Paige felt herself come back to wakefulness in slow waves. Whatever she'd been dosed with was extremely strong and kept her from just popping back up. It started with her sense of touch. The smooth, cold floor beneath her that felt like glossy stone. Then she heard people talking. She couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but she knew there were other people talking. Than she became more aware of what was around her, actually able to tell her surroundings to some extent without her eyes open. She knew she wasn't in the truck anymore and feared she'd been tossed into the Birdcage while she was still knocked out. Finally she managed to pull her eyes open and found herself in the stars. She wasn't quite feeling up to moving much, but looking up at the endless expanse of stars made her suspect she'd died.
"She's awake." She heard from somewhere off to her left. She glanced over to see four people dressed in black and white with bone white masks on their faces in the shape of different… She wanted to say animals, but one of their masks was blanks white with only eye holes in it. And they all had the same creepy golden eyes with black sclera.
"Can you move, Paige Mcabee?" One of them asked in a weird hissing warble.
"Just…" Her voice was hoarse since she hadn't been able to use it in so long. "Just get it over with." She rasped, looking back up to the stars.
"Quite the pessimistic attitude." One of them said.
"We're not going to hurt you. That would make all the effort I put into getting you out for naught."
"Out?" Paige rasped.
"If you can move, we've got some water if you like. We can continue speaking when you're not so dehydrated."
"Please." She said as she forced her body to sit upright. She took the offered glass and downed it in a few gulps. Her throat felt better immediately.
"Now, I rescued you from being sent to the Birdcage because I felt you didn't belong there. Your crimes should net you no more than a few years in prison, possibly less with with good behavior, and I doubt you're the type to behave violently in a normal situation. You simply don't belong in the Birdcage. So, that leaves you free, but on the run. We want to offer you a place among us, in the Espada."
Paige looked down at the black stone she was sitting on. They'd rescued her but that did leave her in a bad spot as far as being out in the general public. No way she could survive by herself. Not with all her money frozen in her accounts, possibly even seized or stolen by the police or her managers by now.
"What do you do?" She asked them.
"We're largely dedicated to making Brockton Bay a safer place for the average person. Our methods aren't always legal, you being here is a prime example of that, but it's one of the few cases where we agree the ends can justify the means. In this case the means being illegal activity and the ends being a city not overrun with gangs pushing drugs, murder, kidnapping, or sex slavery." She was starting to discern the differences in voices and knew that wasn't the one who said she'd rescued her.
"If you accept, we'd do everything we could to keep you from being captured again. Our organization is still young, but once we have business up and running we'd set you up with a place to simply live is that's what you wished. We may call on you to help with your powers every so often, but it's unlikely. If you choose not to stay with us, we will attempt to get you into a better position. I don't think the U.S has extradition treaties with the U.K anymore, so that's an option." A different one said.
"The choice is yours, Paige Mcabee." The one who rescued her said.
"That's it?" She asked them, not quite believing what they were telling her. "I either stay with you and live semi-normally, or I refuse and you ship me off to Europe?"
"Yes. What good is trading one cage for another? If you're not the one to make the choice than there was no point in saving you. We can't think for you, Paige. This is your decision."
"Are there any other choices?" She asks.
"Sure." She says. "But those two are the ones most likely to keep you from being recaptured. Would you like more time to think about your decision?"
"No. I'd rather stay. At least repay the kindness you've shown me." Paige said.
"I was simply doing what I felt was right. What happened to you was a mockery of the justice system. So, Welcome aboard. Your leader will be Nihilus, here." The girl in the wolf mask nodded toward the one with the blank mask. She runs the Trainyard so feel free to sing all you want there. Your other teammate under Nihilus is a Tinker, so chances are she has sound proof earplugs anyway."
"But what about her?"
"I'll be fine!" Nihilus said. "In fact, I'm so happy to work with you! I really love your songs."
"O-Oh! Well, thank you. I've only ever wanted to sing, so I'm glad you enjoy it." Paige smiled.
"Alright, I've got some things to take care of tonight, so you two get to know each other, maybe take her to meet Squealer. I'll see you all later." Wolf mask girl left along with the guy with the… Cat? Mask and the girl in the bug mask.
"We're gonna give you a whole makeover later to make it harder for people to notice you, but for now let's go meet Squealer. She should still be up."
She opened a portal in the air and led her through the pitch darkness to another portal that opened in a small rundown building that had been converted to a Tinker workshops.
"Sherrel!" Nihilus called in a sing song voice, "I've brought you a friend!"
"Huh? You got me a boy toy? That's so nice of you, boss!" Sherrel came down the stairs from the small room on the second floor. She was a blonde woman with long blonde hair tied up in a messy pony tail and covered in grease stains and dirt. The too-tight black tank top and short-shorts she wore were probably more indecent than her just being naked, because they did not help leave anything to the imagination.
"Not a boy and not a toy!" Nihilus said. "We've got a new Member and Sacrosanct left her to me, meaning you two will have to get along. Especially since she'll be staying here for a while."
"Well I don't mind sharing a bed with a hottie like her." Sherrel winked.
"I-uh… I'm not into… women." Paige stuttered.
"Relax, I'm just teasin' ya!" Sherrel laughed. "So where'd the boss lady pick this one up from?"
"This is Canary. She was supposed to go to the Birdcage, but we broke her out."
Sherrel whistled. "What'd ya do to get sent there?"
"I uh… My powers let me give people orders after they've heard me sing. My ex boyfriend showed up after one of my shows and I didn't know he'd heard me sing. He was yelling at me about how he made me and deserved a cut of my money and eventually I told him to 'go fuck himself' and he did. Literally."
"Ouch." Sherrel laughed. "But congrats standing up to a sack of shit like that dickless asshole! My ex drugged me up for years. Took my new bosses to save me from that hell."
"Jesus." Paige sighed.
"Enough of that depressing shit! Let's drink to getting rid of asshole exes!" she cheered and Paige was worried the blonde's chest would pop from her shirt.
"Don't over do it, Sherrel." Nihilus said.
"Yeah, yeah, I get ya. Moderation is the name of the game. You want some, boss?"
"You know I'm not old enough to drink." Nihilus rolled her eyes.
"But yer old enough to go breaking people out of super jail and stomping on other capes."
Nihilus sighed, the sound coming out as a staccato rhythm from the warble effect of the mask.
"I need to get home before my mom freaks. I'll come see you guys tomorrow, kay?"
"Later boss!" Sherrel cheered as Nihilus left through another portal. "Now it's just you and me little birdy, so pull up a chair, grab a drink, and maybe you'll be into me by the time we finish this bottle."
Paige choked. This woman would be the death of her some how.