Eight Minutes to Sunrise

A smirk hints at the corner of my lips at the man response. Maybe my little joke had when a bit too far, but then again, like I'd said before. Wasn't really my problem now was it? He moves swiftly alongside me, never missing a beat as he clicks the helmet back into place, explaining the man on the radio. He was being awful forward with me, that was for sure. Awful strange for a man you'd think would be hellbent on protecting his identity. However, I suppose he'd given me a little. I could give a little back myself. "I was a test tube baby," I blurt out, keeping my gaze ahead. "Everything about me was manufactured, down to the last strand on my head. My mother was a lab coat, my father a syringe. My guardian was also my rapist." I choke on the last part, taking a minute to regain myself. "You'll have to forgive me if I seem distant at times," I admonish, making my way up the steps of the house. I open the door, leading him inside. I had purposely left out the part about my powers. That wasn't quiet something he needed to know yet. I glance over at Blint, "This is our friend from earlier," I explain switching into Russian out of habit. I wait for him to respond patiently.

As the duo walked back towards the house where Lone Star decided to start playing his game with these folks Lone Star heard the voice of the woman infront of him. She said she was a test tube baby. She'd stop for a moment in words that was and then continued. She said her father and mother weren't even real.. She went on to say her guardian was a rapist... And that he raped her. This caused Lone Star to bow his head and turn to the side in disgust for a moment "No need. I understand if you feel distant. My father is a senator. Crooked guy. He has children all over the place. Me being the oldest... They were all given the task to kill me at some point or another. Some have tried and failed. I grew up learning how to be an assassin from my grandfather who taught me the tricks of archery and many martial arts... That is just the beginning of the story." Lone Star would say that before the duo walked into the house where the others were. She'd introduce him causing him to wave accordingly before taking a seat on the recliner chair. He'd put one leg on the other before leaning back speaking "So. How are we today?" speaking ever so casually.

Blint waited patiently in the apartment for Ary to return. He’d never liked waiting, felt it was a waste of time. But he didn’t really have a choice right now, did he? Seeing the state of the apartment, Blint could only shake his head. Some safe location this had been. He went over to the kitchen to see if he could find a drink. Whoever lived here was practically a fish. They had an entire rack filled with different types of drinks, all labeled and sorted accordingly. Blint couldn’t help but be impressed. He’d been drinking more often these days, a habit he’d only realized right now. Maybe the recent stress was getting to him, who knew. Marcus used to drink when he was stressed out. He’d probably picked up this little trait from him.

He took a few sips, waiting in the kitchen, thinking things over. He didn’t have long to wait, as a few minutes later he heard a pair of footsteps. Having finished the drink, he put the glass in the sink to be washed later, and went into the living room, where he’d been before. Ary walks in with a man in a strange helmet. “This is our friend from earlier,” she explains in Russian. “If you’re talking like this, you must not trust him yet. Even if you do, I sure don’t.” the strange man waved before sitting down on a reclining chair, speaking casually as if he hadn’t arrowed a window then threw a walkie-talkie through it a few minutes before. Blint simply looked back at Ary, “when are you getting rid of him?” he’d ask impatiently. This had gone on long enough. Truthfully, Blint didn’t even need to be here anymore. He’d already told Aryonna what he needed to tell her, now he just wanted to leave before more men in tights showed up.

I knew Blint was a skeptic by nature. That had been evident enough in our first meeting. I knew he wouldn't take Don's presence lightly. Not after what he'd just done, but I had an idea. And believe or not, Mr. Hines could be more than helpful in our little situation. “If you’re talking like this, you must not trust him yet. Even if you do, I sure don’t.” Blint points out. I look over at Don for a moment before turning my attention back to Blint. I hadn't realized I was speaking in Russian. It had just become a natural response around Blint. "When are you getting rid of him?” "He's gonna help us," I say, giving him a small smile. "Because you're not being honest with me. I saw the arrow in the fuse box. You wanna explain how the lights are still on?" I cross my arms, blank expression locked on him.

If he thought I was going in the mission blind, he was mistaken. He knew all my secrerts, it was about time I knew some of his. I turn my head towards the doorway slightly, hearing a car door slam outside the building. "Al," I call in Italian. "Were you expecting guests?" He makes his way back into the front room, a towel on his wet hair. "No, why?" "Princess," the Russian cry rips through the room. "Get down," I order as the first melange of bullets bears through the house, peppering it in moments. A stray bullet rips through the room, digging deeply to the flesh on my shoulder. I barely feel it though, instead kicking up the granite table to lodge it against the couch, blocking the barrage of bullets from hitting me.

The melee stops eventually, leaving us in utter silence as the car screeches away. I push off the remenants of the table, noticing the wound on my arm for the first time at the pain that shoots through it. My cheek bleeds slightly, a remenant of the table having cut it open. "Damn," I curse, gripping it tightly as I stand. "Everyone okay?"

An arrow in the fuse box, so that’s why the lights went off. That certainly would be a good reason, likely the entire apartment building had their power cut off. Of course, a simple task like powering a few light bulbs and utilities was easy enough for a person with Blint’s abilities. Ary was reasonably curious, since he was the only unknown factor in this equation. Lone Star seemed human enough, though he probably has his own secrets. But he’d shown his style, using gadgets and arrows. So far, Blint had shown absolutely nothing but his words and his ability to acquire information. True enough, he knew practically everything about Ary, at least to an extent, while she knew next to nothing about him. Fine, I guess you’ve earned the right to know something about me. But he wouldn’t tell her everything just yet. Some things he needed to keep secret until the end of the mission, at least.

Blint grinned at her question, and was just about to open his mouth when a car door is heard. Ary shouts out to her Italian friend, Al, asking if he was expecting anyone. He denies, and shorty a third voice enters referring to Ary. ”Princess,” it calls out in Russian, triggering Ary to yell for everyone to duck. A moment later a barrage of machine gun fire tears through the apartment. Everyone takes an appropriate position, avoiding the bullets by taking cover behind a suitable object. Blint simply stands in place, wearing an intensely annoyed expression on his face. Dodging a few stray bullets was child’s play with his powers, he simply manipulated a magnetic field around his body to subtly redirect the bullets away from him and into the wall behind him, peppering them in a random arrangement to not draw too much attention.

But the assholes just shot at him. And they didn’t even have the balls to stay and finish the job. It was embarrassing, and quite frankly severely unprofessional. That was the most annoying part, if you’re going to try to kill someone, at least make sure you actually kill the target. These Russians got on his nerves more with every passing day. Either way, Ary was picking herself up, asking if everyone was okay. Blint swept some dirt off his shoulder, put there by a random bullet hole on the ceiling. Where the hell were these madmen aiming? ”I’m perfectly fine. But I’m killing those assholes the first chance I get.” he said with an annoyed tone. ”As for your question, I’ll tell you when there’s one less pair of ears listening.” he said, obviously referring to Lone Star.

OOC: Not feeling it

Upon entering the room Lone Star played home to an ongrowing debacle between the duo. The man who seemed to be an ally of Iulians seemed laid back. Way to laid back. Lone Star got a weird assumption this man was the one who caused the power to come on. Just from obvious observation. He could tell because Iulian would have just admitted to it back there if it were her. Iulian herself knew something was up with her teammate questioning how the power came back on after the box went out. Lone Star raised an eyebrow under his helmet as everything was being recorded by his helmet cam in his eyes that recorded everything he saw. Lone Star wouldn't be able to speak as a car door was head. Voices were heard before bullets sprayed the room. Screaming get down Iulian was the first to go down as a stray bullet hit her in the arm causing Lone Star to cover her immediately as she knocked over a table. His suit would take bullets in the back as the riddled to the floor not denting him at all. He'd notice a cut on her face as he wiped the blood off "Are you okay?" said Lone Star before he noticed the Russian fellow with the green hair began to speak again saying he'd kill those bastards. He also said he'd answer the question asked before causing Lone Star to chuckle "Look bub. I've been doing this thing for awhile. I've seen it all. One of my teammates has an electrical power. You're obviously using something along those lines if you could juice this entire building back to full power. So you going to tell me how you got these electric powers?" Saying this as he stood up grilling down the man he knew had a problem with him.

"I'm fine," I reply in response to Don's question. I lift up my arm, examining the wound as the two commence with their bickering. Don mentions something about Electricity, which would make sense. But I was still wary, considering how easily he had managed to dodge the barrage of bullets, barely moving from his spot. I glance around, looking for Al, but he's nowhere to be found. He's probably with them, I realize, lips pursing. I should've guessed as much. Anyone connected with the mafia is usually a bad sign. I stand pulling off my shirt, pushing my hair out of the way to reveal the compass tattooed on my back, and the scar resembling a bullet wound on both the front and back of my side. I was getting awful tired of being shot at.

I make my way over to the bar, pulling out a bottle of whiskey, running it over the wound, wincing slightly at the pain it brings on while the boys continue their spat. It didn't really interest me to deal with their dispute. They were both grown after all, and perfectly capable of getting along. I turn, tipping the bottle to my lips, taking a drink before looking down at my half naked form, wearing only a bra in place of a shirt. I should probably go look for one, I think disinterestedly, turning back to Don and Blint.

[Short post. Laziness is a whore with a drinking problem.]

The new friend that Ary had brought back into the apartment had proven to be quite a chatty guy, mouthing off to Blint about having seen it all and muttering something about a companion with electrical powers. Well that was all fine and dandy for that guy, but Blint’s abilities will a notch more complicated than that. Then he had the balls to actually ask Blint, a man he’d never met before in his life, where he’d gotten his powers. Blint simply stood still and laughed in his face, ”did you honestly believe you’d wrestle information out of me that easily? You must be dumber than you look. And with that outfit you have tacked on, you’re not doing yourself any favors,” he said with a mocking grin on his face. ”Let’s get one thing straight. I’m here because I have business with her,” he pointed over at Ary who was currently in the kitchen, running alcohol over her wound, ”not you. You don’t get to make demands of me. I suggest you keep that in mind.” Blint finished his words with an irritated expression, but his voice kept calm the entire time, only hinting at his expressed annoyance. He walked away from Lone Star and Ary, sitting down on the now bullet-riddled couch. ”Now can we hurry up and finish this little get together already?”

As Lone Star finished off his words he wasn't surprised when the green haired fellow came back with a rebuttle. He'd say something about Lone Star looking dumb and gaining information from him wouldn't be as easy as he was expecting. Obviously Lone Star figured it. This entire time his headset was recording the entire conversation. Hell no. This bastard even targeted Lone Star's suit which was top of the line. It was his personal suit which he created with the help of Light Year. He also said he was here on business with Iulian. Finishing off saying Lone Star was in no position to make demands which sparked the young heroes interest as he dawned a smile under his suit rationalizing 10 different ways to kill this fellow right now.. But sadly. Lone Star doesn't care. That man would walk to the couch which was riddled with bullets and ask if they could carry on with this situation. As for Iulian, Lone Star would notice she was topless and he'd start to blush under his helmet. He saw her bra and her wound. He'd rip part of a shade and rapped it around the wound tightly before speaking "Do you need anything? Are you sure you're okay?" Saying those words as he'd hear Light Years voice "Star! I have a location placed on those who shot at you? Sending you their vehicle coordinates now." visibly appearing on the screen in his helmet Lone Star noticed a red dot with a green outlining trailing down roughly half a mile from here "The Star Car has also been dispatched a block away." For some reason that was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room. Lone Star's helmet must have taken a shot.

I glance over at Lone as he makes his way to me, wrapping a piece of cloth around the open wound on my arm. I had barely paid attention to their conversation, leaving them to their scrabble by themselves. They would get over it eventually I figured, especially considering the amount of time they would be spending together if my idea came to fruition. Blint plops down on the bullet ridden couch, a sour look crossing over his face as he stares at Don with a look of annoyance. He did have a point however. I had just brought a total stranger back, without warning or explication as to his presence here. But something had told me he could be of use to us. Whether it was the high tech gagdets, or the clearly state of the ark suit. The man surely knew what he was doing. And well...I had to admit, I wasn't any less happy to have him along for other reasons. Or a least until I sorted out the small flutter in my chest brought on by the memory of his lips against mine, the fear now faded away.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reassure him. A voice breaks out over the familiar intercom, the same one as before. He apparently had got a lock on our little friends from earlier, and was sending a car out to for us to follow along. I lean off the bar, setting down the whiskey bottle. "Alright, let's go," I annonce, moving towards the door, pausing in front of Blint first. I hold out my hand, poker face staring at him. It was obvious what I wanted. If we were going after those bastard's, I wasn't going to do it topless. Besides, it was the least he could do for hiding things from me.

To say things hadn’t gone quite as planned for Blint would be a severe understatement. So far a strange costumed guy had shown up making quite a show, he’d been left alone in an apartment that smelled of cheap wine and strangely enough, cheese. He’d even gotten shot at by the very same pesky Russians he was trying to get rid of. They even dirtied the suit! No, this night was not going as planned at all. So imagine the grin that formed on Blint’s face when he heard Lone Star’s helmet proudly proclaimed having located the sons of bitches. He practically looked like a kid in a candy store, about to pick out the biggest and best piece of candy in the entire place. Or at least that’s how he would look if he didn’t keep his face in the same neutral tone it usually wore. He was glad, yes, but Blint was a professional. It simply wouldn’t do to be recognized as anything but.

Aryonna was walking around half-naked, a result of the Russian’s spirited, yet highly ineffective method of taking care of their nuisances. She moves towards the door, momentarily pausing before Blint and holding her hand out while staring at him. He looks at her for a moment, half wondering what on earth she wanted from him, and other half hesitating to give up the suit. It wasn’t quite that he didn’t want to share, but the trench coat Blint used was a little special, made especially to hold the man’s many gadgets. Blint resigned, taking off the trench coat after replacing all the gadgets elsewhere on his body, his bow and the arrows being placed on his back. He draped the coat over her shoulders, cocking an eyebrow and a slightly sarcastic grin on his lips, “warm enough, I take it?” Blint then leaves her side, exiting the apartment and pausing outside for everyone to join him outside. He couldn’t quite kill the idiots if he didn’t know where they were, right? This voice in Lone Star’s helmet had better be good at their job.