By the third time his body tried to expel anything else from his body it just turned into a dry heave one that allowed Carrick to at least catch his breath once it was emptied. He breathed in and noticed Shade talking but didn’t hear much other than the words, ‘You are alive’ that made him feel slightly better the conformation of what he already knew. He was alive and they were both dead… this was a concept he was aware of but never anything he had to experience first hand. The last time someone died that he knew was his grandmother, who died of old age or something like that. He was young and didn’t think much of it at the time but now.

"Look, I'm...What the hell did you think was going to happen!?"

Carrick’s eyes flashed up to Shade and his look turned to one of a blank dismal expression he didn’t know what to say. He thought that it was a game? That it was going to be fun and easy. He said nothing but wiped his mouth looked at the vomit on the floor then back up to Shade who had blood on his hands. ”… Can we go now?” Carrick asked sounding more like a child than he ever did before in Shade’s company.

Carrick waited for a second then pushed himself up and then pointed back to the direction where the rally point was supposed to be, ”I’ll meet you back there…” Carrick said looking away from the rally point back to the pile of blood next to both bodies. Carrick stared at them for a second wondering if any of them had kids.

Instantly he thought of his Da and snapped open his wings determined not to let Shade see him act like this. Carrick decided to take the long way to the rally point by back tracking around another building before heading back to the spot Shade was supposed to meet him before all of this mess went south.

The shadow mutant was a little shocked at himself for yelling at the boy, but Shade did not allow Griff to see his expression. When the half-bird boy looked his direction, the Orderling ducked his face away. It was more than obvious when the boy next spoke that all he wanted to do was get as far away from this place as possible, as if running away would help him forget what he had just witnessed. It didn't. Shade had tried that too. So the older mutant simply nodded when the teenager asked it he could leave.

"Yeah, I'll see you back over there." Shade said, replying to the vague reference to the rally point. The shadow mutant waited until the winged mutant had flown off before he let his anger get the better of him. Slamming his fist into a nearby AC unit, Shade left a bloody imprint on it. He grunted in response. Although he thought that he might have broken something, the pain was a nice distraction from the feelings that were flooding his mind.

Even with his delayed disappearance from the murder rooftop, Shade still managed to beat the kid to the other building. Obviously, he was taking a longer route to clear his head and possibly his stomach again. So the shadow mutant took the extra time to split up the bags of money: three each. When the winged mutant landed, Shade was leaning against the wall under the light by the entrance to the stairwell with hsi bags at his feet and Griff's bags piled up in front of him about fifteen feet away.

"Your half of the cash as promised. Just be careful but to deposit all at once. Someone at the bank might get suspcious." Shade commented, trying to offer some advice to make up for the earlier scene.

The flight back Carrick’s wandering mind was racing, mainly the thoughts that were the loudest and most re-occurring were, ‘They’re dead!’ and ‘I almost died!’ still with his mind racing he found himself at the rally point where shady was waiting for him with his cut of the money. Carrick landed next to the bags of money and stared at them wondering if it was the equivalent to the human lives that were spent in obtaining these. Carrick looked up to Shade and nodded his head with the advice about depositing the money. He already had worked out how he was going to deposit it in small amounts before he had the money so he wasn’t too worried about that.

”How many?” Carrick asked the shady mutant without thinking about it. Carrick’s skin was still slightly pale and his stomach was all twisted in knots. ”…. I’m not sure I want to know…” Carrick said shortly after. Shaking his head slightly he closed his eyes for a second then opened them wondering if his Da ever went through something like this. Maybe he could ask him? Carrick pushed that thought out of his mind for now though and then looked back to Shade.

”Does this feeling ever go away?” Carrick asked almost pleading with his tone to the shadow mutant to answer. Carrick didn’t like feeling like this sick to his stomach, he almost died and in turn witnessed the lives of two others snuffed out with nothing more than a few gunshots and a flick of Shade’s wrist. ”I don’t like this feeling…” he said to himself but it was loud enough for Shade to hear.

The winged mutant nodded in understanding over the money issue, but he still looked sick to his stomach. Then he asked for Shade's number. Assuming he was asking for how many the shadow mutant had killed, the logical next question for Shade was when. Tonight? Last month? Ever? After the first hundred, he had lost count. Luckily, the teenage mutant decided to take back his previous question. It was probably for the better. The kid would probably faint, or at least vomit again, if he knew the truth.

"Not really. Mostly, it turns to anger." Shade replied truthfully. At least, that was how the shadow mutant dealt with it. Of course, everyone dealt with it in their own ways. Some turned away from it, shunning it; others turned towards it, embracing the feeling over life and death that they now possessed. However, the truth of the matter was that it never went away. Once someone had witnessed death, there would always be a piece of their soul that was just a little darker because of it.

"Well, I would love to stay and chat, but I have to drop these off for my boss. Funt times, eh? Hit you next time I need some help?" Shade asked, trying to avoid the awkward silence. However, he already a good idea about what the answer to his question would be.

It was time for the awkward ‘You just witnessed me kill some people’ goodbyes and while Carrick was never one to be awkward (unless girls he liked were involved) this one was quite so. Carrick found it hard to look onto the shadow mutant once he gave his first answer. Anger was something the winged was not, not normally anyways every now and then he had an off day but flying usually fixed that. Now? Carrick wasn’t sure if he’d ever really be the same again.

One hand reached for one of the bags and Carrick noticed it was still shaking a bit. Shaking it and the other a few times Carrick took a deep breath and grabbed onto one of the bags lifted it to see how heavy it was. Not terribly heavy but enough where he had to be careful with or else he’d drop it and then there would be a large sum of cash raining down for anyone to grab it and that was something he could do without.

”Right, off with ya then.” Carrick said shifting his gaze from the bags of money to Shady, ”Not sure if I’d be up for another round slim.” Carrick said shrugging, ”This one…” Carrick stood up straight and shrugged his shoulders and opening his wings, ”Barely escaped this time….” he said quietly but loud enough for Shade to hear. ”…. Thanks…” was all he could say.

Reaching down again Carrick grabbed two sacks in his right and one in his left hand. Slowly he stood up straight getting used to the additional weight before his wings flapped once then twice and by the third time he was already an inch off the ground and by the forth one he was already heading for the ledge of the building.

Taking one last look at Shade and nodding his head slightly Carrick lifted himself higher and higher and away from the killer and the killed. Wishing he could undo this night Carrick flew back to the mansion as fast as he could hoping his roommate wouldn’t be there when he arrived for two reasons, one because of the insane amount of money he had and the fact that he felt like he was going to be sick again.

Shade remained against the wall, his arms crossed in front of him, as the winged teenager gathered the bags of cash. The kid appeared shaken, and there were so many things that Shade wanted to say. But he did not know how to say it. The shadow mutant could see the exact same thoughts going through the young man's head just like his own. Terror, regret, grief, gratitude. They were all there. And Shade wished there was something he could do, something that would help.

However, the fact of the matter was that there was nothing he could say or do that would changed what the boy had witnessed tonight. Shade had saved the kid's life, but in the process also destroyed it. He felt discussed with himself for the first time in a long time. He needed to change. He needed to get this blood off of his hands. He needed to leave this place where the memories from past would not pop up so much. So in the end, Shade could only say the words that he expected a partner to say. Did he mean it? He didn't knew know himself.

"Well if you ever need some help, let me know." Shade replied before the boy took off with much more baggage than the sacks of money he was carrying. After the beat of wings was no longer audible, the shadow mutant gathered his own bags and disappeared into the night. Ending up back at the Sanctuary, Shade appeared in the lobby to the ever-polite voice of the receptionist, Lisa.

"Good evening, Mr. Shade. How can I help you?" She said, smiling politely at the blood covered mutant. Placing the bags on her desk, Shade's eyeless gaze feel on the blond haired human for a moment before he released the bags.

"For the rent." Shade replied simply, patting the bags before traveling up the staircase to his room.