It was a cold cloudy day and the winds up above the majority of the buildings were strong so strong in fact Carrick didn’t feel like working that much to stay airborne so he stayed just below the lower rooftops which provided him a nice steady gust of wind to keep him aloft. He was in mutant town and it was around three meaning the streets were busy with people coming home from work or getting ready for the late shift. It also meant the streets would be ripe with some targets. It wasn’t often the winged thief traveled in the mutant district to conduct his business mainly because there was either an extra set of eyes everywhere, or because there was always someone that could shoot him down. The fliers were the least of his concerns there were a few that could keep up with him but so far once he hit the higher altitudes most seemed to give up and go home before they caught him.

Mismatched color eyes scanned down below as he searched for his first target making sure there wasn’t anyone with a visible mutation that would indicate a problem for him. ”’ello, ‘ello” Carrick said to himself in a soft voice as he spotted a shady character tailing a suit. It was easy for Carrick to spot other pickpockets the tells and the signs said it all after all it is what he usually does. With a birds eye view Carrick could see a lot more than on the ground sure he wasn’t right there but he knew the body language enough when someone was about to make a snatch.

Carrick waited for a second then shrugged his shoulders and tilted his wings before heading towards the pair, he was bored and so often when he was bored he had a tendency to do things he normally wouldn’t and shouldn’t do like pick a pick-pocket or pick from a mutant who was four times his size and big and red.

Carrick smirked and waited till the lift was complete before he pretended to lose control and fell from the sky confidently landing into the man with the head and the suit. ”Sorry!” Carrick called out his wings batting the man in the hood once then twice before lifting his wallet and putting it into his pocket before no one noticed. ”Windy up there and all!” Carrick got to his feet and gave both of the men a nod before sighing, ”Know what they say though, get hit by a fallen angel and its best to play the lottery!” Carrick smirked nodded to both and flapped his wings a few times kicking up dirt and dust before getting some air and traveling up the road. ”Easy peasey.” Carrick said with a large smirk feeling the wallet in his back pocket. A fair trade in his mind, the pick-pocket picks a pocket only to get picked himself.

It was way to sunny for Shade. He preferred the darkness that twilight brought with it. However, humans were not as nocturnal as The shadow mutant. They needed the light to work and play and see. Things that Shade could do perfectly well in the dead of night. However, his version of play was probably much different than most humans.

Due to the fact that Shade was not hanging around the Sanctuary due to a certain someone, the shadow mutant was short on cash. Although he did have a job with a local singer, acting as her bodyguard, Shade had lost his earnings for the week due to damages he had caused in a bar last week that had resulted from a crazed mutant fan of his employer.

So here he was: pick pocketing unsuspecting patrons as they made their way home from work where they had just earned a large paycheck. Shade was certain the expensive suit wearing bureaucrat in front Of him had a large bank account plus insurance and would not have to worth about the small contents of his wallet.

Just as Shade had masterfully made the steal, an abnormally large pigeon just smashed to the ground from the sky. Correction: it was a boy...with wings. Shade was certain because he was given a good look at these wings as they were rapidly flailing all over him as the young boy tried to regain altitude. It was rather sudden and the shadow mutant had little time to react as he was wing-molested. Really, all Shade could do was try and make himself as protected as possible. After a second or two, the boy wet about his business and Shade was able to claim his prize. The victim of his pull had miraculously not noticed that his wallet was missing as Shade quickly withdrew in to the crowd to cover his tracks.

As soon as he was behind of wall people enough to separate himself from the suited man, Shade withdrew the wallet and quickly thumbed through it to get to his reward. However, all Shade could find was old credit cards and two dollar bills. The shadow mutant sighed to himself as he reached back to add the tiny amount of money to the stack already in his wallet. However...Wait a second... Shade slapped both butt cheeks then his thighs as he searched for his suddenly missing wallet. He had just had it two minutes aging. Where could it have gone?

Then it hit him. It hit Shade like a high speed bullet train- the angel! That was why he had wing-beat him so rough. The little rascal was covered his pull! Shade immediately began to search the skies for the winged man. He knew the kid was probably long gone, but Shade was determined to find him.

Humming a song he heard earlier on his MP3 player Carrick drifted in the skies for a few minutes slowing his turns the further he got from his last pick. Once a few minutes away and determined that the guy defiantly wasn’t a flier Carrick landed on an apartment building complex’s roof where he decided to let his tail hang over the edge of the building as he sat facing inward. He was oblivious to the fact that his wings were facing the streets reflecting the small amount of sunlight as it peeked out from the clouds.

Carrick pulled the wallet he just lifted and rummaged through it and then scrunched his nose with disgust when he realized there was nothing much in it other than a twenty-dollar bill a single and a few cards. Nothing other than the cards were his from what Carrick determined, which was why he was picking some pockets. ”Bum.” thought Carrick aloud as he took the money out and tossed the wallet onto the roof and put the money with his small collection of twenties he had lifted earlier from a pair of targets.

”Lunch time, or snack time.” Carrick said to himself as he removed some beef jerky from one of his many pockets and started nibbling on piece after piece as a few pigeons started to converge near him. ”Think twice, this is my food you try and take it I’ll shift and eat you.” Carrick said staring down a lone pigeon that got a little too ballsy and started to close the distance between him and his flock.

Shade was angry, very angry. It was not so much about the value of the property that had been stolen from him as much as it was about the humiliating feeling he had from having a young kid put one over on him. It made him so frustrated that he had to find this kid. But how? It was bright day light outside and Shade's powers were virtually useless. That made the shadow mutant even more angry.

The Orderling breathed a massive sigh as his red hot brain tried to decipher a way to find the thieving little pickpocket. But due to the amount of smoke in his brain, Shade was having a hard time coming up with any ideas. Shading his eyes with his hand, he looked up to the heaven in hopes of catching a glimpse of the theft, but all he saw were the reflecting windows of the multitude of skyscrapers. It was bright outside, sunshine. No way he could 'port around like he would want to at night. No way to track him through the darkness as an unteleportable location.

"But..." Shade whispered to himself as his brain slowly worked out a situation. Maybe, he could track the shadow cast by the winged mutant as a 'portable location in the light. It was worth a shot at least. Shade threw out his dark sense searching near his limits, both vertical and horizontal, any dark enough spaces that were moving across the sky line. He hit many small, tiny spots. They must have been bids. Then suddenly, he felt like a giant cloak was swooping through the air. That must be the kid. Or at least, another flyer. It was worth a shot. Shade immediately began sprinting down the street in that direction.

The shadow mutant now had a general direction of where the pickpocket was heading. Every so often, Shade would throw out dark sense and try to catch that dark swooping shape again. Sometimes, he would hit it; sometimes not. It had been several times in a row of him not feeling the swooping shadow past through his vision when Shade thought he might have lost him again. He kept scanning the skies with both of his senses. searching for the winged teen. However, it was beginning to be hopeless. Either the theft was farther away than Shade's visions could detect or he had landed and disappeared into another shadow.

But just as he was coming to the conclusion that he would have to find this mutant another day, Shade caught a glimpse of two curled up wings on top of a nearby skyscraper. The shadow mutant couldn't believe his luck. It had to be the teenage pickpocket from before. Quickly, Shade disappeared into the front doors of the lobby and began to ascend up the tall building in a fast moving elevator. Reaching the top floor, it was only a matter of finding the nearest staircase until he was up a half flight of stairs and burst through the door on to the roof. And there sitting on the edge of the building was the theft.

"You know what," Shade said, slightly winded from the trip. He placed his hands on his knees for a second as he caught his breath. "You aren't half bad. It's been a while since someone was able to pull a fast one on me like that."

Not feeling so lightheaded anymore, Shade straighten back up as his face became like stone.

"Too bad I'll still going to have to kill you."

The stare down lasted a few minutes between Carrick and the ballsy pigeon till finally Carrick gave a low screech sounding similar to hawk or an eagle he wasn’t sure which but when he flapped open his wings quickly enough the ballsy pigeon turned tail and flew away after dropping a few piles in his wake. Carrick looked to the other pigeons and they did something similar to the first one and flew off. Carrick was finally alone on his perch and he could now peacefully enjoy his meal. Or so he thought.

A few seconds passed and the fire escape door busted open to reveal the pickpocket he had picked earlier all tuckered out from the run he seemed to do to trail Carrick. The man was angry and tired; Carrick smirked and took another bite of jerky as he complimented Carrick on one of his talents then threatened to kill him. He was mad and seemed serious but Carrick couldn’t really help but give a small chuckle with food in his mouth. Given who his father was, his childhood and his recent escapades a man who seemed like he was forty to fifty pounds heavier didn’t really strike Carrick as deadly. Then again he could be a nutter of sorts.

”Off your nut are ya?” Carrick asked rhetorically, the man didn’t seem crazy but it wouldn’t be the first time Carrick misjudged someone based on appearance he did follow him all this way though, maybe he was. ”Thank ya, for the compliment.” Carrick said with another bite not moving from his perch however he was aware now of the winds around him figuring a straight drop over the ledge would get him away safely if needed.

”Well, I simply picked a picker who was picking a pocket making him an ideal pocket for another picker to pick. Does that make me the bad guy or the good guy? I wonder” Carrick asked his accent slurring some of the words together. He continued to smile and added, ”Didn’t have much money anyways, I’m assuming the money in the wallet there wasn’t yours to begin with?” Carrick asked curiously pointing to the man’s wallet on the ground. ”Real nice pick by the way, couldn’t see a thing. He didn’t have much did he?” Carrick asked figuring he didn’t on account of the guy chasing down Carrick for a wallet with twenty-one dollars in it.

The bird man sure was cheeky. And annoying. From the way he was acting, Shade did not believe the boy took him seriously about killing him. Well, he had been underestimated before. That person had ended up dead too. Although the shadow mutant was not too hasty as to notice the fact that the flier did have the advantage up here (and in the daytime). Shade secretly cursed the blasted ball of burning gas above him for probably the millionth time in his lifetime. But now, the youngster wanted to talk about the game, the game that both of them obviously played quite frequently.

"You see, that your problem right there. You only think that the money inside the wallet as the valuable part of the pick. What more will someone give for their life back?" Shade replied as he withdrew the business man's cell phone from his pocket along with two others he had stolen earlier in the day.

"Even if I didn't wait for the owners to call back, looking for them, the local pawn store would probably give double of what cash they had in their pockets." He flashed that evil grin before returning the stolen items back into the pockets of his jeans and hoodie.

Carrick smirked as he took another bite of beef jerky as the hooded one pulled out some phones and started preaching about Carrick not knowing what was worth to pinch, ‘Eejit’ thought Carrick. ”The question before, you never answered it.” Carrick said raising one of his legs up and resting it on the ledge as he put his arm on it to rest. ”The answer was neither, it nether makes me the good guy or the bad guy, and at the same time both. I picked the pocket of you as you were busy picking the pocket so all I did was pick something that was once picked.” Carrick took another bite, ”So I guess I can fancy myself as Robin Hood only without the tights.” Carrick lifted his leg he was resting on the ledge to reveal his jeans.

”I can lift phones and cards with ease but it is common sense, money is the quick steal and the safest one for someone like myself to take.” Carrick took another bite and swallowing the already chewed food. ”the things that make me special the wings and the tail, also make me easy to pick out in a line up. Not that I have ever been in a line up but how easy would that be?” Carrick asked rhetorically as he continued, ”I start taking phones and going to pawn shops people start to know my face then, they learn the name and well.” Carrick shrugged, ”I like for the most part to keep my nose clean.”

Nodding his head over towards the one in the hood, ”Sides you really think I’m going to take advice from someone that is most likely doing this for a living? No, fun that’s what this is I won’t be doing this forever not like you.” Carrick smirked, ”What are you thirty? Didn’t even have a bloody bill of your own in the wallet.”

Carrick took another bite of his jerky, ”Judging by your pissed of expression from before and the fact you chased me I take it you’ve never been picked before?” Carrick’s tail swished behind him while a breeze moved his smaller feathers about along with the majority of his brown locks.

The young boy certainly did not know when it benefitted himself to keep his mouth shut. He should just turn and fly away, not land for another twenty and thrity miles. He should fly to some place he thought might offer him protection, like the X-mansion. Please fly to the X-mansion! Shade was dying for another chance to tangle with those petty mutants who thought powerful beings such as them should stoop down to the level of Homo sapiens. But the boy did not run. He talked, talked like he regarded Shade as old and out of his league.

"I will admit you were pretty sly. The wings were something new. Sort of got that Wow! factor that you would like when confusing a potential target. I have to hand it to you. It is the first time I have ever been picked, but you still don't see the big picture." Shade replied as he moved towards the winged mutant. He rested against an AC unit, propping his foot up on the intact pipe.

"You see, this isn't just about fun, as you put it. This is about making a living while having fun. You see this is just pocket change compared to real hits. What if I told you I was working on a hit right now for fifty grand? I just have one little problem..." Shade teased the youngster. He might actually have something that might interest the angel-looking mutant if he would be so interested. Or he could just be playing him, trying to get him where he wanted him in order for Shade to pluck the feathers off of those wings.

Carrick smirked in response when the man in the hood said he was sly, ”Among other things” Carrick said not moving as he walked closer. If he were going to attack he would have done it by now unless all this talking is just a ploy to get Carrick distracted while he closed the distance. Either way Carrick kept an eye on him for sudden movements.

”You need someone with actually some skill in theft?” Carrick asked giving the other guy a toothy grin, ”But fifty grand is a lot.” Carrick said wondering why the guy was telling him all this almost like he is setting something up. ”I take it you monologue a lot don’t you?” Carrick asked his head tilting to the side trying not to laugh as he pictured the guy doing an evil laugh over a good guy handcuffed to a table.

”What is it?” Carrick asked his curious side getting the better of him as his feline like tail started to twitch anxiously.

Shade gave one small chuckle at the teenager. He was starting to get the little twerp. He kind of reminded Shade of himself when he was younger. Carefree, thinking nothing and no one could harm him, back before that night in the bank. His first kill. When he had accidentally drove his blade through the throat of the elderly guard, someone not even worth his time anymore.

"I need a distraction. And someone who can get out of situation as quick as me. Do you think you have what it takes?" Shade replied with a grin. He ignored the teen's second comment. It was surprising that the kid should say that for it was unlike Shade to speak more than needed. Maybe it had something to do with his new job. More socialization required more talking from the mutant so it was possible.

"Let's do this simple. I get half; you get half. Twenty-five Kay a'piece. No need to negotiate. The job is easy enough. Tomorrow night, there is going to be a drop off of fifty grand, cash, at a local joint. Simple smash and grab. The problem is that they know I'm on to them. And they know my mutation and its weaknesses. I just need you to take care of that pesky situation. After that, I will come in and assist the situation, grab the money, and get out of there before they know what happened. Sound like a plan?"

Shade failed to mention the reason for all the doe. The cash was actually a payment for protection money against the Order. The company had hired some mercenaries to try and discourage the mutant organization from trying to attack them. And of course, that was how they had learned of Shade's gift when he had first went to get the overdue payment, and they had tried to shoot him. Now, the place was crawling in lights and the shadow mutant was unable to get close enough to do any damage which was why Shade needed the teen's help.

"The name is Shade by the way. You?"

Carrick listened as the man who called himself Shade explained the situation very poorly; they split the money right down the middle. Something Carrick was very suspicious about it wouldn’t be difficult for a situation like this to end poorly. He needed a distraction but from what or who? Distraction he could do but Carrick wasn’t sure he should help someone who was planning on stealing such a large sum of money. What was his dad do?

”…. I’m in.” Carrick said knowing his father would have had agreed to it when he was Carrick’s age. In fact Carrick was sure his da had done something like this several times. Though at the time his dad could throw a car for a distraction Carrick was up close and personal which put him a greater disadvantage which only meant he had to be smarter.

Book smarts Carrick didn’t have but he was very familiar with street smarts and he started to run a few questions in his head and even fewer he verbalized. ”They have eyes anywhere near there? Also safe to assume there will be someone one with a gun right? You know how many people are going to be dropping the money off?” Carrick paused for a second before adding, ”Shade? You can call me Griff.” Carrick said giving ‘Shade’ a fake name. If things did go south and shade or someone tried to find him, Carrick was pretty sure Griff was a far more common name in the states than Carrick.

”What can you do and what is the catch?” Carrick asked curiously hoping that even though it seemed like a dangerous situation it was more fun than danger. Whoever they were about to steal from Carrick found it off putting that they already knew that Shade was on to them which meant he was a worst thief than Carrick originally thought.

"Their vision is somewhat limited to their surrounding area. It shouldn't be a problem for you or for me. And yes, it can be assumed there will be guns." Shade replied. He forgot to mention that there would definitely be guns there and lots of them with lots of bullets. But really, it shouldn't be a problem. Once Carrick cut the power, it would be like stealing candy from a newborn.

"As for the number of people, there will be two dropping off the money, but there will be lots more around the store. I place their number at around twenty." But really their numbers did not mean anything. They would be too worried about someone trying to attack them than guarding the money. They wouldn't even realize what Shade was doing until it was too late. Then the money would be gone and the mercenaries would be gone, because the owner would have no money to pay them. It was a good tactic. Make them believe they were being assaulted by the full force of the Order when in reality, their bank roll was being taken out.

"Well Griff, I'll just tell you it needs to be dark in order for my mutation to be of any use. And that is where you come in. All you have to do is fly around and cut the power to their lighting systems. Once out, I sneak in and grab the money. If you want to know more, I'll show you tomorrow night while we stake out the place."

Guns, something his Da wouldn’t be happy about if he found out but it didn’t matter if they couldn’t see what they were shooting at so there was that which in Carrick’s opinion made their guns next to useless. That was if Shade said was true Carrick would defiantly have to see what was their line of sight and the kind of guns they had Carrick didn’t know much about guns other than from video games and the occasional trap shooting his Da took him to do but other than that if the gun was big odds are it was dangerous.

The more Shade talked about the job the more and more it was sounding half-baked. Twenty men against both of them and Carrick still had no idea what Shade could do other than work in the dark. Useless. Carrick thought even if he did take out the lighting odds of them not having flashlights were slim to none. Carrick had seen the movies flashlights are in the evil guys utility belts.

”Sounds a bit shady, Shade.” Carrick said with a smirk, ”If there is twenty guarding the drop why not grab the money before it gets there, I may look small but I can flip a car no problem while flying.” Carrick said not including the fact that he had to be shifted to do it. If shade wasn’t going to put his cards on the table why would he? ”Got a good way to cut the lighting systems or should I just take a rubber mallet and smash about?” Carrick asked sarcastically hoping that wasn’t the answer Shade wanted to hear.

”Guess it sounds like it is do able, tell me what I need and where to meet you.” Carrick said hesitating for a second not sure if he should really fully trust the self-proclamied mutant ‘shade’.

"Come now, my winged accompliss! Give me some credit! If I knew what the vehicle looked like, do you think I would risk twenty armored guards?" Shade jested with the bird boy. Of course his plan looked crazy to Griff, but the feather-wearing teen had not seen Shade's mutation. It was rather simple- if everything went like it should.

"As for the lights, anything sharp should do the trick. You aren't grounded, so you won't have to worry about beeing electrified. Just fly by and snip, snip, snip! No lights in no time." Shade replied, seriosuly this guy ahd way too many conerns. The shadow mutant had thought of all this. It was going to work.

"Here, this is the address of a building adajacent to the dropoff spot. Meet you on the roof after dark falls?" Shade said, scribbling a note a of paper that he pulls out of his pocket. He raisesd himself off of the AC unit and took a step forward offering the note to the winged boy.

"I've used this spot a couple of times to watch their movements. Any other questions?" Shade asked.

(Sorry, its so rough. :/)

Carrick stared at the man called shade for a second and then shrugged his shoulders. Shade could be about as intelligent as he was a thief, then again he wouldn’t be here talking Carrick if he were that bad. Maybe a poor life choice? Carrick didn’t contemplate too much on the thoughts as he pushed himself upright and hopped down from the ledge landing on all fours then straightening up right.

”Sharp huh?” Carrick said mimicking Shade’s answer, didn’t give him a lot of options a screw driver or the back of a hammer, either way there would be some noise from the shattering of a light bulb or the possibility of a Carrick falling out of the sky do to a freak occurrence with the electricity from the lighting. Carrick brushed off his pants and pulled another stick of beef jerky from his pocket and took a bite of it deciding to himself that a rubber handle would be best just to be safe he didn’t get electrocuted yet and he didn’t plan on it now.

Shade took a step forward and Carrick did the same slowly moving towards the note that had the addresses information on it. ”I might fly by there tonight for a moment…” Carrick said more to himself but loud enough for Shade to hear, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust him… okay Carrick didn’t trust him. ”No one will see me unless they can see through buildings.” Carrick said swiping the address from the man before he could try to do anything funny. Even if Shade said he was going to need Carrick’s help Carrick did steal from him first so of course he was going to be suspicious.

”No other questions from me. Other than the time.” Carrick said hopping back a few feet almost floating on the ground thanks to the use of his wings.

OOC: (Feel free for a time jump)