Rook vs Thevshi: Ghosts of the Past

This is a thread that was originally started by me on the old CoH role playing threads in late 2001 and was finished in 2002. This was one of my first great rping threads, and still one of my faviorates from the numerous ones I was involved in in the past. I am reproducing all the old posts myself, Rook and several guest stars put into this story. Hope everyone enjoys this blast from the past.

Thevshi.

Thevshi (started on 12/21/2001)

(ooc: Rook and I are starting this thread because we felt there were some things about our backgrounds that would make for an interesting role-playing encounter between our two characters. We welcome any comments, but request that any in character posts be fairly limited, like cameos. Think of this as a comic book mini-series, like Kitty Pride/Wolverine. I realize that “Ghost’s of the Past” is a little bit of an over used title, but we felt it was important for a couple of reasons. First is that both Rook and Thevshi have some ‘ghosts’ that draw them into this encounter. Second is that my character’s hero name, Thevshi, is taken from a ghost like spirit from Irish Folklore. Also, these events take place several weeks after Thevshi’s first appearance in the Paragon High School thread. We hope you enjoy this story)

Rook vs Thevshi: Ghost's of the Past


Winter had taken hold in Paragon City, with recent snowstorms covering the city in a blanket of snow. The constant cloud cover gave the city a grey dark feel during the day, only to turn into an orange glow from the city’s lights at night. Snow continued to fall fairly regularly, and life in the city had slowed down accordingly.

For Bernadette O’Connell, tonight was like any other school night. It was a little after ten in the evening, and she was trying to finish up her homework for the night. Bernadette’s evenings were usually very busy. First she had choir practice, then she had training sessions with the other members of C.A.S.T., the teenage superhero team that she was a member of under the name of Thevshi. So after all of that, she usually ended up doing her homework late at night. She didn’t mind so much seeing as she usually had to stay up late anyway to take care of her father when he returned home drunk. Tonight sure seemed as if it was going to be such a night.

Currently she was halfway through her last chapter in Chemistry with the nightly news on the television playing in the background.

"In our next story, even though the recent snows have slowed down most of the city, it seems that crime doesn’t stop. Earlier today, several members of Team1 lead by Rook stopped a group of Fifth Column members."

Rook?. Bernadette looked up from her textbook to watch the news story

"Seen here, the members of Team1 handed the Fifth Columnists over to police before leaving the scene. They were unavailable for comment as is usually the case. The exact target of the . . ."

The rest of the newscaster’s commentary drifted out of mind as Bernadette stared intently at the images of Team1 on screen. Her attention particularly focused on the images of Rook as he spoke with the police detectives. He did seem vaguely familiar to her but she had looked at the file over a year ago.

Until about four months ago, Bernadette had been part of a British Government sponsored superhero team named Project Daedalus. During a briefing by some analysts from the SIS on the IRA, one of the older team members had mentioned a former IRA assassin who had used the code name Rook. With a deep personal interest to know as much as she could about IRA operatives, Bernadette had managed to get the SIS file on Rook. Bernadette regarded the image on the television again.

Could this be the same man?

Rook:

Thick, snowy winds flowed about the vicinity. Their swift flurries seemed to dance around the tall figure.

Rook was too busy to even notice the snow's efforts to entertain him. He gripped his long black coat close to his body. His eyes glowed a dim green so he could see what he was writing. He had been in Paragon City for some time now, but the winter has never been as cold as this.

"Rook, I got the last one of em...I'll see you back at hq.",, said Renegade, one of Rook's teammates and old friend.

Rook smiled as he glanced over at Renegade. These punks deserved what was coming to them. A group of Team1 members stopped some members of the Fifth Column just as they were about to detonate explosives at a nearby NATO summit in Paragon City. Security had been on high alert for the summit, but the Fifth Column had shown time and time again that they were a forced to be reckoned with.

The snow was pouring down now. It risen at least 3 feet in the streets now, making it difficult to walk around.

Detective Piche' walked alongside Rook as they both filled out their respective reports.

"You know, just because you 'superhero's' were on the scene, that doesn't mean we couldn't have handled it ourselves.", said the detective. Detective Piche' had worked with Rook for nearly a year now. He was an older detective with graying hair, but he was still on top of his game. Piche' was always joking with Rook about how obsolete superhero teams were nowadays, and how the PPD (Paragon Police Department) could handle anything that came their way.

Rook grinned to himself, still filling out his report for the Team1 database.

"Em, would ye eva hump off lad? Ye know ye sund like a right gobdaw when ye shoot yer mouth off like that..., said Rook while laughing aloud. ((Would you ever leave me alone friend? You know you sound like a fool when you talk like that))

Detective Piche' shook his head while smiling. He knew Rook was a good guy, but he would never understand a word he said. Piche' peered through the snow and saw a few reporters braving the snow to get a story.

"Look who's here Rook. I would get stepping if you don't want to be reporter bait."

Rook's face grimaced as he realized they had probably been taping him for a while.

"I'm guna go git fluthered egin. Do me a favor and hold em off a bit for me'., said Rook to the detective as he disappeared into the snowy night.

Piche' laughed as he prepared to deal with his 'routine reporter talk'.

**************************************************


12:30 struck the small wooden clock off to the side of the pub. Mc'Gilly's was the closest to an Irish pub in all of Paragon City, and it was the only place where he felt somewhat at home.

Jake, the barback, laid his back against the back of the bar as he watched the news with Rook.

"In our next story, even though the recent snows have slowed down most of the city, it seems that crime doesn’t stop. Earlier today, several members of Team1 lead by Rook stopped a group of Fifth Column members., said a reporter who looked to be freezing her buns off.

Jake tugged at his beard and shot a smile over at Rook. He knew Rook now like his son, so he knew exactly what was going trough his mind.

Rook downed his dark beer and then ran his hands through his thick brown hair with tension in his hands. He figured they would catch him on camera again. It felt as if the city was trying to make him out to be a celebrity as of late.

Jake passed him another beer, knowing full well that this would be another long night for Rook...

Thevshi:

The clock on her nightstand read 12:31 AM, but Bernadette was not able to sleep. Her father had arrived home an hour ago, and with a minor amount of difficulty, Bernadette had managed to get him to bed. He would be feeling it in the morning to be sure, but he should be used to that.

Bernadette’s mind was still going over the newscast she had seen. Her eyes drifted over to the picture that sat next to her clock on the nightstand. In the dim orange light from outside, she could barely make out herself at age ten standing with her mother outside the Cathedral at Notre Dame. Uninvited, another memory came flooding back to her.

It was a warm spring day five years ago, and her and her mother were waiting to be seated in a small restaurant in Belfast. Everything seemed so wonderful, as if nothing could go wrong. Just as the waiter came up to seat them, the door swung open and someone shouted something and threw a small package into the restaurant. With that, everyone began to scream and panic. Gripped with fear, Bernadette did something she had never done before, she lowered her bodies density, taking on a ghostly appearance. The hand that was being held by her mother easily slipped from her mother’s grasp as she started towards the door, halting when she realized she no longer had Bernadette’s hand.

Her mother’s eyes widened in horror when she saw Bernadette’s ghostly appearance, with panicked patrons passing through her. Her mother rushed forward and tried in vain to grasp Bernadette as she in turned tried to grab her mother. Then everything irrupted in flames.

Bodies were flung in all directions by the blast, as flames washed over the interior of the restaurant. Yet Bernadette stood where she was untouched by the destruction around her. She stood for what seemed an eternity in shock and terror before she ran outside, passing through the burning walls, out into the street. The shocked bystanders who had begun to gather yelled in surprise and fear at this ghostly apparition that appeared from the devastated restaurant. Her father, who had been in a store down the block, forced his way through the crowd and ran over to try to hug his daughter, but to no avail. Bernadette also sought comfort in her father’s embrace but was unable to get her body to return to its normal density. A pair of British soldiers who had been near by, watched the scene along with the crowd of bystanders. By the time other emergency personnel had arrived, Bernadette had tired and her body reverted to normal density. The military took down her father’s name and information, and with in a week, representatives from Project Daedalus had arrived to speak to him about her.

Bernadette brushed tears from her eyes as she buried the memories again. If the man she had seen tonight was indeed the Rook that had worked for the IRA, then she needed to prove it somehow. Tomorrow she would have to call in a favor or two, but she would get what she needed. She rolled over to face away from the picture and the clock and tried to go to sleep.

Thevshi:

Bernadette’s mind. It had been a very restless night and she had gotten up much earlier than normal. She held her head under the flow of water from the shower, letting the water run down her face and body. Through out her coursed a strange sensation of exhaustion and adrenaline mixed together. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to get what she needed to, but she had to try. Switching off the shower, Bernadette opened the door of the shower to the steam filled bathroom. Her body shivered in the cold air as she grabbed the nearby towel and began to dry herself.

Wrapped in the towel, she made her way to her room and began to dress. Outside, the sky was still dark; with a steady snowfall replacing what had been plowed from the streets through the night. Bernadette dried her hair as best she could and then put the damp hair back into a ponytail. After putting on a white top and black wool stockings, she slipped on a blue and gray plaid skirt. From her wardrobe, she choose a warm burgundy sweater that she had bought in the French Alps. After pulling the sweater on, she grabbed her bag and heavy coat and headed downstairs.

Down in the kitchen she quickly fixed a muffin with jam and a glass of orange juice. She also started a pot of strong coffee. She ate her quick breakfast while the coffee brewed, her mind going over her options. I am sure that Charles or Susan would get the file for me. I mean, I know it’s classified information and all, but it’s not like I haven’t seen the file already. Well, I bloody well need the file, or there is no way I can prove anything.

Once the coffee was done, she poured a cup and walked over to the bottom of the stairs. She hesitated at the bottom staring up at the dark stair top, feeling a slight guilt over what she had to do. Bloody well serves him right, coming home pissed at all hours of the night. Steeled, she preceded up the stairs and into the bathroom, setting the coffee down on the sink counter. A short walk down the hall, and she entered her father’s room. She could hear him softly breathing in the dark, still passed out from his long night of drinking. Rolling him over, she wrinkled her nose at the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. She easily lifted him up and carried him back to the bathroom. Gently laying him down in the bathtub, a look of sadness crossed her face as she stood back up. Bernadette then turned on the cold water for the shower.

“Aaaahh!” Her father yelled out as he jerked awake in the cold water. “What the ‘ell! D*mn it lass! Turn on some hot water before I freeze to death!” He was scrambling around in the bathtub as Bernadette turned the hot water on. “I’m sorry da', but I need to get to school early today, choir practice, so I ‘ad to wake you up early. Your coffee is right here, and there is more down in the kitchen.” Bernadette started to leave, turning around as she was in the doorway. “Have a good day, I love you.” As she left, she heard her father mumble something in return and she hurried downstairs, grabbed her stuff and went outside into the cold.

The air outside was bitter cold, as the snow fell slowly to the ground. The entire street was covered under a blanket of the soft white powder. Bernadette stood on the doorstep, the snow along the sidewalk looked at least shin deep. She looked down the street, and seeing no one out, lifted off into the air and started to fly towards downtown. She lowered her density as she flew, that offered her some protection from the chilling winds that were swirling around above the city.

The snow filled sky made visibility very poor, but Bernadette could make out the tall towers that stood out in the heart of Paragon City. She flew onward, thank full that her lowered density prevented her from feeling the cold and wet of the stormy sky.

A short time later, Bernadette touched down at the edge of the Powers Corporation complex. Bernadette stared up at the cold gray building remembering her first visit here several weeks ago. It had been under very different circumstances, her and her friends had come to save the life of one of her teammates, Shaun Powers, and here she had witnessed a miracle. Pushing those thoughts aside, Bernadette walked up to the main entrance, passing several armed guards who were keeping watch outside. The main entrance opened into a large atrium that stood over six stories tall. Bernadette strode forward to the receptionist, who looked very tired, most likely having worked the evening shift. She looked up at Bernadette and seemed a little surprised at someone arriving so early.

“May I help you dear?” She asked with a tone that indicated that she felt as if Bernadette did not belong here.

To some degree, she was right. “Me name is Bernadette O’Connell and I need to see Michael Powers.”

The receptionist seemed taken aback at the request, but said nothing. She keyed the phone for the headset she wore. “Mr. Powers? I have a Bernadette O’Connell to see you. Should I have security. . Oh, sorry sir. Yes, sir.” She looked back at Bernadette, her face somewhat flush. “Mr. Powers will see you, the elevator is. . "

Bernadette cut her off. “Thank you, I know the bloody way.” And began to make her way back towards the private elevator. Her footsteps echoed in the quite of the morning as she approached the silver elevator doors that were past the main bank of elevators. The doors slid quietly open and Bernadette stepped inside, trying to calm herself as the doors closed behind her.

Rook:

**Explosions ripped through the smoky battlefield. Men barked out chaotic orders to each other which were nearly impossible to hear. Automatic weapon fire overrided the screams of men as one after another, they fell to the earth’s cold floor. Many of the men were young, maybe only 17 or 18, yet they would sacrifice their lives for this 'war'.

Rook glanced over to see a young Catholic holding on to a grenade for too long. Soon, his body was torn into pieces by the fiery shrapnel of the tool. Rook quickly took cover behind a broken down pickup truck. He readied his AK-47 and prepared to take out as many of the enemy as he could. The street battles were dangerous. These young men who fought in them were very unpredictable, making it un-worthwile to formulate any kind of a plan of action.

Rook quickly rolled out from beneath his cover, dodging bullets as they whizzed though the air. His automatic weapon sent men to their graves and made others run in fear.

One boy, who couldn't be a day over 16, tried to sneak up on Rook's team with two grenades in his palms. His face turned white as snow when he looked upon Rook, fear and desperation running like wildfire through his body. Rook grimaced his face, not caring 'who' he was, and fired shot after shot into the young boy's frail body.

Blood spattered over Rook's visage as he relentlessly shot the young man over and over.....**

------------------------------------

Rook screamed aloud as he gripped his sheets and woke up. He was sweating from head to toe, despite the freezing temperatures outside his apartment. Breathing in and out rapidly, Rook wiped the sweat from his face and moved to the edge of his bed. Running his hands through his thick brown hair, Rook tried to calm himself.

The nightmares seemed to be coming more often now, almost enough to make Rook not want to fall asleep.....ever.

With slow, uneasy steps, Rook made his way over to his bedroom window. Snow slowly drifted to the city streets below, as a truck pushed much of the piled up weather to the side of the path.
It was a beautiful site for Rook's eyes. A much needed contrast to his sickly dream. Rook smiled as he saw many people brave their ways through the thick snow to get to their jobs, school and destinations.

Today was Rook's day off though, so he decided that venturing around the city or maybe through the park would be a good idea.

Relaxing his mind would be of the utmost importance today he thought. Anything to drive out the ghastly images which haunted his mind...

DarkKnight:

It was an early morning and the smell of coffee could still be felt throughout the large office of Michael Powers. His office was decked out in a marble, the finest furniture you'll ever see, and large windows behind him that let in a large view of the sunlight. He stood tall as he looked out one of those windows. The view he saw was beyond anything beautiful he had ever seen. The rising sun in the distance made him think of all the times he'd ever been mountain climbing. The beauty of it was truly unbelievable. Off in the distance you could see various buildings...some not so important, others important like the Halo News Corporation, and the KoP HQ Citadel.

Michael turned away from the window and walked over to the coffee table, as he did he rubbed his go-t and fixed his tie on his jet black suit....had to make himself look good. He grabbed the coffeepot and poured the coffee into a cup and put some sugar in behind it. He took baby sips until it cooled down.

"So who was that Mike...?" Shareese asked him.

Michael looked over at her, "That was Ms. O'Connell, she’s here to see me..." He replied to the second most important person in the Powers Corporation besides him. Shareese was dressed in a blue suit also, she had her hair in a ponytail and wore designer glasses to work. She was very pretty...yet Michael couldn't help but try to understand as to why he was not attracted to her.

He dismissed the thought and drunk some more coffee. "O yea and that lady downstairs needs more training...she should know most of the heroes that walk through our doors...!" Michael replied thinking of the woman calling up to him, It was very annoying.

Shareese made a mental note of that. She looked over to the private elevator that ran from his office to various floors of the Powers Corporation that housed secret projects. "Ms. O'Connell has a very, "intrusting background" sir..." Sharesse said making conversation.

Michael looked at her, "You don't say...its really nothing I haven't seen before...the thing I wonder most about is how skilled she really is."

He cracked his knuckles, "I wouldn't mind a little one on one with the little lass...heh!"

Shareese smiled and watched as the lights that told how close the elevator was to a certain floor neared theirs. Michael walked over to his table and sat on the edge of it with his arms crossed. "Guess now we find out what it is she wants huh...?"

Shareese nodded as the bell on the elevator ringed and the door begin to open.....

Thevshi:

Inside the elevator, Bernadette tried to calm her nerves. Michael Powers, better know to many as Dark Knight, was one of the adult leaders of C.A.S.T., one of the most powerful heroes in Paragon City and the older brother of her friend Shaun. Shaun seemed to harbor some dislike for her brother, but to Bernadette he didn’t seem to much different than all the adults she had known at Project Deadalus, except more driven than most. But then, she wasn’t really one to judge people on their dysfunctional family life. She closed her eyes, All right lass; it really is just a simple thing. He is just a bloody man, as much as he tries to act otherwise. You ‘ave probably seen him at his weakest during your last visit here.

The chime of the elevator arriving refocused her attention. She opened her eyes as the doors slid silently open, revealing a large office. Try as she might, she was unable to focus her attention on Michael, who was sitting directly across from the elevator door. The sheer beauty of the office was distracting, and as she steeped out of the elevator, the view out the windows amplified the effect.

Dark Knight’s voice managed to bring her attention back to what she was doing here, “Good morning Ms. O’Connell, you are up rather early today. The view is very beautiful is it not?”

Bernadette turned her attention back to Michael Powers. In his jet black Italian suit, he looked like any other politician, member of the nobility or corporate executive she had ever met, one of the people that inevitably seemed to pull the strings in her life. Well, he is much better looking than most, she thought as she replied, “Yes it is. Though on my last visit here, I saw a sight of even greater beauty. Good morning Mr. Powers. Shareese.”

No hint of emotion played across Michael’s face as he asked, “And how can I be of help to you today?”

Bernadette steeled herself, “I am truly sorry for being a bother so early in the morning, but I need access to a secure transatlantic line. I need to contact some of my old teammates back in London, and what I need to discuss can’t be said over a regular line.”

DarkKnight:

Michael looked at her for a while and listened as she spoke. As he listened he thought for a minute that maybe she was kinda nervous. He smiled to himself as he listened and wondered why...he was no different than the next man. But when he thought about it, he was different...it was how he portrayed himself to others. He did come off as hard, and emotionless as possible. After the death of Shanelle, he didn't really feel the need to be anything else...work was all he had left. He cleared his thoughts as he listened to her request. He looked down at the ground and spoke, "The Powers Corporation has some of the most secure lines in the world, only made more so by Phantom Knights technology...thing is this..."

He paused as he looked up at her, "Do you really want to make this call cause I'm sure my top hacker can get you whatever it is you need..." Michael thought about it, "I'm sure your going to call in some kind of favor and if it has to do with something of that nature we can get it..."

Shareese smiled, Michael must love to listen to himself talk. He always had to explain how great his company was and the like. Then again, when she thought about it, most people...heroes included had no idea what kind of information that they had access to. They had information on most heroes and villains lives than most cared to let known. Not to mention they knew about most projects that went on around the world...other companies and the like. The Powers Corporation prided themselves on being a first strike attempt at stopping anything wrongdoing going on in the world.

Shareese spoke, "Michael this is going to be her decision...you really shouldn't add input until you know what it is she’s going to do..." She smiled...

Michael chuckled, "Yea I do tend to get a little ahead of myself..." He slipped some more of his coffee. "Well okay Ms. Connell this is on you...you can make the call from my desk over here or we can get to hacking...then again if I’m lucky..." He paused, "Which I'm always am, I'll already have what your looking for..." He said with a smile that only brought out his playboyish looks.

Shareese hid her little snicker...

Michael let himself get lost in thought once more. There were times he wished that Ezra had taken over his fathers business. He couldn't understand why the Corporation had to have their hand in everything that went on in the world. Why couldn't they just protect Paragon City? Sometimes it bothered him that they knew more about heroes’ backgrounds than they cared to let on. Others were a little harder than most to track down. He didn't want to lose himself in to deep a thought on this matter so he just looked Bernadette in her eyes to await what she would do...

Thevshi:

Bernadette hesitated, she hadn’t really considered the possibility that the Powers Corporation could all ready have the information or have a means of getting it for her. But getting the information from them would carry a price. She knew how the game was played, no need to gain any debts when she could avoid it. Besides, she wasn’t even sure what she was going to do, so the less others were involved, the better.

She shifted her weight slightly and gave him a knowing smile as she replied. “I am sure you are quite lucky, but the information I am looking for is quite old, over a decade and a ‘alf. And seeing as I would rather use a small favor than gain a large debt, I think I will make the call.”

DarkKnight:

Michael frowned, "I'm sorry I think there has been some mix of communication between us... what debt would you owe me?" He looked over to Shareese who looked away.

He spoke, "Maybe you think me some kind of government official, or politician...but I’m not..." Michael waved to the phone to the phone that sat on his desk...

"This is my phone that I use, the most secure line in the building and the world...I bet the government doesn't have anything that good...you may use that as you see fit, as me and Shareese have to take our leave now..." Michael said standing up off of his desk.

Shareese spoke, "Yes the mayor is waiting for you..."

Michael rolled his eyes..."Yes the mayor...Bernadette I'm sure you can find your way out, and good luck on whatever it is your doing." He sighed and gave Bernadette a slight nod. He and Shareese walked toward the door and left the room to give Thevshi some private time alone to the phone.

Thevshi:

A feeling of guilt flooded into Bernadette as she realized that she might be judging Michael to harshly. That’s it lass, act like a stupid git. And here he is offering to help you. “Thank you Mr. Powers. I am sorry to be such a bother.” She replied as he and Shareese walked by.

Bernadette followed them as they left, leaving her alone in the office. Well, what’s done is bloody done. She thought as she dropped her book bag into one of the chairs and walked around the desk and sat down. Inside, her heart was pounding as she took a deep breath and picked up the receiver. She quickly dialed the number and there was a brief delay as the lines connected and a mechanical voice spoke.

“Please verify identity.”

“Thevshi, Omega one three seven zero nine Juliet.”

“Identity verified.”

There was a brief moment that seemed to last unbearably long and the ringer on the other end began to sound and was quickly picked up. “This is Centurion.”

Bernadette sat up at the sound of the voice. “Charles, this is Bernadette.”

“Bernadette? What are. . .”

“Don’t worry, this is a secure line. I need to ask you a favor.”

There was a brief pause. “What can I do for you Bernadette?”

There was a moment of uncertainty, as she struggled with some nagging doubts before replying, “I need a copy of an SIS file on an IRA assassin named Rook.”

“An IRA assassin? Bernadette,” She could hear the concern in his voice, “this is probably something you should not be getting into.”

“Don’t worry Charles, I know what I am doing. It’s probably night, but I need to see that file.”

There was another pause before he responded. “All right, all right. I will get the file for you. How soon do you need it?”

“Well, the sooner the better if possible.”

“I can arrange to have it there tomorrow. Can you be home to receive it?”

“Yes, my address is 12593 SE R Street. And thank you so much Charles.”

“Your welcome Bernadette, it is so good to hear from you.”

“It is good to hear you as well. I need to be getting to school, tell everyone ‘ello from me.”

“I will, take care Bernadette.”

Bernadette gingerly hung up the phone and then rested her head in her hands. She wasn’t sure what she felt anymore. Charles Huntington had been like a big brother to her, if not a father figure, for the last five years. And here she didn’t even have the decency to tell him what was really going on. Oh lass, what are you doing? She opened her eyes and noticed the clock on Michael’s desk. D*mn, going to be bloody late if you don’t get moving is what.

She jumped up from the desk and ran over to grab her bag on her way to the elevator. The door quietly opened as she pressed the button. She quickly entered the elevator and keyed the button for the lobby.


Back in London,
Charles Huntington, better know to many as Centurion, stared at the phone for several moments after hanging up. For over a decade he had been the field leader of Project Daedalus and now the newly formed Protectors of the Realm. He remembered all to clearly when little Bernadette had come to the Project, still traumatized by witnessing her mother’s death.

He had some feelings of guilt over the fact that the Project had basically stolen five years of Bernadette’s childhood. They had helped her through the trauma and taught her to use her powers. They had taught her how to fight, and how to kill. They had made her into a good little servant of the Crown. When sent on missions, she performed exactly as ordered, with the sole exception of the operation in Rome.

In Rome, they finally discovered just how deep the scares of her mother’s death went. When they had encountered the terrorists they were there to stop, Bernadette had lost control. She lashed out at the terrorists without any self-restraint, nearly killing several of them. She was uncontrollable, and eventually had to be restrained by Druidess’ magic until she tired and calmed down.

And now you have said that you would get her a file about an IRA terrorist Charlie boy. Well, a promise is a promise, and I d*mn well keep my word. Charles Huntington picked up the phone again.

Rook:

Linda English rocked back and forth in her swivel chair. Twirling her eyeglasses around in her hand, she smirked as she stared at her computer screen.

"A/S/L?", popped up in her chat room.

"19 years old, hunky male from southern California.", Linda typed with one hand with incredible speed.

Work had become incredibly boring for her in recent times. Five years ago, the IRA seemed to be in its prime. Information about their enemies poured from her monitor like a flood. But now, since allot of the IRA had disbanded its weapons, things have calmed down. So, taunting young girls in chat rooms filled most of her time.

Suddenly, one of her minimized windows started flashing. Nonchalantly, Linda opened it, expecting that some computer geek was trying to hack into her files.

She was confused when she opened the window. Someone has been looking for information on the former IRA assassin Rook.

She knew Rook when she was much younger, a handsome, strong and deadly man. Rook was a loose cannon, which made Linda grow more and more intrigued about him. But that was a long time ago, he was most likely dead by now.

At first she thought that it might be some kid who had heard stories about the assassin, but the way the person was retrieving information was done carefully....too carefully.

"This sleeveen is sure actin' the fool...", said Linda under her breath.

Linda squinted her eyes and slightly grinned, wondering if this might be a lead into the famous "disappearing terrorist" investigation the IRA had been conducting and nearly dropped.

Rook:

The cold snow wrapped around Rook's heavy boots as he made his way through the desolate Ruby Park.

Ruby Park once derived its name from the beautiful images it gave the citizens of Paragon City during fall. In this season, nearly all of the leaves on the huge trees had turned into a dark amber. The park also had long lines of bushes, which also during this time, sprouted bright red flowers. Lovers, families, friends and occasional business partners could all be seen strolling through Ruby Park during this time.

But now, Ruby Park held one solitary figure. The trees and bushes were all covered with a thick blanket of snow, covering their old beauty and adding a new, different beauty.

Rook slowly walked through the park, hoping to get his mind off of things. Little puffs of visible air left Rook's mouth as he looked at two squirrels chasing each other up a tree. He smiled and made his way over to a park bench.

Brushing the thick snow out of the way, Rook placed himself down on the freezing iron bench. Rook didn't mind the cold though as he peered over the span of the park.

Rook enjoyed the silence and emptiness of the park on his day off. Then he thought that maybe, this was exactly what he needed to rest his mind and soul.

Thevshi:

Bernadette’s voice rang through the room like a clear bell as she proceeded through her scales in choir practice. Singing was usually a means of escape for her from her regular life and it was something that she was quite good at. But today, she was having trouble focusing on her singing, the thoughts about the newscast and her growing feeling that the two Rooks were one and the same.

Suddenly the piano accompanying her stopped and Mrs. Fredricks was looking at her with an expression of surprise on her face. “Bernadette, are you feeling well? You have missed four notes.”

Bernadette looked down at the floor and sheepishly replied, “I am sorry mum, I am a little tired is all.”

Mrs. Fredricks looked at her for a moment and then gestured to the rows of seats where the other students were seated. “Take a seat then Bernadette. Next!”

Bernadette reddened slightly as she made her way over to her seat, ignoring the gazes of the other students as she went. She sat down and fixed her gaze on the next student, as they began to recite their scales. Well lass, why don’t you just let this obsession take over yer entire life why don’t ye.

One of the boys that sat behind her leaned forward some whispering, “What’s the matter Bernadette, you have a hot date last night?” Bernadette turned back and the gaze she shot him was enough to cause his smile to fade as he sat back in his chair. The rest of the class was not much better.


As she was heading towards the door after the bell had sounded, Mrs. Fredricks called out, “Bernadette, can you stay a moment?”

Bernadette moved her way over towards Mrs. Fredricks’ desk as the rest of the choir class made their way out of the room, free for lunch. Mrs. Fredricks looked up at her with a greatly concerned look as the last student left the room. “Are you all right dear? This is not like you, not like you at all.”

Standing their with her hands crossed in front of her, Bernadette quietly replied, "I am fine mum, I just ‘ad a ‘ard time getting to sleep last night.”

“Is everything okay at home dear?” Mrs. Fredricks asked, her gaze deeply concerned.

The question took Bernadette slightly by surprise, but she quickly lied, “Yes mum, everything is fine.”

Mrs. Fredricks seemed to accept Bernadette’s response and smiled, “Dear, you are an incredibly gifted singer. You could be so good. I hope you realize that?”

“Oh, yes mum, I do. I truly enjoy singing.” Bernadette replied with a smile of her own.

Mrs. Fredricks smiled again. “Very good dear. Now you had better be getting to lunch. And please try to get enough rest so you can stay focused in class.”

Bernadette nodded, “Yes mum, I will.” And turned and left the classroom.

Rook:

Brogan and Murphy stood next to each other with arms crossed over their chests as Linda English pulled up the hacked information on Rook.

"I hev' sketchy phone conversations....information retrieval cues....and an address. Whoeva was checkin' out this info was shure snakin' around.", said Linda through the clatter of typed keys.

Murphy was already fuming. He was relatively new to the IRA, but he has been trying to track the missing terrorist ever since his induction. To Murphy, it was a chance to prove himself to other members of the IRA that he was a worthwhile member. But now, some culchie (untrustworthy person) snatched up all the glory. He gritted his teeth and stormed out of the room to find his files on Rook.

Brogan peered at the screen with a stern look on his face. Brogan was one of the senior members of the IRA. Everyone usually referred to him as "Stormin Brogan", a name derived from his fits of anger.

"Lass, the addy there....where is that located?", said Brogan as he leaned forward towards Linda's six monitors.

"12593 SE R Street....I ran a check of the addy...two locales....", said Linda as she twirled her glasses around in her finger. "I git one in Quebec Canada, and the other in Paragon City, United States."

Brogan tugged at his white beard as he pondered. He once had trained Rook as a young man. Rook showed much promise, but it all crumbled when he killed Rube Bloodeyes, another IRA assassin. At first, no one believed that Rook did it. No one wanted to believe he did it. But soon, all fingers pointed to Rook as he disappeared from Ireland. Ever since then, Rook has become one of their main targets.

"Patch me into the trainin faciliti lass...",said Brogan very slowly as if he were thinking about making a major decision.

Linda hammered away at her keys, and in a few moments a video screen opened on one of the monitors.

"Attention, I hev a job for the three of ya.....make a right hames of this job, and you'll be in flitters when I'm dune with ya...
(Attention, I have a job for the three of you, mess up this job and you'll be in pieces when I'm done with you)

Thevshi:

The next morning found a new blanket of snow replacing all that had been cleared the day before. The air was chillingly cold, and a major snowstorm was due the next day or so. Bernadette paced around the floor of the living room of her home. She had found it difficult to sleep again last night, and was feeling tired again. It was around nine in the morning, and after she had woken her father up, she had pretended to leave for school. She had then made her way back to the house after her father had left.

All right, just calm down lass. Ye ain’t doing yer self any good getting all worked up in anticipation. Soon I’ll ‘ave what I need to figure this all out. One way or another. She glanced out the window at the dark sky that threatened more snow. Looking out at everything, blanketed in snow was truly a beautiful sight.

A knock at the door snapped Bernadette’s mind back to the task at hand. She rushed to the door and quickly opened it. "’Ello, can I . . " she froze as she looked out the door, surprised by who was on the doorstep.

Susan Eddings, also know as Druidess, looked at her with a big smile. “Bernadette dear, you are looking wonderful.”

Bernadette rushed forward and grasped Susan in a fierce hug, with tears of joy in her eyes. “Susan, I didn’ think that Charles would send you on this little errand, but I am so glad that ‘e did.”

Susan hugged Bernadette tightly. “Careful there dear, not all of us are stronger than an Olympic weight lifter.” She held Bernadette back at arms length looking her over closely. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Bernadette smiled at the British woman who had been like a big sister to her for the last five years of her life. “Come on inside, and I will make up a spot ‘o tea. If ye ‘ave the time that is.”

Susan smiled warmly as she started into the house with her arm around Bernadette. “Of course I have the time. Travel by ley lines allows for one to spend plenty of time at ones destination.”

A short while later, Bernadette poured out two cups of tea and took a seat across from Susan. She couldn’t help but smile as she took a sip of her tea. “I can’t tell ye’ ‘ow glad I am to see you Susan. I ‘ave missed you, an’ Charles an’ the others.”

Susan took a sip of tea and smiled in return. “And we have missed you Bernadette. Things have been quite different without you as part of the team. But you seem to be doing quite well here in America. How are things?”

Bernadette just shrugged slightly as she replied, “Well, there was a period ‘o getting used to being in a new place, but that didn’ take long. I ‘ave made several friends at the ‘igh school I attend, most of them are members of a ‘ero team I ‘ave joined, called C.A.S.T. It is great to ‘ave friends that are around my own age.”

Susan’s face saddened slightly as her eyes looked off to one side. “Yes, I have always felt badly that you were secluded from your peers while you were with the Project.” Then she looked back at Bernadette with a sly smile. “So, is there a special young man among these friends?”

Bernadette’s cheeks colored slightly and she looked down at her tea before looking back up at Susan with a smile. “Well, there is one lad, ‘is name is Alex, and ‘e is a member of C.A.S.T. as well. ‘e is ‘andsome and kind, we ‘ave been on a few dates and such.”

Susan beamed as she reached forward to squeeze Bernadette’s hand. “That is splendid dear. I am so happy for you. Just try to remember to that in many ways, you are more mature than most your age, but in others, you are still behind. Take things slow, and just enjoy yourself.”

Susan took another sip of her tea as she looked around the kitchen, then, with a serious look in her eyes, she fixed her gaze back on Bernadette. “And how is your father?”

Bernadette’s smile faded as she looked down at the table, setting her tea down. “’E is the same for the most part. ‘E ‘as a job, but still spends most nights out late at the pubs. We ‘ardly see each other, and that is mainly when I get ‘im to bed or am sobering ‘im up in the morning for work.”

“I am sorry to hear that.” Susan answered, reaching froward again to put her hand on Bernadette’s. “Perhaps it is time you confronted him, got him to seek some form of help?”

Bernadette frowned as she looked away again. “I don’t think so. ‘e probably wouldn’ listen to me.”

Susan’s eyes saddened. “Bernadette, you deserve better than this! Your father is not going to change unless you do something to get him too.”

Her face reddening in anger, Bernadette snapped, “Look, there isn’ a bloody thing I can do! So lets just bloody drop it!”

Susan sat back, slightly startled by Bernadette’s reaction, before she replied calmly, “Very well, I am just concerned about you dear.”

Bernadette hunched over slightly as she looked down, ashamed by her outburst. She quietly replied, “I know, I would rather not talk about it is all.”

Susan looked as if she wanted to say something but stopped. Silence hung in the air before she finally said, “It’s okay dear, but if you ever do need to talk, don’t hesitate to call me. Now, shall we get on with business?” she took one more sip of tea and reached down and picked up a leather attaché case next to her. Setting it down in her lap, she stopped as she opened the latches. Still looking down at the case, she asked, “Are you sure that you want this Bernadette?”

“What do you mean?”

Susan looked at her as she replied. “Well, this can only serve to bring up bad memories for you. Perhaps this is better left in the past?”

Bernadette felt her face redden in anger again, but she managed to control her tongue this time. “I appreciate your concern Susan, but I can’t keep this in the past. Hopefully, this is all for nothing, but I need to know. One way or the other.”

Susan was still a moment before she responded, “Very well, you are a big girl now Bernadette, I just hope you know what you are doing.” She opened up the attaché case and pulled out a brown file folder closed by a white strip of paper that read ‘Your Eyes Only’. She handed the brown folder over to Bernadette. “Here is everything that the SIS was able to discover about Rook, not a lot really, but hopefully it will help you with what ever it is that is going on.”

Bernadette took the file in her hands, a feeling of tense excitement rushed through her as she had to control the urge to rip the file open and start looking at it. “Thank you Susan, I hope that it is all nothing but a bloody waste of time.”

Susan looked at Bernadette with a mock shocked look as she replied, “A waste of time? How could getting to spend some time with you be a waste of time? But I do need to be going now. Perhaps I can arrange some time to come by for a longer visit, maybe when it is less cold.” Susan stood up and put her coat back on.

Putting the file down on the table, Bernadette stood as well replying, “By then, I will know all the good places to take you.” She grabbed Susan in a hug. “Susan, I am so glad you came. And don’ be worrying about me. I can take care of me self.”

Susan returned Bernadette’s hug. “I know dear, just be careful.” She kissed Bernadette’s forehead and stepped back. “Take care Bernadette.” With a quick series of gestures, Susan was surrounded by a ring of light and then gone.

Bernadette’s smile slid from her face as she looked over at the file sitting on the table. She slowly walked over and picked up the file. Just as she was about to tear off the white band, she glanced up at the clock. Bloody ‘ell! I need to get to school. No way I should miss choir after me chat with Mrs. Fredricks yesterday. Bernadette grabbed her book bag, and stuffed the file into it and ran off for the front door. She came dashing back into the kitchen and turned off the range and then headed out the door.

Rook:

**Flames engulfed the towns' small homes. Young children ran out of their bedrooms in a chaotic spree, each screaming out for their parents to come and save them from the rapid explosions. Yet, it was too late...Most of the parents had either died fighting, or were murdered in their sleep.

Rook stood alone on the perimeter of the town with a look of fear and bewilderment on his face.

"I've git ta help those kids...",he said as the flames from the homes caused them to fall to the ground, into a heap of rubble.

Rook ran as fast as he could towards the wreckage. His efforts seemed to be futile though, his legs seemed to be moving in slow motion as child after child was either shot or killed by the searing flames.

Rook's eyes streamed tears down his face as he screamed aloud in anger.

"No!!!! This is wrong!! Stop!!!

His words fell upon deaf ears. No one even turned to notice him.

Gunmen seemed to be everywhere. The villagers who tried to put up a fight were soon slayed by a volley of bullets sprayed from automatic weapons.

Rook fell to his knees at the sight, grasping his face in his palms, he wept.

Then, a small girl in a red dress tugged at Rook's shirt.

"Rook, I need you to help us...", she said softly.

Rook glanced up to the most beautiful sight he'd seen in a long time. There stood Megan, Rook's little sister. Megan stared at Rook with sincere eyes and ran towards the flames.

"Megan...no!!!!", cried Rook, as he reached out his hand to grasp her, but missed.

Rook ran towards his sister and towards the flames, but she was gone when Rook neared the homes.

Then, a figure, shrouded in the shadows walked slowly out of the flames. In his hands, he grasped the charred bodies of children and many others who didn't escape the inferno. His skin was covered in the black remains of the smoke. His face showed bright green eyes and a grin that Rook knew all to well.

Rook glanced at the apparition of himself and yelled out in a ghostly scream.**

FWAAAPAM!!, was the sound of Rook's fist pounding through his alarm clock, desk and lamp which once sat on his nightstand next to his bed.

His eyes glared bright green and his fist still sizzled from the radioactive punch he just laid on his menacing...alarm.

His stomach moved back and forth very quickly as he breathed quick gasps of air. Again, he was covered in sweat from the horrible nightmare the night before. This one had to be the most vivid one yet.

Rook rolled out of his bed and walked over to his window. It was 5:30 am. The sun had still not risen over the skyline, and the streets and trees were covered with a thick blanket of snow.

Rook originally had only one thing on his agenda today. He was to be at Team1 HQ early today. It was his day to train some of the new recruits. He actually liked to do it. He believed that he had a certain something that most young people liked. Something that made them intrigued.

The other thing that was now on his plate was to make an appointment with Mr. Edwards' private psychologist. Rook thought that if he didn't get some mental relief quick, then something bad might soon happen.

After taking a long, cold shower, Rook threw on his Team1 uniform. It gave him a sense of power and dignity...something he needed in a time where he now felt powerless and full of shame. His black leather jacket covered his torso to keep him a little warm. The heat in his classic car wasn't working too well, which was very unfortunate for this time of year.

The 1973 black stingray corvette howled in excitement as Rook pumped the gas. Rook smiled as he realized the echo from the garage must have been driving the neighbors crazy this early in the morning.

Ten minutes later, Rook arrived at Team1 HQ. After going through each security check, Rook made his way to the steel doors of the elevator. He clicked on floor 58.

Soon, The door quietly hissed as they slid open. Rook slowly stepped into the Team1 training facility.

Thevshi:

The snows began to fall again that afternoon, a small prelude to the storm expected to hit the next day. At a small table behind rows of books in the Paragon City Public Library, Bernadette was busy going through stacks of old newspapers. Her half-day of school had been almost unbearable, but somehow she had managed to avoid looking at the Rook file.

Now the file sat on the table, opened to the few poor quality photos of Rook that the SIS had been able to obtain. She had quickly read the file, the long list of victims and suspected victims of Rook and his partner Rube Bloodeyes had shocked her. When she had looked at the file previously, she had only been looking for general information on this old IRA assassin and had not paid much attention to the details of his crimes. But now she faced the possibility that this killer was here in Paragon City, and thought of as a hero no less. The long list of victims only served to fuel the anger that had been building in her the last few days.

So far the newspapers were being extremely frustrating. Rook had some how managed to avoid being photographed very much or very clearly. Could this be by design? Another stack of newspapers was flipped over with no picture of Rook. Bernadette held in a scream of frustration as she stood up and carried the stack of newspaper back to the racks. Grabbing another stack, she headed back to the table and began to flip through the pages again, wondering if she would ever find what she needed.

Just then, she found a headline regarding a battle between Team 1 and the Killing Crew. Flipping back to the continuing page, she found a picture that showed Rook. Heart pounding in her chest, Bernadette pulled the SIS file over to compare the pictures. The man in the newspaper was older and had a haunted look in his eyes, but even with the poor quality of the SIS pictures, it was easy to make a connection between the two. Rage boiled up with in Bernadette as she compared the pictures again. It IS bloody ‘im! One of the deadliest IRA assassins ever is living ‘ere in Paragon City! “The bloody *******!” She shouted as she slammed her fist onto the table.

The table shattered into pieces under the impact and Bernadette looked down at the spiderweb cracks that were appearing in the floor under her increased density. She hadn’t remembered standing up or increasing her density.

“What in the world is going on back here?” Called out Gerald Thomas, one of the few librarians on duty, as he quickly walked past the rows of books to where the newspaper racks were. Rounding a row of books, he gapped in shock at the sight of the smashed table with newspapers lying about.

Two blocks away, Bernadette returned her density to normal as she touched down on the roof of a nearby building. As she put the SIS file back into her bookbag, Bernadette was bothered by how she had let her anger get the better of her. Well lass, ye need to be tryin’ ta keep that under control when you go after the *******. Otherwise, it could cost ye.

Bernadette looked up into the snow filled sky, the cold wetness of the falling snow did nothing to cool the anger raging through her. She lifted off into the air, again lowering her density as she started back towards her house.

A short time later, Bernadette passed through the roof of the house into her room. The house stood quite, as her father was most likely out at a pub as he usually would be. Bernadette threw her bookbag into a corner and went into the closet and pulled out a metal suitcase. Opening it up, she pulled out one of the black bodysuits that she had worn at Project Daedalus. The material was designed to help fool infrared and thermal imaging, and was smooth to the touch. It was more form fitting than she would have liked, but that did allow for freedom of movement. Since she had gotten involved with the other teens in C.A.S.T, she had really not put any effort into changing her outfit into something flashier as was often common here in Paragon City. Tonight, wearing a British uniform seemed all the more appropriate. Quickly stripping off her clothes, she slipped the bodysuit on and zipped it up. She grabbed her brown Italian leather jacket to help protect against the intense cold and a pair of gloves. From inside the suitcase, she pulled out a small pair of binoculars, ones that had lowlight and infrared capabilities. She slipped those into a pocket in her jacket and then closed her eyes for a moment and tired to calm her frayed nerves. Excitement and tension flowed through her like a torrent; she opened her eyes and lowered her density again. To bloody ‘ell with it! Time to take the b*stard down! She flew back up through the roof and started off into the snow filled night.

Brainstrain:

Another day at team1 headquarters. All the superheroes and superheroines are getting ready for their days. Except for the nocturnal ones, that is. Erica America is busy in the training room, trying to take down a copy of herself. Nothing seems to work; the duplicate knows everything she's going to do before she does! Finally, she decides that the weakness of anyone, strong or feeble, evil or not so evil, is shame. She cites transgressions of her own until her double bursts down into tears, and then disables the double.
"Great job, Erica!" Shouts machinery Myron, the aspiring technician. He helps in the early morning, helping the training equipment and stuff.
"Once you know their secrets, anyone from politicians to mimes crumble. Except you can't try and misquote an evil mime. They won't call for help, though, if you've almost defeated them" She replies.

Erica moves to the kitsch suburban kitchen of the HQ to eat her breakfast and read about her stocks.
Erica: Wow, it seems that re-construction companies and alien repellants are really up! So it’s Cryptic studios. I wonder what they make, but it seems popular...Ooh! I'm the news!
Page E7! Erica America of Team1 defeats Larry Spotter, malicious mage! Erica takes out a microscope from above the counter and reads the article.

Erica: Yup. It says how I defeated him after he "poofed" away the money inside all those registers, and how I noted that he was riding his broom incorrectly, and when he stopped to change it, I tossed garbage lid at him and he fell off. But what about his partner, "Hair my own, Ninny"? HMON was sure to pop up somewhere. Erica collected the mail, paid a few bills (not out of her own pocket, of course) and went to get a bit more sleep.

Erica: I'll set my alarm clock, so I'll wake up in time for my training session with Rook.

*And she did*

Gahd:

Recon stood in the observation deck, filling out reports on the trainees progress. A few of them showed real promise, others were obviously destines to clerical jobs for the team. It was almost time for his and Rook's session with the group.

No sooner was the thought through his mind than Rook entered the room. He looked rather somber this morning, even for him. Seeing as how they had about 10 minutes left in the trainees warm-ups, Recon decided to ask Rook about it.

"Another late night? You look like you've just went 3 rounds with a mind-melter."

The observation window iced-over as one trainee trapped another with a beam of pure cold. It was one of the more promising ones, he'd been getting kind of cocky recently.

It was a good thing this session was to pit Rook and Recon against this group to prepare them for their testing next month. It was high time the popsicle boy learned some humility.

Recon melted the Ice with a flash from his palm, freeing the unfortunate future file clerk from his icy prison. He made another note to reprimand the cold-controller, the boy had frozen-over the other's head, Team1 was not a place for carelessness.

Rook hadn't even seemed to notice any of this, he looked very contemplative. Recon tried to remember the last time Rook had acted this way, it was totally unlike him.

Recon got Rook's attention the old-fashioned way, with a tap on the shoulder. Rook's eyes flashed with a minor surprise "What?".

"I just asked you what's going on. Are you shure you're ok for this session? Some of thease trainees are loose cannons, theay've got no control, just raw power. We're here to show them that they need to train themselves to be better than that, and the last thing we need is a senior member in less-than-perfect shape."

Rook:

Bad shape....
Watching cadets train all day was almost too boring for Rook. Yet, at least now he got to test out his skills on them.

****

Rook and Recon strode down the long, cold pathway towards the training facility's iron doors. Recon punched a few buttons on the outside panel, and the doors slid open with a hiss. Rook walked into the middle of the large, desolate area; his foot steps noticeable upon the steel floors.

Recon made his way over to the training simulator computer. He set up the simulation to be in a jungle scene, with the correct temperatures and heavy rain. Still glancing over at his teammate, he wondered if Rook was ready for this.

Pressing a button on his belt, Rook got on to the intercom.

"Trainees Jason Sharp and Erica America...you will now be' tested in a real combat situashune with two' veterans. Think ye kin handle it?"

The sound of the other training doors hissing open were all the confirmation Rook needed.

The jungle scene formed around them, and soon neither group could see each other. The rains were pretty heavy and the ground was hard to move on due to the newly formed mud.

Recon soon teleported himself and Rook into a patch of dense foliage. It would be a perfect hiding place for an ambush. Recon looked over at Rook with a concerned look on his face. Rook's face was stern as he peered out over the scene. The rain was pretty loud, making it nearly impossible to even hear movement.

Erica and Jason could soon be heard though, as Jason, the ice wielder, was practically yelling his orders to Erica. Erica pretty much ignored him, while Jason decided that they should split up.

Recon smiled at Rook and teleported to a place where he would most likely ambush Erica.

This kid isn't the smartest recruit..., Rook thought sarcastically as he peered at Jason.

Jason had his ice shield up around him, which was good for defense, but made him stick out like a green thumb.

Rook quickly rolled out of his hiding place and sent a radioactive blast hurling at the young Jason. The blast tore apart the shield and he was sent spiraling backwards. Rook smiled and began a full charge at Jason, eyes glowing bright green.

Jason, in fear, shot ice blast after ice blast at the oncoming madman. Each missed horribly as Rook's agility was too much for him.

Rook smashed Jason in the stomach with a punch and then tripped him with a leg sweep. Rook grabbed Jason's arm and held it behind his back as he put one knee on his lower back, pinning him down to the muddy ground.

Jason grimaced in pain, but then sent a blast of freezing ice through Rook's body. Soon, Rook was enveloped in a coat of ice. The ice soon covered his face, making it impossible for Rook to breathe.

Jason put on a smirk and began to make his way to find Erica and Recon.

Rook, watching the young man leave him to suffer, grew infuriated. The ice mold soon began to glow a bright green and shattered into hundreds of pieces as Rook's radiation powers freed him from the icy prison.

Rook gritted his teeth and ran behind Jason, tackling him to the ground. Rook flipped him over and repeatedly began smashing him over and over in the face. The young man seemed terrified as blood flew from every part of his face.

"Rook, I have subdued Erica....this pathetic exercise is over..."

Upon hearing Recon's voice, Rook quickly stopped brawling and left the young man on the ground. Jason wiped at the blood with his arm and looked as if he would cry.

Rook just walked away and out of the training simulation, blood still dripping from his hands.

Rook then decided that he needed to take a break. He threw on his leather jacket in disgust with himself and made his way out of Team1 HQ.

Seemed as if alcohol was the only way he could rest his mind as of late....so the pub seemed to be calling his name...again.

Thevshi:

Bernadette watched as Rook drove out of the Team1 base from a rooftop a few blocks away. She placed her binoculars back into her coat pocket as she flew into the air following a bit behind his car. She had been sitting on the roof for a few hours and her muscles were slightly stiff with the cold. She lowered her density to protect her from the cold winds that were sweeping the falling snow about.

Rook drove for about ten minutes, making easy time in the nearly deserted street. When he finally stopped, Bernadette touched down on the roof of a nearby building to observe. Rook exited his car and made his way over to a pub named Mc’Gilly’s. Bernadette smirked as he walked through the door, ‘e is probably going ta get pissed. This is too bloody easy. She drifted down to the sidewalk in front of the pub and stood there a moment, gaze locked on the door. Anger and excitement were pounding through her head and body. Not exactly the most private place ta go after a murderer, but anyone in there will probably clear out right quick. Her jaw set in fierce determination, she strode forward and pulled open the door.

The inside of the pub was dark and slightly smoky. Bernadette squinted slightly as her eyes adjusted to the lighting in the place. There were very few customers, the snow serving to keep all but the desperate away. There were a few small groups of old men or blue collar workers that probably had no where else to be. The conversations that had been taking place stopped as all eyes in the place turned to regard her, their faces betraying the shock of seeing someone as young as her in a place like this. Only one occupant paid no mind to her entrance, a tall brown haired man seated at the bar, the man she was after. Rook.

Bernadette started forward into the pub, heading directly towards Rook, who still had not looked up from his pint. Everyone else was watching her, unsure of what to say, they were all trying to comprehend what such a sweet, innocent looking lass would be doing in such a place. Her appearance had often worked to her advantage, no one expected her to be capable of picking up a main battle tank and throwing it a few hundred meters. Yes, underestimating her had been a big mistake for many in the past.

One of the patrons found some courage and shouted out, “Hey there lass, ye are a little early if yer lookin’ fer a good time, still to much drinkin’ ta be done.” He grinned at the small group of rough looking men he was seated with as they all started laughing.

Bernadette kept her attention focused on Rook as she proceeded, ignoring the remark. Soon enough, they would not be looking at her in the same way. Inside her chest, her heart was pounding at an intense pace. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought it was echoing through the room. Anger coursed through her like a storm, right there, only a few meters away was the murdering ******* she was after. It was all she could do to keep from charging headlong towards him.

She came up behind him and stopped. He was still not paying her any mind, but she was sure that he had watched her in the mirror behind the bar. “Are ye the one they be callin’ Rook?” She asked with an accent that was a unusual mix of Irish and British.

Rook:

Rook hunched over his freshly poured ale. All of the patrons of Mc'Gilly's seemed to be paying attention to a newcomer....not that Rook cared. His mind was pounding. He's been having constant nightmares, his teammates wondering about his constant mood swings, and now....he nearly killed one of the new trainees. Rook could see himself having to explain himself to Mr. Edwards in his intimidating office tomorrow... This little girl was the last thing on his mind.

"Are ye the one they be callin’ Rook?", she said as if she stood right behind him.

The words sent shudders down Rook's spine. By the accent, Rook was convinced that she was an IRA assassin. Even the folks in Mc'Gilly's, an Irish pub, didn't have an accent like that. He tightened his grip on his beer in anticipation.

Then, reality struck him. Why would the IRA be training young girls to work for them? Why would they send only 'her' to come after Rook anyway? These questions calmed his nerves a bit, but still Rook was a bit uneasy.

Maybe....she just happened to be another girl from Ireland....heard about Rook's exploits here through the news or something and wanted to meet her 'hero'. Whatever it was, Rook decided that he would shoo her off so he could get back to drinking.

Rook slowly turned around in his barstool, "What do ye want ye snapper(child)?", and finally faced the young girl with a smirk on his face.

Funny thing was....he only got a faint first impression of her...

Thevshi:

Bernadette glared at Rook as he replied. Some would call him handsome, but all she saw was the face of a murderer. The anger and tension that she had been feeling the last few days, exploded through her has she increased her density to maximum, creating cracks in the ground beneath her feet. She quickly pulled back her fist responding, “Me name is Thesvhi, an’ I ‘ave been lookin’ fer ya. You MURDERIN’ B*STARD!” She launched a fierce right hook with all her strength behind it. The impact shook the windows and other glass throughout the pub. Rook was sent sailing back through the bar and smashed through the wall behind it. He landed in a storeroom, smashing into a pile of crates, several of which shattered.

The entire room was dead silence now. The bartender reached nervously under the bar for a shotgun he kept there, unsure of what he would do with it.

Thevshi still had her gaze fixed on where Rook had smashed through the wall as she lowered her density, taking on the ghostly appearance that accompanied her power. Several of the patrons gasped, and the bartender dropped his shotgun on the floor and began instead to reach for the phone.

Thevshi glided forward into the storeroom as Rook was trying to get to his feet, still dazed from her right hook. She increased her density again as she moved forwards and gabbed him by his jacket and yanked him to his feet. At the same time, she drove her left knee into his stomach, doubling him over and knocking the wind out of him.

As her left foot came back down, she quickly stepped across with her right leg and twisted into a throw, using all her strength and weight to send Rook back through the wall into the pub’s main room. He slammed into a column in the center of the pub and fell to the floor.

Thevshi again lowered her density as she flew out towards Rook.

Rook:

Rook's body smashed into the sturdy column, sending pieces of it around Mc'Gilly's pub.

Upon seeing this, most of the patrons ran out of the pub in fear. The others who stuck around didn't know what to do.

****

Rook grabbed at the back of his head as he spat out a puddle of blood. What in the bloody hell was that?, he wondered to himself. His hand was covered in blood as he took it away from his head. He was still trying to get some of his breath back after he got the wind knocked out of him.

Rook gritted his teeth as he saw the devastation his body had created. Shame, Mc'Gilly's was his favorite pub.

Rook staggered up, but was soon smashed back into the column as the young girl flew straight into him. Rook stood straight for a second, then his knees buckled and he fell flat on his face. It felt as if she had cracked all of his ribs.

Who the hell was this girl and what the hell did she want with me?, Rook wondered as he felt the young girl grab him by the back of his leather jacket.

The girl then tried to punch him in the lower back, but Rook quickly swung around and grabbed her fist with incredible strength before she could connect. The girl looked amazed, but that only fueled her anger.

"Lissen ye scanger, I don't who ye got me confused wit, but milling aboot wit me is only gonna git ye reefed!, Rook said with a grunt. (Listen you ignorant female, I don't know who you got me confused with, but fighting me is only going to get you beat up.)

Upon hearing this, the young girl smiled with a kind of anger usually unseen at that age.

A swift kick to Rook's head knocked his grip loose and he fell backwards to the pub floor. She quickly was on top of him again, throwing him on top of the bar's long table.

Obviously, words and intimidation aren't going to work on her.., thought Rook to himself as he tried to dislodge a piece of a beer bottle from his back. The barback just stared with his mouth agape, not knowing what to do.

Rook slowly slid off of the table, and moved back towards the wall of different spirits. Rook didn't want to hurt her...he didn't even know why she was attacking him. Rook didn't like to hurt women, so he decided to take actions into her hands...literally.

The young woman, thinking Rook was trying to escape her wrath, charged straight towards him. She launched one punch at his face, but Rook dodged quickly and her hand smashed into a bottle. She threw another punch, and Rook did the same, dodging the attack and making the young woman injure herself.

Only the young girl wasn't injured at all. No blood poured from her fists as Rook had hoped...

The young woman yelled in anger at Rook's ability to dodge her attacks, then tackled him straight into the wall of bottles. Glass shattered everywhere and the young girl soon jumped backwards, grabbing wooden cabinet and throwing it down on Rook's motionless body. Dust flew everywhere as it smashed down.

****

Rook's body was throbbing from head to toe. His shirt was covered in blood and alcohol, his favorite leather jacket torn in several places. It felt as if he couldn't move for a second, but his regeneration powers worked quickly. He wasn't about to die at the hands of a little girl...

****

The young woman hovered over the destruction. She cursed Rook's name over and over and waited for any sign of movement.

Soon, the pile of wreck glowed a bright green as Rook's body exploded through the mess.

He gritted his teeth and his muscles bulged as adrenaline was now flowing through his veins faster than a wild river. His eyes glowed bright green, leaving trails of energy behind his face as he walked towards the girl.

"Awright lass...I'm off the drink now...no more of this holy' show...,he said as he breathed in and out heavily, focusing only on his assailant before him.
(Alright girl, I'm not drinking anymore...no more of this embarrassing exhibition.)

Thevshi:

Thevshi only regarded Rook with fierce determination as he spoke. She replied, “Suite me just fine. I wouldn’t want this ta be to easy you sodding terrorist!” Rage and anger still ran through her body like a storm, but she could also fell her endurance failing slightly. It had been a long time since she had used her full strength for such an extended period of time, and it was starting to tax her. She needed to put an end to this as soon as she could.

She charged forward with a left jab, quickly followed by a right. Rook dodged back from them both and caught her right wrist, quickly twisting into a throw. Halfway through, Thevshi knew that he had misjudged her weight as she dropped downward quicker than she should. She tumbled with the throw, shifting to her desolid state and rolling through the bar. She was quickly up on her feet on the opposite side, spinning to face Rook as she again raised her density.

Rook’s face betrayed slight surprise, that quickly faded behind his anger. He leapt over the bar, his fists glowing with radioactive energy, but he hesitated as he landed. Thesvhi didn’t waste anytime, quickly reaching behind her, she ripped up the long bar table that was there and swung it at Rook.

He quickly raised his left arm, smashing the table into pieces with a blaze of green from the radioactive punch. He then charge forward, his eyes glowing green, and grabbed her jacket, shoving her back towards the same column she had thrown him into earlier.

Thevshi quickly lowered her density and drifted back through the pillar and landed over near the pub’s pool table. Rook followed her around the column only to take a quick left jab to the jaw. His head snapped sideways, but he easily caught her right arm as it followed. His left arm quickly warped her right arm into an arm lock. Thevshi gritted her teeth at the slight pain, knowing that if she hadn’t been as strong as she was, her arm could very well be broken. Rook raised his right fist, but hesitated when he saw the brief look of pain on her face.

This was all Thevshi needed, she grabbed his collar with her free hand and pulled him towards her. At the same time she smashed her forehead into his nose. There was a sickening crunch and she felt blood splatter on her face. His hold on her right arm loosened and she pulled it free, grabbing him and slammed him down onto the pool table.

The table broke under Rook’s body and he was briefly still. Thevshi saw a brief flash stars as exhaustion was beginning to cut through her rage.



Sean O’Connell had just begun his night of drinking in one of the better pubs in Paragon City. He had come there with several of his fellow workers from the docks. Like so many of them, he drank to forget everything.

He was in the restroom when he heard the first loud crash that shook the building, followed not much latter by another.

Sean rushed out into the small hall that led to the restrooms. He looked out at the battle that was raging through the pub, his eyes wide in disbelief. Oh me Lord! Bernadette! He had never seen his daughter use her powers before, and only had a vague idea of what she could do.

The devastation she was causing terrified him, as he moved back in the small hall, unsure what to do.

Rook:

The pool table's balls scattered around the pub as Rook's body was placed through it.

His body was aching...Who in the bloody hell trained this girl??, Rook thought to himself as he tried to concoct a plan of action. She was younger than any mutant he had ever fought, and her fighting prowess matched or even exceeded that of Rook's. Rook slowly wiped the blood, which was pouring from a gash in his forehead so he could just 'see' his attacker.

Rook glanced at her through a squinted eyes, and noticed that she seemed to be slowing down or tiring out. Normally, at this point, Rook's endurance and regeneration would give him the upper hand in the fight, but he still couldn't attack her. After the nightmares he had, it seems as if he would have given in to them if he attacked this girl who seemed to be from Ireland also. She also seemed to be distracted with a patron in the bar who knew her name.

"Awright lass...no more actin the maggot...ya finished ye bowsie??", Rook said as he staggered back to his feet.

All she gave him was a look of disgust as she planted a sidekick into Rook's stomach, sending him careening into a jukebox. Upon hitting it, it began to play Paul Simon's "Kodachrome"...an American song which Rook really despised...

"Ye've git te be kiddin me'....,said Rook as tried to gain some composure. Soon though, he was back on two shaky feet.

The young girl had her hands on her knees now, breathing in and out heavily.

"What’s wrong yea chiseler (young child)? Quit fostering about...I've gist started et' fight yea..., he said and began hopping around as if he were Mohammed Ali, throwing shadow punches into dead air.

With that, she screamed in anger and ran at a dead charge towards Rook. Rook just extended his hand and made a motion for her to 'come and get it'. He smiled through his bloody visage as he realized she was tiring out.

Just as she was about to seemingly punch through Rook's face, Rook dropped to the ground and swept at her legs, sending her face first into the now beer soaked floor of the pub.

Rook readied a medium powered radiation blast just in case...

Thevshi:

Thevshi knew things were getting bad. Her vision was blurring slightly and keeping her density continuously increased had her heart pounding. This was a feeling that she had little familiarity with. Normal strenuous exercise barley winded her, but her powers could be very taxing.

As she ended up flat on the floor, she quickly rolled forward, twisting back to face Rook, her muscles were aching. He seemed a bit winded as well, but was recovering fast. ‘ow the ‘ell is ‘e still on ‘is feet? ‘alf ‘is bones should be broken by now.

She realized she had to do something fast, or the way things were going now, she was going to lose.

Reaching out, she grabbed a nearby video poker machine and threw it at Rook. He raised a hand and blasted it in a blaze of green. This was exactly what she had been counting on.

The moment she threw the machine, she had lowered her density and flew down under the floor as the machine was exploding. The flying debris from the machine had Rook momentarily blinded. She rose back up from the ground behind him as he tried to look for her.

Just as he glanced over his shoulder, she dropped down on his back, increasing her density as high as she could manage and grabbed him in a chokehold. The sudden massive weight forced him to his knees, but he quickly grabbed her left arm and strained to pull it lose.

Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears, and she was starting to have tunnel vision, but Thevshi held on as she continued to put pressure down to keep him on his knees.

But as desperately as she struggled to cut off his airflow and render him unconscious, he struggled back with equal determination and she was just too tired. Suddenly, with a surge of strength, Rook pulled her arm free as she felt her strength fail. She managed to stagger back away from him as he gasped for air, her density returning to normal.

D*mit lass, ye failed. She thought as her head seemed to spin and everything went black.

Thevshi collapsed on the floor near Rook. She was still and her breathing ragged. Around her neck was a chain with a small silver cross that had slipped out from under her collar during the struggle.

Darminiam:

Renegade looked at the report that was on his desk. He read it again and then placed it on his desk and leaned back in his chair. A huge sigh left his lips as he looked at the ceiling, then he turned around in his chair to look outside of the window.

Jamie Sanderson looked at Renegade waiting for a response. She had been quiet for a while waiting for a response to the situation. She didn't know what to think. Recon had dismissed it, then referred her to Renegade. Now he hasn't said a word since she handed him to report.

She looked around the office and noticed no personal effects in the room. No pictures, no trophies, nothing that would prove that this man had a life outside of this room. It would seem that he just used this room as a waiting room for something. But what could be anyone’s guess. She turned back toward the chair waiting patiently for him to say something.

Finally he spoke, "What is the condition of Jason Sharp?"

It didn't really sound like a question. Almost like a statement. "He is okay. His nose is broken and he is shook up. Almost scared. He thought that Rook was going to kill him, sir."

"No. Rook was teaching him a lesson. Sharp tried to kill him. According to his record, it seems that this wasn't the first time that he had frozen an opponents head and left him to suffocate. As a matter of fact, two previous incidents had occurred. And then we have the two today."

Renegade turned around and looked at Jamie. "This seems to me like this is a discipline issue. Talk to those over at Training, tell them that my recommendation is that Sharp should be placed on a two week probationary period. That is all."

"Sir, what about Rook?"

"What about him."

"Don't you think that what he did to the trainee was uncalled for? After all he is only a trainee. He is still being taught what it is to be in this line of work."

"Tell me something Ms. Sanderson, have you been in the military?" He pauses only for a second. "What we do here is not a game. We do not hold people's hand and help them along in their walk through life. In the military, they train you to save lives and defeat your enemy. They don't expect any BS from their trainees, their recruits. If you are cocky, or think that you are the greatest thing they ever saw, they will bring you down a notch. They will rub it in your face and they will discipline you for it. All because they want you to know a few things, first, you’re in a team. Each one of you is important. Second orders are to be followed. With out a chain of command, everything would be lost in a battlefield. And third, this is not a game. These are people's lives. You cannot underestimate opponents, you cannot assume the win, you cannot disobey orders. Sharp had to learn that, Rook taught him that the best way possible. Quickly and effectively. Anything else, Ms. Sanderson?"

"I . . . uh . . . sorry sir. No sir."

"Thank you." He hands her back the file and waits till she leaves the room before he stands up and walks towards the window of his office. "What is going on with you lately Rook? What is bothering you?" He pulled out his communicator and pressed the button calling Rook.

The communicator in Rook's Corvette began to beep, its owner only a stone's throw away.

Rook:

A mess...
Rising slowly from behind the bar, the bartender peeked over the counter with his shotgun still in hand and eyes wide open. McGilly's was destroyed...all due to the fact that two 'heroes' had to go at it for some reason.

Sitting on the floor with his knees up and arms placed on them, Rook wiped the blood from his face, but was hardly successful. The blood matted into his hair, and his clothes were all torn and ruined. The young woman laid still next to him, passed out from the fight. Rook spat blood on the floor as he tried to rise to his feet.

All of the patrons of McGilly's stood in amazement of what had just happened, none knowing what to say or think. Rook glanced around slowly at them, knowing full well what would happen next/

The bartender patted him on his shoulder.

"I told ye befoor Rook...if this ever happined agin, I would hev te kick ye oot...fer good.."

A look of sadness, betrayal, anger and heartbreak seemed to all encompass his visage as the words were spoken.

Mc'Gilly's was the only place in Paragon City where Rook had felt somewhat at home. It was the only place he would go where he could rest his mind and body. Now, he would never be allowed to venture inside again. He wouldn't even be able to help rebuild it...Mc'Gilly's would have nothing to do with him anymore...

Anger rushed through Rook's body as he cursed the young girl. Grabbing her by the back of her shirt, Rook drug her across the beer and blood soaked floor and out the door. She wasn't as heavy as she was before, thankfully, and she seemed completely silent.

Drops of blood trailed behind Rook and painted the snow a bright hue of red.

Dragging the young girl still, Rook made his way over to his black classic corvette convertible. He dropped the girl onto the snow filled ground, opened the passenger door, and launched her body into the back seat. Her head hit the panel on the side of the door, but Rook really didn't care too much anymore.

He wondered why things were going so wrong for him...He had been having nightmares consistently for the past three months, his teammate and old friend Recon probably thinks he's a psycho now, he nearly killed a trainee, alcohol seems to be the only way out of his troubles and worst of all, he was nearly killed by an Irish school girl...What else could possibly happen to me??, he thought to himself as he turned the ignition. It took three tries, but finally the engine roared.

Rook pumped up the heat, then turned to make sure the girl was still zonked out. He was distracted though, as his Team1 communicator was lit up. Someone had called for him around 10 minutes ago from Team1 HQ. Rook smirked, as he realized that it could only be one of two people. Equinox or Renegade. Two of the hardest working employees of Team1.

Turning the wheel and slamming on the gas, Rook peeled out to the sound of a loud screech, and tore down the streets of Paragon City straight towards Team1 HQ.

Someone had to know who this girl was and why she was so bent on killing Rook...

Rook:

Henry and Oliver were the two guards who had to work the overnight shift at Team1 HQ. They were in the middle of a drawn out conversation about the recent news with Jason Sharp just as Rook entered through the sliding glass doors. They stopped their conversation quickly as Rook showed them his identification card. They glanced at him in bewilderment as to why he was all bloody and why he was dragging a bloody teenage girl’s body.

"Anyone still ere?"

"Yes sir,", said Oliver quietly,"I believe Renegade was looking for you earlier. He said for you to visit him in his office if you got here before 1:00am."

Rook peered down at his watch. It read 12:15.

As he approached the elevator and entered his code, Rook threw the young woman over his shoulder and entered the elevator.

The elevator quickly whisked them to Renegades office. Jamie Sanderson, Renegade's secretary looked at him in disgust, sitting behind her desk. Jamie had never liked Rook, and it only made it worse when Rook slept with her best friend. It wasn't a wonder though why she would look at him like that though. He was nearly covered in blood, reeked of alcohol and almost all of his clothes were torn to pieces.

"Sir, I think Rook is here to see you., Jamie said as she pressed her intercom button.

Nearly just as she said that, Renegade came busting out of his office door. He was dressed in a very expensive business suit and looked very professional. Jamie giggled softly as she noticed the contrast between the two men’s' appearance.

Rook gave her a dirty look and looked back towards his friend Renegade. Renegade was one of his best friends in Team1, if not his best. If Rook needed to talk to anyone, it would be Renegade.

"Ello Renegade, I need yer help...., Rook said with a sigh as if he could fall over.

Renegade gave him a concerned look and spoke, "Of course Rook. Please, come into my office."

Darminiam:

Renegade walked over and took the girl from Rook's shoulder. He held her in her arms and looked at Rook to see if he was alright to walk in. Rook just looked at him in a bewildered fashion until Renegade noticed that it wasn't him he was looking at, but the suit. Renegade smiled, "Hey, this was on the expense account. If you would use it sometimes, then maybe people wouldn't pick fights with you . . . as often." Rook just smiled at the remark then walked into the room. Well at least I gotta smile. I have a feeling that there is more to this than meets the eye.

Renegade started to walk into the office when he noticed Jamie still staring at him. "Ms. Sanderson, not a word of this to anyone until I've had a chance to assess the situation understood?"

"Yes sir," she replied reluctantly. Who was that girl? she wondered. She didn't like Rook, but she knew she had a job to do and they were all on the same team. Oh well, I've got other things to worry about. With that, she returned to her paperwork.
________________________

Renegade walked into the room and placed the girl on the couch. He then went over to a panel and pressed a button on the wall. The wall swiveled and a small refrigerator and bar was revealed. He went through looking at the different drinks then pulled out an age old whisky. Just what my dad used to drink.

He poured a small cup for himself and one for Rook. He was about to put it backed, then decided to keep it out. Renegade hardly ever drank. Matter of fact he hated the taste but he did it in the memory of his father. The only connection he thought that he could have with him.

Rook sat in the chair by the desk not saying a word. He just sat there looking outside the window. He didn't seem to notice anything until Renegade walked up to him and handed him the cup. He looked up then at the cup, and he grabbed it. Renegade stood there looking at the girl, then looking at him. He decided to open up the conversation.

"What's going on Rook? You've grown distant lately, like you have a lot on your mind. Is there something going on that we should know about? That I should know about?"

As Renegade was saying this, he walked to the side of the desk and looked at the different papers on the desk. He noticed the memo in front of his desk. "First, Edwards sent me a memo a little while ago asking me to check up on you. Then I got a report stating that you beat a kid senseless. Well, actually it seemed to me that he had it coming. Then you come in looking like you where dragged through the sewers of Paragon City and bringing an unconscious girl with you like you won her as a prize."

He sat at the corner of his desk and looked at Rook with a look of concern. "What's going on, man. How can I help? And who is that girl you rescued from being attacked? You didn't take her to the med bay, so is she important to you in some way?"

Rook:

Rook sat silent as Renegade fired off questions at him, still staring out the window.

"Things hev been toof fer me lately laddie...seems as if me life is spiraling downwards.."

Renegade remained silent with a look of concern on his face. He was a good listener, a quality which many people take for granted. Rook genuinely appreciated it, although he would never tell Renegade that.

"I was sittin in Mc'Gilly's, when this lil bowsie came strollin in, lookin te kill me'. I tell ye Renegade...I've taken a couple clatters (slaps) from some grand mot's (girlfriends) befoor, but this lass nearly did me' oot...I defended myself...neva hittin er' mind you..then she became shattered (fatigued) and fell te the groond.", said Rook, retracing what happened.

Renegade glanced over at the girl on the couch and then back at the bloodied Rook and spoke, "Looks as if she put a really bad beating on you friend. My guess is thats all of your blood, right?"

Rook rolled his eyes slowly. Renegade knew that it was then.

"She came in screamin and hollerin aboot me' bein' a terrorist, murderer and all the likes...as if she knew all aboot me' past...I haven't been that freaked in yonks (a long time)...", he said as he placed his favorite, now torn, leather jacket on Renegade's coat holder on his wall.

"So what do you suggest we do Rook?", Renegade said softly as he took a sip of his drink.

"Git me those power cuffs from yer desk...I need te find out exactly who this puss face (bad tempered person) is and why she was milling (fighting) me' in the first place..."

Renegade grabbed the cuffs from his desk, then moved over to the girl and placed them on her hands. The cuffs neutralized a mutants powers while they were on, but were known to malfunction sometimes. They powered up as they locked around her hands and forearms.

Just as the cuffs were placed on, the young girl began to slowly wake from her slumber...

Thevshi:

As Bernadette began to regain consciousness, she realized that her head hurt. That puzzled her some, as a simple fall shouldn’t hurt her any and the rest of her didn’t feel like she had been beaten while unconscious. Her entire body felt tired, she was still exhausted from pushing her powers so much. Well, at least ye ain' dead lass, yet.

She was laying on something very soft, probably a couch, and her hands were bound with some form of cuffs. Probably designed to dampen powers, she thought. As she opened her eyes, she saw an African American man standing over her in a well-tailored suit. She turned her head slightly to see Rook sitting in a chair beside a large desk.

Bernadette looked back up at the man beside her. “Ye all tryin’ ta figure out what all ye are going ta do ta me before ya kill me?” She sat up somewhat, not liking the feeling of helplessness that was so alien to her. The last time she had felt truly helpless was the day her mother had died. Bernadette fixed her eyes on Rook, an expression of hatred evident on her face.

Rook:

"Ye betta calm down ye bloody bogey (snot) before I come over there and beat yer [censored]...", said Rook as he shot a dirty look back at her.

"Don't dodder(waste time) then, ye did such a good job back at the pub ye gurrier (hooligan)!", yelled the young girl with a look of hate in her face and sarcasm in her voice.

"Keep up yer ructions (loud arguing) and I'll place a sound fist through yer.., said Rook as he was cutoff by Renegade standing up between the two.

"Alright, everyone just calm down.", said Renegade with his hands up in the air ready to block either of them from attacking one another in his office.

Rook slumped back into his chair, giving grim looks at the young girl, and receiving them right back.

Darminiam:

Renegade had noticed the look of hatred in her eyes as she looked at Rook. And she's Irish as well! Her accent is a little different but there are some things that you can't hide. If she has the ability to take on Rook, then this was somebody to be careful of. A teenage girl could not have done this.

Several thoughts went through Renegade's head. Her clothing betrayed her innocent looking face. This girl came looking for a fight. The way Rook was beaten and the fact that he knew Rook was one of the best raw talent fighters he knew, meant that the girl had training. What Renegade was trying to figure out what was what group would teach assassins at an early age. Well, I can't assume anything. This is going to be interesting.

Renegade looked at the girl and said, "First of all, I don't think you know where you are, or who I am. I just wanted to say that we are not here to kill you. Those manacles on your hand are there to protect us and you. Obviously you are angry for some reason at Rook. And I, rather we, would like to get to the bottom of this situation as soon as possible."

He looked over at Rook. And with a smile said, "Your going to have to forgive my friend here. Rook is just a little uhm, . . . testy for your sudden appearance." He crouched to be at eye level with the girl. "We don't even know who you are. I don't even know your name? Could we at least start there?" He looked at the girl and waited for a response.

Thevshi:

Bernadette regarded Renegade as he spoke to her, her anger evident, but she really felt no particular malice against him. Other than the fact that he was on Rook’s side in all of this. As she looked into his eyes, she could see his sincerity. Well, we’ll see ‘ow much ‘e really knows about ol’ Rook in a few, she thought.

She sighed slightly, things had really not turned out the way she had planned, but maybe that was the problem, she really hadn’t planned too much, just acted. She looked at Renegade, slightly annoyed that he was taking things so lightly. “Me name is Bernadette O’Connell, but I go by the name o’ Thevshi. I am the field commander of C.A.S.T and I 'ave a strong feelin’ that I am in Team1’s ‘eadquarters.” She glared over at Rook, “I am surprised ye brought me ‘ere, ye willin’ ta let your murderous past come ta light?”

Bernadette again locked her gaze on Rook, her jaw set in determination, waiting for his response, which she was sure would be explosive.

Rook:

“I am surprised ye brought me ‘ere, ye willin’ ta let your murderous past come ta light?”, said the young girl who now identified herself as "Thevshi".

As if Rook wasn't mad enough, this young girl now had to just throw fuel on the fire. Every muscle tensed in Rook's body as he heard the words. "Murderous past." At first, Rook tried to gain composure, yet it was all for naught. This little girl, who seemingly knew of Rook's past, was sitting there, in powercuffs, blatantly using one of the most harsh words in Rook's vocabulary. Rook began to breathe in and out quickly, like a bull ready to strike a matador.

Suddenly, Rook lost it. Eyes glaring with bright green energy and fists crackling with the same energy, Rook lifted his hands above his head and smashed them down upon Renegade's desk, shattering it into many wooden pieces.

Rook charged up to Thevshi, pushing Renegade out of the way, and grabbed her by the hair with a firm grip. With his other hand he pointed right at Thevshi's face, with the radioactive energy enswirling his fist.

"Who in the bloody hell do ye think ye are!?!", Rook bellowed aloud. "I've plenty much had enoof of ye..", he said as he tightened his grip on her hair, causing Thevshi to cringe in pain. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pop yer head straight oof!!!"

"Like...all the bloody....children ye've killed?", said Thevshi as she struggled through Rook's extremely tight grip.

Rook still held his grip tight, glaring at Thevshi with his bright green, energy filled eyes. Slowly though, the energy dissipated and Rook softened his grip. Somehow, in the way she said it, Rook felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

She's right...all I am is a killer...an unloved, worthless, disgusting...killer., thought Rook to himself as he let go of Thevshi.

Rook stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, each exchanging silent stares, enough to communicate in itself.

Rook slowly fell back into his chair, with his head in his hand, in deep contemplation.

Renegade didn't know what to make of it. His imported Italian desk was in ruins, Rook nearly ripped the young girls' head off and now suddenly Rook seemed all silent.

Gathering his confidence, he spoke aloud. "You know that's coming out of your paycheck, right?" He hoped for the smallest smirk or laugh, but caught a blank glance.

Rook only faced the large windows of Renegade's office, staring at the falling snow in the dead night. Renegade could have sworn that he saw his eyes tear up.

Renegade kept Rook in the corner of his eye as he turned back to Thevshi, ready to fire off a bunch of much needed questions.

Darminiam:

Renegade was thankful that he didn't have to subdue Rook. He had also never seen Rook just turn like that. Anger was always something that he managed to take control of. This was definitely a change.

But there were things about Rook's past that he never talked about. He figured that Rook's past was much like his, on the wrong side of the law. Renegade never talked about his past before he joined the military. And that was one of the reasons that he and Rook had gotten along so well. But now, it seems that Rook's past had caught up with him. The accusation was too much. It couldn't possibly be true. That would be too much to handle.

He walked over to his shattered desk, grabbed his chair and rolled it over to where Thevshi was sitting. He stopped, sat down and looked at her.

This girl, almost a woman was a member of CAST. If memory serves correctly, her team is made up of young people. I remember fighting their leader, what was his name . . . Syphon. Well it actually wasn't him he fought. Her team was getting a lot of press in the news lately and if our files are correct, they have strong ties with the Power Corp.

He looked out of the building towards the direction of the Powers Corp. It's faint outline was barely visible. This girl was connected. That much is for sure He let a moment or two past before he asked his next question.

"Are you alright? He didn't hurt you too much did he?"

Thevshi stayed quiet.

"Well, there are things, memories in the past that may be difficult for us. The past is usually the one thing that is always ours to keep. No matter what happens. Obviously, there is something in Rook's past that has affected you in someway. The only way that I can help you is if I find out what occurred in your past that intertwined with his."

He looked intently in Bernadette's eyes. "I want to know everything that has happened to you. The only way we can get to the bottom of this, is if we learn why you hate Rook so much." He looked at Rook and said, "No matter how damaging this information is."

Thevshi:

Bernadette’s head hurt more now, Bloody ******* almost ripped out me ‘air. Guess ye deserved it, ye smart mouthed lass. She hadn’t really thought that her comments would push him like that. The way he reacted was as if he hated to think about what he was, not so much as if he was trying to hide it, but as if he was ashamed. Well, ‘e should be bloody ashamed.

She watched him as he went back to his chair and then finally faced away from her, looking out into the snow filled night. Then the other man, Renegade if she remembered right from the new articles, pulled up a chair in front of her.

“Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you much did he?” She just stared at him for while he began to question her more. This annoyed her to no end. Here was Rook, a murder who had come very close to killing her, and Renegade was wanting her to talk about herself.

“I am fine, I’ve ‘ad worse.” She finally responded through clenched teeth as anger started to well up in her again. "And ye want ta know why I ‘ate ‘em? Don’ it matter that we are sittin’ in the same room as the most dangerous IRA assassin there ever was?” She looked back over at Rook, who was still brooding.

“Don’ ye know ‘ow Connor McMinn went to become Rook, a man with a list o’ victims longer than me arm? I ‘ave a copy of the SIS file on em back at me ‘ouse if ye want ta look it over!” The frustration of the entire situation was starting to get to her as tears were welling up in her eyes. Here was a murder who many thought of as a hero and she was the one being interrogated!

“I saw ye both on the news two nights ago, and I knew then who ‘e was, I just needed ta prove it!” She glared back at Renegade. “Ye want ta know why I ‘ate em? Because IRA *******s like ‘im were the ones who killed me mother!” She shouted as tears started down her cheeks.

Darminiam:

Renegade tried to hide the shock that appeared on his face. He had known that Rook worked for the IRA, but as an assassin?

Even though he tried to hide it Thevshi noticed the his face transform for an instant. Renegade looked up, smiled and stood up. He walked over to the bar to get another drink, since his cup was currently among the remains of his trashed desk.

He needed to clear his mind for a second. What else are you hiding Rook? Why didn't you let me know? He took a drink and he could feel the burn that the brandy made as it went down his throat. To put it bluntly, maybe I didn't want to know. I've had a chance to read his file and I never did. Everyone should have a chance on being who they wanted to be. The past has always been his own. Now . . . He finishes his drink, puts it down and walks back over towards Bernadette.

As he was walking back to the chair. He asks . . .

"I know this is a tough situation that your in. I know you want justice. Or . . . something that will ease your mind for all the suffering that you have had in your life. I really would like to help you."

He pauses for a second, then says, "I'd like to know what happened to your mother? Why you tie all your hatred to the IRA. This is something that us . . . Americans don't completely understand. Please explain it to me so that I can . . . do something to help. Or at least understand."

Thevshi:

Bernadette let the tears run down her cheeks as she saw the look of surprise on Renegade’s face. She had been right, he hadn’t know everything about Rook’s past. She couldn’t understand why she was telling him all of this, but she pulled up the terrible memories of that summer day five years ago.
“I was born an’ raised in Dublin, a Catholic.” She said staring hard at Rook for a moment. “I was pretty much sheltered from all the fightin’ an’ such, but five years ago, me parents took me ta see some distant relatives that had moved ta Belfast, I was twelve at the time. Things ‘ad seemed quite there, but one summer day while we was shoppin’ me mother an’ I went down ta a restaurant that was mainly frequented by Protestants.” Bernadette could feel more tears starting to form as she felt the pain of remembering tighten in her chest.

“We were waitin’ ta be seated when someone opened the door and yelled somethin’ as they tossed a package inside. Everyone in the place panicked, and in the confusion and fear, I did somethin’ that I ‘ad never done before. I lowered my density, becoming intangible. Me ‘and o’ course slipped right out of me mother’s and she looked at me with panic and fear, tryin’ ta grab me and run.” A tear ran down Bernadette’s cheek as she remembered the last time she had seen her mother’s face and the complete fear and horror that was evident.

She breathed in deep and continued, “That is when everything exploded. I watched as me mother’s body was thrown across the room by the blast, along with all the other people that were tryin’ ta escape the restaurant. All I could do was stand there in ‘orror, as I watched the inferno caused by the bomb started ta burn the bodies.” Bernadette could not understand why she was telling them all of this, it was so painful. Did Rook really deserve to know why she hatted him? And Renegade, he was on the same team as Rook, but he truly seemed to want to get to the truth of the matter.

But now that she had started, she might as well finish. “I stood in the midst of the destruction, completely untouched, for what seemed like an eternity. Then I ran out of the destroyed building, out into the street. I think the sight o’ me emerging from the burning restaurant was more o’ a shock ta the crowd that ‘ad gathered than the destruction itself. Me father forced ‘is way forward as I ran ta ‘im, tryin’ to seek comfort in ‘is arms. Course, I didn’ know ‘ow ta shut off me power, so we could only try to touch each other until I tired and me power shut off.” Bernadette brushed some tears from her eyes, she still couldn’t believe how much her emotions had been running away these last few days. But, she was now determined to press on.

“A pair o’ British soldiers ‘ad been there ta see me emerge from the restaurant, and when more arrived ta seal of the area, the officer in charge took down me fathers name an’ our address. Two weeks later, some representatives from Project Daedalus arrived ta talk to me father about me and me powers. Me father ‘ad pretty much become convinced I was the possessed and ‘ad been drinkin’ ‘imself into a stupor. ‘e was more than willin’ ta listen when they said they could ‘elp me and so three days latter we were in London.”

She sighed deeply as she continued, remembering the feelings of betrayal as her father had made himself all but a non-entity in her life. “To the scientists at the project, I was an’ amazing find, the chance to study a mutant’s development at an early age. They ran all sorta tests to discover what me abilities were, and as they quickly realized that most were of a physical nature, they began a trainin’ program that would complement me powers. A large portion o’ the trainin’ was handled by the SAS security detachment to the project. Me father mean while ‘appily took the stipend the British Government offered and completely crawled up into the bottle, becoming nothing more than a burden I ‘ad to take care of when ever I was ‘ome.”

“But I really didn’ ‘ave much time ta dwell on that, the project kept me very busy. They decided against putting me in a regular school and brought in private tutors to provide fer me education. I became the little sister ta all the other members o’ the team, the youngest o’ them bein’ ten years older than me, and all the SAS lads saw me the same way.” Bernadette smiled slightly, it had been a somewhat isolated time, but she had been liked by everyone at the project. She then looked back at Renegade.

“Anyway, by the time I was fifteen, I ‘ad completed all the trainin’ needed ta be a member o’ the SAS as well as all manner o’ other things. This was the point that they decided that I was ready ta start bein’ used in the field.” Bernadette’s gaze hardened as she looked into Renegade’s eyes. She was again growing frustrated with being questioned. Why was she the one who had to relive her past. “Is that what ye wanted ta ‘ear? ‘ow a simple Irish lass saw ‘er mother die before ‘er eyes an’ came ta despise terrorists? 'ow she went on ta become a good little servant o' the crown?”

Her temper was beginning to flare again at the entire situation, she looked over at Rook again shouting, “An’ you! ‘ow do ye live with it all? All those deaths on ye conscious? Or do ye even ‘ave one? The one time I ‘ad ta kill d*mn near tore out me soul!”

Rook:

The words hurt, but one could only listen to so many words. Rook, still not looking at either Thevshi or Renegade, sighed heavily and continued to glance out at the soft falling snow.

Thevshi. Her name seemed almost ironic to Rook. Thevshi, or 'ghost' in Irish folklore, seemed to almost resemble a ghost herself.

In his head, she embodied all of the innocents he had killed in his former life. Rook ran his hand through his blood-matted hair and looked to the ground in sadness.

She seemed to be a physical representation of all of his nightmares. "Thevshi" seemed to fit her well.

Rook shot a glance at her, hoping in time, that this would be a ghost which wouldn't haunt him for all time.

Her story pushed the knife further and further into Rook's stomach. Her mother was a casuality of the bloody war. Rook thought of the faces of all of his victims...he couldn't ever shake them from his mind. The images of screaming mothers, crying children and burning homes would haunt him forever.

Rook listened to the conversation only half-heartedly, wondering what to do....with 'everything' he was going through.

Darminiam:

Renegade sat back in his seat. There was a lot of information that had just been given to him, information that not only revealed the hurt of a young woman that has only felt pain for most of her life, but also a revelation of a friend who he thought he knew.

Did what she say really change what I think of Rook. Is he really this assassin that she was looking for. Did this change who Rook really was? All these questions came to Renegade's mind but this was a question that he couldn't deal with now. This was nothing compared to the pain that this woman was feeling.

Renegade took a deep breath and said, "You said that the one time you had to kill . . . it nearly tore your soul. Let me ask you something. If I released you right now, what would you do? Would you attack him, . . . attack me, . . . kill him? Would that solve your problems? Would that ease the suffering that you have had in your life?"

Renegade looked at her eyes, "Would that make you a better person because you avenged your mother's death? A long time ago, I learned that things don't happen for a reason. People always say they do, but I don't believe it does. There is no rhyme or reason to the way things happen. What does count is the way that you handle a situation that was dealt to you."

He moved forward on his seat to get closer to Thevshi, "Most people would have given up on themselves after what happened to you. They would have given up on life and decided that the curse they were given has forever separated themselves from this society."

Renegade took off his left glove, which revealed an onyx colored gem engraved in the palm of his hand. "After a situation that changes your life, one would feel like lashing out in the world, instead of asking questions. I could have lashed out after this happened to me. Instead, I'm trying to figure out what this gift or curse really is."

He looked over at Rook. "The only person that has the answer to the questions you are looking for is sitting there. Only he knows the reasons of why he did what he did. You'd have to have the courage to ask."

He got up and walked towards the window. "Do you know the reason why you were involved in the war? Was it because you were trained to do so, or because you wanted to. Are your beliefs that strong that you would kill for Catholicism? To kill or attack others for religious beliefs? I guess that could be a question to ask both of you. I really don't know."

Thevshi:

Bernadette looked at Renegade as he asked his questions. Had she been tying to kill Rook? Had she wanted to? She had wanted to see him punished for his crimes, but killed? “I never said I was tryin’ ta kill ‘im.” She finally said. “I wanted ta see him punished fer what ‘e was, not viewed as a great ‘ero!” Pausing she continued a little more quietly as she looked down at the ground, “I just might ‘ave gotten a wee bit carried away. I just want ta see some kind o’ justice done.”

She looked back up at Renegade, “I never asked ta be dragged inta this life, but I ‘ave accepted it as something I was meant ta do. Fer what ever reason, the Lord ‘as seen fit ta give me the ability ta do things most can’. I am not about ta question ‘is will. As a Catholic, I like ta believe that there is good in everyone and that we can all reach salvation. I would rather not kill, but unfortunately, things do not always so simple. If I could go through the rest o’ me life without ‘aving ta kill anyone, then I would be much more confident fer the fate of me soul.” Bernadette brushed another tear from her eye, she didn’t like how emotional she had been the last few days, and now having to revel ones deepest fears and feelings to two strangers wasn’t making her feel that much better. “But, things are not always in our control.”

Darminiam:

"What do you mean things are not always under our control." Renegade looked away from the window and Rook to look back at Thevshi.

"Things are not always under our control? It depends on how you look at it. If they are related to your actions, then you always have control. At least that is how I believe."

He walked back towards Thevshi, but not before he places a hand on Rook's shoulder. Then he continues to walk until he reaches the sofa and sits down on the far end from Thevshi.

I don't want to provoke her. She has suffered too much as it is. If I sit by her, she might lash out again, but I need her to feel comfortable.

He leans back on the couch and says, "You said, you would rather not kill. Is that a situation that you felt was out of your control. That you had no choice but to do it?"

He looked up at the ceiling. "I'd be lying if I said I have never killed anyone. That is not a boast. In the military, at war, it is kill or be killed. Simple as that. I wish I had never done that, but it is a past that I would like to atone. For every person, I have killed, there are many more that need help. That is why I'm in this business."

He looked her again and said, "What was your reason for killing? What made you cross that line? Especially one so young as yourself."

Thevshi:

Bernadette could not believe that she had backed herself into this. She had not told anyone about this since she had moved to America, not Alex, not Shuan, no one. Yes she knew that this d*mn night would never end unless she cooperated with Renegade.

“It was me first field mission with the project, just after I turned fifteen.” She said as her mind began to retrace the feelings associated with the event, the excitement of her first mission, to the anticipation of completing it, to fear as she was alone in Kosovo, and finally the horror of what she had to do. “It was supposed ta be a simple operation, little risk for me. I spent a month in Germany trainin’ with the SAS platoon that I was goin’ ta work with.”

She looked at Renegade, and seeing his attentions fixed on her, knew she had to continue on. “I was part o’ a NATO operation ta bring Serbian war criminals before the Hague. Simple snatch an’ grab. Funny ‘ow the simple things often go so wrong.”

“I was ta carryout the ground reconnaissance for the mission. After droppin’ out o’ a cargo plane at twenty thousand feet, I flew down ta a small remote village in the hills o’ Kosovo that our target was supposed ta be in. Ariel recon ‘ad spotted ‘im an’ ‘is bodyguard approachin’ the target site.”

“It was easy enough ta slip in an’ confirm which buildin’ ‘e was in. I returned back ta a safe location an’ relayed the information back to the command element. Then I just ‘ad ta sit back an’ wait fer me ride back when the assault team came.” Bernadette remembered how relieved she was when she had thought her part of the mission was done. “That is when things started ta go wrong.”

“A mechanical failure grounded the bird that was ta bring in the assault team an’ take me out o’ there. What was ta be about thirty minutes on the ground slowly extended out to two hours. It was then that ariel recon spotted a convoy of troops on their way ta the village. Even ‘avein’ scrounged up some other transport, the snatch team couldn’ make it before the target would be to well defended.”

Bernadette’s heart was beating fast and she felt slightly ill, but continued on. “The mission commanders were not about ta let this one slip through their fingers. An air raid was outa the question, to many civilians in the village. They ‘ad a contingency plan in place that we ‘ad trained and they decided ta initiate it.” She paused for a moment before quietly stating, “I was ordered ta go in an’ kill the target.”

A tear ran down Bernadette’s cheek as her words hung momentarily in the air. “I made me way back inta the village, me ‘eart was poundin’ like a sledgehammer the entire way. As easily as I ‘ad slipped in before, I entered the ‘ouse the target was occupyin’. Walkin’ through the walls, I soon entered the target’s room.”

“’e was sittin’ at a desk, with ‘is back ta me, writin’ some report or some such when ‘e ‘eard me as I returned me density ta normal. ‘e stood up in shock at first, but that quickly faded as he looked me over and decided that I was no threat ta ‘im. Rushing forward, ‘e grabbed me arms, yellin’ somethin’ that I couldn’ understand.”

Bernadette’s voice dropped in volume and she looked down at the ground as she continued on. “It was over before ‘e could blink. I reached up while increasin’ me density and broke ‘is neck, just like the SAS lads ‘ad taught me.”

She halted momentarily, another tear running down her cheek. “I could only stare at the body at me feet fer what seemed an eternity, when some o’ the bodyguards started to bang on the door an’ callin’ out ta ‘im.”

“I quickly switched ta me desolid form an’ flew up outta the ‘ouse and off inta the night. Two hours later, I met up with some Army Rangers in a HUMVEE.”

“I think they were truly shocked at the sight o’ me. Probably expectin’ some grizzled ol’ vet, not a young lass that only a few years before they woulda been tryin’ ta get inta bed with.”

“I was silent as we made our way back ta the stagein’ area. They kept tryin’ ta engage me in conversation, but I didin’ feel like talkin’. One even gave me a [censored] (cigarette) ta smoke. I thought I was goin’ ta die I coughed so much. Didn’ take long fer me ta toss it out the window. They finally went ta talkin’ amongst themselves for the rest o’ the trip.”

“When we made it back ta base, I was the big ‘ero. The mission commanders were all very pleased, the representatives from the project were ‘appy that their little lass ‘ad performed as ordered and the SAS lads were proud o’ me fer continuing on an’ finishin’ the mission.” Bernadette looked back up. “Only I didin’ feel all that proud o’ meself. In fact, I was moody and snappy with anyone who tried ta talk with me. Luckily I was back at the project in London only a few days after the mission was over.”

“The projects psychologists quickly realized I was experiencin’ guilt and began therapy as well as brinin’ in a priest ta take me confession. Centurion, the team leader for Project Daedalus, stepped in at this point and made sure that I wasn’ placed in that sort o’ situation again.” Bernadette thought back to the support she had received from the team members and how much that had meant to her. “Despite all the justification that there was fer that man’s death, I was ‘aunted by the fact that I was an assassin. ‘e ‘ad stood as much chance against me as a small child would ‘ave against ‘im. Ta kill a man in battle, while ‘e is shottin’ at ye, that is one thing, but to kill a man in cold blood, that is somethin’ else. I just pray that I ‘ave done enough ta repent fer me actions that day.”

She turned her head to regard Rook again. “Is that what ye are tryin’ ta do? Gain forgiveness fer all yer past crimes? How long will it take ta wash all the blood from yer soul?”

Darminiam:

Renegade looks back up at the ceiling and let the words that she directed towards Rook to linger in the air. He didn't have anything to say. To many emotions passed through his mind at the moment.

He thought briefly of his childhood and realizes that compared to Bernadette's life it had been a piece of cake. In gangs, I had done plenty of foolish things. Things that I now regret and will never do again. I blame them on my inexperience, on my age, on anything. But they were my decisions. Decisions that I had a choice to make.

Bernadette on the other hand has just been reacting all her life. Her past life, her friends, her family, her decisions were all made by someone else! Even the things she regrets in her life were decided by someone else!

He looked her again and thought, "Who gives someone the right to control her life like that, to make every decision for her? Especially one so young as her. And is she still living under that shadow? Had she forgiven herself for what happened that day?"

Rook:

There was only so much that Rook could take. Had he gone so far down a spiraling path of destruction and death, that he had even lost his soul? God didn't care about a murderer like him...God wanted no part of Rook and his evil ways...or so thought Rook.

Slowly rising from his chair and looking only at Renegade, Rook spoke.

"Let the lass go...I kint stand te' have her ere anymoor. Her story seems....convincing..."

He turned to Thevshi, looked at her dead in the eyes and said, "Attack me' agin lass....and ye won't be walkin....I swear by it..."

The young girl seemed undaunted though.

Renegade seemed completely opposite though. Here was a girl who had nearly killed Rook...hated him for what he had done...lost her mother to the same terrorist group that Rook was a member of, and now.....

Rook was letting her go. Didn't make much sense to him at all.

"Take er bloody cuffs off and show er the door...I've hed enoof of er..."

Darminiam:

Renegade looked at Rook not understanding the situation. He could tell that Rook was through with her, that if nothing else, she had hit a nerve with him. And from the expression in his face, she not only hurt him physically, but mentally as well.

Renegade walked over to Thevshi. He stopped in from of her and looked down. "Why. I'm not even going to pretend I understand all the pain that both of you are going through. That is an experience that I hope I do not have to go through. But I don't understand why you just want me to let her go."

Renegade knelt down and reached over towards the manacles. "Your not going to put up a fight, lass?" He placed his finger on the ID print of the manacles and they open up. Renegade removes the manacles from her hand then helped her up.

He walked over to the door and stood in front of him. "Sorry for the inconvenience. I'm truly sorry for the situation that you have been placed in and I am also sorry for what has happened to you in life. Please, this way."

He hits a buzzer for security to come up and escort her. Then he waits patiently by the door for her to move. Rook, we need to talk after this, he thought. You are hurting way too much, letting everything affect you. What affects you, affects us.

Thevshi:

Bernadette looked at Renegade as he removed the cuffs. She messaged her wrists as he helped her to her feet. “I think I’m done fightin’ fer the night. ‘e ain’ worth it.” She glared over at Rook as she followed Renegade to the door. As they stood waiting for security, she looked back over at Rook, who was again facing the snowy night.

“If I were ye Rook, I would worry less about yer life now, an’ more about yer soul. I suppose I should take ‘eart that at some point ye will face judgment fer yer crimes, in this life or the next. But ye never know, it might not be to late ta seek forgiveness from the Lord.”

A voice sounded from outside the door, “Security here sir.” Renegade opened the door and outside were two of the uniformed guards. Bernadette looked up at Renegade, “Well, I wish I could say it’s been a nice visit, but…Ye seem a decent enough fellow,” she looked back over to Rook, “don’ see why ye would associate with the likes o’ ‘im.” She looked back at Renegade, “But maybe ye are more willin’ ta give second chances.” Turning away, she walked out the door and started following the security guards through the building.

As she walked though the building, Bernadette’s head was swirling with thoughts. She couldn’t believe how much she had allowed her anger to control her, it had been like Rome all over again. Having to recount some of the worst events in her life had left Bernadette feeling emotionally drained. Right now all she wanted to do was go home and sleep, she would try to sort things out in the morning, and she knew just where to do that.

Soon the guards had lead her to the front of the Team1 headquarters. Her breath hung in the cold night air as fresh snow drifted down to the ground. She smiled weakly as they wished her good night and sifted her density to her desolid form, becoming ghostly in appearance as she flew up into the air.

The city sped by as Bernadette made her way home. The lights glowing off the fresh snow helped to relax her troubled mind. The city seemed so peaceful, like a picturesque scene. Up ahead, Bernadette spotted her street and flew down to the front of her house. She walked up the steps to the door and not really worried about the neighbors, went desolid and walked through the door.

There were lights on back in the kitchen and the hall, Bernadette chided herself for not having noticed that. I must really be out o’ it. She started back towards the kitchen to see if her father was passed out downstairs somewhere. She passed by the living room, there were several empty beer bottles on the coffee table. As she neared the kitchen, her father appeared in the door.

“There ye are lass, finally decided ta come ‘ome I see!” He was clearly drunk and moved forward with some difficulty. “What’s the matter? No more pubs fer ye ta destroy?”

Surprise crossed Bernadette’s face as she looked at her father. “’ow did ye know?”

Her father stopped right in front of her and leaned down slightly, Bernadette could smell the alcohol on his breath. “I know, because I was there lass! I saw ye fightin’ with that other. An’ I know that ye ‘ave been out playin’ ‘ero. I ‘ope ye are gettin' paid fer it like ye were before!”

Anger began to well up with in Bernadette again. After all that she had been through in the last few days and hours, this was the last thing she needed. “Even if I was, ye wouldn’ ‘ave a right ta know! Ye ‘ave pretty much given up any right ta knowin’ what is goin’ on in me life!”

Anger flared in her fathers eyes as he yelled back, “I will not take lip like that from ye lass!” His right hand began to swing at her face, but Bernadette’s reflexes were far superior to her fathers, and she had been trained by the best hand-to-hand instructors the British Special Air Service had to offer. Before it was half way towards her, her left arm was up, easily blocking his swing. Just as fast, her right arm sped forward, grabbing him by his collar, as she shoved him to her left and against the wall. The stairway shook as she held him with his feet off the ground and glared up at him with fury in her eyes.

“Don’t ye ever bloody raise yer ‘and ta me again you d*mn lush! From the moment ye took me ta Project Daedalus, ye ceased ta be a part of me life! Ye were more than ‘appy ta take the money they gave ye for my participation and never ask any questions. Fer all ye knew, they could ‘ave been usin’ me fer a ‘igh class call girl! So if ye think I am goin’ ta let ye suddenly decide that ye can tell me what ta do, ye are sadly mistaken!”

Bernadette released her grip and her father dropped down to the floor and just sat there looking up at her in fear. “Now if ye will excuse me, I need ta wash some blood off me face and then I think I will take me leave fer a few days.”

Bernadette then stormed up stairs and went into the bathroom. She took off her gloves and threw them to the side and turned on the water. She ran her hands under them and splashed water on her face and started to scrub off Rook’s blood. She was so angry, how dare he after all this time decide he had a right to say anything about her life. She did not want to stay here tonight.

She walked back to her room and grabbed a gym bag and started to stuff it with a few days worth of clothes. Looking around, she felt sad, but knew that she had to leave. Making her way back downstairs, she looked over at her father who was still where she had dropped him, his face buried in his hands sobbing.

“Well, I am leavin’ fer a few days. Maybe we can talk things over then, or maybe I will just leave fer good. It will depend you ye.” She turned and strode towards the door, shifting desolid as she walked through it.

She stood out on the doorstep of her house and looked up at the snow falling from the sky as tears ran down her cheeks. She felt so alone right now, this night had to be one of the worst in her entire life. Looking back at the house briefly, she knew where she could go and who she could see to help her with everything.

Thevshi:

Bernadette touched down on the snow covered lawn of the CAST mansion. The snows had covered the entire grounds, glowing from the outside lights in the gardens. Otherwise, the house stood dark. For Bernadette, this was a second home, where she spent time with her friends and teammates. Tonight, she was looking for on teammate in particular.

She walked up to the door of the mansion, and lowered her density to walk through it. The main hallway was dark and quite. The mansion seemed so empty and still, quite a contrast to the torrent of thoughts running through her head at the moment. Walking forward, she went up the main staircase to the second level and towards the wing that housed the rooms for the members that chose to live here. There were plenty of empty rooms, and if Bernadette had wanted to, she could have claimed one for herself, but she never had. That was going to change, at least for the short term.

But right now, Bernadette did not want to be alone, she needed to talk, and she knew just who she wanted to talk too. She made her way up to the door of Alex Young’s room and stopped in front of it. She stood there a moment, unsure if she should wake him. All the painful memories and emotions were still weighing down on her, and she was sure that talking would Alex, being held by Alex, would help ease all the pain.

She breathed in deeply and gently knocked on the door. She then lowered her density and walked through the door into the room. The room was dark, and she could vaguely make out the shape of Alex’s bed, and him turning towards the door. She returned her density to normal and dropped her bag on the floor. New tears started down her cheeks, “Alex, it’s me. I ‘ave ‘ad the most terrible night.” She sobbed as she started towards him.

Alex Young:

Alex was sleeping when Bernadette walked in and woke him. He sat up in bed and looked around trying to shake off the sleep that crept up on him. "Hey," Alex said looking up at her, "it's late." As he shook off his drowsiness he noticed that she was crying and hurt. It took a second to register. "Hey, are you ok?" Alex said as he threw the covers off himself and went to help her. Alex used to sleep with nothing on before he stayed with CAST. All the constant alarms and people barging into his room convinced Alex to start wearing boxers when he went to bed. He sat her down onto his bed then went to the chair and threw on his housecoat. It sat open for he didn’t bother to tie it. He grabbed a box of tissues and sat down beside her and handed her a tissue to wipe the coming tears.

She stopped crying for a bit as they both sat for a second. When she looked up at him she started baling again. Alex move closer to Bernadette and hugged her lightly. As he held her he spoke, "Bernadette. Are you ok? What happened? Tell me everything." Alex said before he pulled away for a second. He grabbed a tissue out of the box and wiped just below her eye where a tear had just dropped.

He then put his hands in hers, squeezed tightly, and listened.

Thevshi:

Being there with Alex made Bernadette feel better as he sought to comfort her. She had almost wished he hadn’t let go of her, but tried to smile slightly as he took her hands with a reassuring squeeze and looked at her intently. She steadied herself and took a deep breath.

“Oh, Alex, I don’ know where ta begin. It started about two days ago when I saw some news footage of Team 1 fightin’ some Fifth Column soldiers. There was a member o’ Team 1 that was there, named Rook, an’ I was sure I recognized ‘im from intelligence briefin’s that I recived as part o’ Project Daedalus.” She dried her eyes some and continued. “There was a notorious IRA assassin called Rook, an’ I was positive that the Team 1 Rook was ‘im. But I needed ta prove it. I called me old teammates in London an’ got them ta get me a copy o’ the Secret Intelligence Service’s file on Rook. That is why I ‘aven’ been around much lately, I ‘ave been so bent outa shape about this.”

Some tears started again, but Bernadette just ignored them. “I ‘ave felt like I was goin’ outta me mind, ‘avin’ trouble sleepin’ and such. I finally got the file today an’ it was all I could do ta not look at it right a way. Well, I finally did, after school, an’ it is ‘im sure enough. I went an’ started ta recon Team 1’s base, and’ soon enough, Rook came out. I followed ‘im ta this Irish pub an’….an’…I attacked ‘im Alex!” Bernadette’s body shook slightly as she said this, she looked away from Alex, ashamed of herself.

“I attacked ‘im, an’ destroyed the pub fightin’ ‘im. I almost ‘ad ‘im, but ‘ad ta push me self to ‘ard in the fight, an’ passed out. ‘e ‘as some kinda regeneration, cause ‘e shoulda been dead with the amount o’ damage I did ta ‘im.” She looked down as she realized that she had been close to killing Rook in the fight. “Anyway, ‘e took me ta Team 1’s base an’ ‘e an’ another member, Renegade, questioned me.”

Tears were in her eyes again as she looked at Alex, “It was ‘umiliatin’ Alex!” ‘ere I was sittin’ in the same room as the worst assassin the IRA ever ‘ad, an’ they were questionin’ me!” She looked back down as the tears ran down her cheeks. “It was so painful ta have ta relive all me past that way.”

Alex was about to speak when Bernadette looked back at him with anger in her eyes despite the tears. “An’ if all that wern’ enough, I got ‘ome an’ me worthless soddin’ da’ decides ‘e needs ta ‘ave a shoutin’ match with me! ‘e was pissed as always, an’ ‘ad seen me at the pub, yellin’ at me about what I choose ta do with me life an’ me powers. An’ the ******* ‘ad the gall ta try an’ ‘it me! I don’ know what the bloody ‘ell ‘e was thinkin’!” The tears were still running down her cheeks as she moved closer to Alex.

"I didn’ want ta stay there Alex, I so want ta forget all o’ this. I am sorry ta wake ye, but I didn’ really know who else I could turn ta.”

Alex Young:

Alex listened quietly as Bernadette told her the story. When she was done, Alex moved even closer to Bernadette. He put his arms around her and held to her, letting her cry on his shoulder. They stayed like this for a couple of moments before he spoke. "I don't want you to ever feel like you can't come to me. I’m always there for you, no matter what time it is, or where. You know whatever what happens... with your father... with your past, I am always here for you. Always have been and always will be. Make sure you know that." Alex whispered into her ear as he held her.

"You must be very tired. You need to get some sleep. Take your mind off of what happened today. We can discuss it in the morning. We will get to the bottom of this man, Rook, tomorrow." Alex was worried for Bernadette. He knew she had a bad past, but he didn't think it would come to haunt her like this. He wanted to take her mind off of Rook for now. In the morning they would get to the bottom of this problem, together.

Alex started to rub her back with his hands to try to soothe Bernadette as he held her.

Thevshi:

As Alex held her, Bernadette just let her jangled emotions release as she pressed her face against his shoulder. Being in his arms felt so good, it reminded her of their times together, from that magical kiss under the mistletoe during the Hunter’s Institute Christmas Party to the Knight’s of Paragon’s New Year’s Party. She felt like she was lost in warmth and safety as he started to rub her back softly. She remember back to the very first time he had kissed her, when C.A.S.T. had first been formed and they were about to got into battle against members of Freakshow. It had taken her by complete surprise, but it had been the beginning of their attraction towards each other.

Bernadette suddenly realized that she needed to be truthful with Alex, that she couldn’t hide things from him, even if she took the risk of hurting their growing relationship. “Alex,” she said softly as she started to push way from him gently, “there is somethin’ I need ta tell ye. Somethin’ that I ‘aven’ told anyone for a long time until tonight.” She looked into his eyes, and almost stopped as she saw the carrying and worry there, but she knew he deserved to know. “Alex, two years ago…I..I killed a man Alex.” She stopped briefly but continued, wanting to explain it more. “Assassinated ‘im. ‘e was a Serbian war criminal, an’ I was part o’ a mission ta bring ‘im before the international court fer trial. But when, things started ta go wrong on the mission and the capture team couldn’ make it ta where ‘e was, I was ordered ta go in an’ kill ‘im to prevent ‘im from escaping.”

She looked down, ashamed of herself, fearful of what his reaction would be. “’e never stood a chance Alex, yet I killed ‘im. I am sorry fer never tellin’ ye, an’ I understand if this changes things for us. It took me a long time ta live with what I ‘ad done.” New tears ran down her cheeks as she awaited his response.

Alex Young:

Alex was surprised when Bernadette backed away. He listened carefully to the whole story. Bernadette, if not all of CAST, knew how Alex thought of killing. To him it wasn't even a last resort. It took him a bit, but finally Alex spoke, "Listen, Bernadette, I'm with you for who you are now, not who you were. You didn't know any better at the time. Its different now. I know you wouldn't do the same. I also believe in forgiveness Bernadette. That is one of the reasons I don't believe in killing myself. Your past is your past. You can run away, but it’s good that you’re facing it. What you did then was then, like you have no control over what happens tomorrow. Bernadette, I..." Alex paused for a moment. "... I've never felt this way about a person before. So strongly, I mean. I know we haven't been together for long, but my feelings are stronger than you than I've had for anyone else. Ever. I can forgive you, but I think that you can't forgive yourself. But I have the most confidence that you will."

Alex hoped that she not only heard his words, but took his advice about forgiveness in terms of Rook. He sat and waited for her to speak. At least to turn around.

Thevshi:

Bernadette’s fear started to fade as Alex spoke to her, she had been so worried that his reaction would be more severe, after everything else that had happened to her this night, it was almost to be expected. To have Alex here to help her meant so much and to hear how much she meant to him, the feelings washing over her were so wonderful.

“Oh, Alex, I made peace with meself and the Lord long ago, I am just glad that ye are willin’ ta look past it as well. I 'ave never 'ad anyone that I 'ave cared for as much as ye either.” She slid close to Alex and kissed him deeply on the mouth. He was initially surprised, that quickly faded as he returned the kiss, his arms wrapping around her back again. In her young life, Bernadette had never had the chance at a relationship such as the one she and Alex had. Her tears had stopped, and the feelings of pain were all but gone, she felt nothing but the warmth of his body and a feeling of safety in his arms.

She moved her mouth near his ear for a moment and whispered softly to him, “Alex, I don’ want ta be alone tonight.” Before he could speak, she kissed him deeply again, her right hand reaching around behind his head, while her left reached up and began to unzip her bodysuit.

Rook:

3:30 am.....

How could he even try to sleep tonight? Too many thoughts swirled through his head. The streets of Paragon were lonely at this time of night. Only the homeless, drug addicts and freaks dared to roam the night.

Nearly an hour ago, Rook's life had fallen all around him. After Thevshi left Renegade's office, Renegade wanted to make sure everything was alright with his good friend Rook.

Renegade tried to calm Rooks' nerves, but this only made his anger grow two fold. When Renegade placed his hand upon Rook's shoulder, he quickly knocked it off and yelled incoherently in a deep Irish accent. Rook then stormed out of the office and into the streets where he now paced.

****

3:45 am

The bottle of vodka kept him a little warm throughout the night. The cold brick wall he laid against was definitely not a warm blanket that he could have had at home. But tonight, he wanted to drink himself into his end.

****

4:15 am

The bottle only contained about a quarter of its original fluid.

Where did I go wrong?

How can I ever look at myself again? Do I even want to? What kind of person would do the things that I have? Did Paragon City hold the redemption I hoped for? Was all my work for naught?

****

5:05 am

Why is that dog licking my arm? Who's dog is that? Where am I? Who am I? Man I'm drunk....I'm a bad person....No..this is my bottle NOBODY else can hev it..

Rook raised the bottle to his mouth and poured the last two drops down his throat.

Rook slumped forward onto the wet snow, the earth spinning everywhere.

What a way to end a Saturday night...

Alex Young:

Alex slowly woke up the next day. The light shined through his window that he usually closes every night. He looked to the right of him and saw Bernadette facing him, still soundly sleeping. He sat for a couple minutes looking at her. She’s so beautiful, he thought, Why would someone want to put her through this... or let herself be pulled into the situation. Alex was almost off the side of his bed. I’m going to have to get myself a bigger bed than a single. Alex thought, sitting up. He got out of bed and gently pulled the covers over Bernadette so she wouldn’t wake up. Something had hurt her and he wanted to know what. He put on a pair of boxers and an old pair of jeans he found on his floor. He sat down on a chair beside the bed while looking over at his alarm clock. Hm, almost 10:00. he thought. Alex sat thinking.

Bernadette was obviously hurt by someone, both physically and mentally, and Alex wanted to know more. He found out more about Bernadette last night than he had since they started going out. Noone ever came to Alex for advice, never mind forgiveness for something that happened along time ago. Alex meant every word of what he said to her though. The past is the past, and Alex hoped she took his advice. Alex was not going to make assumptions about Rook though. He wanted to help Bernadette get to the bottom of what was happening, though he knew she may not let him.

Alex sat and thought. He looked over to the clock again. 10:39 Alex looked over to the bed where Bernadette started to wake up. He quickly moved onto the bed and lay down beside her again. He kissed her forehead, "Good morning beautiful." he said to her as she looked at him.

Thevshi:

The sunlight streaming in woke Bernadette from the most restful sleep she had had in the last few days. Her night with Alex had allowed her to forget, for the time being, about everything that had been driving her towards her confrontation with Rook.

As she opened her eyes, she heard Alex’s greeting and felt the kiss on her forehead. She smiled up at him as she stretched out some. “Mornin’ ta ye.” She said as she kissed him back. She made a funny face as she rested her head back on the pillow. “So that is what mornin’ breath is like.” She smiled again and sat up, holding the blanket in front of her as she began to look around the room, her eyes still adjusting to the light.

“I didn’ realize what a mess this place was last night.” She said with a grin as she turned to face Alex. Her eyes spotted the clock behind him and went wide suddenly. “Is that clock right?” She asked as she suddenly got up with a sheet wrapped around her. “Saint’s preserve me, I need ta be goin’ or I am goin’ ta be late!” She gave Alex a quick kiss on the cheek and then went back into the bathroom, closing the door. “Are there any clean towels around somewhere?” She called back out.

Alex Young:

"Yeah, under the sink." Alex yelled through the door so Bernadette could hear him. "Your leaving already? Where to? I thought we'd get some breakfast and talk for a bit." Alex rummaged through his clothes on the floor and crinkled black T-shirt that he wore a couple of days earlier. Alex didn't care, he would be taking a shower soon any ways. He put it on and leaned against the wall while crossing his arms right by the door. Alex wondered if she was going to see Rook, or if she just had previous appointments that she had to keep.

Thevshi:

Opening the door that Alex had said, Bernadette pulled out a towel and got into the shower. Turning on the hot water, she began to wash herself, thinking about everything that had taken place last night. Alex had helped her forget about the events, but she was troubled by them, very troubled. She knew that she needed to seek forgiveness, and there was one place to do that.

She held her head under the water, rinsing out her hair quickly. As the water ran down her face, Bernadette hoped that Alex would understand and wouldn’t be mad. He did mean so much to her, especially after last night, but this was important to her as well, and had been all her life.

She turned off the shower, and dried her hair some, then warped the towel around herself like a dress. Opening the door, she stepped out and came over to Alex, who was waiting by the door. Giving him a quick kiss, she smiled and replied, “I would love ta talk more Alex, and we will, but there is somethin’ I need ta do.” She walked over to her bag that still sat near the door and crouched down as she began to pull out some clothes. Her voice wavered briefly as she went on, “I need ta go to confessional, about so many things from last night.” Turning back towards him with a look of worry on her face, she quickly added, “Please don’ take this the wrong way. Last night…with you, was very special to me. I ‘ave never done anything close ta that, an’ I don’ regret it in the least.”

Alex Young:

"Bernadette..." Alex looked down trying to find the words he wanted, "just be safe. Whenever you need me, I'm here. If you find you want to do something later today, Ill be here or in the weight room most likely. Just, be safe." then Alex smiled and kissed her before leaning against the wall again. Alex was a bit worried that he hadn't seen or heard form Bernadette the past couple of days, but he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself... but after last night? Alex didn't really believe in confession or religion in general, but he wanted to go along with her any ways. Just to be there. Mostly because Alex was worried that she might find something else other than confession, but he knew he trusted her. He had to.

Thevshi:

Bernadette smiled at Alex’s concern and replied, “Alex, I am only goin’ ta church. I will be perfectly fine.” She stood up to get dressed and looked over at Alex as she was about to ask him to look away. Well that is silly lass. After last night, what does it matter if he sees ye without yer clothes on again. She shook her head at the thought and took off the towel, playfully tossing it at Alex’s head.

Turning away from him slightly, she slipped on a pair of panties and then fixed her bra. She could feel Alex watching her, and blushed slightly, but figured it was something she would get used to. She put on a red and black plaid skirt with a white shirt. Pulling a black sweater over her head to keep warm, Bernadette moved back over to Alex and stood up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I ‘ad better be going.”

Alex Young:

Alex smiled. "Be careful. Maybe I'll see ya a bit later. In the meanwhile, I've gotta shower. I’m a big mess." Alex kissed her one more time before she walked out of the room. When she left, Alex turned around and walked into the bathroom. He pulled out a towel and placed it on the toilet. He quickly threw off all his clothes and popped into the shower. He just stood there, feeling the spray against his face. Alex wanted to join Bernadette very much. When he got out, he walked back into his room and looked around. Gone. he said to himself. Alex put on a pair of blue jeans, a black T-shirt, and a sweatshirt. He walked downstairs and poured himself a bowl of cereal. As he ate, he was thinking. Yeah, I'm gonna go find her. he said to himself. he put his bowl in the dishwasher, and walked out of the room.

Rook:

Rook covered his eyes. The light was amazingly bright.

Am I dead?, he thought to himself.

Rook rolled over from his snowy, cold bed. A bum laid across the street from him. Rook had wondered if he stole the man's 'home' for the night.

Rook slowly stumbled up to his feet. As he composed himself, the same bright light shone down on his eyes. It definitely wasn't the first thing he needed during what would seem to be a daylong hangover.

Still covering his eyes from the light, Rook moved over to see what was blinding him.

High above a church, a large golden cross reflected the sun's light, making it seem almost unearthly.

Rook laid his back against the stone wall of the alley. He couldn't take his eyes off the sight. It seemed almost perfect. The bright golden cross reflecting the sun, beset in a field of light falling snow. Rook was not a man who believed in destiny or fate, but this seemingly was calling out to Rook. It was the only beautiful thing he had seen in weeks.

A tear strolled down his cheek.

Have I even a soul to forgive?, Rook questioned.

Slowly, people, all dressed in their fine Sunday clothes, strolled into the church, conversing and laughing with one another. It wasn't a large congregation, mostly due to the neighborhood it was in.

Wiping his tears away, Rook decided that maybe, this church could provide his soul some solace.

****

No one sat near Rook, which was completely understandable. Rook stunk of alcohol and dirty clothing. It was fine for him though. Rook wished to be alone.

The sermon was nice, but Rook hardly paid attention. His eyes laid besieged by the confession booth.

How could he spill all of his secrets to someone he didn't know. His history hurt to even think about it. Hopefully, Rook hoped, that this would be some kind of therapy....Nothing else has worked.

Rook buried his head in his hands as the sermon proceeded.

Rook:

Kross stood high above the C.A.S.T. mansion, remaining completely quiet in a dense tree. The place was rather large and ornate for a superhero group, nothing like the places in Ireland.

Kross, an IRA assassin, listened intently to the young woman's conversations. Honing his super hearing made him an invaluable asset to the IRA. The young girl definitely knew Rook, or what he got out of it, she was trying to find out more about him.

Kross smiled underneath his mask.

"Ye definately don't wanna be messin' with em' lass...ee'll take ye oot befoor ye hev a chance te breathe."

It was cold out as the snow was slowly drifting from the sky. Kross was dressed for the occasion though.

He enjoyed listening in on his prey. This young girl was a bit boring for him though....too lovey dovey. He did enjoy the whole love making part the night earlier though. Had they kept the blinds open, his super sight would have made for a true show.

Kross figured he would follow her for a while and see what turned up. Maybe she would lead him to his target, the deadly ex-IRA assassin.....Rook.

Thevshi:

Bernadette made her way through the cold late morning air, her breath hanging around her. There were dark clouds looming towards the city, the storm that had been forecasted. But to her, the storm had already taken place, and she had found shelter from it. Now she needed one final release to put it all behind her.

The slowly falling snow continued to blanket the city in a soft cushion of white. Bernadette wished the beauty of it all was enough to make everything seem right, but things were not that simple for her. She stopped across the block from the church were she attended mass on Wednesday nights and Sundays, the golden cross on the steeple shone like a beacon to her soul. Her hand reached up and grasped the small cross at her neck, and the comforting feeling of the cold metal strengthened her resolve.

As she made her way to the church entrance, she could hear the sermon from inside. She quietly made her way into the building and remained in the back to avoid attention. Making a sign of a cross as she entered, she looked for a place to sit where she could be inconspicuous and spotted someone she would never have expected. Sitting there alone in on of the back rows of pews was Rook.

What is ‘e bloody doin’ ‘ere? Bernadette wondered as she frowned slightly. Does ‘e really want ta seek redemption fer ‘is soul? She quickly pushed away such thoughts, realizing that this was the last place to be making such judgments. She moved over to another isle of pews and took a seat, bowing her head as the priest began a prayer.

She glanced over at Rook again and tried to remember what Alex had said to her, your past is your past. She wanted to believe those words, that they might hold true for her and even someone like Rook. Looking back down, she started to search for the strength to allow for such forgiveness.

Lang-Chi:

The priest gave the sign of the cross to those within the church as he walked behind the altar once more. He looked at the large gospel laid across the beautiful wooden altar. Behind him hanged a large cross with Jesus perched upon it. It was one of the larger ones made of wood and had roses bordering it. The priest, known as Father Wallace, said several words from the scripture but was thinking a totally different thing.

((~Where is that girl? She should ave’ been ere’ for choir e’ long time ego. Well I will forgive er’, but she better ave’ a good reason, otherwise she’ll be in choir practice for another hour she ill’….~))

His face was weathered and wrinkled, with very little gray hair covering his head. He had on his long black robe with gold lining today. He was hunched over as usual as he slowly waddled over to a casing on the side of the altar. One of the two altar boys in white and purple walked to his side to help him gather the contents. He pulled out a small gold chalice swirling with a red fruit juice.

((~I still wish the church ould’ give e’ some real wine I do…~))

He placed it slowly on the altar as the altar boy grabbed a small basket with several small oval pieces of unleavened bread in it. Father Wallace scanned his hands over the crowds as it came to a halt over the chalice of juice.

“This is the blood of the son of God, Jesus Christ,” his voiced echoed over the quiet church as he turned to the basket.

“And tis’ be the body of Christ, come and receive e’ as a gift from is’ holy Lord, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

He waited for the pews of people to form a line down the aisle. There was fewer than usual today. He offered the cup and bread as after every drink he wiped the rim with a fine white cloth. The line finally came to an end when Bernadette came up to him as the last person. A serene old smile came over his face as he gave her the bread and sip of juice. He also noticed she was a bit down, regardless he slowly returned up the small steps back to the altar. He gave a final prayer then stood above them all while giving the sign of the cross.

“Now go in peace me children, and may the word of e’ Lord go with ye,” he said whole heartily.

He stood at the door way as he gave a nod to the well wishes and good byes. He then saw two people left sitting solemnly far apart. A man he had not seen before and Bernadette. He figured they were here for confession so he waited at the altar putting away the large gospel and other essentials.

Thevshi:

Bernadette’s thoughts had be a massive jumble through out the service. She had completely forgotten that she was to sing today, she had been so wrapped up in finding out about Rook. As she went up to receive the Sacrament, she felt a sharp feeling of guilt as she looked at Father Wallace. He would be upset that she had not been there, hopefully he would understand. The smile he gave her as she came up to him helped relieve her worry some, but she still felt bad.

As the service ended, she remained seated as the small number, most likely due to the heavy snows, of worshippers made their way back out into the cold. She looked over at Rook as he sat alone in his corner, she still couldn’t figure out why he was here. Father Wallace then made his way back up to the altar and was putting things away. It was only him, her and Rook left in the church. Breathing in deeply, she stood up and made her way over towards Father Wallace.

As she neared the alter, she stopped looked up at the large cross with Jesus on it and made the sign of the cross. She then continued over to the alter. She stopped a short distance from the elderly priest. “Father, will you take me confession?” She looked at him with a sense of pleading in her eyes, her heart was pounding, but she needed to receive forgiveness.

Lang-Chi:

Father Wallace gave a smile and subtle nod to her. He wondered about what problems she might be having that made it so detrimental that she enters confession at this point in time. He shrugged in his mind to it, figuring she just wanted to do her monthly confession; she never had much to say before.

“Well me girl, ye can ave’ ye way, just let me finish putting this rubbish away,” he said while picking up the chalice.

He slowly made his way to the left side of the altar. His black robe dragged across the ground at an even slower rate. He looked at the small box that resided there with the cross perched on top and engraved at the small door that opened it. He grabbed the small handle and proceeded to put the chalice away. His old wrinkled face and stubble across his chin made him look even more determined when he was just putting the small pieces away.

“Well, what be that took so long? The choir as’ wonderin where ye was this mornin’,” he finally got the cup away as he stood up and looked at the remaining basket.

He gave a slight sigh as he again slowly made his way to the remainder of the sacramental objects and made sure they were clean and ready to go back in the cabinet.

“I know ye father can’t be holdin ya back. So what be that kept e’ from getting ere’ in time?” he said with a raised brow.

He sometimes worried about Bernadette and why she was so stressed all the time. Though this particular time her face showed anguish he hadn’t seen before. He looked behind her to eye the man still there. He also wondered if he wanted confession too.

Thevshi:

Bernadette had watched Father Wallace as patiently as she could while he finished putting things away after the service. She felts pangs of guilt as he asked what had made her late for the service and choir. Just more things on the list of what she had ignored during her obsession with Rook. Looking away, she quietly replied, “Well..I..I sorta overslept.” She slightly shuffled her feet as if impatient and looked back at the priest.

“But there is a lot more ta it than that. I will be able ta explain it more durin’ confession,” she said meekly, “as the reasons are what I want ta confess.” Her heart was still pounding, not since she that mission to Kosovo, had she had such serious sins to confess.

Lang-Chi:

Father Wallace wrinkled his nose in a little amusing way. He gave a smile and put the basket into the small cabinet and closed the door. He slowly rose up and put his hands on the altar as if he was using it as support.

“Well me dear, let’s get this goin’,” he said happily.

He gave a smile as to hope it would make her feel better. He moved slowly across the stage of where the altar was down three small steps. He saw the confessional booth, larger than usual ones, set at the other end of the room. He took a slight gaze at the small tub with holy water pouring in it. It had the mother Mary engraved on all sides.

He walked up to the booth unlocking the door on his side and opening hers. He waddled in slowly on his side and closed the door waiting for whenever she was ready. He wanted to know what the problem was, if there was any that was so heart breaking at all.

“Come now lass, let’s get e’ sins forgiven,” he said with a little humor in his voice.

He looked at the small sliding box in the booth, waiting for her to enter and ask for her sins to be forgiven.

Thevshi:

Bernadette nodded slowly as Father Wallace made his way into the confessional booth. Her heart was still beating hard, but she knew that she had to do this. She walked up to her booth and stepped inside, closing the door. Sitting down on the bench, she heard Father Wallace’s lighthearted remark and she wished that things were so simple for her this time.

Making the sign of the cross, she opened the sliding box in the booth. “Forgive me father fer I ‘ave sinned.” She let out a deep sigh, she didn’t even know how to start, so she just started talking. “Me sins ‘ave been many since me last confession father, I don’ even know where ta begin, so perhaps I should just start ta work me way backwards.”

Her cheeks blushed slightly as she thought of what she must talk about first, but there was no way around it. “Last night father, I..I was, intimate with me boyfriend. I truly love ‘im, but I gave in ta temptation o’ the flesh.” She ready herself for what ever lecture she would receive on the subject, though she couldn’t really feel to much shame about this particular sin, as the others weighed more heavily on her heart at the moment.

Lang-Chi:

Father Wallace listened to the usual things said while he nodded with his eyes closed. He then heard her mention Alex and giving in to her temptation. His eyes shot open with a surprised type face. He then looked at the small sliding box.

“Well lass…er…ye know ‘e church looks down upon at’, but I know e’ somethin’ the Lord ill’ forgive if it felt as if true love….”

He looked at the ground then back at the small opening in the booth.

“I also trust ye, and know ye choose the right man, ye may ave’ gave in to ye emotions, but It as’ happen to the best of us.”

He blinked with a little of sorrow felt for her, but knew she probably loved the boy. He let his hands lay on his knees as he looked through the small box at her darkened face. Waiting to hear what else pulled her mind with agony. He wanted to help, it was not only his calling but something he was almost meant to do. Bernadette was like a granddaughter to him. He wanted to help in the best he could.

“Is a wee thing lass, tell me, what is that makes ye still feel urt’?”

Thevshi:

Bernadette felt some relief at Father Wallace’s words, but then she had known that it was among the least of her sins she needed to get forgiveness for. There was still more to gain forgiveness for, breathing in deep again, she answered.

“I do love ‘im father, being with ‘im ‘elped me forget much o’ what was troubling me. Being there with ‘im just felt so…right.” She looked over at the small box, wondering how hard it was for him to hear about things like this on a regular basis.

She then looked forward again as she thought about the other things that troubled her from the night before. “There are many things that are troublin’ me right now father, one o’ them is that last night I raised me ‘and against me father and didn’ show ‘im the proper respect that is mentioned in the bible.”

She did feel bad about what had happened between her and her father last night, but she also found it a little difficult to not be mad at him for how little he had to do with her life, now and for the past five years. She tried to explain a bit better for Father Wallace.

“Me father was pissed, as ‘e often is, an’ tried ta ‘it me. I kinda shoved ‘im against the wall an’ was a little ‘arsh with ‘im about ‘is role in me life over the last five years. That is why I left ‘ome last night.”

"But that isn' the biggest sin I 'ave ta confess either."

Lang-Chi:

Father Wallace nodded. He knew her father, and understood why anger came over her. He had to act like an adult figure for her for the last couple of months. Father Wallace didn’t like her father all that much, so he understood the pain she felt, but also understood it might have been something that needed to be done.

“Well lass, may ave’ een’ the thing that needed to be said and done. Fathers and mothers aren’t always right. That is what makes the world go ound’. People make mistakes, big an’ small. It is forgiven them, that is what ould’ be done. May be your father needs to think about it….”

He then regarded that she said she had worst to say. Well at this point he was ready for anything, and was sure that however bad it may have been, that she could be forgiven. He knew some of her past and what happened to her, but not a lot, and from what he heard she had probably been through rough times in both her professional and personal life.

“Ow’ ever bad it may be lass, you can tell em, I won’t think a ye any differently…”

He looked straight ahead at the door of the booth. Wondering and thinking about how bad it could really get for a girl her age….

Thevshi:

Bernadette listened to Father Wallace’s words, taking some comfort in them, but still troubled by the last bit of her soul she had to bare. She breathed deep and then looked over at the small box in the booth and began.

“Well, ye know about me, an’ that I am a supre’ero, well, recently I found out some things about another o’ Paragon Cities heros, an’ some terrible things ‘e did in the past.” She thought of when she saw that newscast a few nights ago and how it had come to haunt her so. “I didn’ know what to do, I became obsessed with provin’ that this man was the killer that I thought ‘im ta be. I got proof from me ol’ teammates in England, but instead o’ tryin’ to go the authorities or anything, I..”

She thought back to the battle last night and how out of control her emotions were. “I tried ta take matters inta me own ‘ands. I went an’ confronted ‘im alone, I attacked ‘im, an’ in a rage, I almost killed ‘im.”

She looked down at the ground as she was speaking, ashamed that she had let things get so out of control in regards to Rook, it had been just like Rome, all over again. “That is me sin father, I tried ta take the law an’ the Lord’s vengeance inta me own ‘ands.” She waited to hear what Father Wallace’s response would be.

Lang-Chi:

Father Wallace listened to every word intently and it was starting to become more and more worrisome on him as much as on Bernadette. It would probably be best to confront the man after what she did. He didn’t know what kind of character this man must have been, but he might forgive for such things. He knew that Bernadette must have done it on impulse, like every teen usually does. It was just her emotions and instinct if anything, easily forgivable by the Lord.

“My dear, if ye did such a thing, I think that e best way is by askin’ for forgiveness from im’. Ye may be against the Lord with what ye did, but God is great and forgiving, an’ I know deep down inside e’ Lord, that e can forgive what ye did. Now ye ave’ to ask it from the one ye accused…it is the best course of action lass…”

He folded his hands in his lap while looking at the wooden door. He hoped she wasn’t being too hard on herself; it would make things easier for those around her. Yet what she was doing with her life could be forgiven by God, all she had to do was seek it within her heart. It wasn’t too difficult.

Thevshi:

Bernadette listened to Father Wallace’s words very intently. She had known that the Lord would forgive her, that was his way, as long as you accepted them and realized your sins. But asking forgiveness from Rook? Why should she do that? She had be right about him, only the way she tried to deal with it had been wrong.

But what had Alex said? That the past was the past, and it was never to late to seek forgiveness according to the Bible. Wasn’t Rook sitting in this church right now? Hadn’t he spent the last several years protecting the people of Paragon City? Maybe Rook was seeking to make amends for his crimes.

She looked back over at the box over to where Father Wallace was sitting quietly. “Ye are right Father, of course. I’m thank full the Lord can forgive me, an’ I will seek forgiveness from the man I attacked.”

She looked at the wooden door to the booth. Rook was only about a hundred feet away, she was not sure if she was ready to do this at this time, but the opportunity was here.

Lang-Chi:

Father Wallace gave an approving nod regardless of her not being able to see her. His face seemed to turn into a peaceful and tranquil one. He glanced over at the box then looked straight ahead again while brushing his fingers along his robe to smooth it out.

“I am glad ye made the right decision. I knew ye would do the right thing. I just ope’ that I won’t have to do this over an’ over again an’ that you will learn in the future that what is right in ye heart is what can guide ye.”

He looked at the ground for a second remembering the proper procedures for such forgiveness. Reciting several Hail Mary’s and an Our Father would do nicely. He would also have her try and relax for a change; he could tell that this super hero business was putting a strain on her from time to time. Otherwise he wouldn’t be sitting her right now, but he knew that deep down she was ultimately doing something right for the world. He began to make the sign of the cross on the other side with his hand.

“Then I forgive ye in the ame’ of thee Father, thee Son, and thee Holy Spirit…Amen. Now go child and recite several prayers for your forgiveness as well lass. Let’s make it five Hail Mary’s and an Our Father. And I ope’ that you will forgive whoever you ave’ urt’ as well.”

Thevshi:

Bernadette made the sign of the cross in front of herself as Father Wallace gave her forgiveness. She felt some of the burden on her heart lifted, but knew that before it could fully be so, she would have to face Rook again. “Thank ye Father. Amen.”

She then stood up and left the confessional and headed over to the altar, glancing towards the back of the church, and seeing Rook still sitting glumly in the back row of pews. Making the sign of the cross in front of herself again as she knelt down.

She then began to recite the prayers that Father Wallace had instructed her too give. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

She repeated the prayer four more times as had been instructed before she went on to the next one. “Our Father, how are n heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.” She again made the sign of the cross as she stood back up.

Turning back towards the exit of the church, she saw Rook still seated in the pews. Her heart was beating quickly as she took a deep breath and started back towards where he was seated.

Rook:

With his head still buried in his hands and hair, Rook barely even noticed the young girl approach him. Too many thoughts were swarming through his head.

Just as Thevshi was seemingly about to say something is when Rook noticed her. His head jerked up quickly when he saw her walking towards her. Rook gritted his teeth and flashed his glowing green eyes at her, preparing himself for her to lay an untimely, unrelenting attack on him again.

"Wait a second, I'm in a church....she's in a church...there's no way she would dare lay a finger on me in here if she has any conscious at all.", Rook thought to himself, still seated in the pew.

Thevshi looked sad for a reason, and proceeded to walk outside the church, making sure to keep an eye on Rook the whole time. She slowly walked out into the daylight sun, then disappeared from Rook's eyes.

Rook sighed heavily. What was the chances of seeing the same young girl at this church the day after they viscously fought each other?

Rook then diverted his attention to the confessional booth. He hadn't been in one of them since he was a young child. His mother made him go, much to his dislike, to confess his sins to God.

Rook cautiously stood up, glanced around the church, and made his way to the booth.

Shutting the booth's door, Rook spoke in a soft Irish accent.

"Forgive me father fer I 'ave sinned...."

Lang-Chi:

Father Wallace was about to leave the both when he heard the hinges of the opposite door of the confessional open and close. He heard the normal beginnings of the confessional as he returned to relaxing himself. The man sounded restricted to his surroundings, Father Wallace always liked people relaxed before confessional.

“Well so ye ‘ave lad, otherwise ye wouldn’t be ere now would ye?”

Father Wallace’s sharp attempts at humor were usually comforting to most. He hoped this man would feel the same way regardless of the obvious pains that he may feel. Father Wallace always had a knack for telling if the person had some sort of serious problem within their voice.

He shuffled in his seat to comfort himself a bit then looked over at the small slit that went through so he could hear his misbegotten voice. He gave a slight smile as to comfort not only himself but maybe the person on the other side. Regardless of not being able to see him.

“So lad, when was last time ye ‘ad confession?" he said with a almost simple and proud voice.

Alex Young:

Alex walked down the street looking left and right for the church. He knew it was somewhere around this neighborhood, but he couldn't exactly remember where. Alex he looked around, he thought back to the night before. He was worried that Bernadette would do something irrational, though Alex was known for doing that exact thing.

When Alex looked from across the street from him to just in front of him was Bernadette. She was coming towards him and apparently didn't even notice him.

Alex slowly ran towards her, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. When he reached her, he looked down at her. "Bernadette, I... um... hi." Alex said suddenly realizing how stupid he looked now. He was only wearing what he had put on. He had forgotten his sunglasses wallet and keys at the mansion because he left in such a hurry.

Rook:

Father Wallace's voice was both comforting and painful. On one hand, his thick Irish accent reminded him of his homeland. One the other hand, the question he asked brought back tough memories.

“So lad, when was last time ye ‘ad confession?"

Rook could barely remember the last time. He was with his mother and sister...they were still very young at the time. Rook's father had just died of brain cancer, so his mother thought that confession and the church would ease their souls the most.

"It's been longer then I care te' think aboot.", said Rook with a deep sigh.

"I know you must be' gurtin lad...I kin 'ear it in yer voice. Why don't ye tell me, maybe I kin help.", said Father Wallace sincerely.

"I really doubt it.", said Rook with a tone of anger in his statement. Then, realizing that Father Wallace didn't 'have' to listen to him, he apologized.

"Things aren't goin too good fer me father...seems as if me whole life is comin te' its end.."

"What’s troubling you son?"

"....I've....done some pretty 'orrible things in me life...nuthin te go runnin te tell the parents aboot...and it seems as if everythin' is catchin up te me now...I've hidden so much from me friends, meself and the world...its 'ard te look at me face in the mirror father...", said Rook as if he was pouring everything out that he held back for so long.

"Well me boy, you've taken the right step te havin the Lord's fergiveness."

Rook only knew Father Wallace for nearly 10 minutes, but he could tell that he cared about his situation. Sitting against the back of the confessional booth in a slump, he prepared himself to disclose so much he swore he never would.

Thevshi:

Bernadette was disappointed in herself, she hadn’t been able to face Rook, she hopped that she would be able to and listen to Father Wallace’s advice. Alex suddenly appearing in front of her caught her off guard as she looked up at him with a surprised look as he stammered out a greeting.

Thing seemed to have changed so much suddenly after last night. Looking at Alex right now, she could not help but think about him holding her. She smiled at him, a slightly nervous smile that really didn’t convey what she felt as she replied. “Umm, ‘ello Alex. I’m surprised ta see ye out ‘ere.”

She looked down at the ground for a moment and then back up at him. He was so tall, it had never been something she had really thought much about until now. “Were ye lookin’ fer me?”

Alex Young:

Alex pondered that question himself. "Um, yeah. I came to see if you were ok. We didn't get a chance to talk this morning, and I hope that your service went well." Alex said as he rambled on, thinking about something to say. He looked around nervously. What if last night was a mistake? What if they weren't ready to take that next step? Bernadette seemed distant and he didn't want to destroy their relationship over it. Alex feeling for her grew stronger by the second. But did she stop?

Alex glanced down at her hoping for the best. "Bernadette, are you ok? With Rook and everything? What are you going to do?" Alex asked bluntly.

Thevshi:

Bernadette smiled warmly at Alex, the thought that he had come out in the cold and snow to make sure she was okay and to talk made her feel all the better about the night before. Taking his arm in hers, she started to walk along the sidewalk, not headed to anywhere in particular. Thoughts of Rook and her father seemed so distant right now as she looked up at Alex with a smile.

“Well, Father Wallace thinks I should seek forgiveness from ‘im, an’ maybe I should. ‘e was at the service Alex.” She said quietly. “I ‘ad the chance ta speak with ‘im after the confessional, but I didn’ take it. I just don’ know if I am quite ready yet.”

She looked back up at him and smiled. “But I don’ want ta think about that too much right now. Once again Alex, bein’ with you makes everythin’ seem less important than what I feel about ye.” She stopped and looked up into his eyes and was standing up on her toes to kiss him, when there was the sudden screeching of tires beside them.

The two young heroes turned towards the noise, tensing for danger. Bernadette shifted to her desolid state as a reflexive defense as she looked at the gray van that had pulled up beside them. The door was open and there were three men in masks in the back, one threw a small round object at their feet.

“Look out Alex! Grenade!” Bernadette shouted before there was a loud shrike as the sonic grenade went off. The sonic waves washed over the two, rendering Bernadette unconscious as she returned to her normal density and dropped to the ground. Alex fell to the ground as well, disoriented from the attack as he could barely make out the men as the jumped from the van and grabbed Bernadette and carried her into the back of the van. “Lets ‘urry up boyos!” He could vaguely make out as the door slammed shut and the van speed off down the street.

In the back of the van, the men removed their masks as one pulled out a syringe with a clear liquid in it. He went over to Bernadette’s unconscious form and pulled up one of her arms and pressed the needle to her arm, promptly breaking it. “Bugger me!” The man cried out in his think Irish accent. “The d*mn needle can’t break ‘er skin! ‘ow we goin’ keep ‘er sedated?”

One of the others just looked over at him. “Just pour it down ‘er d*mn throat.” He turned away as he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and hit an autodial number. Holding the phone to his ear, he waited for the pickup. “We’ve got ‘er. On our way back.”

Rook:

The confessional lasted nearly a half hour, and Rook still felt as if he had plenty more to say. Father Wallace and Rook seemed to have a lot in common, which made it much easier to talk to him about his past. Rook sugar coated most of the stories, but Father Wallace took it all in stride. He seemed to know that Rook was holding back, but wasn't going to press him for the rest of it.

The conversation was abruptly stopped as a loud shriek reverberated throughout the church. Father Wallace held his ears in pain as the sounds seemed to be very close. After the sounds ceased, Rook pushed his way out of the confessional booth, as did Father Wallace.

In a half jog, Rook made his way outside of the church. As he exited, he saw a young man laying unconscious on the sidewalk. Though his hearing was nearly shot, Rook caught the distant sounds of a van speeding off down the street.

Kneeling to the ground, Rook grabbed the young man's head to see if he was still alive. There was a pulse, but he wasn't responding to anything Rook said, although he couldn't even tell how loud he was talking.

Father Wallace stood behind Rook with a look of fear on his face.

Alex Young:

Alex’s head felt groggy. He felt as if he wanted to just lay and sleep forever. Just then Alex remembered the incident with Bernadette. He quickly opened his eyes to see a man standing over him.

Alex coughed numerous times as he tried to stand up. His head was pounding and his bones ached, but he continued to try to get up. Finally, with help of the man, Alex was able to stand up.

Alex looked over to where the van sped off. "Bernadette." Alex said as a tear ran down the side of his face. He looked over at the man. "Thank you for your help. I have to go." Alex said, ready to run off.

Thevshi:

The black van continued through the empty roads of Paragon City. The heavy snows and approaching storm had massively cut down on traffic through out the city. Soon, it was pulling up at an old warehouse near the city docks. The old building was run down, and had lights on within it. As the van approached, one of the loading doors opened and the van pulled in.

Inside, the warehouse, there was a lot of activity. Several more armed men were walking around, and Kross was standing off to one side. Beside him was a massive man who seemed to be made of rock. He stood at well over seven feet tall and appeared a massive wall of muscle. Back behind them, were several large shapes that were covered with tarps. Standing off to one side was a woman, attractive, yet with a cold stare in her eyes.

The IRA operatives in the van opened the side door and pulled out Bernadette’s unconscious form. They had handcuffed her hands behind her back, two of them carrying her over towards the woman and Kross.

“That be ‘er alright.” Kross replied as he looked at the young Irish girl. “Quite the little wildfire she is. Listened ta ‘er an ‘er boyfriend last night.” He said with a grin.

The woman stepped forward. “Remember, she is important. If she can get the traitor ta us, then she is more important than any o’ us.” Looking at the two men holding her she nodded with her head towards the back. “Put ‘er in the storeroom.”

The two men nodded and easily carried the unconscious girl back towards a door. Opening it up, the switched on the light, they moved into the dank musty room and set her down on a small cot that was against the far wall. Then, they moved back to the door, switched off the light and shut the door again, locking it.

Back in the main room, the woman known as Rose, looked at her fellow assassins. “Now we just ‘ave ta make contact with ol’ Rook an’ lure ‘im inta the trap. We should ‘ave more than enough firepower ta take the traitor down.”

Rook:

Rook slammed the door to his apartment. For some reason, he felt that something had just gone terribly wrong. Rook thought about the young man outside the church.

There's no way a bunch of kids played a practical joke on him...No one would have wasted 'that' much money on a sonic grenade, just so that they could scare some kid...

Rook thought about it some more for a few minutes. The strange thing was that he was actually thinking about something besides how 'horrible his life has become.' Maybe the confession with Father Wallace actually did help.

Rook then looked over at the answering machine. 7 messages. Most likely from Team1 teammates and Mr. Edwards wondering what’s going on with him. Rook didn't press the play button and instead made his way to the shower.

Taking a whiff of himself, Rook wondered how Father Wallace could have even sat in the same confessional booth with him. After spending a night in a drunken haze in the streets of Paragon, Rook royally stunk.

Throwing his shirt and jeans off into a pile in the corner of the bathroom, Rook cranked up the hot water on his shower. The warm water felt good on his tired body. Placing his hands against the front of the shower, Rook took a deep breath and tried to relax himself.

He thought he heard his phone ringing, but the shower felt too good to leave. Whoever it was would have to wait until he got out.

Rook:

Rook grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from his dresser and slid them on as he dried his hair with his towel. He rarely ever dried himself completely when he got out of the shower. The puddles on the wood floor were testament to this. Rook turned on his favorite rock station and continued to throw on a pair of dark jeans.

Rook then glanced over to his nightstand. The answering machine was blinking still, but this time there was 8 messages instead of the original 7.

Wondering who the hell wanted to talk to him so bad, Rook sauntered over and pressed play.

*message 1* "Hey Rook, it's me Vindicator...you alright man? If you need to talk, give me a call." *message deleted*

*message 2* "Rook, this is Edwards...I'd like to speak with you in my office tomorrow at 9 a.m., prompt. Don't be late or..", Rook cut him off and deleted the message.

*message 3* "You there Rook? Listen, give me a call once you get this message, cool? Thanks...later." Rook grinned as he listened to Renegade's voice. He was genuinely concerned with Rook. He also probably wanted compensation for the desk Rook smashed.

Messages 4-7 were also teammates who seemed to be concerned. Pillar actually wanted to go out and grab a drink with him.

Then, came message 8.

*message 8* ".............Roooooook? Ye there boyo?........I think we got somthin' ye might be interested in......pick up the tele ye bold gowl....", the message was in a very devious tone which had the sounds of laughter in the background.

A rush of fear poured into Rook's body. It was so much that he staggered backwards and nearly tripped on the puddles.

Soon, the phone rang again. Rook stared at it in sheer horror.

Then, it rang again. Rook, still motionless, gazed at the phone aghast.

After the third ring, Rook slowly picked up the phone and placed it to his ear. His heart was pounding and he could feel sweat beginning to form on his forehead. If it was who he thought it was, Rook was in for trouble ahead.

"Ello?...........who is this?....

Alex Young:

Alex walked around the city, looking back and forth. He wore his thin costume at first, but quickly went back for a warm coat. He had been searching the whole city since he had lost Bernadette many hours earlier. He soon found that his shoulder-length hair often got into his face, so he found himself wearing a toque.

Now, as the teen walked through the city, he still felt the sharp wind against his face, and although he had started to become cold, he continued his search. Alex used his fire to keep him warm for a few hours, but after so long he decided to conserve his pyrokenetics incase he needed them soon. But alas, the search had not been going well at all.

The last few hours seemed like decades, yet like seconds. He felt the loss for Bernadette, and his thoughts lingered on her, yet he also tried to keep aware of his surroundings. At least he wished that he had another mode of transportation besides walking.

Yet he would not give up. He would not rest until he found Bernadette.

Rook:

The snow storm outside of Rook's apartment was beginning to pick up strength. The strong winds made it seem as if the city itself was one white mass of snow. Those who still remained in the streets hurried to get to their destination as the storm seemingly began to grow stronger and stronger.

The cold and bitter sting of the cold resembled the feeling rushing through Rook's body as he clenched the phone tightly.

"Ello Rook....its relly been ages since the IRA has 'eard from ye...we've been brutally worried about ye.", said Rose, an IRA assassin in a cold, sarcastic tone.

"How'd ye find me...", said Rook in a soft voice.

Rose laughed aloud as if she was full of glee before she spoke. "Well ye've been quite the sleeveen (sly person) fer the past....who knows how many years....but how we found ye doesn't really matta. Fact is, we did find ye, ye [censored]."

Rook paced back and forth through his apartment, holding the phone in one hand and the receiver in the other.

"What de ye want frem me?", said Rook after remaining quiet for a couple seconds.

"Aww, Rook ol' pal.."said Rose as if they were best friends, "All we want is fer ye te take a lil vacashin wit us back te yer home country..."

"Ye'll hev to bloody find me' first ye gurriers...."

"Well Rook.....that won't be' too hard. Lissen, know that gurl that was at the church wit ye? Yeah, well, we hev her. And if ye don't git yer [censored] o'er here soon, she'll be in bloody flitters when we're dune wit er'."

"Who, the lil Irish hoor? Cop on now!!! (Don't be so stupid) Hev fun wit er fer all I care...", said Rook as he slammed the phone down.

Rook ran to his closet and began throwing all of his clothes in a large duffel bag. He did this for a couple minutes before he began to think.

What am I doing?.....As much as I don't like the lil Irish girl, I can't let her die at the hands of those murderers....

After pacing around the room for a couple more minutes, Rook sat on the bed and ran his hands over his face and through his thick brown hair.

Not only couldn't he let the young girl die, but he came to a even more important conclusion:

No more running.

He wouldn't run from his fears any longer. He had always been looking for a way to redeem himself in his eyes.....This was the way to do it. He would save the young girl, or die at the hands of his former employees, trying to. A wave of strength poured through his body. The fear he had been suppressing for years upon years suddenly disappeared.

He would face the greatest fear of his life.

Grabbing the phone quickly, Rook dialed *69. The phone rang twice before Rose picked back up.

"Aww, so the assassin' does hev a heart after all. Shame, we were getting the buzz-saw all warmed up....Git a pen...I don't want ye te git lost or anythin."

Thevshi:

All Bernadette knew was blackness, it seemed everywhere around her, almost as if she was floating in an empty void. Off in the distance she thought she could hear voices, so faint and muffled that she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Bernadette opened her eyes only to find more darkness. Her mind felt as if it was swimming as dizziness swept over her.

Though blurry eyes, she thought she could see the faintest source of light, a hazy line that seemed below her. She could vaguely feel that she was laying on her side on something soft. Trying to sit up, she seemed unable to move for some reason, as if her muscles did not want to obey her. She felt completely helpless, much as she had that terrible day in Belfast so many years ago.

After a few moments of trying hopelessly to sit up, Bernadette just stayed still trying to focus on the light that was still a hazy blur. A fresh wave of dizziness came over her as she shut her eyes and drifted back into the darkness.

Rook:

Two long hours had passed since Rook had spoken with the IRA on the phone.

In that time, Rook did a lot of thinking. He thought of his past, the present, and if he even had a future. He thought about how he would face his old employers and what tactics he would use in the bound to ensue fight. He would make sure the young girl’s life would be spared, and he would do his best to fight for his own life, although he would surely be outnumbered.

The thought of calling his teammates for backup never even crossed his mind. Rook had to go into this alone. He needed to fight his own demons.

He would gain his redemption.

Rook threw the letter he wrote to his teammates, explaining everything about his past and where he had gone, on his un-made bed. In it, he made sure that he relinquished all of his assets back to Team1 in the case of his death, who were his only family now.

Rook then made his way over to his closet. He threw on his brown leather jacket, a pair of black gloves and his brown work-boots. Then, with a deep sigh, Rook slowly pulled out a small box that he had hid away since the day his sister and mother died. Brushing the dust off of it, Rook stared at it for a long time. The contents inside the box held all of his dearest memories. A nearly destroyed picture of he and his mother, a small doll that his sister played with, and a small braid of his sisters blond hair. A tear streamed down his face as he stared at it, remembering all of the memories he tried to push out of his mind.

Rook tucked away the small piece of hair in his jacket and clenched onto it tightly. Slowly, Rook turned his head and glanced out the window.

The snow outside whipped around the streets faster than cars could even travel. The only prominent color was white, everything else was covered in a thick blanket of snow.

******

Rook slammed the door of his apartment building behind him. He felt for his keys, but he knew that there was no way that his classic black corvette would even dare to start up under these conditions.

Rook buried his hands into his pockets and pushed through the thick snow, the freezing winds burning his face and numbing his skin.

******

After an hour of walking, Rook strode up to what appeared to be the address to the warehouse which the IRA gave him. It was a rather large warehouse, nearly 4 stories high. Small windows were frosted with cold, and the entrance seemed indistinguishable.

Rook tensed his muscles and prepared himself for what would be the greatest confrontation of his life. His eyes flashed bright green quickly in anticipation.

Cupping his hands to his frozen mouth, he yelled aloud.

"Awright boyo's.....lets not dodder around eh? Git yer bloody ares out 'ere now!"

Rook glanced around at the other warehouses looking for the slightest movement in this thick snowstorm.

Thevshi:

Bernadette had managed to regain consciousness and stay conscious for what had seemed an eternity in the dark room that she was in. Her vision still seemed a bit blurry, but she could make out the faint light shining in from under the door. It was not enough to allow her to see what was in the room, but it gave her a point of reference.

She had shifted slightly and worked the muscles in her arms, trying to get feeling back into them. She felt too weak a first to try to do anything and when she tired to use her powers, she found she could not concentrate enough to do so. But that had started to pass as time when on, she was beginning to feel more clear headed and the blur of light was not as bad anymore.

It was not long after that she heard several voices outside in the door and then the sound of several large vehicles driving away. She lay very still for awhile, listening to see if they had all left, but then she saw a shadow cross in front of the light under the door and realized that at least a few were still here. She did not even know who they were or what they wanted with her. Feeling very strange still, she decided to wait and try to recover some more from whatever they had given her before she tired to do anything.

Sitting out in the warehouse, Kross was truly bored. He had been left behind because Rose did not want to waste his talents on the ambush. She had felt that Rook would be pretty straightforward in his tactics. So he had been left behind with a handful of IRA men to watch the girl and be ready to eliminate her if ordered too.

He sat on the chairs that they had near the old office of the warehouse watching television completely bored. He looked over to one of the IRA men as he asked. “So, ‘ow long should the lil’ lass be out fer?” The man didn’t take his eyes off the television as he replied. “Till mornin’ at least. Why?”

“Ye should go check on ‘er. She can walk through walls an’ fly, who knows what else she can do.” Kross replied with an annoyed voice. The man now turned to look at the assassin. “Why? Ye saw ‘ow scrawny she was, she will most likely be out ta mid afternoon tomorrow, light weight that she is.”

Kross glared at the man as he sat up slightly. “Don’ give me any guff, just bloody do it!”

The man frowned but stood up. “Bleedin’ fine, Shamus, yer goin’ ta come wit me.” He said as he hit another man on the shoulder. Shamus looked up with a smile. “What? Ye can’ ‘andle an’ unconscious lass? Makes me wonder ‘ow ye can ever get any there Pat.”

Pat growled and hit Shamus again. “Stop bein’ an [censored] and just git up.” Shamus stood up reluctantly as the two walked over and picked up their AK-47s from a table and stared towards the door to the storeroom.

Hearing someone approaching the door, Bernadette lay still and closed her eyes. The room flooded with light as the door swung open and the men switched on the light. She heard the door shut and the men’s footsteps approaching. “Like I bloody said, she’s out cold. Shame a pretty lil’ lass like this ‘ad ta be mixed up with the like o’ Rook.”

Bernadette’s mind raced, they were talking about Rook, and they were with out a doubt Irish, Southern from the sound of their accents. Bernadette felt a sense of cold hatred inside her. They had to be IRA, somehow here after Rook. The people who killed her mother! Here in Paragon City!

Shamus had been looking down the girl when suddenly her eyes opened up and her head snapped over to look at him. He met her gaze and hesitated, the look in her eyes was not one he would ever expect from someone as young as she, one of pure hate and anger. “She’s awa…” He started before she rolled quickly onto her back and kicked out with both legs, her feet slamming into his chest and sending him flying backward into one of the shelves in the storeroom, knocking it over and into the wall.

Bernadette quickly rolled up to her feet as she strained with arms, snapping the cuffs that bound her wrists. She then staggered as her head spun from the sudden movement and the drugs still in her system. She then felt an painful impact in her stomach, doubling over as the other man slammed the butt of his AK-47 into her stomach. He pulled it back and lifted it up and started to bring it down towards her head as she managed to concentrate enough to shift to her desolid state.

The butt of the assault rifle passed harmlessly through her as she stood back up, her stomach still in pain. Shifting back to her normal density she looked at the stunned IRA man as she said in a flat voice. “Didn’ they teach ye anythin’ about fighin’ with a rifle in hand ta hand? Ye wasted the chance ta follow up right.” Reaching out with amazing speed, Bernadette grabbed the assault rifle and pulled it away from the man’s grasp. She then flipped it down and drove the butt into the man’s stomach, doubling him over with the impact. No sooner had she hit him in the stomach than she lifted her right hand while dropping her left and driving the butt of the weapon up under the man’s chin as his head came down. The impact snapped his head back and sent him flying back onto the ground, a couple of teeth coming out of his mouth along with a lot of blood.

Standing over him for a moment, she looked down with a hard look on her face. “That’s bloody ‘ow ye fight with a rifle.” Dropping the assault rifle and looked up at the door with anger boiling up inside her. She charged towards the door as she increased her density to several tons.

Out in the warehouse, Kross heard the crash of the shelves being knocked over and stood up, targeting the room with his superhearing. “D*mn! She’s awake.” He said to the other IRA men in the warehouse. Kross sped over to the table and picked up an AK-47 as one of the IRA men who was on the opposite side of the warehouse stepped over towards the door. The door to the storeroom suddenly exploded off its hinges as the girl came charging through. She stopped about ten feet outside the storeroom, but the door continued on, smashing into the man nearby, sending him flying back into a column with a loud slam.

Kross looked at the girl, standing there, her eyes full of rage and the remains of the handcuffs still on her wrists. Well, guess superstrength is another o’ ‘er powers. He thought to himself as he lifted up the AK and took aim, not sure if this would be effective or not.

Thevshi:

Kross opened fire on the girl, the AK spitting out rounds as he squeezed the trigger. Bernadette put her arms up in front of her as the rounds bounced harmlessly off her invulnerable skin. Kross stopped firing as he looked at girl who he had considered some soft and weak girl with some superpowers. Right now, she seemed anything but, even if she still looked harmless.

Bernadette reached over to grab a large shipping crate beside her and hurled it at the IRA assassin. Moving at superspeed, Kross easily moved out of the large projectile’s way as it smashed through a table and some chairs before splintering when it hit the wall. Kross came to a halt near one of the columns in the room as he tried to figure out how they would stop this girl. The last IRA soldier on his feet came up behind her girl, his rifle above his shoulder as he prepared to hit her with the buttstock. Bernadette spun as he came up, catching the AK’s buttstock with her left hand as it came down. The IRA soldier looked at her with fear as he couldn’t budge his weapon.

Bernadette stepped in and drove her right arm into the man’s stomach, doubling him over and knocking him back ten feet into a wall. As he fell to the ground unconscious, she ran over to where Kross was standing, swinging her right hand out at him as she yelled out in anger.

Moving like blur, Kross sidestepped the punch, which smashed into the column, shattering it into debris. Kross moved across the room as the beams above the smashed out column collapsed falling down on Bernadette who put her arms up above her head while trying to shift to desolid form. A large cloud of dust kicked up around the collapse as Kross coughed and tried to look for any sign that the girl might be unconscious or dead, though he truly doubted the later.

Under the rubble, Bernadette coughed as she began to push the debris off. Kross moved over to pick up some grenades as he watched part of the pile of debris were suddenly tossed to one side. Bernadette staggered out of the debris, her clothing all torn, a bit sore, but mainly unhurt. The drugs in her system were still causing her problems, she was having trouble changing her density as quickly as she normally could, and she would have dizzy spells easily.

She heard a hollow sounding echo of metal on the cement as she saw a small round object come bouncing towards her feet. Gritting her teeth, she dove towards some cover, while trying to shift to desolid form. She managed to shift as the fragmentation grenade went off, sending shrapnel in all directions as it exploded.

Kross watched as the girl disappeared beneath the floor and felt a slight bit of concern. He started to move as the she came back up through the floor near where he had been. Kross started back towards her, an idea forming in his head.

Bernadette looked at the blur of motion that was coming her way and stayed desolid as she hovered just above the ground. The blur of the superfast assassin began to circle her, getting faster as he went. Bernadette had a puzzled look as she tried to figure what he was going when she noticed it was getting hard to breath. Somehow he was creating a vacuum. A slight sense of worry starting to form, she sifted to her maximum density, with slight difficulty.

Once she had, she watched Kross as he continued as a blur, breathing getting more and more difficult. She quickly stuck her right arm out as she timed his passage. Kross smiled as he easily began to duck under the attack. Bloody lass is delirious if she thinks she can get me wit that. He thought. It was then that he noticed the right knee that was also coming up, just the slightest fraction of a second later. With no time to truly dodge, Kross tried to roll outward and away from the girl as he slammed into her knee.

There was a loud sound of bones breaking with the impact as he flipped over her knee and flew through the air about ten feet before rolling another ten or so as he landed. Lying on his back, Kross felt pain all up his right side as he figured most of his ribs were broken. His entire body hurt as well as he lay there trying to move some. He was just about to get himself on his side to stand up when a foot was placed on his head, immobilizing him.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’ shift my increased weight onta yer ‘ead an’ crush it like an’ egg?” He heard the girl say in a cold hard voice. The assassin believe that she could very well care out the threat as he coughed painfully and spoke out. “If ye kill me, ye will never find Rook in time ta ‘elp ‘im?”

Bernadette looked down at the man with a look of shock. “What does Rook ‘ave ta do with this, an’ what do ye mean, ‘’elp ‘im?’” She asked as she put a slight bit of pressure on the man’s head. Kross grunted slightly from the pain. He could tell that she could very easily crush his skull under her foot as if it was an egg shell. He spoke up quickly. “We captured ye ta use as bait ta get Rook ta come ta our trap. ‘e should be there by now.”

Bernadette felt a sense of shock as she heard those words, Rook had come to them to try and help her? Why? She had tried to kill him last night, why would he show himself to his former employers, who were very likely going to kill him? Bernadette bent down as she put a little more pressure on the man’s head. “Where?” Was all she asked.

Rook:

Rook gripped his leather jacket close to him after yelling aloud. Small flakes stuck to his brown facial hair and a flurry of pure white snow filled the sky.

Rook's outcry seemed unchallenged. Not a single voice could be heard above the loud howls of the cold winds and there were no visible figures in sight.

Rook could have sworn that he heard some kind of motor though.

******

Meanwhile, the IRA was nearly set up for the ambush.

Ropse readied her automatic rifles. Squinting her eyes because of the snow, she looked over at her men to make sure they were set up. There were two adjacent warehouses to where Rook was standing, both held three sharpshooters each.

Rose pressed a small button on her backpack. The light lit up red and all 10 of the highly expensive “crusher drones” sprung to life. They were bestowed this name after many incidents of them leaving crushed body parts after they deal with their victims. They would descend on Rook as soon as they finished their first round of shots.

Yet, Rose had even a greater surprise for Rook in store. She would make sure that Rook would regret turning his back on her beloved IRA.

Flipping on her comlink, she spoke softly.

"So, ye ready te' croosh some skull Granite?"

A hardy laugh from the other side of the transmission was all the confirmation she needed.

Thevshi:

Bernadette flew through the intense flurries of snow in her desolid from so that the cold would effect her less. The skirt and stocking she had chosen to wear this morning seemed such a poor choice, but she had not intended to stay out this long. Flying at her top speed, she hopped she would reach the site of the IRA ambush in time to help Rook. She still couldn’t believe that he had agreed to come to what he must have known would be a trap for her. She was beginning to terribly regret her actions of the night before, and realized that Rook deserved the chance to put his past behind him.

She had left Kross and the other IRA assassins tied up in the warehouse they had held her in. None on them were in any condition to try and escape and she had left an anonymous tip to the police as to where to find them. In her urgency to get to the ambush site, she had not bothered to set any of the IRA men’s bones she had broken while fighting them.

The visibility was terrible as she reached the warehouses that Kross had told her about. The white whipping around her as she came to a halt, she peered through the blizzard, vaguely making out some forms on the roof of two of the warehouses. Snipers! She thought as she started down quickly towards the nearest building.

As she got closer to the rooftop, she could see a lone figure down between the warehouses. Rook! Right in the middle of the kill zone! Bernadette swooped down towards the nearest sniper as they lined Rook up I their sights, turning to her normal density as she did. The cold wind started to blow against her, but she ignored it as she increased her density slightly as her momentum carried her into the IRA sniper, causing him to fire off a shot that passed over Rook’s head.

She slammed into the man hard, knocking the wind out of him as she did along with the accompanying crack of ribs either breaking or cracking. She hardly felt the impact as she landed on top of the man, rolling quickly off him as the next nearest sniper looked over in surprise and quickly aimed and fired a shot at Rook as all the others did, their surprise ruined.

Bernadette quickly rolled off the downed sniper, increasing her density more as she grabbed his shirt with her right hand. Standing up, she threw the man at the sniper near her as he began to turn his attention back to her. The man flew through the air like a rag doll, slamming into the next sniper and sending them both down in a jumbled heap as they flew back a good five feet.

Rook:

AMBUSH!

That was all Rook thought to himself as a stray bullet soared past his feet. But why would the IRA sink so low? Wouldn't they have at least wanted to take out Rook face to face? Rook, using his superior agility, quickly rolled out of the way of the subsequent fire. The next three shots seemed to come a lot closer than the first.

As Rook laid behind a pile of barrels, he squinted his eyes to try and see where the attacks were coming from. The snow made it hard to see, but it seemed as if a scuffle was occurring on top of one of the roofs where the snipers were firing. The other building with snipers was right next to Rook now. He decided that he would pay them a little visit.

Rook ran and jumped up onto a forklift with relative ease. As he landed, he hopped up to one of the window edges of the warehouse. Bracing himself for a maneuver that he hadn't done in a long time, Rook sprung into the air and back flipped onto the roof, much to the surprise of the snipers.

Rook fired a blast of radioactive energy into a sniper who quickly tried to ready his rifle to no avail. The sizzling blast send the man careening off the building, clutching his chest in pain as the radiation sunk deeper into his chest. His snapped neck ceased his pain as he laid in a snowy grave on the road below.

Then, Rook felt a strong kick placed in his back. He turned quickly to see someone he thought he would never see again in his life : Rose.

" I hev bin waitin fer this day Rook.....the day when you'll quiver at meh' feet!", she yelled as she fired her energy rifles repeatedly into Rook's chest. The blasts made him lose his footing and soon he too was falling to the snow-filled road.

The impact hurt, but with his strength and regeneration, it only knocked the wind out of him. For a regular person, as in the case with the dead sniper, the fall is much more deadly.

Lying face first in the thick snow, Rook tried hard to breath. Slowly, he gained back his strength and wind. As he rose, he saw a sight which incensed him even more.

A large group of Marauder Drones stood in wait around him, all seemingly ready to pounce on him. There were likely to be at least 15 of them surrounding him. The IRA secretly used these killing machines in high-profile cases, so that no prisoners could be taken and the killing wouldn't be traced back to them.

Rook stood slowly, barely looking at the hulking robots before him. Brushing the snow off of his brown leather jacket, he gritted his teeth and then clenched his fists tight.

Bellowing a thick growl, Rook ran and pounced on his first target. With a glowing green radioactive fist, he ripped out the insides of the killing machine. Throwing its cables and wires into the air as electricity was sent through him.

The other Marauder drones went to attack Rook with their powerful gauntlets. They could crush a normal human into pieces.

****
Looking down on what was sure to be a bloodbath, Rose got on her comm device, attached to her head.

"Granite, if Rook finishes off those drones, I want ye te rip is bloody head off."

A thick, monotone chuckle was all that could be heard on the other side.

Thevshi:

Bernadette started to rush towards the third IRA sniper on the rooftop she was on as he spun towards her. He fired his rifle at her, the rounds bouncing harmlessly off her as his eyes widened in amazement. As she closed with him, she quickly extended her left arm, clotheslining the man. His feet flew up into the air as she carried him with her before he fell hard onto his back and lay still.

A flash of green energy from the other rooftop caught Bernadette’s attention as she saw Rook take a sniper out of action before being shot off the roof by someone using an energy rifle. There were still two more snipers on the roof that she could see, so Bernadette shifted to her desolid form and flew over towards the other roof.

One of the snipers tired to fire at her, the round passing harmlessly through her as she looked down to where Rook had fallen. He was surrounded by at least a dozen large robots that were closing in on him as he rushed one. Bernadette knew he was going to need some help, but she had to deal with the snipers first. Hoping Rook could last until she could get down there, she turned her attention back to the two snipers that were both now shooting at her to no avail.

Coming down next to one of the snipers, Bernadette shifted her density to near maximum as she hit the man with a right hook. She pulled her punch to avoid killing the man, but her blow still broke his jaw and knocked out a couple of teeth as he went flying back ten feet to land on the snow covered roof. The last sniper again fired at her, this time his shot just bounced off her shoulder.

Bernadette started towards the sniper, who just dropped his rifle and began to run. He hadn’t made it very far before she reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt, yanking him back with tremendous force. She kept her right arm going behind her as she threw him fifty feet across the roof and into a low wall that he hit hard. He fell to the snow covered ground and lay still.

An energy blast slammed into Bernadette, her invulnerability taking most of the damage, but she still felt the hit some. She tried to look around for the person with the rifle, but figured she needed to get down to help Rook. She shifted to desolid form as another energy blast went right through her. She dropped down through the roof and flew through the building to where Rook was battling the robots.

Rook had ripped open one, but several others were starting to hammer him with their large fists. Bernadette dove down and flew through a couple of the ones hitting Rook. Her passage shorted circuits inside the Marauders, causing them to lock up as their systems began to compensate for the disruption. Bernadette turned and looked back, preparing to increase her density and start helping Rook directly.

Rook:

Rook could barely focus on his attackers. His muscles were freezing and his body sore from the powerful punches of the Marauder drones. Yet, these robots wouldn't be the end of him, Rook swore to himself.

Ripping off the arm of one of the drones, Rook swung it with electricity pouring out of it, and spilt one of the drones into two pieces.

Rook's fingers turned into long green radioactive claws, which he used for situations just like this. Again, he pounced on the closest one to him, ripping at it like a wildman. Pieces flew everywhere as Rook seemed to be incensed by the sound of their lifeless bodies oozing electricity.

Yet, Rook's attacks couldn't be quick enough for this small army of drones. As soon as he would attack one, the others would lift him off of it and slam their metal gauntlets into his chest. Rook could barely see them, but the red lights which seemed to be their eye, shown brightly in the white field of snow.

Kicking one of the drones off of him, Rook sprung up, jumped off of the chest of a drone with a mighty push, and sent his body flying into another Marauder with a punishing side-kick which sent the drone flying back through the walls of one of the warehouses.

Just then , Rook noticed a disturbance in a group of the Marauder drones. They seemed to phase out for a couple of seconds, but then looked as if they were readjusting themselves. Rook shrugged it off quickly as he sent a sizzling radiation blast into the eye of one of the drones. The blast sent it spiraling into the air, and it exploded as it hit the ground.

Then, as it seemed as if Rook had a chance to breath, a powerful two-handed punch smacked directly into the center of his back, smashing his face into the ground.

Struggling with all of his strength to continue the fight, Rook barely looked up to see what he could do next. What he saw confused him at first, but then he was amazed to see the young Irish girl Thevshi joining in the fray.

Thevshi:

Bernadette saw that her tactic had only briefly helped Rook as more drones closed in, smashing him to the ground. She was still feeling a bit lightheaded from what ever drugs they had given her, but she knew she didn’t have much of a choice.

Flying up above one of the drones, she dove down towards it, increasing her density to maximum as she fell, her arms crossed in front of her. The effort had her seeing starts, but she managed to reach her twenty tons of weight as she slammed into the drone, smashing it into the ground, sending snow, concrete and robot parts in all directions as a several square block area around her point of impact shook from the shockwaves.

She stood up quickly in the crater she had created, her sweater and skirt torn in several places as her breath hung in the cold air in front of her. The drone she had landed on was destroyed, parts of it smashed flat by her weight, while other parts had been torn off.

A large shadow loomed up behind her as Bernadette ducked to the right as a drone tried to hit her with the same double handed punch one had used on Rook. The blow hit the ground, sending more concrete flying and shaking the nearby area as Bernadette turned to her left as she swung a right hook at the drone. Her punch caught the bent over drone right in the head, smashing it back down into the main body with a violent spark of electricity.

Electrical current played harmlessly along her arm as Bernadette stepped away from the damaged drone which just slumped forward in an almost human stance. Another drone stepped forward, swinging at her with its large right fist. Bernadette brought up her left arm, blocking the attack as she began to step in to counter when she felt a heavy blow to her upper back as another drone smashed a large gauntlet into her.

The blow sent pain all along Bernadette’s spine as she staggered forward slightly. Her head spinning due to the pain and the drugs still in her system, Bernadette focused and managed to shift again to her ghost like state of desolid as the two drones were joined by a third and all three swung at her.

Their large fists passed through her body as electricity spurted around them, circuits with in the arms shorting out as they passed through her. Bernadette stood back up, a trace of blood on her lip as she held her arms out to either side, placing her hands inside two of the drones. The two locked up as their central cores began to short out. She pulled her hands back in as she walked through the third, shorting it out as well.

Stepping out the back of the drone, Bernadette returned her density to near maximum as she turned to finish off the immobilized drones. The sudden shifts in her density were to much for her current condition as she staggered backward slightly, starts before her eyes as her head spun.

Rook:

Rook noticed as the young girl, who fought valiantly to help him out, staggered forward and nearly fell over. She looked exhausted. The Marauder drones picked up on this, and two of them went to finish her off.

"NO!!!", Rook growled as he sprung up from the ground, ran towards the two drones and tackled them to the ground with a loud clang sound.

Rook ripped away at the drones with his radioactive claws, sending chunks of machinery flying into the air. One of the drones tried to sneak up behind him, but Rook quickly disabled it with a swipe to its leg, causing it to fall over and crawl towards Rook and Thevshi. Rook raised his work boot and shoved it right through the head of the drone. It tried to fight back, but soon fizzled out and died.

Then, surprisingly, the few that were left began to back away. They disappeared into the thick snow storm, never to be seen by Rook and Thevshi again.

Rook crawled over to Thevshi to make sure she was all right. Strange as it may have seemed, she would have ripped his head off if he got that close to her a day ago.

"Ye alright lass?, said Rook as he put his leather jacket around the shivering body of the young girl.

As all seemed well, a huge, lumbering mass slowly made its way towards the two. The man had to be nearly 9 feet tall and weighed three times as much as Rook did.

Granite stood a few feet between Rook and Thevshi laughing in a thick and deep manner and pounding his fist into his other palm.

"Aww bloody 'ell...", Rook said aloud as he realized who was in front of him.

*******

About a hundred feet away, Rose readied her vast assortment of weapons. She realized that the drones had weakened the two mutants severely, and she and Granite wanted the satisfaction of killing them off. Besides, Marauder Drones were very expensive.

As much as she wanted to send a rifle blast through Rook's skull, she knew he had to take out the young girl too. She was very dangerous too, and she was a pain in the [censored].

Using her thermal goggles, she maneuvered throughout the thick snow storm. The young girl would probably not even realize what hit her.

Thevshi:

Bernadette’s vision suddenly cleared as she saw Rook tear into two drones that were about to take advantage of her sudden disorientation. She quickly spotted another drone that was moving to hit Rook in the back as he stood atop a drone, tearing it to pieces. Bernadette stepped forward, her right hand swinging forward. The blow hit the drone in the middle of it’s torso, denting in the side of the metal and sending the large robot to the ground ten feet away.

It tired to push itself back up, but with the central support structure damage that badly, it couldn’t manage to stand. Bernadette looked for other dangers, but noticed that the other drones were falling back. She was shivering in the cold wind when Rook came over and put his leather jacket over her, asking if she was alright.

She looked over at the man whom just last night she had tried to kill. “I’m fine.” She said with a faint smile. “’ow about ye?” Rook didn’t have much of a chance to answer before a large shadow was cast over them and a huge man emerged from the blowing snow.

Bernadette heard Rook’s words and felt inclined to agree with him, but still gritted her teeth as she stood ready to face off with the enormous man. The huge man stepped forward, bringing down both his fists towards Rook who quickly jumped aside, as Bernadette stepped away as well, her density increasing to maximum as she slipped her arms quickly into the leather jacket.

Granite’s massive fists hit the ground, sending a massive shockwave out from the point to impact. Bernadette felt the ground moving, and if she hadn’t currently weighed twenty tons, she was sure she would have been knocked off her feet. She was just preparing a counterstrike when a beam of energy came out of the white and struck her in the upper back.

Bernadette staggered ever so slightly under the impact that sent a slight feeling of pain along her back. She managed to shift to her desolid form as half a dozen other blast quickly followed the first, all passing through her to disappear into the white snow on the other side of her. Bernadette turned to try to determine where the attack had originated from.


Rose watched as the young girl shrugged off her initial hit and then became intangible and avoided the following blasts. This girl was indeed dangerous, and she had made what should have been a very one side battle into something that was closer to a fair fight than Rose would have liked.

She moved positions and tried to think about what she had that might pack more of a punch than the energy rifle she had just used. She came to a stop near the base of a crane and lifted up a micro missile launcher, waiting for the girl to return to solid form. Glancing to the side quickly, she tried to see how Granite was doing with Rook.

Rook:

*THOOOOM*, was the sound of Rook's fist slamming into the open palm of Granite. Then, with his sheer gargantuan strength, Granite pulled Rook into the air by his fist as if he were a play-toy.

"Ello lil man....", said Granite as he lifted Rook up above his head, nearly 12 feet off the ground, "I hev been trainin fer this day fer years now."

"Well....thats a shame...", said Rook as he grimaced in pain from the man's huge red gauntlet, "cause when I'm dune wit ye...it ain't going te matter on bit!"

"Alot of talk Rook...but ye have nothing te back it upe.", and with that, the 9 feet tall Granite, threw Rook sailing into a group of crates.

Bloody hell...ee's plenty stronger then meh', thought Rook to himself as he gripped his arm and back in pain.

Rook could barely see what was happening with Thevshi. He only hoped that she was alright. A part of him knew that she could hold her own though.

Rook did realize that he was quicker than Granite though, and his agility far outmatched him.

For cryin out loud!, Rook thought to himself, he was the famed assassin from Ireland....not this wrecking ball of a man...

Rook summoned up the strength inside of himself and charged at granite with blazing green eyes. Gripping both of his hands together, he jumped and swung both of his arms together with a radioactive smash and knocked Granite back a bit, stunning him.

Taking advantage of this, Rook dropped from his jump, and placed a hard kick into Granites lower back, causing him to slump further, but still not fall over.

Jumping onto his back with amazing dexterity, Rook raised his fists above his head and slammed them down on the back of Granite's head, finally causing the man to hit the ground.

Rook quickly jumped back and began dancing around him like a boxer, awaiting Granite's next move.

Granite slowly rose to his feet, wiping the snow off of his black and red body armor nonchalantly as if the attack didn't even phase him. "So, ye ready te actually take the gloves off now, eh boyo?"

With teeth gritted like a wild animal, Rook's fists turned into radioactive green claws as he pounced on Granite again, ripping away at his stone face. The sound resembled that off a little schoolboy sending his nails down a blackboard, and it almost had to same effect on Granite. It made alot of noise, but was only a temporary disturbance.

Granite grinned with amusement, grabbed Rook with one huge red gauntlet and slammed him against a warehouse brick wall.

One huge fist after another went into Rook's face and body. It looked like a huge wrestler picking on a 2nd grader. Blood trickled down the red gauntlets and stained the snow as Granite continued to put punches into Rook.

When he was done, the wall around Rook held an imprint of his body. His face was caked with blood and bruises. His eyes could barely open and his bones felt broken. Rook had never taken such a beating in his entire life. It felt as if his life would leave him if the man continued any further.

Rook's body fell 8 feet to a slump in the snow. His head was throbbing, his body was aching and he could barely see anything through his black eyes. The blood smeared across his face and white shirt was black and red.

"I expected much more from ye...ye shall now die a disgrace....", said Granite in a sad monotone voice.

Lifting one red boot high into the air, Granite prepared to crush Rook like an insect.

Yet, at the last moment, Rook scuffled to his feet and grabbed the oncoming huge boot with both hands, and used all of his strength to push him off his feet. As Granite took to the air, Rook sent a very powerful sizzling radiation blast into the chest of Granite, sending him flying 6 feet.

Holding his ribs with his good arm; covered with blood, Rook staggered a bit but stood on his feet.

"...Now ye got me royally pissed off ye bloody feck..."

Thevshi:

Rose came to a stop, noticing from the corner of her eye as Granite and Rook began to battle. She move slowly around the crane with the micro missile launcher held ready to fire at the foolish girl that wanted to get involved in what was really none of her business. The area where the girl had been came into view, but there was not sign of her. Rose felt a slight feeling of worry as she moved around quickly some more, looking. Finding nothing, she looked up in the air with a quick move as she pressed up against the crane. There was still no sign of the girl.

It was then that she heard a voice echo from somewhere nearby. “Lookin’ fer me?” Rose spun, just in time to see the girl emerge from the crane beside her and start to solidify. Her finger almost pulled the trigger, as she realized that firing the weapon at this range could likely kill her as well so she started to dive to one side to make some room between them. Quick as she was, the girl was quick as well, grabbing the micro launcher from her hands.

Rose rolled back up to her feet ten feet away from the girl, pulling a large caliber handgun from behind her back. The girl crushed the micro launcher in one hand as she started forward towards the female assassin. Rose lifted the Desert Eagle 50 cal and started firing.

Bernadette dropped the destroyed weapon as she rushed forward, her density near maximum. The female assassin held up a Desert Eagle and began to fire as Bernadette put her left arm up in front of her face. The rounds started hitting her and bouncing off as she closed, the impacts hardly noticeable. The assassin started to back up as Bernadette’s left hand swept across in front of her, knocking the pistol from the woman’s hands.

Rose ducked to the side as the girl’s right hand shoot out at her face. She stepped to the right, her left leg kicking up into the girl’s midsection. It was like kicking a brick wall, as Rose felt the jarring up her leg and pulled back her kick some to keep from breaking her ankle. She tried to keep moving back, but her right foot didn’t support her well, causing her to stumble in the snow as the girl moved in, grabbing Rose’s collar.

Bernadette pulled the female IRA assassin towards her as her left knee came up into her midsection. The woman doubled over in pain as there was the sound of ribs breaking from the impact. Bernadette pulled her back up right to knock her out when the woman’s elbow shot out into her throat. The blow was almost noticeable, but did little to phase Bernadette who turned to her left, throwing the woman towards a building wall with her right hand.

Rose flew through the air and slammed into the wall with a jarring impact. Falling to the ground, she saw black spots in front of her eyes. She couldn’t believe that this little girl was beating her so badly. She started to pull one of her rifles from her back, hoping it worked still and that she could get it ready before the girl was back on her again.

Bernadette was about to follow the female assassin when she noticed the gigantic IRA assassin pounding Rook into a wall. In her heart, she felt a feeling of fear as she started over towards the battle. When Rook was thrown to the ground and Granite moved over to stomp him, she was afraid she wouldn’t make it in time. But Rook managed to stop the attack and send Granite back onto the ground.

Rook staggered to his feet as the huge assassin stood back up as well, anger evident on his face. Before he could move back towards Rook however, Bernadette slammed into his side, sending both of them into the ground with a huge explosion of snow and concrete. The impact from the twenty ton girl jarred Granite some, mostly due to the suddenness of the attack.

Bernadette was on top of the huge man and lifted up her right hand, smashing it into his head. The blow smashed Granite’s head into the ground, sending more concrete flying. As she pulled back for another strike, Granite managed to focus enough to reach across with his right hand and shove the girl off him.

It took a lot of strength to shove her weight with one arm, but Granite sent her sliding across the snow and pavement a good fifteen feet before she rolled back up to her feet. She was pretty much unhurt, but her skirt was torn more from the skidding as she stood up, ready to face off with the huge assassin as he climbed back up to his feet, anger evident in his face.

Rook:

Rook clenched his side, which throbbed with stinging pain. Blood poured from a large gash above his eyes and his white undershirt and jeans were torn and bloody. A normal person in his condition would have been dead long ago.

Granite rose to his feet, high above the two Irish heroes, with a look of frustration and anger evident.

"Alright ye lil chissler..", Rook said to Thevshi, "this eejit wants to fight? E's gonna have a bloody 'ard time gettin through the booth of us..."

Thevshi, a young girl more powerful than Rook has ever seen at her age, looked a little hurt, but she stood strong.

"Now!!", Rook yelled aloud as he sent a bright radioactive green blast from his fist, directly into the eyes of Granite, causing him to stagger back and block the blast with his hands.

Thevshi, without the slightest hint of delay, rolled forward, and underneath the legs of the nine foot tall giant.

Increasing her density, Thevshi sent a fist as hard as a diamond crashing into the crotch of Granite.

Granite yelled out in pain as he grabbed his pelvis and fell backwards in agony. The giant cried aloud as he rolled through the snow.

Rook, taking any chance he could, hopped onto the chest of Granite with a fist that poured radioactive energy off of it.

Slamming punches into Granite's face incensed Rook with anger. Each punch felt as if Rook's fist would break, but he continued his attack until Granite lay motionless on the ground.

His stone skin faded into flesh as he laid unconscious.

Rook raised his fist to finish the job, but Thevshi called for him to stop.

"No more blood needs te be spilt anymoor Rook....let im go..."

Rook stared at Granite in anger, but slowly back away and stood atop the chest of the huge man.

*THWAP THWAP THWAP*, rang through the air as Rook was struck in the back by three of Rose’s energy blasts struck their target.

Rook fell onto the snowy ground as he looked back behind him as smoke streamed off his burnt back. He couldn't see where his attacker was coming from. All he knew was that Rose would be on him soon.

Rook glanced over at Thevshi.

"Run....", were the only words Rook could get out of his mouth as a small canister rolled next to him.

The huge fiery explosion rocked Rook's body into the air and slammed him into a group of barrels. His body laid sprawled out on top of them as he nearly lost conscious.

Rook tried desperately to open his eyes. All he saw was the now-charred flesh of Granite. Rook figured that this would be the end of him. Rose would stop at nothing....she even went as far as killing her teammate.

Rook only hoped that Thevshi listened to his advice and ran. She was no where in his sight.

With a black and red charred face, Rook slowly stood to his feet, only to fall to the snow as his leg buckled and snapped below him.

Rook said a prayer to himself. He thought of his sister and his mother. He thought of everything in his sick and twisted past. He thought of the images of dying mothers and children. He thought of the day he escaped Ireland and came to Paragon City to escape his past and the day he met Equinox and fought crime beside him.

He smiled though as he stared into the snow blankly. He had accomplished his goal. He believed that he redeemed himself.

An image slowly walked to Rook out of the snow. As it got closer, Rook saw Rose's devilish face. She looked to be a little injured, but not nearly as bad as Rook. Rook knew that this was the end. He didn't even rely on his regeneration powers anymore.

Unholstering a small handgun, Rose frowned as she stood above Rook and raised the weapon to his head.