Oh, this sucked! This sucked so bad! Shade was very stuck. The walls seemed to close in around him and restricting his breathing. A cold sweat was forming on his brow. His legs were not responding at all by this point. Shade needed darkness. He needed it now!

Struggling back and forth slightly, the shadow mutant tried to teleport again, but that blasted light in his face. It was still preventing him from 'jumping' away to safety. He could feel the darkness, just on the outside of the building. It was so welcome, so close; yet, it was so far away.

Pushing against the walls, Shade tried to flex the air duct out to allow him more room, but the walls were solid. Now, in a silent fit of rage, the shadow mutant pushed and pulled his all might, trying to get something to budge. The duct shook violently. The shadow mutant was sure the others could hear him below, but he did not care at this point. He just wanted out!

Suddenly, an arm managed to pop free. It felt like he might have torn something in his shoulder, but he was able to move. He was free. Using his freed, but injured arm, Shade sneaked out a few feet until he was enveloped in darkness. Once fully embraced, the shadow mutant immediately 'jumped' into the garbage can with a crash and exploded out of the trash in a fit of coughing. His legs collapsed underneath him as he fell to the ground, struggling to breathe, but happy to have escaped his AC vent prison.

As he lay on the ground, allowing the blood to return their regular flow to his legs, Shade glanced over his head at the street to see Lenna, just about to enter an awaiting cab. Struggling to his wobbly feet, the spying Orderling hurried into a shadow to disappear into the shadows. Luckily for him, the shadows were beginning their nightly growth. That would give him more places to hide.

Okay, she definitely had heard the clatter of trash cans. It had put her on alert. She gave no evidence of it, lest a potential tail notice, but started paying more attention to goings on, all the same. A severely trained eye might have noticed a pause of less than a second, as her hand gripped the cab door's handle and she stood, shoulders tensing. But she did so well at playing it off, you see, the next second, she was getting into the car. Nobody would have noticed a thing.

It could have been cats. Or dogs. Or freakish abominations sifting through the trash. But she'd lived a life of threats and danger, and while most tails might not allow such a noise to signify their presence, it was worth being paranoid.

As the cab pulled away from the curb, her eyes shifted over her shoulder for a brief second. She didn't see anything significant.

She told the cabbie where-to, and he made the necessary course changes to make it so. Forward, and down the street. In the next minute, he'd round the corner to the right.

As the Order leader's cab started to pull away, Shade moved out of the shadow so he could get a view of the license plate or cab number. Stumbling to the edge of the building, he glanced around the edge, managing to see the set of black numbers on the trunk of the cab: 2210 Now with a reference, Shade hopefully would not be able to lose the cab.

That was if it did not manage to disappear to the sea of yellow Fords that was flooding the crowded streets of New York City. Shade managed to keep his eye on it before it started to turn the corner. Growling slightly at the lost of sight, the shadow jumper disappeared into a shadow and reappeared out of another as close to the place where he had seen it last. There must have been ten yellow cabs in front of him.

As he shifted through the mass of people on the sidewalks, trying to search for the appropriate cab number, Shade accidentally smashed into a street vender. The man shouted at the tall man in broken English as Shade blatantly ignored the disgruntled man. As the street light turned green and the cars started moving again, the shadow mutant could feel his chances of following the Adapted disappearing.

It was a good thing the cab had stopped at a light, or she might not have caught the sound of the crash. One crash, she could potentially dismiss as a clumsy animal. Two, within minutes of each other, in New York, when she was certain mutants with powers like invisibility existed, and could clumsily track someone... was only slightly less than damning. She still didn't see anyone, though.

She was on alert.

The cab pulled forward again. Her destination was clear to her. She was headed back to the Sanctuary. She still had a little business to take care of.

Suddenly, the cab stopped. Her eyes snapped to the problem instantly. There was a wreck, straight ahead. In New York, at this hour, it'd be ages before someone handled it and got traffic moving again. Cursing inwardly, she got the cab driver's attention, paid him off, and got out of the cab. She'd make better time walking, at least until she found another method of transportation. She could probably hail a cab once she was past the jam, where the grass was greener. On the other side.

(OOC: Wow! Totally did not see that you had posted here.)

Shade's heart sank lower and lower as the numerous cabs began to pull further and further away. However, before they could disappear from view, there was a cascade of red brake lights as the convoy of cabs was stopped by a perfectly timed traffic jam. Smiling at his stroke of luck, Shade quickly disappeared into a shadow before popping out of another shadow near the scene of the accident. Looking back at the mess of cars, the shadow mutant searched for the specific numbered taxi which held the woman he was following. However, he did not have to search hard as the short haired Adapted suddenly popped out of her taxi.

For a moment, Shade froze. He was too out in the open, and he knew it. As a group of tourists passed in front of him, the shadow mutant quickly ducked down and scrambled into a shadow to avoid detection from Lenna. His heart was racing when he made it back to the safety of a large shadow cased by a nearby skyscraper. It would have been a miracle for the Order leader to have spotted him in that split second of exposure time, but Shade was not entirely sure that she had not seen him. That scared him slightly. If he had blown his cover, Shade might have to answer some very hard questions from the Adapted. And he was not sure that he would have good enough answers to satisfy her. Above all, Shade could not expose Lady Syn's connection to this endeavor.

Car wrecks tend to draw eyes. This one was a nasty one. Lenna had looked. ... There's another thing that draws eyes. A person suddenly appearing where previously present a person had been not. She took a moment to wrap her brain around that sentence fracture, as well as the appearance... and just as sudden disappearance, of the person behind a crowd. She didn't dismiss it as a trick of the light. Seeing as she'd already been on alert, the whole thing got her thinking about what and who she could be dealing with.

There weren't that many people in the Order who could disappear and appear rapidly. She kept tabs on most of the powers elicited by those in the Order, and at the Sanctuary. Her first thoughts, of course, had not been about a potential tail from the Order. That would have been a crazy leap of logic. And while she was smart enough not to trust every single member in a cutthroat gang of murderers and human-haters, she had enough enemies to run through her mind before counting allies. She considered people she'd irked with powers similar to teleportation... She didn't consider the ones she'd already killed.

Maybe it wasn't teleportation? Maybe it was something else?

Or realistically, she could have been mistaken, and seen something that wasn't there. Imagined shadows. Whatever the situation, she kept walking. The Sanctuary wouldn't be too far, once she hailed another cab.

Her eyes kept up their vigil, shifting cautiously to scan her surroundings as she moved.

Shade had pressed himself against the large building as if the shadow cast by the skyscraper would suddenly disappear. His heart was still racing; his breath came in gulps. He was almost certain Lenna had seen him, or would have seen him if she had spotted. Shade had been too busy trying to find a hiding spot to notice if her eyes had fallen on him. As his breath slowed to a more steady pace, the shadow mutant tried to reaffirm himself that she had not. There were plenty of people on the street. Why would know it was him the moment her eyes traveled over him? Plus, he was in a rather unnoticed color. A gray sweater was rarely the thing eyes caught sight of. It was why he had picked it.

Either way, Shade knew he had dodged a bullet. It was probably best to return to the Sanctuary and continue his stalking from there. It would be easier to hide in a familiar place, and he would have a reason for being there, too. However, the thought of missing something valuable about the Adapted torn Shade's mind apart, especially when his eyes caught sight of her short blonde hair again as she weaved through the crowd of people on the other side of the street. He wanted to go and return to the safety of the Sanctuary, but he had to stay. He had to find something on the Adapted that he could tell Lady Syn.

The other side of the street was the more dangerous choice. The shadows were not cast in the correct direction. Instead, he would be directly in the sunlight. However, he stayed a good deal behind her. He could just follow her on foot. She would never notice him in this crowd. Jumping under a sheltered staircase, Shade slipped out behind the blonde haired Adapted as he tried to blend into the crowd of New Yorkers coming home from work. He slouched slightly to reduce his height and put his hands in his pockets. His hood was over his head to protect his frail skin and eyes from the blinding setting sun. Also, his condition would be easy to pick out in a crowd. Shade hoped to stay a good fifteen to twenty feet back, just to be sure that he did not draw her suspension.

In the business of catching tails, a good method is to make right turns. If the tail makes the same turns enough times, they'll tend to stand out. At the end of the block, she cut a right, eyes watching her surroundings. If need be, she'd vanish. She was better at that than many tails.

At the end of the next block, she took another right.

The sun was brighter by the intersection. There were fewer buildings to cast shadows.

She pressed her back up against a wall, and waited, again, watching. If something was tailing her, she'd notice it. If not, she'd understand she was being neurotic.

(( OOC: She should find him, soon... ))

The crowd were dense enough to hide a single man in a grey sweater. Shade was certain of that. As he followed the short blond hair of the Adapted, the shadow mutant tucked his hands into his front pocket and kept his head down, though his unseen eyes stayed on Lenna.

When she took a right, Shade had to wait at the corner for a couple to cover him before he chanced turning the corner. By the time he was around the corner, Shade just managed to see a whisp of blond hair disappear around the next block. She had turned back to head the other direction. Her decision confused the shadow mutant, but he was not able to lose her. He broke into a little jog to close the distance between him and his target. Once at the end of the block, Shade pulled up and returned to walking.

Rolling the corner, the setting sun hit Shade's eyes in an instant, blinding his vision for a moment. Lifting his hand up to shield his eyes, the shadow mutant could not see his target. Immediately, his mind flew to possibilities of where the Adapted might have disappeared to. Breaking into a brisk walk, Shade's gaze was everywhere at once as he tried to find his target. So ingrossed in his search was he that Shade did not even feel the wash of coolness that left him when he neared the alleyway as he entered the nullification field of Lenna.

The guy... looked familiar. Yeah, he looked familiar because she'd noticed someone in a grey sweater the past few blocks. And he'd been rushing. She'd also seen him around the sanctuary, seen him when he hadn't seen her, because it was her job to know who lived and worked for the Order. It wasn't like she'd been keeping tabs. Just noticing things at the right places and times. He was hurrying now.

"What's the hurry?" Her voice was cool, conversational, as she stepped into his way with the air of an undercover cop.

His reactions here would be very important. So, she'd judge.

Shade's feet skidded to a halt immediately at the sudden appearance of the Adapted woman. His immediate reaction was to shoot a hand into his jacket pocket to form a black dagger. However, as he groped for the knife, the shadows refused to solidify. The area surrounding the Adapted was canceling his abilities. He was defenseless. A sense of fear crept up his spine at the realization. His face turned into a snarl.

"Nothing." Shade said, defensively. The male mutant felt for his sixth sense of darkness, searching for the nearest shadow. However, he found that it was fried as well. Shade felt almost naked without it. It was like suddenly losing half of one's sight. Another more powerful sense of fear washed over him, and he almost shivered from the effect. However, he would not show his fear in front of the Adapted.

He did not hide his hatred for her though. His lips were snarled as his nostrils flared, and the sides of his nose wrinkled as if the very smell of her was revolting to him. His eyes were shooting daggers at her, but they were still half hidden beneath his hood and ball cap. Shade despised the Adapted with their mutant cancelling abilities. He despised her more, because she had caught him spying on her. She knew it. He knew that she knew it. However, he also knew that she would want to know why he was spying on her, and he was not able to reveal anything to her. So, they would have to play a game between the two of them, a deadly game of wits.

"What are you doing out this evening?" Shade asked, his snarl remaining on his face.

Upon closer inspection, there was no mistaking it. It took her a few seconds to put a name to a face, but when she got it, she got it. Shade. And judging from his hand in his jacket, his posture, and the look on his face, he disliked being caught. Although maybe it wasn't so much being caught as it was being at a disadvantage. His tone was defensive. It helped her solidify the opinion that she'd caught him tailing her. He'd been up to something.

She smiled. No, he didn't like her at all. She could feel the anger in him, even if she couldn't see his eyes. He asked her what she'd been up to. "Just business," came the exhaled casual reply. She wasn't so much interested in a game of wits, though, so she took an ice pick to it. "It's a nice night, isn't it?" She didn't take her eyes off of him to look at the rapidly-approaching dusk. "What's a guy like you doing following lil ol' me?" She smiled. Like she was talking about the weather. A hidden comment about 'aren't there any better girls you could stalk' lay unsaid in her mind.

The Adapted's reply to his question was almost as vague as his answer to hers. Business. Shade was certain it was business. Everything about the woman was business: her dress, her attitude, her mannerisms. Every hair was perfectly placed in it's correct position, every word spoken was chosen for a specific purpose, and every emotion checked and balanced before being allowed to surface. Yes, her entire persona screamed business, like the dying breath of a man being burned alive. Shade might have asked if the personal business or for the Order, but he chose to remain silent as she continued on.

The shadow mutant also chose to ignore her concerning the lovely evening. Was that a jab at him? Did she know about his abilities? Possibly, she was on the council, and Shade's abilities were well known even outside of the Order. Even so, she had to know that Shade was within her pacifying zone. He was as normal (and harmless) as any regular human while within her aura, and oh, how he despised it.

"I was not-" Shade replied instantly to her next question. However, he stopped himself from finishing his sentence. There was no help in lying to her, especially when she knew the truth. So instead, Shade decided to go with a little of the truth.

"I do not like you." Shade said as if this was unknown.

"And I do not trust you. The Order fight for a world ruled by mutants. Why would you help us, Adapted?" He said, uttering the last word as if it was an insult.

Oh, he didn't like her, did he? Gasp! She was just going to have to run off crying and hide in hole. The trust issue was more pressing, and less easily dismissed with sarcasm. He was being on the level to her (for once). He was probably planning to report back on whatever he'd found to someone. Possibly someone she worked with, who also didn't trust her. After all, why would a non-mutant work with a group of dangerous mutants who were largely anti-human? It didn't read.

She calmly answered him, arms at her side and ready, in case he tried something. "Business." A pause. "Throw in allegiance, too. Lori helped me and trusted me when I needed her most, even knowing what I am. As did the brothers. Right now, I'm filling in for Lori, who recently vanished, and trying to keep this group together. It's too profitable to let die, and has too many loyal followers like you to let it implode. I don't need you to like me to keep things together. Just know I'm not up to anything nefarious with this group. I want to help it, make it grow, make it strong." So that if they succeed and take over the world, she had a nice paycheck and a position of power up there by the throne. "Fair enough?" She quirked an eyebrow, watching his response.

Business! Shade's shoulder twitched involuntarily from his instant reaction to back hand the Adapted across that pretty little face of hers. Luckily, the shadow mutant managed to control himself as his lips curled into a snarl. Oh, she was really irritating Shade with her smug comments. However, before Shade could say anything, the blonde woman was kind enough to expand on her reasons for helping the Order.

Shade was clever enough to catch the bit about how the Order was "too profitable to let die." Immediately, he knew that the Adapted was in for money. At least, it played a small role. On the other hand, the shadow mutant was slightly taken aback by her statement about the implosion of the Order. From the way she talked, Lenna almost sounded like she might actually care for the Order, and its members. Shade did not know how to take the comment. His hatred was too deeply grounded (in mostly fear) against the Adapted that her words might move the shadow mutant to suddenly like the Order leader, but it did send a small tremor through the foundations.

"Fair enough." Shade replied shortly, not entirely certain about the meaning of 'nefarious'. He felt like he was being played. But what could the shadow mutant do? He could not openly attack a member of the Order's council, or could he? What would Lady Syn want him to do? The thought made Shade shift uneasily. He wished again that he could materalize a dagger at that moment. He felt naked without his shadows.

"However, I might believe that if I had not seen you offer to sell the Order earlier today." Shade said, his face breaking into his classic half-grin. He had her now.