A/N 1: As in the previous chapters - ideas for fic and character development, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to hack_heaven@usa.net

A/N 2: Short chapter, yes, I know, and it will not in some magical way grow any longer just because you remind me of its shortness in the reviews. The reason for the short chapter? Real life decided to make its grand entrance, and quite frankly, its timing sucked. The next chapter will be a bit late since I'm away for pretty much the entire weekend. Ahh, there's nothing quite like a girls' night out ;)

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Chapter Fourteen: Silence Before the Storm

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"...So I kind of created a hole in the floor. It was an accident, but my parents were suddenly terrified of me," Prue explained from her place on the couch. The team was gathered in a fairly big hotel room in McKeesport, and things were slowly starting to go back to normal - or as normal as it could get.

Suzuka frowned. She was currently lying on her stomach on the floor while Ben examined the various bruises she'd gotten while in jail.

"They kicked you out?" she asked. "Hey! Be careful," she complained as Ben accidentally pressed a bit too hard on her bruised hip.

"Sorry," he mumbled absently, and continued the examination. He didn't have to examine her wound to heal it, but he preferred to know just what kind of injury he would get when he healed her.

"No, I left three years ago, when I was sixteen. I couldn't stand their constant fear anymore," Prue replied and sighed.

"Oh," Suzuka said and fell silent.

Ben has listened to the conversation with half an ear, and found himself smiling at the casual atmosphere. In some odd way, it gave him hope - if they could survive a standoff with the Shadow Alliance, escape the police, and still be able to act like it was any other day, maybe things didn't look so dark after all.

He rested his fingers on Suzuka's hips, then focused on the bruise. The blue and black slowly faded and was replaced by a healthy skin-color. Ben felt a hint of pain on his own hip, but ignored it and focused on Suzuka. The bruise got smaller, until the only mark left was a small, unnaturally straight line.

Ben frowned, and ran his fingers across the bruise. A cut. There was a small, but apparently deep cut hidden underneath the bruise.

"Ryan," he called.

Ryan looked up from his place on the couch, then joined Ben next to Suzuka.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Yeah, I want to know, too," Suzuka added.

Ben shook his head.

"It's probably nothing, but there was a cut hidden beneath the bruise. A deep one. Looked like it was done deliberately."

Suzuka tried to twist around enough to see the cut, but Ryan put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down - it's hard enough to see what it is without you moving around."

Suzuka reluctantly lay down again, and watched with slightly nervous eyes as Ryan moved a lamp closer to give Ben a better view.

Ben ran a finger over the newly healed skin, then motioned for Ryan to come closer. By then, the rest of the team had fallen silent and now watched the three with various degrees of confusion written on their faces.

"There," Ben said and pointed at a faint, gray shadow on Suzuka's hip. "The gray thing. It's definitely not natural."

Ryan took a closer look, then sighed.

"Not, it's not. My guess would be a tracking device of some sort."

"What?!" Suzuka demanded. "They put a tracker in me?!"

"I think they did that to all of us," Kyle said. "We all have those bruises."

"What are we going to do about them?" Diana asked. "We can't leave them where they are - it will only be a matter of time before the police show up."

Ryan stood up, the frustration obvious on his face.

"Kyle!"

Kyle looked up.

"Yeah?"

Ryan motioned towards Suzuka, and Kyle crossed the room and sat down next to them.

"We have to get those trackers out," Ryan said.

Kyle immediately picked up the meaning behind the words.

"Isn't there another way?" he asked, but Ryan just sighed

"Can *you* think of any?"

"...No," Kyle admitted, then turned around. "Seraphim, we're going to need one of your daggers. The sharpest one you've got."

"What?!" Suzuka demanded. "What are you talking about?!"

Ryan put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she calmed down a bit.

"We have to get those trackers out somehow. Trust me, Suzuka - I'll use my powers to make you unconscious, and when you wake up again, the tracker will be gone and Ben will have healed the wound."

Suzuka looked at him for a long time, then sighed.

"We don't have a choice, do we?"

"No," Ryan admitted.

"Okay...okay. But if you mess up, I'm going kung-fu on your sorry behind, you got that?"

Despite of the seriousness of the situation, Ryan smiled.

"I got it," he replied. He reached out and touched her chin gently. "Go to sleep, Suzuka. Everything is going to be fine. I promise."

Before he'd even finished the sentence, Suzuka had lost consciousness.

* * *

"Suzu? Suzuka?" a voice asked.

"Mmmph!" Suzuka protested and tried to go back to sleep.

"Suzuka!"

Suzuka sat up with a groggy look on her face. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Kyle's dark blue ones. He smiled.

"Good to see that you're awake," he commented.

"What...?" Suzuka mumbled, then gasped as the memories of the past day returned to her. "Oh, my God, the tracker - it is gone?"

"It's gone," Kyle confirmed. "So is mine, and Jhonen's, and Prue's. We've been awake for a few minutes. You're quite a sleepyhead," he teased gently.

Suzuka snorted and got up. She examined her hip carefully, but found no signs of neither tracker nor cuts.

"What do you know? It worked," she commented.

"Suzuka?" someone asked.

Suzuka turned around.

"Yes, Ryan?"

"Good, you're aware. Could you help the others pack? I want us to get as far away from those tracing devises as we possibly can."

Suzuka nodded.

"Sure," she replied and stood up on slightly unsteady legs.

Damn. Life hated her.

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"Captain Braddox, sir?" a young police officer said.

"Yes, Lieutenant Morrison?" the captain replied and walked to the young man's desk.

"Something has happened to the tracers we put on the muties. They're showing a quick drop in temperature."

"Damn! They must have discovered them!" Captain Braddox swore. "Okay...find out where the muties were when the tracers started to show that drop in temperature."

"McKeesport, sir," the young man reported.

The captain nodded.

"Very well. Call the local police department and tell them to...deal with the muties."

"Yes, sir."

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"I got the money. Are we ready to leave?" Ryan asked and walked into the room where the rest of his team was busy packing their stuff. Not that there were much of it - Suzuka, Jhonen, and Kyle's bags had all been in the old car, so they'd have to buy some new clothes...which was one of the reasons why Ryan had decided to use his powers to get the hotel manager to return their money. It wasn't morally correct in any way, but sometimes one had to look at the big picture.

"We are now," Kyle reported and closed the last of the bag.

"I changed the license plates," Deirdre added. "Tossed the old ones in an alley. It should buy us some time."

Ryan nodded. On some level it worried him that they were already so used to running from the police, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. And at least they didn't have to be on the run alone.

He watched as Prue checked the room for anything they might have forgotten. The girl fitted right in. She would make a good addition to the team. Besides, he knew that she could be trusted - unknown to the others, he'd briefly scanned Prue's thoughts. No need to risk their lives by letting a snake into their home, after all.

"Let's go," Ryan said.

His teammates grabbed the various bags and headed for the door. Ryan had just about convinced himself that they had gotten out safely, that they would be able to get away before the cops showed up...and then his train of thoughts was interrupted as Jhonen ran up the stairs with a slightly panicked expression on his face.

"It's the cops! They're here!"

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Coming up: Laetitia and Blade have a discussion regarding the future, while Ryan 'fess up about his past.