[How long as she been out? I didn't hit her that hard.]

She was hanging out in the subway, that much she recalls.

[Well, genius, she did hit her head on solid concrete.]

[Yeah, I imagine that must of done it.]

She'd been thinking about the night that her dad had been killed, which, ironically enough to her, had also been the night her mother had been killed. It had been intertwined, she read in the newspaper. Her father had been involved with drugs: heroin. She should have known.

Everyone always said she was a smart kid. Figures how she wasn't smart enough to figure out that her dad's 'medicine' was actually him shooting up.

[You think Stryker will be able to convince her to work for him?]

[Probably. Think about it. She's a runaway. Stryker's offering her a place to sleep, a continuation of her education. No runaway in their right mind would turn that down.]

[Unless she figures out that Stryker is sort of well... Stryker.]

[Yeah, then we might have a small complication.]

She remembered seeing that Asian guy, the one who was sitting next to her. He had a piece in his ear. It wasn't that hard to figure out why he hadn't moved for an hour or so. She had freaked, activated her mutation, and ran for the hills.

She woke up with a fright, her head radiating pain. It was hot, too hot to be wearing four layers anyway. She ripped off her hoodie and thermal shirt, shoved the long sleeves of her remaining shirt up to her elbows. She got up off the floor she'd been on without using her hands and then swept burgundy bangs out of her eyes. Her shoes were gone, she noted, but her two layers of socks and tights underneath were still present. At least whoever had taken her to wherever she was had the decency to leave her untouched while she was knocked out. She blinked at the harsh florescent lighting against the green-tinted room. Cement was the main material, and it gave the room an eery feel.

The room itself could have been scary with pink frilly accents, a shag carpet, and a comfty bed in the corner with lots of stuffed animals. Well, actually, it might have been even creepier with those things, Cassie thought. One of the walls had a mirror, but by the looks of the place she guessed it could have easily been one way glass. Then she turned.

Big mistake.

A chair, much like the one you'd seen in dentist's office, sat in the middle of the room, machinery surrounding it. Needles attached to horrible looking bottles of fluid that dripped onto the floor surrounded the arms of the chair. Monitors she'd seen in the hospital and strange beeping machines whirled, making the room scarier. She backed up against the mirror, scared to death. She'd always hated going to the dentist.

But this was something else.

[You think she likes the chair?]

[Shut up, idiot.]

Her hands scraped against the concrete wall, looking for anything to grab on to. When she found nothing, her heart pounding as her brain wracked itself for something, anything to make sense, she did the only thing that came her mind.

She screamed.

[FUCKING MOTHER OF GOD!]

[STRYKER DIDN'T SAY SHIT ABOUT HER BEING ABLE TO THAT!]

She hopped through the now shattered glass mirror, invisible.

"Oh no, not again. I'm not chasing your tiny white ass all over this place like I did in the subway," the sword guy said. Glass went into her feet, but she didn't care, just like she hadn't cared when the man shot her father. She bolted just like before. And just like before, a bloody trail was left behind her. Wade smirked.

"Bingo, Invisi-girl. You just screwed yourself over."

[What happened?!]

[She got away, sir.]

She rounded the corner, skidding on her blood as she hissed in pain. Luckily enough, no one could hear her. Thank God for her mutation, right?

[What the hell do you mean she got away?!]

When soldiers blocked the hallway, she wracked her brain for something to do. The blood would give her away. She took a deep gulp of air.

If screaming could break glass, maybe it could stall them at least enough for her to get though.

So she did. As hard as she could.

[SWEET JESUS WHAT IS THAT?!]

She rushed down the hallway, pain killing her feet and violently disagreeing with her actions. But right now, she just wanted to get out. She'd worry about getting the glass out of her feet later.

[We, uh, apparently didn't know about part of her mutation, sir. In fact, it's kind of a big part of her mutation... she just knocked out the twenty soldiers in sector nine.]

[God damnit! Well go get her and bring her back!]

She rounded another corner, skidding again. The soldiers had all fallen unconscious, much to her enjoyment. But she heard the breathing behind her. It hadn't knocked out the sword guy.

Damn.

[Wade's on his way, sir.]

He had to give this kid perks. Knocking out twenty soldiers without touching them. He couldn't even do that. Then again, he didn't have the perks of sound manipulation. Mind tricks were not part of his gift, that was Bolt's job.

He chased the girl down the hallway, his boots slipping slightly on her blood. Out of nowhere, Jimmy was right next to him, Victor not far behind.

"I'm handling this," Wade bit out, running faster. Victor scoffed.

"Yeah, we can tell you're doing it brilliantly."

"Go get a manicure, Kitten," Wade shot back. Jimmy raced ahead of them both, and dove. He tackled something to the ground, and that thing could only be the girl. She struggled in his grip, her blood starting to pool near her feet.

"Get off me!" she shouted. "Don't make me kill you!" she threatened, her invisibility fading in waves. She became transparent, then translucent, then normal, like a mirage.

"Princess, I don't think you can kill guys like us," Victor said, scarping a sharp nail down her neck as Jimmy held her down. For some reason he didn't know, Victor's gesture made Wade want to kill him with every fiber in his being.

"Creed, get your grimy claws off her," Wade said, stalking over. Victor flashed him a grin, showing the girl his long canines. She struggled in Jimmy's grip as much as she could, which wasn't much. After all, a skinny twelve-year-old girl can't really fight off a strong, muscled twenty or thirty-something man. It just isn't possible by laws of nature. "How'd you do that, Jimmy?"

"Scent," he answered shortly, looking at the girl. "What does Stryker want with her anyway?"

The name Stryker was unfamiliar, and it only made her fear for her life more. She looked at the guy with the swords, remembering him from her first capture, and then looked at the man he called Jimmy. She was a smart girl, and if there was one thing she remembered her father telling her, it was that if you were fighting a guy and you weren't as strong as him, you had to fight dirty.

And that's exactly what she did.

[Wade, what's taking so long?!]

[...Complications. She's a dirty one, sir.]

"Fucking hell!" Jimmy grunted, rolling off of her. She rolled on to her stomach, and was halfway to pushing herself up when the other man shoved her roughly into the floor, her neck cracking painfully. Her left shoulder blade felt like it was on fire as things as sharp as knives dug into her flesh. She writhed in pain, his other hand holding her neck as points... his nails, maybe, dug into her flesh, not yet drawing blood like they were on shoulder blade. Blood pooled in front of her face, running over her shoulder and down her back and across her arm. She hissed and whimpered in pain.

"Try it again, you little bitch," the man who the sword guy had called Creed said, but didn't get to finish.

"Get off of her, Victor!" the sword guy shouted violently, kicking Victor in the side and sending him a little ways away from her. She rolled over, choking and gasping for the air that Victor's violent shove into the floor didn't allow her. She sat up, tugged the glass out of her feet harshly, probably causing herself more pain, before Wade wrapped his arms around her in a deadlock hold. She thrashed, and he felt the blood from her shoulder blade sink into his shirt. She choked on a sob.

"Let me go! I'm not going back there! LET ME GO!" she sobbed, begging and demanding at the same time. Wade bit the inside of his cheek when he made eye contact with her, remembering that he had a job to do. He whipped out the needle when she was too busy looking into his eyes, and she saw the awareness in the aquamarine orbs fade quickly after she stiffened, the needle jabbed in her thigh. She was limp in his arms by the time Jimmy and got up.

"Tricky little bitch," he said, wincing still. Girl had a good drop kick. Once Stryker managed to get her to join the team, if that was what he wanted (Jimmy could only guess that he wanted a girl of her talents on the team for an added power of stealth), teaching her how to fight probably wouldn't take as long as he'd thought when he first saw her passed out in the cell.

"Whiny, too," Victor chuckled as he walked past Wade, ruffling the girls hair in a way that Jimmy knew meant 'I'm not with you yet, you little bitch'. Wade's hold instinctively tightened, moving her away from him. Jimmy regarded Wade. Usually he was cracking jokes, and he'd never defended anyone against Victor before. Usually, that was his job. Jimmy shrugged it off, walking back towards the rec room where his beer and cigar were waiting for him. Damn kid not only kicked him in the balls, but she also ripped him away from his cigar and beer.

Kid was damn lucky to be alive, if you asked him.

[Did you get her, Wilson?]

After Jimmy walked ahead of them and aside into another hallway, Victor looked at the swordsman, tilting his head. "Protective, are we? Never thought you liked little girls, Wilson."

[Yes, sir. On my way to the cell.]

"I figured you already had little boys covered," Wade said as he carried the girl, blood dripping down his arm after he readjusted her in his arms so that she was easier to carry. Not that she weighed much. Even for 5'1, the girl was too skinny. It felt like he was carrying a damn pillow.

[Good.]

Victor smirked. "Just don't fall in love with the girl, Wilson."

[Question, sir.]

[Yes, Wilson?]

[Permission to kill Creed, sir?]

[Denied.]

[Damn.]