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.

The most chilling thing was the demeanor of the killer. She was colder than Deep Freeze's armor. The years of abuse had taken her sanity. Tonight would be the turning point from victim to assailant. All because someone had hit on her at the bar.

Damien shuddered again. He had to arrest the husband, in order to save his life. He had to do what was right in order to prevent a greater wrong. He just hoped he got to the kitchen in time. The situation deteriorated quickly once she landed on the Island where the knives were kept.

**********

Mr. Vail liked this neighborhood.

It was clean and orderly, the lawns well-manicured and free of debris, the homes expensive and well-kept. During the daylight hours, homeowners could be seen walking and jogging along weed-free sidewalks, sometimes pushing the odd pram, or being followed (or following) a happy, tongue-lolling pooch on a leash. Neighbors talked to one another in this neighborhood, they looked out for each other. During the evenings, families could be seen through windows sharing meals together, or perhaps watching the television. Children went to bed by nine or ten, and rebellious teenagers, while present, weren't complete hooligans.

Mostly.

There was the odd client here. Number 1438 sprang to mind immediately; a young real estate agent if memory served, who had gotten into a spot of bother with a side business and had needed the companies help. Mr. Vail had brokered that transaction, and he wondered how the young woman was doing now. Not well, most likely. These things so rarely did have happy endings. He sighed, and had crossed Pine, and was just heading up Elm when he saw a man shape shadow slip into the undergrowth of an unoccupied house. Mr. Vail hadn't been here long in the grand scheme of things, but he knew people lurking in shadows were not usually something one expected to encounter in this particular sub-division.

And the person was obviously lurking. Mr. Vail knew a good lurk when he saw it, and this qualified. He stopped and watched, wondering if he was to be witness to a bit of cat burglary. Or perhaps some young people were going to throw a party in the empty abode. He was patient. He had time. So he stuffed his hands into his overcoat pockets (a gray wool of exquisite cut and tailoring) and bore witness, wondering if this would be his first.

He smiled, and would have felt a little shiver of delight in his soul at the prospect. If he'd had one.

********

Five minutes had passed when an SUV turned down the street, it's engine roaring, It turned into the driveway, lights momentarily splashing along the bushes where Damien was hiding. Damien said a silent prayer for the matte finish on his new costume.

The SUV, A Lincoln Navigator, screeched to a halt, as the engine died and the lights went out. The driver burst from the vehicle and shot around to the passenger door. Damien could hear the frightened yelp of the passenger as she was wrenched from the vehicle.

"Daniel, don't! I didn't know hi ..." she begged.

"Shut it, slut. I don't want to hear any of your excuses. I know you been sneaking around my back. No one cheats me, No one! Now get in there!." Daniel shoved the woman towards the door with a cuff across the back of the head. Damien heard her teeth snap shut from his position.

Damien knew what would happen next, he had less than 5 minutes to intervene, or it was all over. He waited for a slow count to 10 then broke position, heading towards the front door, which he knew would be open. The sounds of yelling and flesh hitting flesh came from the front door.

*********

Mr. Vail wasn't sure exactly what was going on at the front door of the home, now that it's occupants had arrived. The speed with which the lurker headed inside though seemed to call for swift action. He straightened his tie, made sure that his hat was firmly and snugly in place, and strode briskly towards the front door. Let it not be said that when the call to action came, he did not answer!

**********

Damien was so focused on his mission he almost missed the mind following him into the house. There was something odd about it that Damien had never felt before and he involuntarily gave a shudder.

Damien didn't have time for this. he had approximately 45 seconds before it was past the point of no return. His vision had not included a third party, but he if he didn't subdue the husband, it would be too late, and the kitchen floor would be irrevocably stained with his life blood.

Damien bolted through the foyer into the living room. "Freeze! I am Brainstorm. Leader of the Olympians. Daniel Lucas Miller, you're under arrest for assault and battery." He shouted. Unfortunately the living room was empty, and he heard a crash from the kitchen, coupled with a loud shouting from Miller. He dashed for the entrance, reaching out with his mind to lock onto the mind of the wife. if he could lock her down, he could then subdue the husband, thus saving his life and her sanity.

"Excuse me," a strong, European accented voice said politely from the behind the time-crunched Olympian. Damien's mental awareness indicated that the other mind, the different mind, was now in the house. Miller had frozen, hand lifted to strike as he'd no doubt done several times before, jaw agape at the costumed hero standing in his kitchen entrance. His wife had her attention riveted just over Brainstorm's left shoulder, brows raised in surprise, her face pale, one arm upraised to ward off her husbands blow. Her other hand, unbeknownst to husband Daniel, had just seized upon a large silver-gray chopping knife lying next to a drainer near the sink behind her.

Damien ignored the voice behind him for a moment. Damien moved closer to the husband. "On the ground, Mr. Miller, hands behind your head. Co-operate and no one will be hurt any further." He then reached out with his mind, quickly and mercilessly wrapping his thoughts around the wife's thoughts. Drop the knife, Kari Anne. He won't hurt you any more. You're safe.

The next few seconds were filled with uncertainty. While the husband complied with Damien's order immediately, albeit with a look to kill, his wife was not so quick to drop the knife. She gripped it even tighter and Damien had a flash of her coming at him.

Damien kept his focus on the wife, trying to read her intentions as he approached the husband. He pulled a set of zip cuffs out of another pouch and secured the husbands wrists behind his back. Kari Anne relaxed only slightly upon seeing Damien placing the cuffs on her husband but no longer seemed ready to lunge at him.

He directed his next sentence to the man behind him, drawing on his years of command, keeping his voice icy and professional. "I don't know who you are, but you need to exit the residence and wait by the front door until I have resolved this situation." He didn't take his eyes off of either of the Millers.

There was the rustle of cloth on cloth and the sound of footsteps across carpeting from behind Damien. Then a series of very quite beeps, three in all, followed by another short pause. "Good evening," the cultured voice said fluidly. "I'd like to report an assault and a possible robbery at this address."

Fuck! Damien was now pissed. He keyed his comms. **Brainstorm to Mike. There's a 911 call coming in right now for the address my GPS shows. intercept. I'm on an op and there's a good samaritan interfering. Please notify locals, I'll handle on scene.**

**Understood. Do you need any emergency vehicles or should I tell them the call can be ignored completely?** The AI's manner was as distant as it had been for the past couple of weeks since Damien held his press conference.

**Advise that I'll need an aid car and a squad car, there has been an assault, just not the one the Samaritan is reporting, and there's no robbery. Thanks Mike.**

"The authorities have been alerted to your presence, as no doubt you just heard," said the voice. Damien could see Kari Anne's eyes jumping skittishly back and forth between himself and whomever was standing behind him, her knuckles on the knife going white with the force of her grip. He heard a soft click, and he could almost make out a tinny voice asking questions. The voice sounded a bit concerned.

As he pondered just what his next action might be, Mr. Vail heard the operator saying, "Sir, I've just been informed one of the Olympians is on the site. Can you see him?"

Ah! So *that's* who the mysteriously garbed man in black was! Capital! He quickly lifted the receiver once more and replied immediately. "I do see him officer. Thank you so much for confirming his identity. I was quite concerned for the safety of this family when I came upon a mysterious man in black lurking in their topiary." He smiled charmingly at Kari Anne, her face blanched in response. "And might I add that your response time is spot on. A credit to the force you are, young lady, and no mistake."

Mr. Vail carefully replaced the receiver. "I will do as you have requested, Olympian. Should you have need of my assistance, I shall be waiting outside on the step!" Damien heard that measured tread once more upon the carpet, then the opening of the door. Kari Anne's eyes tracked the other man until he vanished from view around the dividing wall that separated the entranceway from the living and dining are, fingers trembling on the knife.

Damien relaxed a little, now that the unknown samaritan was out of the house. Damien would deal with him later. Now he had an armed, frightened and unstable woman to talk down.

"Kari Anne. My name is Brainstorm. I'm the leader of the Olympians. I'm here to help you." Damien pulled out his ID, showed it to the woman, and carefully slid it across the kitchen tile until it was in her reach. He let his voice calm and soothing. "Can you drop the knife for me? I don't want you to get hurt."

Recognition clicked in the frightened woman's eyes and the knife clattered to the floor. Kari Anne soon followed it, dropping to her knees and sinking back against the counter. She hugged her knees to her chest and sat there sobbing.

Damien relaxed. This could have gone terribly wrong at any second, especially with the addition of the stranger. Damien crouched and moved carefully closer, making no sudden moves, trying not to startle the young woman. He retrieved his badge, and moved the knife out of reach.

"I have EMT's coming to take care of your injury's, Kari. It'll be OK. Can you stand?" Damien asked, his voice soft and soothing.

There was no answer from the frightened woman. She had retreated into her own mind and only sat there, arms hugging her knees to her chest, slowly rocking back and forth.

Great. Just great. Tonight couldn't have gotten any harder could it. Damien reached out with his senses, looking for the stranger with the strange mind. Locating the man by the front door, outside the residence, just where Damien had told him to go, Damien allowed his senses to play over the man, evaluating the mind, and to some degree the person it belonged to.

First and foremost was an impression of vast amounts of information. If mind's were books, cataloguing all that their owners had seen over their lives, this one would be the equivalent of the Library of Congress. There was a heavy weightiness to it, and whatever it was, it wasn't human. It burned, this mind, burned with the need for a fresh start, for a brighter day. It had lived in the dark for a very long time, and it looked forward to embracing the light.

While Damien processed the information, he reached out and gently touched the seemingly catatonic Mrs. Miller on the arm, prepared in case the reaction was more than he expected. "Kari Anne? Mrs. Miller. Can you move? I'd like to move you to the a more comfortable spot to wait for the EMT's."

Kari Anne dumbly nodded but made no attempt to move.

Damien slipped closer to the nearly catatonic woman, sliding his hand under her arm. "I'm going to lift you now, Ma'am. Try to help ..."

"Get yer filthy hands off my wife freak! I'll kill you if you touch her. She's mine. You got no right to barge in here." Daniel started thrashing against his cuffs, cursing at Damien.

Damien thrust his mind deep into the struggling husband's, there was no subtlety, no attempt to be gentle. Shut your ignorant, inbred mouth. Right the fuck now. You've been abusing this woman for years. Tonight, would have been the last time. That knife there, on the floor by your head, would have been buried in your heart if I hadn't stepped in. Be a man, take your punishment, and let it go, or I just might let her finish this. Either way, I guaran-fucking-tee that she is no longer yours and you'll never lay another finger on her again.

Out loud Damien addressed the struggling man. "Mr. Miller. It'd be best if you stopped struggling. Resisting arrest is another crime you don't want to add tonight. If you continue to struggle, I'll have to subdue you, something you really don't want me to do." Damien's voice was ice wrapped steel, the threat of massive pain easily caught in his tone.

"I'll sue you for everything you're fucking worth you fucking freak." Daniel spat. "Those people on the news were right, you people are a menace."

Daniel's outburst was the final straw. Damien had dealt with enough. Damien did something he had never done before. He gave in to his anger and frustration.

Damien drove his mind deep into Daniel's and pulled up the memories of tonight's events, the rush of violence just before Damien had burst in. Damien replayed the memory for Daniel, and added the memories from his vision, the pain and emotions he had felt from Kari Anne's perspective. He wove them together in such a way that he and Daniel felt each blow, the pain, the humiliation, the fear. He looped it, and replayed it until the two were so interwoven, that Daniel would never remember the one without the other.

This is how it feels to be a victim. This is what your wife felt every time you hit her. Then Damien changed the memory. He changed the memory to the end of his vision. He replayed the change in Kari Anne, How she calmly slid the knife from Daniel's side as he lay gasping for breath and drew it across his throat. Damien continued to pump the memory into Daniel's mind, forcing him to watch as Kari Anne deliberately dismembered her husband,. doing so with his own prized tools. Tools he'd once broken her jaw for touching.

Sue me all you want, you piece of shit. I didn't stop you to save you. I stopped you to save her. To prevent her from becoming this, from becoming you. So shut your fucking mouth.

The only answer from Daniel was a pathetic whimper as he huddled on the floor praying the assault would end.

Damien gave up trying to move the wife. She wasn't responsive, and Damien didn't really know how injured she might be. The locals wouldn't be too much longer. Instead he kept an eye on the husband, and sent his thoughts out to the stranger. The sheer intelligence and uniqueness of the mind intrigued Damien.

Damien tried to weave his own thoughts into the stranger's, trying to find a level of connection that allowed communication. Sir, if you can 'hear' this, please think a response.

One slender, dark eyebrow rose in amused interest. How may I be of service, came the immediate reply.

The strength of the return thought threw Damien off for a moment. Can I ask exactly what you were thinking, interfering like that? Did you not hear me identify myself? There was a high probability this situation could have turned deadly, your presence nearly cost a man his life tonight. Do you realize that? Damien's mental voice held a tinge of annoyance coupled with anger.

I was thinking that a man dressed all in black followed a couple into their home, came the calm reply. There was shouting, yes that I did hear, but not exactly what was said. There was a short mental silence. The prudent course of action was to assess the situation, alert the authorities - the clearly identifiable authorities I might add - and then stand by to lend assistance should things get out of hand. I am by no means without the power to do so, despite my appearance. A moment of bemused pondering. Once the police alerted me as to your identity, well then, out I went! But not so far gone that I couldn't assist if need be. There was another short mental break, and then the man continued. So it is highly improbable that anyone would die this night, good sir. That I would not allow.

Mr. Vail looked out into the darkness and smiled.

While I appreciate your instincts, that doesn't cover the fact that your interference put lives at risk tonight. It's obvious you are a stranger to the city, or you would have recognized my 'uniform'. I'm going to suggest that you move on before the local police arrive. If you wish to continue this discussion, I'll be happy to meet with you another time. Brainstorm's mental voice held a tone of exasperated condescension.

Damien heard a liquid chuckle from the man, who must have remained standing just outside the front door. "Capital!" he replied. "I'll be at Cafe' DuMond on Sixth and Colorado on Monday. Say around 8 am? My treat, of course. Until then!" The front door closed with a gentle click.