A/n: Holy crap I must be ill, updating twice (almost) within a week. AND THE PLOT THICKENS. A little, this is going to have more chapters than I intended, and at the rate I'm updating... Well, lets just not think about that. But I have made it my goal to finish this before the year is out. Though there's no garunte on that. Anywho, I might be redoing some of my earlier chapters, tweaking things here and there or even scrapping the whole damn chapter for something twice as good. If I do, I'll let ya know whats going on.

But for right now, read and review please.=3

~Raven

Night had begun to fall on that Saturday evening, and Suzie was just arriving at the warehouse with Catherine close behind her. They split off, going to their own little areas to prepare for the night. They were basically mini-bathrooms, containing a mirror, shower and sink. Suzie closed the door to her own, pressing one of the white tiles next to the sink.

As a result, a panel came out of the wall next to the tile. The brunet bulled the panel, revealing it to be a drawer, containing her suit and equipment. She shed her clothes, leaving herself in just her undergarments before the full-sized mirror. Her gnarled scar stood out on her body, the only real blemish on her sleek waist and a reminder of what could happen if one wasn't careful. She pulled on the fabric pants and leather top, smoothing out the ruffles in each. They may not have seemed like much protection, but she didn't worry about that. She adapted to it.

Good protection meant heavy armor. Heavy armor meant limited mobility. Limited mobility meant possible kidnapping or death. Light protection meant easy movement, meaning a less likely chance of getting captured. Where the likelihood of being shot or stabbed came, practice and readiness followed. She had improved her reflexes to stopping a bullet with her swords.

It wasn't an easy task, only being able to do it after much practice with knives and only having been shot at without warning. The reflex was quick, and the results were great but surprising.

She pulled her hair back into the usual bun, taking care to tie it tightly at the base, but to leave the ends loose. She took a small contact container from the drawer, opening it and putting in the two tallow contacts in her eyes. After blinking a little, she continued, pulling the black belt through the loops on her pants, stopping every now and again to string on an item. She pulled out a silver box, opening it and applying the silver contents around her eyes.

She was ready now, but she didn't put on her mask, she would wait until they went out for that. She grabbed it and went back out into the larger room, finding Troy, Rorschach, and Tyler waiting for her and her sister.

--

The gentle crashing of waves could be heard from the front door of the warehouse. Nick and Nate had been there for a few minutes now, knocking on the door every so often and growing cold. Nick was about to slam his fist against the heavy metal door for the last time when a man opened the door, leaving the bolt-lock in place.

"What?" he asked clearly agitated.

Nick backed up a little. "Uh… We need to see the Boss. We've got his meds." The scrawny man held up the syringe as he spoke, hoping it would convince the bouncer to let them in.

The large man sighed, but opened the bolt and let them in anyway. He led them to the room where they had been before, the Underboss with an annoyed look on his face, but it brightened a little upon seeing the two boys.

Instantly they noticed that he looked a little younger. His hair was beginning to grow all over his head again, though still all grey. They sat down, nervously contemplating their boss's possible new strengths.

He just glared at them for a few moments before Katie entered, still wrapped up from the fight at the roller rink. However, in her arms was a large black shape. It growled, looking around with bright yellow eyes.

Nate yelped at the sound, as Katie had entered noiselessly. This caused the Underboss to laugh, his voice also beginning to sound better.

As Katie sat down, she set the black bundle on the table and it uncurled, revealing itself to be a young black panther. She smiled as the cat stretched, walking towards the boys and causing the table to creak.

The Underboss recovered from laughing to give a good look at the panther, who Nate was currently cowering from. He had a bad experience with a cat, and never liked them since. "I see you like me present." The elder man mused, holding out his hand as the black cat padded over to him next, leaving Nick and Nate be.

"Sekhmet is from you? Yes, she's fantastic, I've always wanted a guardian animal." The young girl said, patting her hand against the table and drawing the cat back to her. Sekhmet happily settled back on her new owners lap, letting out a little purr.

The underboss folded his hands and glared at Nate and Nick. "Something tells me my 'medication' isn't the only reason you came here. What do you want?" He asked, trying to keep his expression as calm as possible.

Nate, who was now brushing off his shirt in an attempt to regain his composure, spoke first. "Well, we uh, had a bit of a problem last night. Katie is right, Rorschach is back. Had it not been for the Water of Life, by ribs would still be broken from where his foot landed on my chest."

The Underboss couldn't help but give a snort of laughter, and allowing a small smile appear on his face. "And you lived to tell the tail? Impressive, how did you two get away?"

Nick held up his hand, and slowly, it turned to smoke and began to dissipate. Then, as soon as it was gone, it came back, all of the tiny tendrils of smoke going back into his hand. The elder man's eyes widened a little before he held his hands out, as if to say, And how did this come about?

Nick gave a smirk, tucking his hands back into his hoodie pocket. "Another wonderful side effect of the Water of Life." He simply said.

Sekhmet growled again shifting on Katie's lap. The panther received a comforting ear-stroke as her master began to talk. "So you're a modern-day Houdini, good for you. Is that seriously why you brought us here?"

Nick sighed and shook his head. "The Avengers won't be easy to take out. We've called some… Experts."

The underboss paused. "Experts? Like who?"

Nick simply gave another smirk as he pulled his hands from his pockets and folded them.

--

Troy had dealt out the assignments like usual, switching who went out alone. It was Suzie's turn this night, and as she sat on the edge if a flat in closer to Dan's house, she didn't regret it. Nights alone allowed her to clear her head before facing what was out there.

The murderous truth of what Adrian's 'Utopia' really was. She recalled finding the news paper depicting the gient crater that suddenly appeared in the middle of Manhattan.

--

The old newspaper was beginning to yellow, but the picture was clear as day. Right were several city blocks of cars, buildings and people should be was a huge crater. Suzie definitely didn't recall that during her tour of New York City. Dan was walking over to her, holding out a glass of water to her. His face darkened when he saw what she was holding.

"What happened?" she asked as she began to shake. She had only heard that New York had undergone some major renovations, nothing like this.

Dan couldn't have looked more nervous. "W—well," he sighed, digging for the answer he was told to give. "A bomb went off, one caused by Dr. Manhattan. You know him right?"

Suzie nodded, sifting through what Dan was telling her. Something wasn't right.

"Well, he put them all over the world, in an attempt at wiping us out—"

"Bullshit, Jon pitied humanity. Just tell her what really happened, damn it! She deserves to know."Laurie's voce cut in, causing Dan to turn.

He made a frustrated face, but sighed, and began accounting to Suzie what had really happened. He didn't care about what Adrian said. If this girl was to be the future defender of this city, she had a right to know.

As he finished, Suzie scoffed. "Bastard, killing an eighth of New York just to make the world a better place. I wonder if he even thought this could happen."

--

The Silver Fox brought her mind back to the present, standing up on the ledge. She began walking along the concrete, not really concentrating on the height or where her next footfall would land. She found that actually made her balance worse. She broke into a run, clearing the gap between that and another building.

Her pace went back to normal as she stared out towards the more popular section of New York. Broadway lights were blinking and she could hear the faint sound of several cab horns honking at once. She didn't visit that district much. Preferring to keep to the less lit areas where the occasional star could be seen.

It was nothing like her old home, and though she only remembered a little, she held to that dearly. She could remember the night sky on a moonless night, when she thought she could see every star that was out there.

A tear formed in her eye as she thought about her mother; a beautiful woman who died during her sister's birth. It wasn't too long after that that they had actually moved to New York with their grandmother.

A scream broke Suzie's train of thought, and she stopped, leaning the side of her head to the street in order to hear where it came from. The cry sounded again, and it was more pained this time. The Silver Fox acted fast, jumping from the ledge and grabbing a limb of one of the trees that lined the streets. Sprinting across the already deserted street, she made her way to the ally where the scream came from.

She was to late however, and was only greeted by a twisted smiling face adorned with white makeup and topped with long locks of messy green hair.

A/n: Flame me all you want for that last sentance, those who know, but its part of the plot. ;)