Damien was in his office at the new AIST headquarters, browsing through his various e-mail accounts trying to separate the gems that actually needed his attention from the dross that could be delegated, when an alert prompted him of a new e-mail in his Brainstorm account.

He pulled up that account on the Olympians server. He was confused because he'd already sorted through and handled that account hours ago. There shouldn't have been any activity this soon, especially since he'd updated the filters to re-route and dump anything that could be handled elsewhere.

"Why must I be here?" Gypsy's plaintive question cut through the silence. There was only fifteen minutes left until the press conference began and Damien could not shake the feeling something wasn't quite right.

He should have been in a good mood. As promised Brina had called him not long after he got home the night before and told him her friend would be able to make something to protect Patrice. The item, in the form of a locket, would be delivered to Damien's office within the next few days. The only downside had been that Brina's friend could only promise one working talisman but as the second would be only for show he could provide a non-working version if Damien desired.

"Damn." Jackie uttered, checking how much time was left downloading her new game and seeing she still had an hour to go. It never failed, her internet connection would always go down when she needed it the most and true to form it had gone down when the game had been released at midnight. It had still been down when she had had to leave for work. Now it was so slow it seemed no better than dial up. She knew the reason, the cable connection provided by the apartment complex couldn't handle the number of people trying to surf the net at the same time and it seemed like that was the first thing everyone did when they got home in the evening. It would get better later as people went to bed but she had been waiting for the latest Dragonquest game for months.

There was a light rain falling as Brainstorm concealed himself behind some undergrowth. He was early, the house still dark, and he didn't want to give away his presence. It was difficult enough to build cases against those he hunted without them seeing him ahead of time and this vision had been particularly brutal.

Damien looked at his watch. There was still 15 minutes or so before the events in his vision started. This particular vision had plagued him for nearly a week before he'd narrowed down the house. He was still shivering from the most recent replay, a scant 30 minutes ago. the vision had changed a couple of times, but it still ended the same way, bloody. The most current iteration involved garbage bags, a butcher knife and a circular saw.

"Okay... okay..." 

Mykola mumbled to himself as he looked around his warehouse home. 

"What I am needing... What... what... Ah, yes, of course."

There was a pile of colorful boxes on a shelf near an old refrigerator.  The Ukranian's finger traced along the labels until he found what he needed.  He grabbed the box and walked over to his computer bench where he turned the container over and made a little pile of fruit-shaped candies next to the mouse pad.

"Now, I am being ready."

Damien rubbed his temples trying to ease the tension the day's revelations had caused. He needed to deal with Veronna and Verech soon. But first he needed to make sure Patrice, and by extension himself and his legacy were safe. Then he needed to get through the next few days of media fallout from his press release tomorrow.

Unfortunately, protecting Patrice without going on the offensive just wasn't in his bag of tricks. He wasn't sure who could help. Gypsy could create a link, and maybe help that way, but that put Gypsy at additional risk, and Damien was damned if he'd give up Gypsy to save himself.

Tina hesitated outside the training area where Danny was practicing his martial arts wondering if she should just turn back. She missed her classes with Danny and their Thursday night tour of the city's restaurants and was hoping she could mend any hard feelings he might have over her abrupt departure but was afraid she may have burned more than one bridge with the team. Finally deciding to take a chance Heatwave quietly slipped into the room so as not to disturb him and watched from the sidelines until there was a break in his routine.

August Silver had been at his new post a week before getting a visit from the man who had gotten him the lucrative position on the staff of the University of South Florida. August had a lot to thank the man for, not only did August's new position come with more pay and prestige but Tampa was also home to one of the first meta-human teams in the country and had seen it's share of odd looking people. So while August still got the occasional stare he was rarely met with the fear to which he had grown accustomed. It was true once people got to know him his appearance didn't matter as much but it was that initial reaction he hoped to be rid of.

Strangeways sprinted across the roof, his feet pounding in time with the dubstep blaring in his earphones. He grinned like a maniac and launched into a handspring that ended with him perfectly balanced on one foot on the edge of the roof. He held the pose as long as he could. Down below, across the motorway, a few people pointed at the figure on the roof.

"Respect," he murmured, and fell forward.

Someone screamed. Others looked away from the sight of a young man about to splatter all over the A4. Strangeways never stopped smiling.

He moved slideways - -
 

"Thanks, Donald. Please have the paperwork drawn up and couriered to my office as soon as possible. Let me know when they've left so I know when to expect them. I'll have them signed and returned ASAP. Remember, this is all confidential. I want no word of this to leave your office until I make it public." Damien smiled as he listened to the reply. "I knew I could count on you Donald. You haven't failed me yet, I don't expect it to happen any time soon. Take care my friend, I'll talk to you soon."