Matt squinted at the object of his scrutiny.

Reaching for his field glasses, the mind reader couldn't take his mind off the small colourful blur that had spent the last three minutes hovering on his balcony.

Daphne had been more than skeptical when he put the bird feeder up, and even more unsupportive when he told her it was for hummingbirds.

"Come o Matt, we live in New York, there is no chance that any hummingbird in it's right mind would come here of all places. I know you love birds and I know you hate in when they're caged up, so why don't we spend a weekend birdwatching? How does Canada sound?"

He knew that she was right, and that she wasn't popping his bubble for the sake of it.

She of all people would understand the trapped feeling of a caged bird, he often thought her of as one when he first knew her as an unwilling agent for Pinehearst.

Matt declined the offer to go to Canada for a bird watching weekend, for one thing they were flat out broke, which meant that she fully intended to run them over which was bending their number one rule.

No powers.

Of course, that was directed at her habit for stealing things, she had more than once offered to get them some money by less than honorable means, it was something that Daphne had grown accustomed to and Matt found against his moral code.

A more sensitive part of him declined for her sake. Her life was all about moving from one place to another, never staying anywhere long. She was born to run, born free, and born in the U.S.A. Not the type to sit in a bush for hours at a time to look at birds.

So he had put up the hummingbird feeder, the tiny speck of red that was easily lost in the muggy fumes of Brooklyn New York.

Two solid months of fruitless waiting later, of daily refilling the sweet syrup in the plastic feeder, a bird had chanced it's fate in New York and had stopped at the Parkman/Millbrook residence.

Matt was afraid that if he took his eyes off the bird for a moment it would be lost in the hectic rumble of the city, so he blindly searched with his hands for his field glasses which he knew should be on the table while staring at the tiny bird.

He was so entranced by the small blur that he didn't notice the big blur that just flew into the room.

He can convince me not to steal but no way am I taking the bus, ever.

The moment she flew through the door she noticed the trance like state that Matt was in, angling herself to see what he was staring at, she spotted the bird hovering around the feeder that he stubbornly kept up, certain that one day a bird would come.

and now it has

She grabbed his field glasses which were five inches away from his groping hand, tapped him on the shoulder, and placed the glasses in his hand.

Matt said a low "thanks" and turned back to the bird.

Daphne smiled, Matt's ability to focus was something she never understood but liked in him.

Giving him a half hug, she said softly into his ear,

"Nice going Parkman, you made me believe that patience pays off."