"I really can't believe you traded the porsche in for a minivan." Garfield tells Dick, the group pulling up in front of a motel after having traded in the silver porsche for a black minivan only 20 minutes ago.
"We needed something a bit more inconspicuous and we didn't exactly all fit in, now did we?" Dick asks, Rachel and Kory having taken turns sitting on Tai's lap while they were in the porsche.
"I like the van. Though I didn't really mind my previous seating arrangement." Kory says smirking teasingly at Tai who is sitting next to Garfield on the backseat along with Rachel and blushes a bit at the redhead's comment.
"We're not actually staying here are we?" Rachel asks, looking at the run down motel.
"There is probably a nicer place down the road." Kory suggests.
"We're being hunted by sociopaths. Nicer places draw attention." Dick says.
"But they also make it easier to sleep." Kory tells him.
"One road in and out. One point of access we have to watch." Dick tells her.
"He makes a point." Tai comments.
Dick then leaves the car and gets four rooms, coming back with the keys only a few minutes later.
After giving the others the keys and letting them decide on room assignments Dick gets them some food from a pizza place nearby.
"Alright guys now that we're all back together and in one piece we need to figure out where we stand and what's mission critical." Dick tells them while the group passes around the pizza boxes, grabbing a slice.
"Mission critical? Is that a cop thing?" Gar asks jokingly.
"I had some combat training when I was younger." Dick replies.
"And he's a cop." Rachel adds.
"I'm sorry, you were referring to we?" Kory chimes in, looking at Dick.
"We as of right now, we are a group of people who share a common enemy." Dick tells them.
"Which makes us what?" Kory asks.
"An alliance? One born of mutual need." Dick answers.
"And what is that?" Kory asks snarkily.
"To stay alive. We have no idea how long we have until whoever is after Rachel finds us." Dick answers cooly.
"They make violence look like an art form." Rachel comments from her limited insight into the abductors.
"The people who attacked us fought in unison and were perfectly coordinated. We're not. We can't fight like that unless we learn each other's moves." Dick tells them.
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Kory asks doubtful.
"We stick together and we train." He tells them.
"But not tonight. Tomorrow. I will keep lookout tonight." Dick says.
"I can take over the second shift if you want." Tai offers, being used to being awake at odd hours from his time as a vigilante.
"Thanks." Dick nods in acceptance, being glad to have someone with similar abilities and outlook as himself on board.
"So rooms. Who's where?" Dick asks.
This is Rachel's room. Mine is to the left, the boys to the right and yours is the one across from this one." Kory tells them, passing out the keys to Dick and Garfield.
"Alright. Tai, I will come by in five hours give or take." Dick informs the asian teen who nods in acceptance while he and Garfield head out, taking one of the pizzas with them.
Once everyone is in their room Gar looks around the room he and Tai are sharing.
"Soo... There's only one bed." Gar says awkwardly.
"It's fine. I'll only sleep when Dick is keeping watch at night. And we can share it. Should be big enough." Tai tells him, setting down his backpack and skier's case against a wall in the room while Gar fishes a gaming console out of his bag.
"So hey. If you don't mind me asking. What's the story with you and Rachel. How did you get involved in all this?" Garfield asks.
"I chose to get involved. I went to school with Rachel when she disappeared. I found her mom dead and followed her to make sure she doesn't get killed as well." Tai answers, taking off his shoes and lying down on the bed fully clothed otherwise.
"So you're like old school pals huh?" Gar asks disappointed.
"No. I like her. But I think I only frighten her. Her being an Empath probably fucks up any normal relationship I was wishing I could have with her back in school." Tai answers.
"So if you want to ask her out... I can't stop you. Just remember that she's important to me and I am willing to kill for her." Tai tells the boy his age, the two staring at each other for a while.
"Got it. And I have to say, aside from the murder part, I think it's impressive what you're doing." Gar tells him honestly, gaining some respect for Tai's forwardness and concern about Rachel.
"Maybe put on some headphones alright? It's better if I sleep now so I'm at full strength when I switch shifts with Dick." Tai tells Garfield, who nods and gets out his headphones, connecting them to his game while Tai lies down and tries to sleep.
5 hours later Tai gets awoken by Dick quietly shaking his shoulder, Garfield lying half on, half off the bed beside him, still wearing his headphones.
Tai looks up at Dick and nods, quietly following the man out of the room.
"How's the roof situation?" Tai asks when they are in front of the rooms.
"I don't know. But it should give you a good vantage point." Dick replies.
"My thoughts exactly." Tai answers nodding and gets his Katana out of his skier bag which he took with him on the way out.
"Do you need to have it out while keeping watch?" Dick asks, the idea seeming a bit overkill.
"I need to clean it anyways. Might as well do it while keeping watch." Tai answers.
"Yeah. Good idea." Dick agrees, nodding and enters his room.
A few minutes later he hears some rustling from above and figures that Tai has taken his spot on the roof.
Another Three hours later Tai does a sweep of the hallway with their rooms when he hears something from inside Rachel's room.
After quietly knocking without an answer he gets a lockpick from the bag inside his room and goes back over to her room, picking the lock with ease and slipping inside quietly, looking around the dark room, barely being able to see the black swirling energy above Rachel.
He wordlessly kneels down beside her bed while Cao Cao's ghost appears in front of him and protects him again.
Tai takes Rachel's hand and rubs his thumb over the back of it gently with Rachel squeezing his hand tightly before the black swirl gradually starts to disappear, retreating into her body.
"I hope you rest easier now." Tai whispers quietly, setting down her hand carefully and gets back up to leave.
"Can you stay?" Rachel asks, opening her eyes, having woken up when her energy came back into her body.
"Sure." Tai answers supportively and pulls up a chair, sitting down in it next to the bed on the side facing the window and opens the blinds so he can watch the road in and out.
"You really are taking keeping watch seriously, aren't you?" Rachel asks, turning towards him while he's sitting parallel to her bed.
"Yeah. I won't let you get taken." Tai answers confidently.
"Thanks. For all of this. You could have left. I gave you every reason to. Twice, but you didn't." Rachel thanks him gratefully, reaching for one of his hands nervously.
"Can you hold my hand? You were able to make the energy go back right? Maybe you can stop it from appearing at all." Rachel says worried.
"I don't know if I can... But I would really like to hold your hand." Tai answers honestly, Rachel seeing a red hue on his cheeks thanks to the moon shining some light into the room.
Rachel grabs his hand firmly, Tai wrapping his fingers around her smaller hand in return, although not using any strength.
"Good night Rachel." Tai tells her softly.
"Night." She replies before trying to sleep again, succeeding in nodding off a couple minutes later.
The next day the group gets in the van and Dick drives them to an abandoned farm where the five head into a large barn.
"OK. In order to work together. To fight and defend ourselves as a coordinated team we need to know what the others can do." Dick tells the group.
"Let's start with you. Kory, Rachel said you can create light and heat. Is that right?" Dick asks.
"Honestly I'm still trying to figure it all out myself. I think it comes from the sun though. Like I can absorb its power and direct it. I'm weaker at night though. Sometimes empty and it takes me a while to recharge." Kory answers.
"How long?" Dick asks.
"A few hours, a day maybe?" Kory guesses.
"Can you control your powers?" Dick asks.
"Sure." Kory says confidently.
"OK. Then can you hit that tractor?" Dick asks, pointing at the large tractor standing on the other end of the barn.
"Watch." She replies and steps forward. The group watches her start to glow orange before she unleashes a torrent of flames at the tractor, hitting just above it and burns a hole through the barn wall on the opposite site.
"I suppose I could use a bit of practice." Kory then says before stepping back over next to Rachel and high fives Gar who's all but beaming excitedly at the display of power.
"Your turn." Dick tells Garfield.
"Ok. Let's do this..." Garfield tells himself, moving to the front of the group and stretches to stall for time.
"Anytime." Dick says expectantly.
"It's just... Awkward in front of you guys. Thr first time I tore through my clothes and this is my favorite jacket." Gar confesses.
"You need to be naked?" Dick asks doubtfully.
"Yeah. Just give me a sec. I promise it'll be worth it." Gar says and disappears behind a stack of hay bales.
"Heard that before." Kory laughs amused. They hear zippers and rustling of clothes from Gar's direction before the sound gets replaced by a loud roar.
The group minus Rachel watches with faszination as a green furred Tiger steps out behind the hay bales and proceeds to climb onto the stack of them, jumping off and landing gracefully in front of them.
"What do you know, it was worth it." Kory says excited.
"That's him? How?" Dick asks unsettled by the wild animal staring them down.
"Yep. He got sick or something." Rachel answers.
"OK. You can turn back now." Dick tells Garfield who lies down and transforms back to human, jumping to his feet once he did so, forgetting about the fact that he's naked.
"Gar." Rachel says, looking away.
"Oh... Ah, I forgot." Garfield says and rushes behind the hay bales again, quickly dressing himself.
"Your turn." Garfield then tells Tai, going back to the group.
"Not sure what I can demonstrate here without enemies." Tai says thoughtfully.
"Well what exactly can you do? You mentioned ghosts before, right?" Dick asks.
"Yeah but I don't really have a handle on it. They come out and help when I need it." Tai answers.
"They? So there is more than one?" Kory asks.
"Yeah, I've seen 4 so far." Tai answers.
"And they do what exactly?" Dick asks.
"I'm not sure. One is supposed to help me make hard decisions and another one protected me from Rachel's powers." Tai answers, looking over to Rachel who in return looks to the floor guiltily.
"As for fighting abilities I'm slightly faster and stronger than normal and I'm a master swordsman." Tai answers confidently.
"How strong and fast?" Dick asks.
Tai runs over to the tractor which is across the barn and clears the 30 meters in just over a second and attempts to lift the tractor by its front, being able to lift it and push it so its standing on its back wheels facing the ceiling before lowering it back in its original position.
"Does that answer the question?" Tai asks after speeding back over to the group.
"Yeah." Dick says impressed while Rachel and Gar stare at him and Kory smiles excited to see someone who might be on the same level as her strength wise in their group.
"I don't have much experience in unarmed combat though, so that'd be a weakness of mine." Tai informs them, unsheathing his sword and slicing through the air with experienced movements.
"Rachel, I believe it's your turn." Dick says while Tai sheathes his weapon.
"No. I can't. I could hurt someone." Rachel says, shaking her head.
"I believe hurting someone is the idea here." Kory comments.
"I could hurt you." Rachel tells them, looking at everyone of them.
"Rachel it's a part of you. You gotta accept it." Dick tells her and nods for her to move to the front of the group.
Rachel reluctantly moves to the front of the group and closes her eyes, concentrating before a black swarm of energy escapes her mouth and swirls above her.
"Ok Rachel, now draw it back in." Dick tells her but the energy continues growing.
"Let me try." Tai says and sees the same ghost which protected him before.
He offers his hand to the ghost and it takes possession of his body, Rachel's energy striking at the group, only to be stopped by the possessed Tai and slowly forced back into her body.
"Are you OK?" Tai asks her once the energy is gone.
"Yeah. I'll just need some training before I can control it." Rachel tells them, seeing concerned looks on Garfield and Kory.
Later that evening the three teens are hanging out outside the motel at a small roofed picnic area.
"Are you sure you're OK? You looked kind of scary at the barn." Garfield asks Rachel.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Rachel replies though her tone shows she's not certain herself.
"Does it hurt? When you transform?" Rachel asks the green haired boy who's sitting on the table with Rachel sitting at the bench in front of it and Tai is leaning against one of the roof's pillars, keeping an eye on the entrance.
"How do I describe it? Close your eyes. Then take a deep breath." He tries to explain, sliding off the table and next to her onto the bench.
"Now imagine electricity running through your whole body. It doesn't hurt, it just feels like you get plugged into something. And then you start to feel strong, really strong and you feel totally free. With all that strength you feel like you can do anything and you want to roar. No because you're angry but because you just want to let it all out." Garfield tells her, Rachel trying to picture what he's describing and roars playfully, making them both laugh while Tai looks amused, though he's also a bit jealous at how easy she and Garfield seem to connect.
"What about your eyes?" Tai asks.
"What do you mean?" Garfield asks.
"Is the way you view the world different? I think cats are supposed to be bad with colors but they can see at night right?" Tai asks curiously, subconsciously stroking over the scar crossing over his left eye.
"Yeah. It's hard to explain. It's like colors are dulled down but everything is brighter. So it's not exactly like I'm loosing something. I just see it in a different way." Gar answers with a small grin.
"What about you? You see ghosts right? Do you know why?" Garfield asks.
"Not yet. But one said they are my ancestors and that it has to do with my sword." Tai replies, setting down the katana on the table infront of the two teens who inspect it carefully, as though they might break it.
"Ancestors huh?" Rachel asks, thinking about the mystery that is her family.
"Can others see the ghosts too?" Garfield asks.
"I doubt it or you would have seen it already." Tai answers.
"My energy, how can you control it?" Rachel asks Tai.
"I'm not sure. I don't think I'm even doing it. It's one of my ancestors." Tai replies thoughtfully.
"Too bad." Rachel says quietly, having hoped he could help her.