Shine #1: Rise and Shine (Done)

[Shine]

A loud blaring shocked the sleeping form of the redhead awake. and she pushed herself up out of the bed, eyes wide. It was just the chirping of her alarm clock flashing a red unrepentant 6:30 AM. The air stirred around her. The fan overhead was still spinning. The nightlight still glowed softly in the hallway. The sunlight was just trying to creep up and out over the morning sky.... She frowned at her own useless panic and slapped the top of the alarm clock, sending it back to bed till the next day, and then hauled herself out of bed, and sat down at a small writing desk with her diary.

It had been a rough several days for her. She'd wandered through the middle of nowhere and been found, still delirious from injury and crazy events that her modern mind was unprepared to accept. According to those who'd found her, she'd spent a whole day resting asleep before she'd awakened and found herself in something akin to an old fairy tale. Or maybe Alice in Wonderland. She'd never actually read that growing up, so she couldn't speak to the accuracy of the representation, but she did know one thing. All of this was whack. People had claimed they were the Tuatha De Dannan. She'd asked if they were larping something from the Kindom of Amualur game, and they'd looked at her as blankly as she looked at them when they explained they were gods, and she was under the hospitality of someone known as Brighid. She'd asked who that was, and they'd seemed offended and incredulous. Eventually, Brighid herself had come down and set things straight. The Tuatha De Dannan were the old celtic gods, and Brighid was their queen.... She'd been very interested in the mirror that I'd received.

No one had removed it from the side of my bed during my whole stay, I'd noticed. Some of the people even cast a fearful eye towards it. Brighid, and a few others in the room were very interested in where I'd gotten it from. Especially when I told them it came from someone named Aengus.... That had interested them as well.


Ashling paused in her writing. Writing things out helped her work through them sometimes, and besides, this was worth remembering. Before long, she'd inferred that Aengus Og was another of the celtic gods, and that the political structure among them all left room for a team spirit to be developed. That is to say, some of them hated each others guts, and political maneuvering was usually at the heart of it.

Before too long, I begged off that I wanted to leave, and thanked them for their hospitality. Brighid was a very gracious hostess for me, and never made me feel like I was an imposition. She even offered to make certain that I made it home safely and keep an eye on me to be sure that I was safe from any more of Aengus' plots. I still don't know how they're doing that....

Everything about everything she'd been through felt like a delusion. Espeically on coming back after spending a few days recovering, and finding that it was the same night that she'd actually received the package on. That had really weirded her out. She'd not slept well, but wasn't actually lacking in any sleep because of her time in the fae court.

She went about her normal morning routine, showered, combed her hair, and fixed a small braid in it near the front. She stayed a wary pace or so further from the mirrors than she normally did, but none of them tried to reach out and eat her. She felt better now that she was ready to confront the day, and instead went to confront another issue that she felt needed attention. She went in and started googling everything she could about irish and celtic mythology on her old laptop and was profoundly disappointed by what she found. She had been hoping for a clear cut story of what was going on. Something that could give her an idea of what in, above, or under the earth she'd gotten herself involved in. Instead, everything she found online seemed to tell a different story. Even the names were different. That was a dead end for her, and she gave a disappointed sigh as she closed the laptop's cover. She might be able to find an expert at the college who could tell her more, but then her eyes narrowed. She could think of at least one person she could talk to about all of this.

She looked at the clock again, and it was coming up on eight o'clock. That would be a tolerable enough time for this kind of phone call. Right?

Ashling grabbed her phone off the counter, and tapped the contact list for the dial. It rang a few times before a familiar voice picked up the phone.

"Hey Mom, it's me Ashling.... Yeah, I'm doing fine, how are you? Oh, that's great. How are Reese and Nate?... Yeah. Is it that obvious? Sorry. I do really need this question answered though.... I need to talk to you about my father.... ... Mom, are you still there?... I need these answers. I think he may have tried to contact me, and the sooner I can talk to you the better.... Yeah. I'm off today, so I can do tonight.... .... I could drive out and pick Nate up if you need. Groceries too? As long as I can make Nate carry the heavy stuff... Hahaha, it'll do him some good to use his arms for something other than playing videogames and reading books. Alright. I'll see you at home then. Love you. M'bye."

She sighed inwardly. There went her off day, but she'd hopefully be trading it for some answers, and right then, anything that could help her feel less lost in the dark would be a welcome change. It'd just cost her some time to pick up her Lil Bro and some groceries. Time to go for a drive.

[Shine]

Ashling pulled up in front of the school where Nate, her younger Step Brother was standing, and honked the horn to get his attention. He'd been standing over with a few other kids his age, and hadn't seen her pull up at first. They stood a moment or two longer, and she rolled her window down to wave him over. "Hey Nate." The middle teen didn't say anything. Just walked around, the car and pulled the door open before slinging his bag into the front seat of her old Dodge Calibur, and sitting down heavily himself.

"Mom call and let you know I was picking you up?" She asked, trying to keep her voice cheerful, but man.... She hoped he wasn't going to ignore her and be quiet all the way home. They still had a stop for groceries to make, and she'd been hoping to get a little closer with her step family since her ordeal. It'd be a shame not to appreciate her loved ones, especially since her apparent biological father was an ancient figure out of myth, who'd decided to kill her for some reason.

"Yeah. She told me we had to stop at the grocery on the way home though. Can we try and hurry? I've got stuff to do on the computer when I get back." Yep. He really wanted to spend time with Big Sis. Oh... she couldn't really blame him though. He was only fourteen, and she'd done little to nothing for him over the... how many years now had their parents been together? It'd been about when Ash had moved out, so she'd been eighteen. Four years. Four years of little to no contact with the man that had married her mother, and his son. Maybe she was afraid to get close to them....

Not anymore. I need this. I can't go on ignoring them anymore.... Not after almost dying. Having her life flash before her eyes like that had been a profound thing. She didn't really have anyone to confide in though. No comfort for her. Unless she wanted to try and get in touch with those Tuatha people she'd met before. Somehow, she was a little suspicious of them though. Weren't they supposed to be all... tricksy and such?

She pulled into the grocery store's lot, and parked about halfway out, jerking to a stop just hard enough that Nate looked over at her surprised when he recovered.

"Ok. Here's the deal." Ashling said, looking him in the eyes. "Mom gave me a list of six things that she needed to make dinner for tomorrow night. I'm going to go and get those things, and a few extras. I want you to go get three things, and meet me up by the registers."

Nate made a sour face, and looked back at her. "Aww.... Mom normally lets me stay in the car...."

"Nate... I didn't tell you what you could or couldn't get. I just said pick three things." There was a brief pause, and Ashling could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he realized what that meant. She put her hand out to shake on it.

"Deal." He shook.

"Ok. Now make sure to bring a couple gallons of milk with you on the way back, or the deal's off." He turned and agreed to it, as he hopped out of the car, and then ran ahead of her. She doubted that her parents sent him in alone, but he'd be fine. After all. She'd handled it quite easily. She headed in herself, and stuck to the list. She remembered this place from before she'd headed to college, and moved through the departments with ease until she got to fry magic, and had to ask for help. She was left speechless and annoyed that they'd swapped the baking section with the juice section, and filtered what didn't fit into the bread aisle. How did that even make sense!? When she'd finished gathering up the list, she found him near the front. He didn't even look impatient yet. He was just playing on his phone.

Predictably, when she looked in the shopping basket he had, she saw nothing but junk. And two gallons of milk.

"Let's see.... Pizza, ice cream, and doughnuts.... Why don't we replace the pizza with a coke, and get a pizza from Snappy's instead?"

Nate looked like he'd died and gone to heaven right about then. Snappy's was the family favorite when it came to fresh pizza.... Ashling resisted the urge to do a little victory dance. One step closer to being the "cool sister". She put the groceries on her card, and they toted them out to the car. Once they were driving away, she spoke up again.

"Hey, you missed out, Lil Bro. Next time, you should grab chocolate milk." There was a frustrated groan from next to her in the seat as they drove away in her mettalic orange Calibur towards Snappy's.

[Shine]

By the time the orange car rolled into Snappy Carryout, Nate's quiet and annoyed attitude was gone. He still seemed on edge, and in a hurry to get back to his computer, but he seemed more at ease about it taking longer, at least. Ashling hoped so. This was going to do a number on her funds, but hopefully, her brother would take away the fact that she wasn't just some name out on the peripheral of the family. Someone who stayed out and away all the time, and only briefly ghosted through the family channels.... Still, the idea of "buying" their affection wasn't one she was too comfortable with. This was only going to be the first step.



Nate hopped out of the car as she was gathering up her things and she rolled her eyes at how he was running on ahead, but then she heard the sound of her door opening, and looked out to see Nate pulling the door open for her. A smile dimpled her cheeks and her eyes lit up a bit at the small gesture, and she climbed out of the car.



"Thanks, Nate." He didn't look too bashful, so maybe this was something standard that Reese taught him. Good manners was something she could always value in a man. It just didn't seem as common as it had once been. At least she knew that Reese treated her mom better than Ol' Angus had. She put thoughts of that one out of her head almost as soon as they came to her. Plenty of time to think about that later tonight.

They made it up to the counter, Nate proving a little gentleman again as he opened up the door for her once again. She gave her name as "Evans" when they reached the register.

"Ashlyn, right? It's not quite done yet, but we can pay now." The redhead nodded, and the woman behind the counter continued. "That'll be $18.50 then." They paid, and then the woman looked out the window past them. "Oh hell. What does he want coming here again. Kids, you may want to keep your heads down for this."

AShling turned and looked out the windows and saw a younger man coming up the steps, and about to push the door open. He had a couple of buddies with him. Two of them were laughing, and the one in the lead was clearly not. "Maybe you're right. Come on Nate, we'll wait on the benches..."

When the man barged in the aroma of freshly baked pizzas did nothing to calm him down. And the sight of the woman behind the counter only looked to be irritating him more. He spoke up without preamble "Where's Carla!?"

"She's not here Tom. And you're not welcome here either. Now take your boys and get out of my pizza place." Ash looked on as the man fumed. She imagined she could see steam oming out of his ears, but the woman at the register seemed like she'd handled this before. Or at least been expecting something like it. The went on for a bit. Tom really wanted to get ahold of this Carla. Domestic issues of some kind? But that didn't seem like something he'd bring his friends along for the ride on.

She saw the others glance at each other as Tom kept at it. One of them had some sort of tatoo on her neck, and she decided she'd call him "Tattoo". The other, "Buzzcut", glanced over to Tattoo and gave a nod of his head. Ash felt like shrinking back into the corner when she saw Tattoo go and flip the switch on the neon sign, switching it from "OPEN" to read "CLOSED". She immediately started to get her phone out to dial 911. She didn't care if they hadn't done anything yet, and that was when Buzzcut stepped up. She shoved Tom aside unceremoniously, and clocked the woman at the register upside the head so hard that she spit blood out when she hit the floor.

Ash felt Nate jump beside her, and everything grew very scary and very tense. Buzzcut walked over to her, and pointed the gun firmly at her before holding out his other hand.

"Give me that." There was a thick russian accent to his words as he spoke. She looked up and met his cold eyes as he looked down at her, and knew that he'd shoot.... She felt a little slackjawed staring down the barrel of a gold plated six shooter, like the ones she'd seen in cowboy shows one of her boyfriends from the past had insisted on showing her. She'd never seen a gold plated one though.

He smiled as he reached out with his free hand and took her phone, but something jerked to her side, faster than she, or even Buzzcut could respond to. Her eyes widened as her little step brother reached out a hand and snatched the gun. She wasn't even sure she saw what he did, but somehow, he cracked the man's wrist, and pushed him back as he stood up. When she looked, she saw him twisting the gun around in his hands and pointing it at the three crooks in the room. He'd done everything right, she even saw him pull his hand out of where he'd blocked the hammer incase the man had tried to shoot. The hammer had ever fallen though. Tom looked like he was about to have a heart attack, and Tattoo swiveled to face the unexpected hero in the room. Buzzcut looked equal parts shocked and amused, as he watched.

"This is a citizens arrest...." Nate's voice quavered a little and his hands shook as he. "... Now put your guns down, or I'll blow your brains out."

At this, Buzzcut gave a genuine laugh, accent still slipping through into it. "Well, well, well.... I apologize. I wasn't expecting to run into anyone willing to play hero out here, or I would have brought more friends....So you'll shoot me, will you Child?" He took a step forward, and Ashling yelped from the side as there was a prominent click of the hammer falling on Nate's gun. Buzzcut stopped as everyone stared at the gun, including Nate. He pulled the triger 5 more times in rapid succession. All empty.

Buzzcut laughed again. "I'm impressed. But that's my empty.... You should know, I carry another. And it's not empty." He stepped forward without warning and whipped a gun out of a holster from somewhere under his coat, giving Nate a good jolt on the head. It came away a little bloody, and Ashling yelped, trying to catch her brother as he fell back.

"Nate! Nate? Are you alright!?" He couldn't answer. He was out cold. "You're his sister, Da?" Buzzcut said, looking down at Ashling. He looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped and turned back to the others. He took a coulple of steps further into the room and then aimed his gun at the ceiling firing two punctuating rounds into the roof to get everyone's attention. "I want all of you weak-kneed ******s to get to the back of the building! Now!" He pointed the gun at Ashling, and gestured for her to get up too. "Head to the back, and wait in the kitchen." He pitched her phone into a garbage can before moving to follow himself.

He had one of the other two go and check the other rooms in the building to make sure no one was hiding. "Bring the woman." He said, gesturing to the woman that had been at the register. "And bring the kid too."

"No! Please don't take him. Please. I don't know what this is, but leave him out of it. He's just my little brother!" Buzzcut laughed as Ashling dropped to her knees in front of the man, begging them to not take Nate. He looked down at her, and laughed that laugh of his, as though all the world had a cruel irony in it. "He was big enough man to take my gun from me, Da. Now get back with others." When she didn't move, he growled and gave a swift kick to her head that she barely managed to lean away from. It still hit and left her head ringing a little bit. One of the other hostage staff members helped her back up, as she looked on the men with a growing venom in her green eyes.

Tom came back, and said something about Tattoo being in the car out front. Buzzcut nodded, and turned back to the small crowd of Snappy's Carryout workers. He looked directly at Ashling as he started speaking again.

"Now girl, if you would be so kind, please open the freezer." He had the gun aimed right at them, and that cold look had climbed back into his eyes. He didn't care about them. He would shoot. She moved over to the deep freeze, feeling a sense of dread climbing up her spine, and did as he said.

"Thankyou.... Now in you all go." Reluctantly, the small group moved into the freezer, and he smiled at them. "Very good.... Now, I have what I came for, and you are supposed to wish me have good day, Da?" He laughed again, and pulled down the overhead door and slammed it.

It instantly became apparent that the freezer was very cold. Breaths through her nose were starting to hurt.

She could hear scraping coming from the other side of the large door, and then silence except for the sounds of the people inside the freezer.

"Don't worrry. You can open these things from the inside." Someone went up and started to heave the door open, but only succeeded in getting it to lift a couple of inches. "How cold is it in here?" "About negative twenty. We've gotta get out of here." "He's jammed the door somehow! I can't get it open. I don't have any reception in here! I can't get a call out!" "Ok. Everybody stay calm. We'll think of something..." "How long before we die?" "We're not going to die!"

Ashling headed towards the back of the freezer, soon to be their frozen tomb if the couldn't get out. She'd looked this up once. A temperature of -20 Degrees Fahrenheit was supposed to kill you after about an hour. If you couldn't keep your body temperature up, you would die. She was still worried for Nate though. They just wanted a pizza! And then this happened! She made it to the back, away from the others in the freezer who were still trying to figure a way out. She bit her lip nervously, and felt the cold biting into her again as a reminder of the consequences on their way....

She was completely surrounded, she realized, by mirrors. The doors and even some of the walls in this freezer were covered with a chromelike material. She was afraid of what trying this might mean, but she was more afraid of what not trying could mean.... Tentatively, she reached out a hand and touched the shining metal. Nothing happened until she really looked at it, and felt it. And then, it was suddenly as if she had eyes on all sides, facing back into the freezer, all around the kitchen, facing out of the building towards the road, and moving along the road at high speeds. She gasped a quick intake of breath, and looked back over her shoulder, where the Snappy's Staff was still working at lifting up the jammed door. Taking another breath, she looked back to the reflective surface and looked into it again, and somehow... somehow, as she was pushing on it, she seemed to look through the mirror and... somewhere else. She promptly fell through it, and landed in a somewhat familiar if weird place. The white all around her and the many windows looking all around the world around where she'd entered were reassuring and disconcerting at the same time. As was the voice that spoke in her head before she could even pick herself back up.

"Welcome back Master. How can I assist you?" It was more feelings conveying the thought than actual words, but she answered back in words.

"I need to to get back to the real world. I have to open that door, and then I have to figure out where those... thugs took Nate!"

The strange being of the mirror gestured to his side, and a window opened where he pointed to as he floated there in his inhuman way. "This will take you there."

"Great." Without anymore preamble, Ashling dashed forward and jumped out of the window, and landed on her feet this time, skidding to a stop right in front of a deep fryer. It was starting to smoke, and she hurriedly reached up and spun the knob to the OFF position. She looked around, looking for the freezer, and saw the many hands trying to lift the door behind her. She'd leaped right out of the freezer door! It was easy enough to see what was jamming it from this side. Buzzcut had taken a barstool and wedged it under a counter, and a piece of the door, preventing it from lifting up. She hooked her foot under part of the barstool and gave a quick jerk to get it loose, then took off out the front of the door before anyone could even see her to stop her and ask questions. They'd fend for themselves fine now. She needed to get to her brother now. She still had no idea what she was going to do when she got there, but one thing was for certain. She wasn't letting this pass by her.... She just had no idea where they'd gone.

An idea came to mind like a lightning bolt! The mirrors! Maybe she could track them from that strange world!

[Shine]

She raced along the side of the building, looking for something- anything reflective that she could use to... do whatever she'd done before. Nothing. There was nothing! Until she looked ahead, that is, and saw her face staring back at her from a gold passenger-wagon parked in the lot. Would that work? It wasn't a very good reflection.... She didn't waste time wondering, an instead raced up to it, putting her hands on the reflective paint's finish. Instantly, it felt as though her eyes had opened to find a light shining in them. It was the same sense as before, but all around her she could see... it felt like everything. Most of it wasn't as distinct as it had been back in the freezer, and the pizza place, but it was there. The cars, she realized. Anything clean enough to throw back a reflection was showing her a hazy and indistinct image looking out from it. She felt her stomach lurch at the disorientation that followed, but pressed against the van anyway. It gave way as her fingers and then her hand quickly sunk into it. Before long, it felt more like it was drawing her in, and she stumbled through the side of the car, and into the white expanse of windows.

She managed to land on her feet this time, stumbling to a stop before she tipped onto her face like the last time.

Keeper was already giving his strange mental greeting and gesturing to one of the windows next to him before she'd even recovered. "Welcome back, Master. I have been searching reflections for the ones you named "thugs" in your absense, and believe they are still nearby. Please step through this reflection to reset your space to a closer locale."

She didn't give herself time to process what he was saying. Jut leapt through the window, and came out running. Her  eyes widened as she saw herself about to run into a small table at an outdoor cafe. She vaulted it on instinct, leaving a waitress twirling away just barely in time to avoid getting run over. Ashling threw a quick "Sorry!" back over her shoulder as she ran on, and left the people at the cafe wondering where in the nine hells that woman had just come from. She spotted the car that had carried the three just ahead: an old jalopey. It was turning down a road and was about to head out of her sight. Looking about frantically, she saw a shop window, and dodged sideways, hitting it and pressing through as she had before. The reflection here wasn't so strong either, but it allowed her to pass. There was just one problem. As she crossed the threshold of the transport to the mirror world, it seemed to slow her down somewhat, letting her body through, but leaving her feet on the other side. With nothing to support her, she fell and hit the ground hard. She gasped as she felt the impact. Felt all the air ripped from her lungs, and cradled where her arms had caught part of her impact. A moment later, sneakered shoes followed with a groan.

"Ohhhh.... That really hurt....."

Keeper again. "Welcome back, Master. I would advise slowing your pace. There is little risk of them evading you in this reflection rich environment." 

Ashling rolled to the side, and pushed herself back to her feet, glaring at the strange... well, she wasn't really sure what he was!

"My design tells me that you are expressing displeasure with your facial expressions. Is it something I am responsible for? Also, it appears that your quarry has ceased its flight."

That brought her back to the moment. "What? Where are they!?"

"Here." Keeper gestured, and suddenly a multitude of reflections appeared in front of her, showing the car from nearly every angle. She could see that they were pulled around the back of a fenced in lot. Maybe a garage or a warehouse of some kind? The fence blocked view from outside the lot, but she had a clear view from the windows above, the reflection off the glass door, and even the car's windshields and sides. She saw Tattoo bringing another car around(a beamer maybe?) and then head in with Buzzcut. Before she could breathe easy though, she saw them hold a hand out to someone still in the Jalopy though, as though to tell him to stay. Then they made some kind of gesture towards the trunk.

She watched in worry as she saw the man that'd been arguing first climb out of the car, and pop the trunk. She saw the man pick up a woman, the one from Snappy's, and hike her up over his shoulder. He made his way back to the BMW's trunk, and put her in, without too much delay. Ashling saw her kick at him from the back seat, and watched as he fended off the blows, laughing a little, and then moved back to his own car. He picked up Nate next, and she felt the fear for his safety again. He didn't fight like the other hostage had. "Oh gods...." It wasn't really a prayer how she said it.

She felt her brow crease. She had to do SOMETHING, but... she was afraid.
No time for worry! What to do?!

"Now is the time to strike, if you wish for the least opposition, Master." Keeper's voice warbled in her head.

"Ok. Umm... Give me the back of the car. I want to punch him in the face!" There was a small delay, and then one of the reflections swung directly up to her, bare inches away. She resisted the urge to back away, and then she saw it: her chance. Tom had just closed the trunk, and she realized she was staring directly up and out of the back of the car. He squinted his eyes, looking back at something he didn't understand, and when he leaned forward to get a closer look at "his" reflection, that was when she hauled back and let fly with a full on swing. The sensation of punching someone out of the back of a BMW can't quite be described to others. Suffice to say, that if Ashling had had the time to savor it, she would have enjoyed that accomplishment quite a bit. As it was, she instead, leaned through the reflection, and then pushed herself up and out of the shiny black of the car, kicked Tom a few times in the ribs as she scampered around him, and then went for the driver's seat of the car. It was still running and ready to go, and she stomped on the gas, peeling rubber as she burned away from the lot. She drove for quite some time, adrenaline pumping through her. Eventually, she started thinking on something other than getting away again, resisted the urge to check her rearview mirror every three seconds, and started looking for a place to ditch the car. She didn't want the owners to catch her in it. That, and she had to get her brother, and that woman out of the back. She came up with a plan, to ditch the car by a bus stop, and hop a ride back to closer to home. From there, she ought to be able to... Oh! MOM! She still didn't know any of this was going on.

"Ohhh.... What are they going to say to this story...." She pulled into a lot behind an old building a block or two up the road from a bus stop, and let her head drop onto the steering wheel for a moment of recuperation. Just what had she just done?!

[Shine]

After a moment, Ashling forced herself to get up, woodenly open the door and climb out, and make her way to the back. She popped the trunk, and was immediately greeted with the sight of her brother, and the woman from Snappy's Carryout. Probably the manager. Both had their hands and feet tied up and a tape gag to keep them quiet. Nate looked groggy but awake, while "Misty", who still wore her name tag from work, looked worried. Then confused. Then relieved at seeing Ashling there and not the others.



"Don't worry. I got away with the car, and I'm going to get you out of there now. This'll probably hurt...." Ashling grimaced but reached out a hand and took hold of the tape over Nate's mouth, giving it a swift tear.



"Yeowch! That hurt Sis!" The Brunette in the back of the car looked in a hurry too, so Ash didn't dignify her brother's complaint with a response.



She gave another firm tear at the other tape gag, and saw the woman control a flinch before looking back up and out. "There's a knife to cut this tape with further up in the trunk. Now quick! Get us out of here!"



Ash looked where instructed and saw the knife the woman was talking about. Holy hell! That was a big knife. She pulled it out of a sheath it was stored in, and guessed that it was at least nine inches long. She hurriedly started sawing away at the tape. It was sharp too, and didn't take long to cut through the tape.

"You're name was Ashling, right? Look. I recognize this place, and I have friends nearby that can help me hideout till this gets sorted. Do you have a place to go?"

Ashling nodded, pulling Nate close and hugging him to her. He only half heartedly struggled. Still seemed a little stunned. "We'll hop a bus back and..." Her eyes bolted wide open as she remembered that the one with the gold plated guns had her phone, but then she remembered seeing him pitch it in the trashcan back at Snappys. Lucky break.

"We'll be ok. We're going to hop the bus, and get a ride back home that way." She checked Nate's head where he'd been hit. A small bruise, but it was ok, as far as she could tell. The blood was from a nick on his temple, and had scabbed over now. "Just-... could you get someone to get my phone out of the garbage can at your store? I don't want it thrown away, and I definitely don't want THEM to come back and get it."

"I'll get someone to take care of it for you.... Hey, that was really brave. Come by and I'll get you a pizza sometime, alright?" The brown haired woman turned away, and looked about before starting to walk away, staying away from the streets. Ashling and Nate didn't have that option, but thankfully, the bus was within sight be the time they climbed aboard it. She paid the fair out of a twenty she'd stuffed in her pocket after pulling her jeans out of the dryer, and they started the ride home. She was still suspicious of the streets, and sat near the center of the bus because of it, but they made it home alright.

As they walked up to the door and she realized how late it was, she had a thought. Maybe the Mother-Daughter night could be spent at home, indoors.

[The Sable Man]

Once Misty was out of sight and earshot, she stopped moving. She didn't see anyone looking as she searched around her. That would have to do.

Holding her hand out, it changed from a pinkish pale tone of skin, darkening to tan, before finally making the shift to swirling grey clouds. A smart phone produced itself out of the wrist of her arm, before dropping into her hand. She frowned at the screen as she tapped away at a few of the buttons, then held a it up to her head. She cocked her head to the side, listening to the rings of the phone. He would pick up, she knew. He never failed to answer when she called. She heard a click, and the ringing stopped. He didn't say anything though just waited for the news. She didn't use this phone unless it was urgent.

Cradling her phone elbow in her free hand, she spoke up into the phone. Gone was the act of confident but defiant store manager. This was someone far more dangerous. She wasn't ignorant to events. She wasn't helplessly bound and taken to be interrogated.... Even so, the plan to find where the Golden Gunner was holed up had still failed. Zolotoy would continue, for now.

"Call off the others. Something unexpected happened. They didn't interrogate Misty, and they didn't find the location of "Carla". She was rescued by a good samaritan, in fact. I don't think they'll be of use to you. It was just a girl acting on desperation. We can watch her if you want though. Alright Sir. Consider it done."

She clicked off the phone, and let it be swallowed back into her arm. She had one more thing to do tonight to try and salvage this mess. She started walking, and when she walked out of the alley, it wasn't the brunette manager of Snappys that walked out, but instead  some average joe, who'd be looking for a pickup at Snappys. After all, she had a favor to a friend she owed: She had a phone to recover.

OoC: Thread End