Sing when you're winning (Siren/Pheonix)

The air was crisp and almost cold enough to hurt his lungs as he breathed in deeply. His legs stretched out, eating up distance as he moved along at a brisk jog. His hear was damp and the tell tale patches of sweat were beginning to form on his back and chest. It was one of the nights that Paul hated. One of the nights where memories of the past filled his head and kept him from falling asleep. Since he return to New York those nights had been far less frequent but they still showed up on occasion and he knew of only one solution and so that was how he found himself out jogging in the middle of the night. His clothing was typical, running shoes, socks, gray sweat pants, charcoal t-shirt, and lightweight gray sweatshirt. The only items in his pockets to weigh him down was a single door key to the front door of his apartment, a driver's license, a credit card, and about thirty bucks in cash. Thoughts of a blond angel from his past pushed at his mind but there was just enough weariness beginning to form that he was able to hold it at bay. It wouldn't be enough to allow Paul the sleep that he was longing for but he knew that another hour or so of jogging would do it. Then he would sleep like the dead until waking to once again face another day.

Paul's steps faltered as a scream suddenly echoed down the streets. At this time in the morning there were few around to hear it but if there was one thing Paul couldn't stand it was someone attacking a woman. Taking a brief moment to judge the direction of the scream, Paul broke into a dead run. Any thought of being tired disappeared as adrenaline coursed through his system. The fight or flight response was on though only the first option was even up for consideration.

Paul's pace slowed, without his realizing it as the sound of the most beautiful voice he had ever heard echoed down the empty street. His run became a jog which turned into a walk and eventually came to a complete stop as he found himself now standing on a sidewalk, looking across the street and into an alley on the other side. He didn't notice the three boys or any of the junk that littered the alley. His gaze could only focus on one thing... an angel with blond hair, huge wings, and a voice that would make the very gods themselves weep. He was mesmerizing and any thought of rescue was completely gone from his conscious mind though it continued to scream at him from the subconscious.

How long he stood like that Paul had no way of knowing but when a large semi drove in front of him, engine rumbling loudly and air break squealing in protest, they momentarily drowned out the heavenly vocalization. For the briefest second the trance held but then the spell was broken. The truck was still moving in front of him and as he stared ahead slightly confused, is hands moved upward of their own volition, covering his ears. Moment later the truck was gone and Paul found himself staring into the alley but now he could see it for what it really was. The young woman was holding off three attackers with the power of her voice but from the looks of it she wasn't going to be escaping under her own power any time soon. Paul was just about to drop his hands and run over when he realized that his hands were the only things keeping him from being in a trance like those other three seemed to be experiencing.

Cursing under his breath, Paul made sure the street was clear and then took off running, moments later entering the alley. He moved closer but then paused as he realized that some of the singing was beginning to creep through his hands. If he wanted to maintain control there was no way he could get any closer and he was still at least ten feet away. "HI!" Paul yelled, trying to make the woman hear him over her singing, "I'M PAUL AND I'M A MUTANT TOO! IF YOU NEED HELP YOU'LL HAVE TO STOP SINGING SO I CAN COME CLOSER AND EITHER SUPPORT YOU FOR WALKING OR JUST CARRY YOU OUT OF HERE!"

For a few moments the girl seemed to be weighing her options. Really, if Paul took the time to think about it, he couldn't blame her. For all she knew he was another member of the gang or maybe even someone that would treat her worse than she had already been treated. Unfortunately Paul wasn't really thinking about what might be going through the woman's mind, he was just getting slightly annoyed that she didn't immediately accept his help. Did she think he looked like some sort of murdering scum bag or something?

"Help me! He has a knife!" She suddenly screamed as the song ended with startling abruptness. Dropping his hands, Paul took a very short moment to enjoy the silence before noticing that the gang bangers were beginning to stir. Though he was no special forces operative or super powered mutant type, Paul was confident he could take a couple of street thugs if absolutely necessary. However, he also had the advantage of knowing that even if he failed he would come back for revenge. This young woman didn't have that option and so in this instance, discretion was most certainly the better part of valor.

"Time to get moving!" Paul said quickly as he headed over to the young woman and looped an arm around her waist to help her walk. If she was to badly hurt to walk then he would just pick her up in his arms and carry her but he figured he'd give her the dignity of at least attempting to move under her own power first. Not all damsels in distress wanted to be carried away by some white knight. These days most damsels wanted to stand up and kick the black knight's butt all by their lonesome before heading off to party while the white knight was left standing in confusion.

"What... what happened?" The voice of one of the three young men spoke slowly, thickly almost like he was waking up from a deep sleep. Obviously they only had a matter of seconds to gain some distance before the three had full control once again. If they could get out of the alley before that then they might get away without a fight. If they didn't then Paul would have to brush up on his Savate skill.

Rescuing a damsel in distress had definitely not been part of Paul's plans for the evening and he was more than happy to breath a sigh of relief when they were out of sight of the gang and safely away. The adrenaline was beginning to fade from his system and the weariness was starting to return but he remained on high alert, scanning the area around them just to make sure that they stayed safe.

"Thank you." Her soft voice attracted his attention again and he glanced down to look at her face. From the scent that was wafting up to his nostrils it was clear that the young woman had probably been drinking heavily that evening and she was dressed to attract attention. Probably she had been clubbing and enjoying the attention of every male in the establishment. She was quite attractive and if it had been a different place and he was a little bit younger in appearance then he might have been one of those men chasing after this skirt. Instead he found himself the protector, trying to keep those sorts of creeps from getting her skirt. Boy, life could be ironic.

"From the looks of things, you probably would have managed." The words were spoken gently with a quick reassuring smile down at the young woman before his head once again lifted to scan the streets around them. If the three punks were just that, three punks, then it looked like they were in the clear but if they were members of a gang and put out some sort of calls to the rest of their group to keep an eye out then they would probably be finding even more trouble this evening.

"We need to get off the street." The comments were matter of fact and spoken as much to himself as they were to the young woman that he was half carrying, "My apartment is on the other side of town but The Sanctuary isn't to far away. They'll be glad to help a fellow mutant out of a jam." The only down side would be if Lisa decided to make some sort of comment about his assisting yet another young woman. Her comments about Ms. Gage had been somewhat annoying and he could just imagine what she might say when he came walking in with this pretty little blond on his arm. Oh well, that couldn't be helped.

"Do you have someplace safe to go?" He finally asked, once again focusing on the woman next to him. While some of her sex appeal had obviously disappeared due to the attack and her subsequent tears, it only enhanced the innocent side of her beauty. Stealing himself, Paul focused on the fact that she needed his help and nothing more. Any thoughts to the contrary would just be wrong. "If not, I've got some friends that can help."