Lᴀzᴀʀus Sanctuary for the gifted | Roleplay Thread

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    Maddox nodded, shooting a glance off towards where Coeus had gone, stomach churning still. He didn't like being suspected like that, it was uncomfortable. Atlas didn't seem to harbor the same suspicions at least, which was something, and he knew that he'd be able to calm down once he started working with the computers. As they crossed the base, he fished around for a conversation topic but didn't really find anything that seemed like a good idea. Instead he looked up, the sky overcast, and around at the grey surroundings, and then back at Atlas with a note of concern in his expression. Obviously, she didn't get along with her brother very well.


    "So...You, Coeus. Leo, Spokely, and um- that girl," Where was he going with this? He didn't know, and there was a pause that eventually drifted into silence. He wanted to ask what she was planning again, but he had already gotten an answer on that front, they didn't have a plan yet, there were too many unknowns. He wanted to know what she planned on doing with the kids they had currently though, but wasn't sure how to phrase it- if he were them, he'd want to go and help on the rescue effort, but if he were Atlas, he'd have them stay somewhere safe. From a tactical point, that left them with three people that he knew of- four, if he could count this 'O'Mally' guy he'd heard mentioned, and that might not be enough. No, now probably wasn't the time to ask that. He cleared his throat-


    "Never mind, just trying to get a picture of things." He said, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. He'd meet everyone in due time and hopefully make a better impression than he did on Coeus.

    When Maddox began speaking, he earned her attention. Sharp green eyes held him keen, brow arching as his words seemed to loose traction and fall below their feet. She offered him a few seconds to pick up again, to gather his thoughts, but when he spoke again he and brushed his previous sentiment under the rug. A chuff left her lips that could either be read as a light chuckle or a scoff and she brought her gaze back ahead. "There's me, Coeus, Leo, 'that girl' Ellie, Spokely, and a man named Merrick who you haven't met yet. Probably for the better." She didn't much care for Merrick. Maybe it was his attitude. Maybe it was his face. It was probably a mixture of both. He looked too similar to Charles, but was far from similar. She rightfully decided to avoid the man. It was for the best. It made her chest hurt when she saw him. "Then there's O'Mally, who isn't a member of Lazarus. He's just an old friend of mine who offered us a place to stay. You'll meet him eventually."
    Atlas led them down the main road of the base, her direction seemed to be the large center building. Truthfully their destination was just a bit beyond that.
    The woman's walk was a trademarked one and drifted somewhere between 'masculine' and 'feminine'. It was like her shoulders and hips were on two separate playing fields. Her shoulders swayed as she walked in a form of swagger that seemed to just come natural to her. It was like she was on her way to a fight. Her hands swung in partial fists at her side, her small chest puffed out threateningly. Her lower half, however, betrayed this masculine upper half. Her hips moved in time with her shoulders, as one shoulder dipped slightly lower, that side of her hip would come up. It tied in so some aggressive effeminate swagger. It was something she had come to develop when she first started leaving Lazarus on her own to experience the night life. But around catcalling and being followed around by drunken men on the way to your car, she came to the swift conclusion that nights weren't safe at for people alone. So that walk came into play. And the catcalling stopped. If you look like you're on your way to a UFC fight, they avoided her. The walk was just adopted into what she was.
    The woman pulled out her phone for only a moment, bringing the screen to life. She took a quick look at it, nodded lightly to herself, then put it back into her pocket. She reached her hand out, grabbed Maddox wrists, and like guiding a toddler away from a candy shop she pulled him behind her and switched her grip to her other hand and pulled him all the way to her other side. She didn't offer him an immediate reason for her action. "The woman you're looking for is Themis Fotos. My sister and the leader of Lazarus and houses like it. She's... very dear to us. Clearly she was taken. Here's to hoping she had her phone with her."
    A jeep blazed by from behind them, zooming along the road until it twisted off beyond their sight. The wind whisked Atlas' hair lightly with it.
    Atlas grunted lightly.
    "Clockwork." A low rumble of a chuckle came from her. She was usually out running by this time. She came to be quite familiar with the drills run routinely. She herself could remember the strict scheduling of her day when she was serving on base. "They probably would have stopped. But they wouldn't've been too bloody happy about it."

    The post was edited 1 time, last by Atlas ().

    Angel nearly jumped a foot in the air as Spokely's voice sent the spooked boy crashing back down to earth. He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there, trapped in his own mind and his crazed thoughts, but it certainly must have been more than a few minutes. He turned back to Spokely, hand outstretched like he was expecting an attack, but his hand fell to his side once he realised it was his friend. He probably looked like a mad man with a crazed and frightened look on his face, but he forced it away and put on a smile.


    "I'm fine, Spokes." He said with a laugh, rubbing his face and then wiping non-existant sweat off of his forehead. He waved his hand, his faux smile growing. "Honestly. I was just day dreaming and must have gotten spooked by a squirrel or something." He then ran his hands through his hair, brushing it back and out of his face. "When did you get back? Just now?" He walked towards her, meeting her where she stood while stretching a little bit, giving him the appearance like he'd been working out for a little bit.

    Maddox didn't even react initially to her pulling him off the road, she did it with such purpose that it didn't even occur to him that the action was a little odd. He reacted with the kind of acceptance that a toddler would have, being pulled away like that, and was just opening his mouth to ask what she was doing when the jeep rolled past, explaining the whole thing in itself. So, rather than probably stammering something out since he was finding it increasingly difficult to formulate intelligent sentences in Atlas' presence, he went over the new information. Ellie, Merrick, O'Mally, names that he was going to attempt to remember and in all likelihood, forget or assign to the wrong person.


    "I knew this girl once who would just...cross the street. No fear. Just said that the cars were supposed to yield, and I figure, sure, if one of survives being hit we'll win the court case." Idle, unnecessary chitchat, but there was nothing better to share while they walked. He'd know in a bit if Themis had her phone on her at the time, there was no use in deliberating over it now.


    Spokely raised her eyebrows- he was lying. Of course he was lying, she'd probably lie too, but that was different, that was her lying about it. This was Angel lying about something that upset him quite a bit, and she couldn't tell if it was a matter she should press or not. Instinct told her to not, it'd worked just fine in the past, and this wasn't the right time to get into it. Besides, who was she to throw stones about that sort of thing.


    "Yeah. Few minutes ago." She still looked like she'd woken up a few minutes ago, her curls scrunched oddly on one side of her head, the impression of the seatbelt making a line on her cheek. She watched Angel for a few moments, telling herself again, she was living in a glass house, don't throw stones, but she couldn't get the expression on his face out of her mind- when she'd startled him, that look of horror, absolute fear. What had he been thinking? What was he seeing before he realized it was her, and she'd seen that expression before in glimpses, her own reflection in a dark window as she ran past.


    "He was just... in this truck. In a park. A food truck." She was still amazed by this- the man had a job, probably a life, he'd made something for himself, and sure, she didn't know a lot about him but she knew something about mutants. All the ones she knew of were either at Lazarus or in the labs, they were all fairly young, the ones that were alone didn't fare well. But he'd flown under the radar, so to speak, long enough to start something, and she found herself considering her own future, even if it was briefly done. There wasn't much use in considering the future though, not in the long run- either she'd get Benji back, and then there'd be time to think about it, or she wouldn't and that would be it. End game.

    "Sounds like mi tío." Angel mused, leaning against the side of the porch. "On my dad's side, any way. I never knew my uncle on my mom's side. He died before I was born, but my mom said he worked at a prison somewhere in Washington, but then a riot broke out and he got caught in the cross fire. They could never recover his body, but they held a funeral anyways." He shrugged, glancing at Spokely to watch her reaction. "Never heard much else about him; he was, like, epically mysterious. He never told my mom where he worked, probably for like some safety reasons because he held like the high class criminals. But my other uncle, he runs a little burger truck out in LA. He'd give my mom and I free food whenever he came around. I think he would have taken me in when my mother died. But...." He paused, looking at Spokely. He normally didn't share this information with many people, but most people would have never stayed around with him for this long. "But when she died I kinda left town quickly. I went out on my own." He turned his attention out into the forest, his finds tapping quickly on the banister of the porch. Whenever he got nervous, his hyperactivity heightened, and he could never be still. Especially now, he could never seem to switch off, and his mind was always working. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in ages.


    He shook himself from his thoughts and returned to his conversation with Spokely. "Anyways...You're friend...Is he here? I'd like to meet the dude sometime. My uncle always said that those who ran other food trucks were family, so I guess by some weird logical thinking of my uncles, he's extended family." He laughed, his tanned face growing a wide smile. Since he'd been out here, spending so much time out in the sun, he'd grown darker as he tanned from constant sun exposure. He also couldn't lie- he'd grown a bit more muscular as well from training hard to develop his powers. He was most certainly glad, although he couldn't see himself buffing up drastically anytime soon- he wasn't a body builder after all. Yet, it felt nice to have a steady schedule to keep his mind off of things at hand. While he was lost in thought, he found himself speaking without meaning to.

    "You should join me sometime. Out here, in the woods, I mean. We could train together for our big 'break in' plan or whatever Atlas has in mind. I mean, you don't have to, y'know. It'd just be nice to have someone to train with, is all."


    //Rushed//

    "Winning a court case means nothing if you're six feet under, but if that's how you choose to 'stick it to em', power to you." Atlas didn't look at him again as she spoke. Idle chitchat was never her forte. Never particularly enjoyed it. Coeus was good at it. Carrying on an aimless conversation. She had always preferred the 'all or nothing' mindset when it came to talking. Talk about something important, no beating around the bush, or don't talk at all. She would rather sit in silence than talk about the weather or politics because, as far as she was concerned, the weather was always shitty and cold, and she always wanted to punch whoever was in that big round office in the face for some reason or another. Maybe some politicians more than others.
    After passing the main building, it didn't take long to come to a tall, bland-looking building. It looked like any other office building. But there was seemingly no signs of activity within it. No lights on. No windows open. No people shuffling about the reception area as it looked through the big glass doors. The woman came to the door and stepped right beside it. Like most building in the base, to get in it required an ID to scan or a code to get in. O'Mally had given her a walkthrough of the base and a list of the codes. Lucky her, these business buildings all had the same five digit code. Because that was safe for security. O'Mally was convinced there was nothing in the building that was compromising, even then, Atlas didn't much care for that philosophy. Nevertheless, it worked out for her benefit. She punched in the code and the door let out a high beep. She backed herself into the door, pushing it open, and casted her arm compellingly for Maddox. "It's a ghost building. But at least you know no one will come storming in here asking what we are doing."

    It would have been impolite to just unlock the door himself, but he was still tempted- it wasn't necessary. Maddox didn't get that many opportunities to show off, but he also knew that if all things went accordingly, he'd have plenty of a chance to do that later. When they were storming a lab. Because this was a great idea. He couldn't afford to think about it too much though, if he kept thinking about it he would psych himself out, he was just going to think about all the cool knew methods he might be able to put into practice, like the wire. He'd been keeping coiled wire in his bag of tricks, extending his reach to technology, and in a pinch, he could kill someone directly with it. Wire, boomerang, his backpack had been used as a blunt weapon in itself, and all in all, he was pretty quick. Running was a specialty of his.


    "That'd be good," He said, glad that the awkward pause after her previous statement, and he looked down at himself. He wasn't exactly shabby, but the sweatshirt he'd pulled on to keep the chill out was one of his older ones, and it was starting to show it's age with the worn album logo on the front and the pocket was starting to tear. He'd taken the tie out of his hair by this point and it was in unruly, blond curls, not quite down to his shoulders, and the whole effect made him look pretty much like he was. Laid back, casual, the kind of guy you would expect to own a food truck, probably play the ukulele and drink too much coffee. Not the kind of guy you saw working in a military base computer lab.


    "You got her number written down? If you want, I can see what I can dig up about the labs while I'm at it. I- um, haven't really looked into it. I've kind of avoided that, actually, but...yeah." He ran a hand through his hair, looking around the building.


    A lot of what Angel was talking about went over Spokelys head, mostly because her brain was a little sluggish at the time, but also because she didn't really get what he was talking about. A prison guard- the first thing that came to mind were the guards at the labs, but she didn't think that was what he was talking about. Then there was 'tio', and then 'uncle', she didn't actually know what those were, but context told her that he was a relation of some kind.


    "High class criminals." She echoed, more for saying something than for any purpose. It was confusing again then, he had family, he had someone that could have taken him in but he hadn't taken that option? Why? What had gone so wrong that he'd turned himself out onto the streets instead? Luckily, he kept talking before she could say something potentially rude-


    "He's not my friend." She shook her head- "I-I mean- I don't really know him- I knew someone who knew him," She didn't want to talk about that, not about Mira, nothing to do with Mira, maybe that was why she hadn't tried to seek him out in the first place. Maybe that was why Angel hadn't gone to his uncle. At least she could count on Angel to give her another window of conversation- working out. In the woods. With him. She hadn't spent much time 'working out' ever, this was the first time she'd ever had anything resembling real free time.


    "It'd p-probably be a good idea." Sure, there was the whole idea of getting into shape in order to defend herself better, but then there was getting her mind off of things as well, maybe that would be good. Healthy. She hated this waiting around, not while she knew every day passing in the labs was getting worse for everyone in there, and not just Benji either- in fact, she knew he was probably being treated fairly well, for the time being. "I-I mean...I guess. Don't see why not."

    Angel listened to Spokely as she talked, his mind still half on the vision that he'd seen earlier. As her words flowed from one topic to the next, fresh images etched themselves in his mind; the monster that had imitated his mother hadn't been a new occurrence. Everytime he witnessed death, it was there, haunting his thoughts and reminding him of all the mistakes he'd made. His only question was- why now? Why now was she appearing? He hadn't seen anyone die, he hadn't killed anyone (thankfully), so why was she here? His facially expression was that of confusion as he delved deeper into his own thoughts, asking more questions every time he came up with an answer that satisfied his previous questions. It was like a hydra from the mythological stories of Ancient Greece- you answer one question, and two more took its place, much like the mythical creature. He leaned harder against the post of the porch, before fully turning back to Spokely to hear her final statement; she'd join him in training.


    The look that crossed across Angel's face went from one of total shock to pure happiness in .5 seconds. He hadn't actually expected her to say yes- no one ever said yes to him nowadays...Regardless, he was still happy to have someone to work with to help him practice. It would be a nice change from beating up trees everyday. He straightened up and brushed at his shirt to smooth it out.


    "Cool." He began, a wide grin plastered on his face. "We can start tomorrow, if you want. I mean, I practice everyday, you can just join me whenever. It's, like, totally up to you, dude."


    //Rushed//

    "I'll write it down for you when we get there," she said. 'There' was so ambiguous. 'There', weren't they already 'there'? Atlas hardly stopped to sight see, continuing to walk through the dimly lit reception room. Everything looked so... militaristic. Glossy dark walls, tile flooring. A circular emblem was build into the floor in tile, a visage of a bald eagle holding arrows in one of its curled talons and olive leaves in the next. Atlas walked over it with little thought - this was an emblem she had been around for years. She didn't need to stop to marvel at it. "I'm not sure if the elevators will be working. Not going to try. We're taking the stairs." The tall woman spoke fleetingly over her shoulder as she took a sharp left down the hallway. This building was identical to the other two like it. Lucky her.
    With the heavy clash of metal, Atlas pushed open the door that opened up into the square spiral staircase. She had run these cement stairs a few times. She took a quick glance at Maddox - he didn't much seem like the 'run up the flight of stairs' type - so she took a reasonable pace when scaling them. Footsteps echoed in the spiraling room. One flight of stairs. Two flights of stairs. Three flights. Third times a charm. The woman took the door available and held it open for Maddox, nodding her head inside.
    The room was nor dissimilar to a business set up. One large room of cubicles. The shades were drawn, offering a dull, brown-ish colored light to the room. In the darkness, the markings that adorned the woman's body seemed to glow ever so faintly. She didn't even say anything about this phenomenon, "I'm going to keep the lights turned off for the sake of not drawing eyes. The building has power, so the computers should boot up fine. I'll write down those numbers."

    Maddox was certainly not the type to be running up stairs, but he was glad he didn't get winded just walking up three flights, it would have been embarrassing. He liked the upper floor better than the lower one- the cubicles, probably, he'd always wondered about getting some kind of office job, wearing a tie. The only time he'd worn a tie had been either when he was busking on the street a magician, or for the handful of job interviews he'd gone to. Those went pretty well, most of it was lying and he'd gotten good with that. He glanced over at Atlas, as if to gauge a reaction, or once again taking queues from her, since it seemed like the thing to do.


    "No light's fine. All we need is a screen," His gaze lingered over the tattoos that showed on her, curious, but not enough to formulate any actual questions. They were interesting, for certain, and he'd want to know what that was all about, when she'd gotten them- would cellular regeneration like she did prevent a normal tattoo from taking? He wouldn't really know, his own had been fine, but for the most part, Maddox wasn't too different from a 'normal human'. Just his brain, maybe a little more likely to survive a lightning strike than someone else, though he wouldn't test that one willingly. He made his way over to a computer, swiveling the desk chair in a full (and unnecessary) circle before his fingers brushed the keyboard. There was a tiny spark, like static, and then the pale light from the screen washed over his face, and he went about the process of booting the machine up, logging in, and then turning to look at Atlas. It had occured to him that she wasn't just going to leave him with the computers, though he'd prefer to not have her breathing down his neck the whole time, he wasn't going to tell her that.


    Angels expressions confused her- he was very expressive, and compared to Spokely, most people were, but at the time he looked so concerned about something that she almost wanted to stop talking and ask him what was wrong again, knowing full well that he probably wouldn't answer, and then he just looked so happy, just, all of the sudden. She actually glanced around, trying to find an explanation for this, before looking back at him and smiling- she didn't smile much with her mouth, it was more in the eyes, grinning didn't really work out so well. That said, her eyes smiled well, since she was usually so stone-faced, brown eyes like stone, it was good to soften up from time to time, even times like now.


    "Tomorrow's good." She found herself doing that more often- talking when it wasn't really necessary, she didn't need to echo that, but standing in silence wasn't right either- "Are you- um, practicing your ability, or," She left the statement hanging, mostly curious, but also knowing that her own ability wasn't something that could easily be practiced. It just kind of happened, and her mind produced the idea of Angel launching different attacks her way, which was a situation she would rather avoid for a multitude of reasons. No, she'd just work on normal things, building up strength, endurance. Who knew how much longer they'd be waiting here? Atlas, probably, but it didn't seem like a great idea to ask.

    Angel scratched the back of his head nervously with a gentle laugh escaping his lips. "I mean sometimes. I don't normally use my powers, mostly because I don't know how to properly use them. That's why I've been training out here in the woods, so I can safely learn how to use my abilities so I don't end up hurting anyone who happens to appear near by. I've needed to build up my physical and manifested energy so I can actually use my powers in combat." He laughed again, looking back at Spokely as he continued talking.


    "I can show you the progress I've made tomorrow." He said excitedly. He hadn't yet shown anyone at Lazarus what he could do. For the longest time he'd been so afraid of his abilities, but now that he was growing more and more comfortable with what he'd been given. The only thing holding him back ws the haunting image in his mind; his mother, bloody and gasping for life, just like she had been on the day she died. Despite the countless times that Angel told himself that the hallucination he was constantly seeing over and over was just a figment of his imagination, every time the black, goopy image of his mom revealed itself, he could never just blink the picture away and be done with it. But that wasn't important right now. He didn't want to scare Spokely with the far off wild animal-stuck-in-the-headlights look.


    "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower because I'm all sweaty." He announced with a hearty laugh. "I'll be back down in a few minutes. Maybe I can teach you how to play a card game or somethin'."

    Atlas trailed after him, placing her hands on her hips at the juvenile sight of his swivel-chair antics. Some people were easily entertained. Or maybe that's just what young adults did. Dick around. When Lazarus was still put together, the only person she really spent time with was Loki, and he wasn't really the... hyperactive type. At least not around her. There a was moment of revelation within the woman that she never really interacted much which young adults spite being one, and didn't really know the appropriate way they acted. From the mental ages of 18-23 she had been in service. Not many swivel chair opportunities there.
    She shook her head and pushed it away, instead going into the nearby cubicle. She shifted through until she found a paper and pen. She leaned over and scribbled down Themis' number and full name for the sake of it. "Alright-" Atlas rasped, falling back in to Maddox's side. She slapped the paper down on the table beside the keyboard, keeping her arm in place. "There's the number. Work your magic. I ask that you don't try sifting through this base's information, or try hack the drones, or - just, don't do anything you might end up regretting." Jade eyes looked at the computer screen. "Or atleast do it on your own time, when you aren't my responsibility." Her face remained deadpanned, the only thing betraying the truth that she was joking was the quirk of a brow when she shifted her attention to Maddox. "I'll stay out of your lap. Tell me if you need anything." She withdrew her arm and took a few steps to the cubicle across from him, only a few feet away, but offering a bit of distance to breathe. "Thanks for this."

    "You want magic, I'll need some cards," The remark was mostly to himself, which was a habit of his that he was yet to shake. Something his employee remarked on sometimes, how he talked a lot, but not really to her. Or anyone. Usually the stove, it seemed, and he never really thought much of it. Upon hearing her warnings about the drones, he cracked a grin, blue eyes glinting in the synthetic light- "I mean- now that you mention it, I probably could hack a drone from here. Don't know what I'd do with it though, who am I gonna drop a bomb on?" It would look bad on her if he went about and did anything of the like, this was probably some huge breech in government security, and the thought made his fingertips tingle. Just the potential of the whole situation...but again, what would he do with the information? He had no use for it, so he'd just leave it alone. Pretend that another opportunity would arise later.


    "Hey, no problem though," He sounded like he was brushing it off, like he'd loaned her a few bucks and that was it. Partially because he didn't want to make a big deal out of it, partially because he was already starting to skim through information, and then finally because he was trying to figure out what he could do with the straight line she'd handed him 'I'll stay out of your lap', how often did he get that comment? Alas, he wasn't able to come up with a good response in time, and started to focus on the screen. What happened was what could be expected- his eyes glazed over, the screen flashed as it switched from page to page, coding, and then it stopped, leaving a webpage with a few tabs open. Maddox blinked a few times, and then started to write, talking as he did.


    "So- your sisters phone was last recorded being- um, here," He tapped GPS coordinates on the paper, and pointed with the mouse on what appeared to just be a google maps page, though he'd had to get into the company to get the information, he didn't like leaving those pages open any longer than he had to. Large companies tended to take breeches in their security pretty seriously. "And, we're kind of lucky that's in the middle of nowhere, because there's not really a lot of places that they could be going, as long as we assume that there isn't a huge, sinister lab disguised as a tiny house in the middle of the woods," He flicked to the second tab, zoomed in on a grainy image, mostly obscured by trees and only loosely discernible as a house, "And then there's...a thing, here," Next tab, which showed a similarly grainy image, "I mean...it's a building. A couple of them, probably, but it's a little hard to tell, what with trees, and snow, and...um, the atmosphere. I guess. These pictures aren't taken through the atmosphere, are they?"


    "Yeah, alright," a card game, that could be fun. She knew basically what the idea was, though she'd only ever seen card games where money was involved, and she was wondering what exactly Angel intended to gamble with. It wasn't like either of them had any money. Either way, it was time to go back inside, though not necessarily because she was cold. Spokely didn't get cold. She never got too hot, either, though the way she felt tended to influence how she felt physically, as it might with anyone. No, she wasn't physcially cold, but nonetheless, she felt cold, achey, tired down to her bones, and none of it was really a new feeling. It'd lightened up considerably during her time at Lazarus, as if the pressures of the world melted away, but it all came crashing back now, sleep was the only escape. All the more reason for working out with Angel, it'd add something to routine, make her move around and do something other than wait, worry. Inside she went, and she'd found a new use for the newspapers she'd collected earlier- by cutting out words and sentences here and there, she was able to make sentences, arranging them as one might with magnetic words on the fridge, the motion idle and aimless, sentences rarely making much sense. She went to work at the coffee table, feet tucked under her as she pulled the paper scraps from a pocket in her backpack and began arranging.

    Atlas had little time to settle into the chair across the way from Maddox before he started talking again - talking about things that sounded important. She looked over the screen of her phone off in his direction, almond-shaped eyes squinting trying to adjust to the difference. For a moment she debated swiveling over to him, but she was sure that that would wind up with an unfortunate 'swivel chair on swivel chair' collision. So, she swung thick legs off the desk that she was at and lifted herself to her feet, clearing the short distance to the young man.
    "I have no idea what we're looking for. The place could look like Willy Wonka's bloody chocolate factory as far as I'm concerned." She leaned over him, looking at the images on screen. Pixelated, a vague visage of a few constructed buildings, her head seemed to cock lightly like a dog trying to make sense of an owners orders. "Is it taken through the atmosphere? You tell me. This isn't even remotely up my alley." Atlas spoke with nothing short of honesty as she tried to make clear of what was set before her. She gnawed on the inside of her cheek as she looked down towards the paper below his fingers, sliding it lightly towards her to take a look at the coordinates he'd come to uncover. The last place of contact. The best place to start looking.
    "Looks like I might have a bit of a road trip on my hands." Her voice rumbled in her chest, speaking more to herself than Maddox. She'd go out on her own. Try and clear up what they'd seen, if she could manage. Atlas went back to the images - "This is a good start. As good as its gonna get," she nodded in affirmation to her statement, leaning into the desk on bruising knuckles. "Aren't you the special one." She wasn't a tech person. Or a media person. Little gnomes could be making her phone work as far she as she was concerned. How anyone did anything like this blew her away, powers or no.

    "Ok, I mean, I'm not one to know Mr. Wonka but there's a pretty good chance that this isn't his factory," he wondered as he said this if Atlas had read the books or watched the movies, and was having a difficult time imagining her doing either one. Then again, she did take care of children, but he was somewhat skeptical of that as well, she struck him more as "drill Sargent" than "mother", "What I mean though is that...well, there's not a lot of roads headed up this mountainside? There's not a lot of places they could have gone," unless they were just passing through the area, which only then struck him as a possibility, leaving him feeling a littlest foolish with the grainy picture, still up on the screen. She'd probably already thought of that though, and he found himself searching for some other way he could help at the moment-


    "Is there anything else you'd want me to do? Got any parking tickets you don't need, other legal charges, a ticket to Australia. Heard Australia's nice this time of year," a habit of his was to just continue talking after his mind stopped thinking about whatever was at hand, if he hadn't stopped himself there, he probably would have gone on to chatter about Australia, where he'd spent exactly no amount of time in his life but fully intended to go there's when he got the chance. He hadn't traveled around much because otherwise Mira wouldn't be able to find him again, had she been inclined to do so, but now...well, now he didn't have to worry about that.

    Atlas took the paper completely now, folding it up and tucking it into her back pocket for later use. This coordinate was all she had at that point. And she would do what she could. If that meant going out blindly on her own for a few days and scout out the mountain range, then she'd do it. She needed to get a better feel of the surrounding area, see if this really was the place that they needed to be.
    When Maddox's last statement brazed her ears, she offered a light chuckle. "Unless you can wipe my face from the videos and public mind, can't say I have anything more for you," she stepped away, cracking her knuckles as she did. Her eyes swept the dimly lit office, "Australia, mm? Too hot. And filled with dangerous little things." Atlas could never withstand hot temperatures. Not after growing up in rainy England, then getting shipped off to Oregon with mild summers and vicious winters. Her body already ran hotter than the average person - qualifying at a 'slight fever' at 99 degrees - hot environments just made her feel like she was over heating.
    Her tone drifted away from humor, "When I get them back you can be damn bloody sure we aren't staying in this country. I'm taking them as far away from here as I possibly can." There would be no more mistakes, no more security mishaps. She would be sure to fortify what they had built to ensure nothing like this happened to her flock again. Not while she breathed. She was quiet for a moment, eyes lowered to the ground. Her jaw clenched. With a sharp exhale and a shake of her head she went back to Maddox. "I don't expect you to do anything more from here, you've done more than enough. Say the word and I'll drive you back, scotch free." Her graveled voice came hard, almost like she had to force the phrase out past her throat. As much as she wanted to hold him until she was done using him, that little voice kept shouting otherwise. That's not what Themis would have done. This wasn't this man's responsibility, and she needn't disturb his life any farther.

    Angel took his time in the shower, making sure to scrub himself clean and rid himself of any little tiny speck of dirt that may have touched his body. It gave him time to think about the thing he'd seen earlier today. He wasn't exactly sure what to call that thing. Monster? That was being to generous. Demon? As much as he wanted to say it, he didn't want to acknowledge that's what it could have been. He himself was the manifestation of a demon. A curse he'd been forced to live for so many years of his life. He rendition of his mother that haunted his thoughts had brought back memories he'd tried to force down so many times- the frightening feeling of freefall and cycling crashing as a car rolled off the road, the crushing feeling of broken metal wrapping around his legs as he slowly pulled himself out of a crumpled car, and the final moments he'd spent with his mother as she lay dying on the side of an empty road miles from the main city. The pounding of water brought him back to that fatefully rainy night, echoing in his head as if he was reliving that moment again.

    ------


    No matter how much he tried, he couldn't remember what they'd been talking about before the car flipped off the side of the road. It all happened so fast that Angel wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but the car was rolling down a hill and into a line of trees that lined the desolate Californian highway, which stopped the vehicle abruptly as the metal of the car's side crumpled against the firm oak trees. Angel couldn't say how long he'd blacked out, but when he came to, he was abnormally okay for having survived a terrible car crash. He had a simple gash down the side of his face and his arm felt like it had been dislocated, but nothing that was unfixable. With some strange amount of strength left in him, he managed to force the door open and crawl out, heaving himself into a soaking pile of leaves that littered the ground. He sat there for a while until he regained enough strength to stand, and he made his way around to the side of the car to where his mom was.

    His voice came out in a hushed whisper, but he called out to her, only hearing a groan in response. He threw open the door with nearly enough force to rip it off its hinges, and he struggled to pull her out from the driver's side and out into the rain. She was bleeding heavily, a large shard of glass protruding from her midriff and a deep gash along her forehead. Angel rested his mother against the side of the car, and she held out a shaking, bloodied hand to touch his face.

    "Angel." She murmured, her eyelids struggling to remain open. "Angel, my son. My boy. I'm so sorry. Your gifts...I hoped I could help you learn how to use them...Your uncle...wanted to help me...Your father...they are holy...mighty...I only wish I had more time..." The woman suddenly broke off into a fit of sporadic coughs, and Angel felt hot tears pour down his face. He had no idea what she was speaking of. What nonsense was she rambling on and on about? "I love you."

    Angel gasped as his mother held him close until he felt her arms fall away, and when he pulled back, all the life had drained from her eyes. Renee De La Fontaine was gone. He stared in disbelief, but he grasped the shard of glass still stuck in his mother's torso and removed it, hoping that it would return everything back to the way it was, with his mother back alive and that that whole scene hadn't just happened. He struggled to his feet again and wandered out into the main road, his mind numbly searching for police to help him. She just needed to get to the hospital. Then everything would be fine. As a car arrived, he turned towards the light like a moth drawn to a flame, but once the cop stepped from the car, holding a gun aimed at him, demanding he drop his weapon, Angel knew that no help would come.

    Instead, he let the glass drop to the ground as he dashed off into the woods, his mind haunted by what he'd just witnessed and what he'd just done.

    ------

    Angel jolted up as he remembered he was still in the shower. He touched his face, feeling and tasting the saltiness of tears that had been running down his face as he remembered. The boy simply washed them off and showered on. He hurried up and finished off cleaning, before he hurried up and dried himself off and stepped into a fresh pair of clothes. The vision haunted him wherever he went, but he couldn't think about that now. That had happened years ago. He couldn't let that get to him now. Instead, he settled for walking down stairs with a pack of cards in his hand and a wide grin on his face.


    "You ready to play?" He asked Spokely, his voice as cheerful as ever, no wavering voice and no hitch in his breath to suggest he may have just been crying in the shower only minutes before. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

    //timeskip//

    Atlas had woken up early that morning - earlier than usual, restless in her sleep. She tossed and turned all night. That seemed to have been a running theme ever since the abduction. Long nights of feverish sleep. Or no sleep at all.
    The sun hadn't yet rose in the sky when she finally pulled herself from her bed, pulled her hair up in a bun, and decided to do something at least semi-productive with the time her brain so graciously gave her. The first on her agenda was a run around the base. It was cold and the earth sloshed beneath her sneakers, but that gave her little worry to stop. Her mind went clear when she ran. No stress, no anger, no anxiety. Just one foot in front of the other because lord knew she wasn't a long distance runner by any means necessary, and if she ever came close to feeling what death was like, it was while she was running. She finished her run by going through the course that was erected for training. Crawling underwire (successfully dragging herself through mud), swinging from platform to platform, and scaling the thirteen foot brick wall. It was all vaguely reminiscent of her own military service, although she wasn't certain how often she had to swing on a rope across a mud pit in all her days. By the time she finished it was pressing 6 o'clock in the morning. She gathered her bearings and walked back 'home'.
    The woman ditched her clothes at the door, sopping in slush, rainwater, and mud. She hardly worried about getting 'caught', it was far too early for the others to be up and moving. She dropped her tanktop to the floor, kicked off her now browned shoes and put them on the cloth, then pulled off her sweats and piled them on top of her shoes to form the worst sandwich in the history of sandwiches. She made a mental note to pick it up and throw it in the washer later before carrying on through the house to the bathroom, turning on the shower and waiting for it to heat as she pulled off the rest of her clothes. She was a muddied mess of blond hair and blue tats. As she stepped into the shower, a metallic glint caught her eye, making her pause. An electric razor. Atlas' eyes narrowed - Coeus must have been grooming his beard that he'd decided he'd let grow out. She stared at it for a moment before nodding to herself and stepping completely into the shower.
    Quick and to the point, she scrubbed the dirt from her body. She was never a 'contemplative shower' person. It was 'get in, get out' kind of thing. She had other things to help her gather her thoughts, showering wasn't one of them. Within ten minutes she was out and drying herself off - here eyes continued to drift over the razor. She gnawed at the inside of her cheek as she clicked her bra back into place, placing her hands on her hips and taking a long moment of pause. Without exaggeration the woman stood half naked in the bathroom, blankly staring at the razor, for the better half of an hour. Suddenly she snapped from her razor-induced hypnotism, clicking her phone placed on the countertop to check the time - 7:50. Now or never.
    Atlas pulled her hair up into a high pony tail and sifted through the cupboards of the bathroom, pulling out the first aid kit. From it she revered a pair of scissors. Brow narrowed in concentration, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and slowly moved her hand back to her head. With a firm nod to herself, she committed, and a loud "snip" filled her ears. Platinum locks fell to the floor behind her, bound together by the elastic band. Her hair fell loose around her face in what resembled and A-Line, and she paused. She could stop there. Her hand moved against her will and took to grabbing the electric razor, hitting it to life with a flick of her thumb.
    Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    The bzzzzz grew ever closer to her head and she moved it closer. She closed her eyes and took a deep inhale. The first strip was shaved along the side.


    Maddox had considered shortly Atlas' offer to take him back into town, but knew that he could still do more. He could still help, and as long as he knew that, he couldn't leave. And so there he still was, probably getting the best sleep out of all of them since he didn't have quite the same amount of pressure hanging over his head. Still, it felt weird, sleeping somewhere so unfamiliar, with unfamiliar people, though the change of scenery for his evening jog had been nice. His dreams that night previous had been...odd. Not disrupting, but flashes of memory, sensations, and then he was awake, shuffling out of bed and on towards the kitchen.


    The thing was, Maddox wasn't really much of a person first thing in the morning, not until he'd either had a ridiculous amount of coffee, or about 9 or 10. Functional though, he was, and he stood in the middle of the kitchen, thinking. He wanted to make something for breakfast. Coffee. Coffee sounded good. Some digging produced the makings, and he got a pot going, the smell enough to start his brain ticking into gear- he wanted to make pancakes, and while he knew a recipe for one off the top of his head, it was always disappointing to make pancakes for one, and there were a bunch of teenagers in the house, which meant that they'd be hungry. Teenagers were always hungry. Pancakes. More digging around and he had a bowl of batter, a pan with butter melting- it made a funny sight, Maddox standing there in a loose T-shirt and jeans, his curly hair standing out every which way eyes glazed over with a spatula held at the ready.
    --


    By the way Spokely left her room, approximately around the same time Atlas had entered the bathroom, it could have been easy to think that she was being chased. Of course, she was dressed in loose clothes, something she could run in, taking a leaf out of the older womans book. Running seemed like a good idea, she didn't do it enough, it gave her both time to think but also allowed for her to completely run away from her thoughts. She started off slowly, letting her mind run over the dreams of the night previous. They'd been standard, the constant running while her feet sank into the tile floor, dim hallways, being tied to a table, cut open and left like that. Nothing pleasant. The twins had even made an appearance, which wasn't terribly unusual, and she almost always woke up at that point. And then she was met with the panic of not having Benji there, the reminder of that whole fiasco, the wave of guilt, the horror-


    And so she hit the ground running. Her breath steamed out in white puffs, lit by the dawn light, her hair pulled back in a rough ponytail. It was difficult, given the uneven lengths, and bits and pieces stuck out, the ponytail itself spiky and odd. Having her hair pulled back seemed to sharpen the lines of her face, her jaw, her cheeks flushed pink with the cold and the exertion. As each new thought went through her mind, she ran faster, running barefoot on the cold earth. Benji, the labs, the destruction of Lazarus House, the possibility of her being the cause of it, and of course she knew that if they'd had any means of following her, they would have picked her up weeks before, there was no way for them to know where she was going to go, but the thought was still there, and then back to the child again, they'd taken him back, they'd do everything they'd done to her, worse since they knew what a limited window they had. Trying to find a way to perform a live autopsy on her after knives stopped working on her skin had not been a fun experience, it was the most common one in her dreams. She ran this way until she was sprinting, and then back into a jog, her lungs complaining, shoulder aching.