More reviews! I'm glad to see that Alicia's characterization is coming across the right way. Understanding the mindset is one thing, writing it is something else. So SeraphinaPiera, your review totally made my day. :D Tinkerballe2010 and NazqulQueen, thank you so much! More, as requested. ;)

I admit, this part is short. But as I was writing, I saw that I needed a transition between where I left off and the next chapter. So the next part starts with the action, as I kick myself into delving into the guts of this story. The question in my mind still remains, who will get to Alicia first?

"Hey! I think you passed the police station." I pressed my hands against the glass of the cruiser's window as we sped through South Beach, and onto the massive bridge that was the Macarthur Causeway.

The sun was setting in shades of deep purple, red and orange over the ocean, but for once the gorgeous view did nothing to remind me of just how beautiful the city I lived in was.

"We're not going to the police station." The officer picked up speed as he switched lanes and headed towards the turnpike.

"And why not?" I eyed the sign for I-95 North as we passed under it. The car was going in the opposite direction of where I lived, and heading further and further from familiar territory.

"We have a place set up for people like you."

If the City of Miami police had an official holding facility for mutants, I didn't know about it. Which probably meant wherever I was being taken was not an official facility.

Which also meant, in no uncertain terms, that I was screwed.

Nothing about how any of this had happened seemed right, in any sense of the word.

Where were the rest of the people in the building while I was being dragged away? Had they witnessed the scene and decided sneaking out the back door and not getting involved was the wisest course of action?

Smart people, I should have gone with them.

"You're not an actually a cop." It suddenly seemed obvious. It probably should have from the start, since none of the standard procedures had been followed. They had been a little too eager to handcuff me and get out of there.

Thank you common sense for kicking in about twenty minutes too late.

"Kinda slow, aren't you? "

Come on, give me a break. This was my first time in trouble with the law, first time being kidnapped, first time in a situation even remotely as strange as this.

Not usually what one thought of when referring to their first time, but I didn't feel like being picky.

"Not slow, just too trusting and naïve. I won't be making the mistake again."

I took a closer look at the guy who was quickly becoming my least favorite person. He was fairly young, probably in his late twenties. Dark complexion with close cut black hair. Not too bad looking really.

"Like what you see?" I should have figured he'd be cocky.

"No, just making sure I get every detail of what you look like, so I can describe you when I get to the real police." Because they'd be so eager to help me, right? One criminal turning in another. Set up a plea bargain… for a crime I didn't commit. Right Alicia. You go on ahead and do that.

"They wouldn't be any help to you. Far as I can see, we can help you more than they can." Because this guy obviously made a living by helping mutants and damsels in distress. Who did he think he was, an X-man?

Yeah, right. For some odd reason I doubted that.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" It would take a lot of convincing before I thought this guy was a decent person. Even if I had thought he might be… you know, before I met him. I had made the mistake of thinking all people could be reasoned with. Well fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

"It doesn't mean much. But we have one thing they don't."

"Only one?"

"Don't get cute. Only one thing that counts." And he wanted to share? How kind.

I did not want to know. I did not want to know. I had to ask.

"What's that?"

"The cure." He said, as though it were the answer to my prayers.

"The cure is gone. " He had to be bluffing. Everyone knew the cure was a thing of the rather recent past.

"Sure it is." The grin on his face made my skin crawl.

"What if I don't want the cure?" I had given it thought when it was actually available. All of two seconds, before deciding I had better ways to deal with it.

"Sorry girl, you don't get a say."

A thick glass shield slid across the metal grating that already separated the front and back sections of the car. The small suctioning sound it made as it fit into place made it obvious that the partition was air tight.

I only had a moment to panic before some sort of gas started to pour through the air vents. It only took seconds before the world blurred and spun around me. I was unconscious less than a minute later, barreling further and further away from everything I knew.