I don’t have one. Never needed one before and I don’t think ‘silver’ is acceptable for things like eye color.” She spoke quietly, a bit uncomfortably, because it was the same reason why she had never gotten a driver’s license. Listening curiously as he explained how people can come and go, trying not to smile at the idea of Jean or Scott walking around in Sanctuary. That was a weird image.

Tugging a lock of hair thoughtfully as he looked around, rolling those thoughts around in her head, until he looked back at her, reaching out to take the napkin with a curious look. Puzzled for a moment, she did as requested, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pen. Brushing her hair behind one ear, her cheeks darkened in a blush at his words, and her eyes glittered as she giggled. With a normal appearance, she looked just like a teenaged girl that had just been asked for her number, scribbling it on the napkin, only glancing at him when he spoke.

Fortunately, the image being projected from the watch didn’t inhibit her true abilities, and a quick shift in her perspective allowed her to look at the table Drew pointed out, while her outward appearance seemed to be looking only at Drew. Leaning closer to the table to finish writing out the number – a completely random jumble of numbers, preceded by a New York City area code – the redhead smiled at him shyly, although there was a teasing look in her eyes.

“Mutant? A normal looking guy like you? Nonsense.” Cessily’s voice was low enough that it wouldn’t carry past Drew, the tone light and teasing. Making gentle fun of the tendency of humans to judge people based on appearances. With her holowatch on, no one gave her a second look. The million dollar question was posed – was she sure she wanted to do this? The idea that a SHIELD agent was watching them gave her a moment’s pause, but Cessily had made her decision. She nodded, tucking the pen into her bag, and sliding the napkin back to him with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She didn’t feel nearly as confident as she sounded, but she refused to hesitate.

[Sabre]

“Good girl,” Drew muttered, his eyes locked onto her. “You're good at this acting thing... after this is over, I might have to ask you out for real. You pretend to like me well enough and I might actually feel good after it's over.” He flashed her a cheeky grin and placed a hand over hers... purely as a show for the guy watching them over his upside down newspaper, of course.

“Alright... I'm gonna cause a distraction. You need to get the hell out of here... head for the back of the coffee shop, then the back of the building next to it to the south. Turn east when you get to the edge of that building and you'll see me at mouth of the ally way. Got me?” His bright green eyes shone with an eagerness for a little bit of mischief as he glanced around at the others in the area. “Don't worry,” he said, assuming she would be concerned that someone would get hurt, “I won't harm anyone... not even the cop or whatever he is. I don't want anything like that when this is just a simple extraction.”

He gave her hand a light squeeze, “Ready?” He waited to make sure she had her things. “Go,” he whispered.

A moment later, Drew was on his feet, flipping the table to the side as he kicked his chair. The metal furniture jumped into the air, and he caught it as he spun to face the cop, who had just started to throw the newspaper aside. “For Pedro and his pony,” Drew shouted as he flung the chair at the cop at a normal speed so it wouldn't kill anyone upon contact.

He immediately burst into the air, hit the wall, and bounced off like a rubber ball, using his hyperkinetic reflexes to catch hold of a tablecloth while descending. He hit the ground with the blue tablecloth fluttering behind him, snapping about wildly as it was dragged along. In a blur, the thing was wrapped around the man who had been watching the pair of them, the speedster laughing as if he was watching the funniest movie ever. He immediately pulled the tablecloth, making the man collapse to the ground as he spun violently, bouncing on the concrete as the tablecloth unraveled. All the other customers were on his feet, including a young mother with a baby cradled in her arms. Drew stopped in front of the young lady and gave the little baby a quick peck on the forehead.

“Cutest baby ever,” he said before he disappeared around a corner, his feet leaving the ground as he ran up the wall just enough to clear the four foot fence that blocked his escape. He hit the ground and immediately trailed off leaving nothing but a violent wind in his wake.

“Backup,” the man on the ground groaned as he pulled out a radio and another device and hit the button, “I need backup! The coffee shop on seventh. A Brotherhooder and a possible accomplice wearing some kind of hard light disguise! I've taken care of that.” That said, he punched the button on the other machine, a small pulse that could almost be heard and felt washing over the crowd for two blocks, shorting out everything electrical in the process.

Unaware of the EMP, Drew leaned up against the wall, the hood on his hoodie raised as he kept an eye out for anything strange, often glancing over his shoulder for the redhead and acutely aware that she was slow as hell by comparison.

[Cessily Kincaid]

The redhead nearly rolled her eyes at being called a good girl, because really, she was so not five years old, and what did he expect her to do? Shake her head and say ‘no, I’m not playing along with you’? She was smart enough to know that if he was asking her to do something like that, there was a good reason for it. Although it seemed far easier to ‘make’ herself blush each time he complimented her. A single eyebrow arched when he spoke, but she played along, shifting to lean forward in her chair flirtatiously, something she wasn’t sure she could have done, if she’d been taking him too seriously. Sliding the paper with the fake number closer to him, she smiled, despite the pink still on her cheeks.

“Who says I’m pretending?” The blush never left, as she glanced down, seemingly embarrassed by her own words. Beneath her lashes, she glanced at the man Drew had mentioned, before her attention was pulled back to him. Confused for a moment, she glanced at the shop, momentarily puzzled as he said the directions. East, south…What was she, a compass? Shaking that off, she actually looked surprised when he assured her that he wouldn’t hurt anyone – strangely enough, that thought hadn’t really crossed her mind. Smiling at him, she squeezed his hand lightly back, nodding.

The moment he stood, Cessily was on her feet, backing away from him, looking appropriately astonished and horrified by his sudden change in behavior. As if the sweet, charming guy who had just been hitting on her had suddenly freaked out and…Kicked the furniture into the air. Eyes widening, she backed towards the door of the coffee shop, appearing to flee inside away from the cute maniac out front. Inside, she was laughing hysterically – really, his idea of a good distraction was to throw a chair at the guy? If she weren’t in the middle of acting like she was terrified, she’d be rubbing her temples.

Cessily had just made it to the door near the back of the shop, one that would lead her to the back rooms of the store, so she could get out into the alley, when a weird feeling washed over her. It tingled, and then a tiny shock sparked on her wrist. Yelping, she glanced down…At her silver wrist. The watch sat useless, and when a sudden shriek pierced the air, she looked up to find the people in the shop suddenly staring at her. Nearest to her, a woman dropped her coffee, the hot liquid splattered on the floor, spraying the redhead’s leg. For a moment, shiny silver eyes stared right back at all these horrified looking people, as if unaware she was different…Then she gave a small wave of her silver hand, and bolted.

The flip flops were useless, and her feet flowed right out of them, leaving them in the back room, where her sudden appearance had elicited a scream from a startled employee. Already, there were shouts from the shop, and Cessily’s silver body streaked around a corner, barely getting the back door to the alley open in time before sliding through the opening. Four feet from the door, her arm slammed it shut behind her, retracting back into a normal shape. Pausing at the alley, she blinked – which way was…Oh forget it. Sprinting forward, she came close to scraping her side across the bricks of the wall, before skidding to a stop when she saw Drew, standing so at ease. Long red hair was loose, and she rolled her eyes at him once she stopped, crossing her arms.

“Apparently, I’m a bigger distraction than you are.” The girl said with a grin, glancing down at herself, silver and shiny once more, she raised up her wrist to look at the watch, a frown tugging at her lips. It wasn’t hard to deduce what had happened – the shop had gone dark at the same moment, she’d heard the sudden silence of the steamer and coffee grinder. “Lemme guess, an EMP burst was not part of your master plan?” Really, sarcasm was just leaking from her pores, but she managed a good humored smirk, even as she glanced nervously behind her.

[Sabre]

“My plan?” Drew said as he jumped off the wall and closed the remaining distance between them in a couple of moments. Without thinking, he grabbed one of her hands and held it up, glancing at her shiny silver skin and then up into her matching eyes. “I didn't have a plan? I don't do plans. I'm not good with them. I just had us haul tail out of there. EMP? Your watch is fried?”

Drew blew out his cheeks and ran his hand over his head, pushing the hood back so it fell away; this was a complication that he wasn't sure how to get past. How were they going to get halfway across Salem when they were being chased by the po-po and Cessily stood out like a white guy on a basketball team. Drew slid his backpack off his shoulders and opened it, digging around inside while glancing upward, hearing a helicopter somewhere overhead. It wouldn't have been difficult at all for him to get from point A to point B by himself... all he had to do was run and he'd be there in a few seconds, but Cessily's powerset didn't quite aid her in this kind of situation.

He looked up at the girl, “Do you think you'd fit in here?”

Without waiting for a reply, he shook his head, “Nevermind, that's a stupid idea.” He zipped over to the mouth of the alleyway and poked his head out, looking around for any sign of suspicion, and ready to spring back as if he was prepared to be shot at. No one was pointing and shouting at him... no one had whipped out a gun. All he could see was some lady walking her poodle and several other couples, individuals, and children milling about the shops, crossing the street, and more. It was a veritable vomit-inducing scene from Pleasantville. Drew made a face and began pulling his head back into the alleyway when he saw a man standing in one of the shop windows staring straight at him, a walkie talkie held to his mouth.

Drew pulled his head back into the alleyway and shook his head, “Crap, we've been made. Crap crap crap crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap...” Whipping around, he fixed his green eyes on Mercury, “Dude took my picture. I can't let that guy have my picture. I can't be on the news. My grandparents don't know what I do or where I'm at. You don't get it... seeing me up on the news like that would kill my grandma. She'd have a heart attack and die and I'd never forgive myself. I've got to get that camera, but we have to get you to safety. We also need to get you to the backup teleportation site. We can't compromise the normal one.”

Grabbing Mercury by the hand, his digits sliding between hers, he dragged her to the corner and backed off slightly when catching sight of several more agents. Drew turned his head to look at the redhead, “You've got to help me get that guy's camera or phone or whatever it is. Can you run some kind of distraction or something? Like... I dunno... run in front of a bus and splash all over the place or something? You don't have to hurt anyone...”

[Cessily Kincaid]

Cessily was learning to love her powers, really she was…But times like this, she really wished she were less eye-catching. Because it’s hard to be subtle and blend in when your skin was more reflective than every piece of metal surrounding you. As he jumped over to her, the redhead gave him a surprised look when he grabbed her hand, as if to see if it was really metal, like he remembered. The admission about his lack of place was even more surprised, and Cessily lifted her free hand to rub her forehead, trying not to laugh.

“Definitely fried. Along with the block, probably.” While he rummaged around in his bag, she stretched out one leg, her foot shifting until a small blob of silver was sticking out of the alleyway. Easily missed, pressed flat against the concrete, but her perception shifted until she could peek around – sure enough the block was electronically dead. Pulling back, her eyebrows lifted at his question, leaning slightly to peek into the bag with a grin, even as he concluded that it was a stupid idea.

“Uh, yeah, that would just be awkward…” She muttered, following him closer to the mouth of the alley, frowning at him in concern when he turned back around, looking far more worried than more. The explanation made sense, because suddenly the situation had gotten worse for him. She felt a tug at her heart at his words, and would have smiled any other time at the idea of having grandparents whom he obviously cared about. Which made what he was saying even worse. She could tell where this was going before he asked – if she helped him, worked with him against SHIELD…Hell, SHIELD knew who she was, she’d almost interned there this past summer. Sean worked for them, he’d know her description. There weren’t any other red headed metallic polymorphs running around that she knew about.

Dragged to the corner, acutely aware of what he was asking her to do, she bit her lower lip, but really, there was no question. She couldn’t let him flounder like that; he was helping her, and despite knowing she’d be aiding a terrorist – it was hard to think of him like that. His suggestion for how she cause a distraction earned a startled grin, raking a hand through her long hair.

“…Because I’m not distracting enough?” The redhead muttered good-naturedly, pinching the bridge of her nose. The old question of ‘if a friend asked you to jump off a bridge’ came to mind, and she shook that thought off. Leaning against the wall, she sighed. “Okay, okay, I got this. Gimme a second,” Her free hand stretched out, shaping into a tentacle at the end, slithering around the corner of the building. There were more agents now – if Drew intended to get that phone, she needed to get all of those agents looking where she wanted. There was a better way to do that than get hit by a bus. Pulling back her limb, she let go of Drew’s hand. “Alright, give me ten seconds and I’ll have them focusing on me instead of you.”

As she spoke, her body lost shape, clothes and backpack falling to the ground – an arm formed from the puddle currently clinging to the wall of the building, stuffing her clothes into the bag – before the silver blob raced up the wall. Within a few moments, she was on top of the building, reshaping as she peeked over the edge. Narrowing her eyes, because she was so going to regret this, Cessily shaped her body as taller, skinnier, and flatter – reflecting the sun like a mirror as she stood tall on top of the two story building. Keeping herself in a ‘neutral’ looking body, she let out a movie-quality shriek, one that, with the waving of her silver arms, drew every pair of eyes to the top of the building.

“Just leave me alone!” The girl screamed, giving off the vibe of pure terror, looking over her shoulder like she was being chased. “Stop! I-I’ll jump!” Still screaming at the invisible person behind her, she inched closer to the edge. Without turning her head, she saw a few of the agents lift up their radios. Pretending to slip near the edge, almost falling with a scream…Before finally letting out a shrill shriek and taking a flying leap from the edge. The swan dive was almost beautiful; until she landed in the middle of the street with a splat, each limb flattening against the concrete until she was a puddle. Someone nearby screamed. She started to trickle away, hoping that Drew had had enough time to get what he needed.

[Sabre]

As she began to elongate and make for the roof, Drew's eyebrows raised at the possibilities of what kind of distraction she was about to provide him. He watched in amazement as she traveled up to the top of the building, her sliver-liquid body slithering out of sight in mere seconds.

For a speedster, seconds were hours; for Drew, seconds were all he needed. He zipped over to the corner of the building and peeked around, his ears perking up as he heard a shrill scream from overhead. Plainclothes SHIELD agents and pedestrians alike turned and looked at the ceiling just to Drew's right, taking almost every pair of eyes off of him. That was all the speedster needed.

God you're amazing...

Without hesitation, Drew disappeared in a flash, the world bleeding into streaks and blurs as he took off across the street, everyone else seeming to come to a standstill compared to his own hyperkinetic movements. Drew hit the door to the small diner the man with the phone was sitting in and didn't even pay attention as it was every so slowly – according to his perception – ripped from its hinges. Racing over to the man, he pulled the cell phone from his hand and immediately skidded off back in the direction he came.

In seconds, he was in another alley watching the redhead swan dive into the pavement bellow, causing everyone to scream in fright and terror at the seeming suicide of a freakish mutant. He had a hard time tearing his eyes away from the impressive display of the girl that just might be as insane as he was. However... he had a job to do.

Holding up the phone, he flipped through the pictures looking for the ones that had been taken of him.

Naked girlfriend photos. Christmas with mom. A mediocre sunset from his car. Naked girlfriend photos. More naked girlfriend photos. Pics of this guy's dick... AW GROSS!

Drew deleted them all, glancing up in time to see Cessily beginning to trickle away. Once they were all gone, he dialed a one-nine-hundred number and held it up to his ear.

“Welcome to hot sexy bitches in heat. What can I do for you honey?”

“Yeah,” Drew said while keeping his green eyes focused on Cessily, “I just want you to talk dirty to me non-stop while I get off. For like an hour. It takes that long because I can't get it up. Say something about donkeys. Donkeys turn me on. Okay... I'm shutting up now. Proceed.”

“O...kay...”

Drew didn't waste any other time with the husky-sounding woman. He dropped the phone in the dumpster beside him and zipped off, appearing moments later where a puddle of Cessily was regathering. “You are a freaking angel. An insane angel but an angel!”

[Cessily Kincaid]

It occurred to Cessily almost idly, as she was standing in false terror on the roof of a building, naked and cowering from an invisible enemy…That this was not normal. In fact, the mere fact that she had so readily left her clothes behind was probably the most disturbing thing about it. She had to wonder if the many eyes looking up at her right now had even taken her state of undress into account while staring, or if they just wrote it off, since she had tried to shape her metal skin into clothe-like shapes. Either way, it certainly worked – a quick glance from a different perspective showed her that nearly everyone in the area was staring up at her. As if anyone could miss her, reflecting the sunlight so brilliantly.

The part of her that always managed to sound like her mother in her head was speechless at the very idea of jumping off a building. If she hadn’t been trying to seem scared, she may have laughed, just at the idiocy of this whole thing. But no, he had asked for a distraction, and this was important to him, so Cess had gone big. The dive through the air was almost fun, if very short-lived, and although she didn’t see the blur that was Drew, she had to assume he’d managed to do what he needed to.

Splattering on the ground was an…Interesting experience. No matter how many times she found herself in a splatter situation, it always felt weird. She felt her molecules stretch across the ground, flowing in different directions, like a water balloon bursting. But there were no pieces disconnected from the whole, as she trickled off into a drain, out of the public eye. If she were to stream across the ground, they might realize something was up. Already, she could hear an uproar from the diner Drew had burst into. Sliding until she resurfaced through a drain in the alley, her liquid self shook, molecules releasing any dirt or grime that otherwise may have tried to stick to her.

An arm materialized out of the puddle, pulling her clothes out of the pack, and as Drew appeared, she slowly reformed, body filling out the clothes until she was back to normal, hair a bit messier than normal. The praise caused her to grin and shake her head at him, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

“Insane? You threw a chair at a federal officer and I’m the insane one?” The redhead retorted sarcastically, brushing one hand over her clothes to smooth them out. “If you think jumping off a building is insane, you have no concept of a good time.” She teased brightly, because really, a two story drop was barely high enough to fully enjoy the idea of falling. She’d been thrown higher in training sessions. Because, really, what was the good of possibly being unable to die, if you didn’t enjoy the hell out of what you could do. Cessily may not have always been comfortable with being a mutant, but it didn’t change the fact that what to someone else would be an unnecessary risk was just an entertaining time for the metal girl.

“I’m gonna assume you got what you needed done.” She glanced around for a moment, shifting lightly on her feet. “So that we can go, preferably before SHIELD checks their files on metal redheads and realize that there’s only one of me on file?” Because yes, she was registered with SHIELD. This was going to be interesting.

[Sabre]

“Yes I did, Angel,” Drew said with a grin, “And that douche is gonna get one hell of a phone bill next month. I hope he cries. You saved my poor grandma's heart. I could kiss you right now.”

He cocked his head to the side and studied Cessily, considering for a moment then internally shaking his head. “You sure you wanna roll with us? We like to make people cry.”

Pulling out his cell phone, he began fishing through numbers, looking for one that he could try to contact here in Salem that wouldn't suffer from helping out a couple of fugitives. There was Manny's house or the specialty clothing shop on the other side of the ritzy little town. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of mutant sympathy in this neck of the woods, so their options were limited. Manny's house it was.

“Alright. Manny's got a house two blocks from here, actually.” Drew looked back up at Cessily, “He's not Brotherhood, but he's not a big fan of the rest of the world either. Only reason he runs a safe house for us is because he likes The Sleepy Diner's funnel cakes. It's a place in Sanctuary. Swears the powdered sugar is cocaine. Whatever. He's our best shot. So if you really want this, then I suggest we hoof it.” Drew nodded to the broken watch, “We got people who can fix that for you, if you'd like, but you're not gonna be needing it where we're going. You're pretty enough as it is.”

Grabbing Cessily's hand, Sabre ran at a speed they could both follow as questions raced about in his mind. Could she get winded? Did she need to stop for breaks? How fast could someone made of liquid metal actually move? He also noticed that while her skin didn't feel exactly normal, it was pleasant to the tough anyway, and not overly firm like he would have thought.

Reaching the corner of the other ally, he saw the street nearly deserted due to Cessily's awesome antics. “Alright... time to hoof it.”

---

A few minutes later

“Manny, it's Sabre. Right outside your house and we bring funnel cakes,” That was all Drew said. Hanging up the phone, he took a moment to glance at the redhead beside him; he hoped she wouldn't be disappointed in Sanctuary.

A knock on the door was the signal that it was unlocked and they were being invited in. “That's us,” Drew said as he trailed around the side of the house and bounded up the ten steps to the heavy wooden door. Opening it, he zipped in and waited for Cessily to enter before closing it.

“Pulling a stunt like that! You are a fucking asshole!”

Manny looked about ready to toss his cell phone at Drew's head. The speedster was suddenly behind their host's tubby frame, his would-be weapon in his hand. “They had pictures of us, dude! We couldn't let that slide. Had to take care of business. You know what's up.”

“She better be worth it,” Manny said, hiking his thumb over his shoulder at Cessily as he whirled to glare at Drew. “I could have been compromised!”

“I'm a speedster. I checked everything in a four block radius before I called you!”

“You're an asshole!”

“I know!”

“She better be a good l–”

A light punch in the gut from Drew cut the rude guy off completely. “Just make the damn call so we can get out of your hair,” the speedster said, his playful grin suddenly gone. “I'll buy dinner next time you're down.”

Muttering curses and rubbing his paunchy belly, the balding safe house owner tottered off to get his job done.

“So,” Drew said, “Hope you haven't changed your mind. Cause Manny might kill you if you did.” A weaker form of his usual grin hitched itself back on his face.