"Stay away from me!" the little girl was screaming at Linely, as two of her drawings of dragons breathing fire nearly cooked him. This was serious. Her parents had been arrested already,  illegal immigration. It was a hard job doing this kind of thing, but he had to follow orders, even if it meant sending a 10 year old Mexican girl on the next train back to the South with her parents. Unfortunately it wasn't turning out as planned.

A Knight in shining black armor then appeared, waving his dark sword at Linely in a typical fairytale style Linely dodged out of the way, he already had a few grazes from all the jumping around he had been doing.  Great! This was just great! "I'm not here to hurt you little girl, I'm a policeman, coming to take you to your parents"...this appeared to work somewhat, though her tear-stained cheeks were not getting any less bloated. The knight disappeared. It appeared that she wasn't able to sustain it long...well that was a relief.

The little girl was dressed in ragged clothing, Linely didn't know exactly how long she'd been in NYC, but it was only a few weeks tops. That was why it had been such a shock for her , Linely assumed when the police broke down the doors of the docks warehouse that had been their "home" At midnight no less. Her cheeks were glistening in the light that was shining through the splintered wood

The girl was just about  showing some willingness to go with Linely , tearfully nodding and tentitively approaching the police officer . "You're not in trouble at all, we will do everything we can..." Linely was cut off by another high pitched wail from the girl, who had seen something behind Linely...or someone.

Another knight manifested, this time in dazzling white armour , sword and shield, standing in between Linely and  whoever was behind him and ready to attack. "Idiot!" Linely bellowed, turning round to see who it was. "I'd just about got her calmed down!" Another spout of dragon fire later and Linely had forward rolled further away from the girl.

The silhouette of a man he thought he recognised was there. "Devon? What the **** are you doing here!?" Linely shouted to the man. Hoping  that the fellow adult mutant wasn't stupid enough to make any sudden movements.

Devon came through Red Hook often. Not only did he have a training spot or two here, but there were often many who needed a helping hand or some direction. Long ago it had been the province of the unwanted, numerous immigrants trying to settle here or up through Brooklyn. Now mutants dwelled here in large numbers. Some reputations were like stains and even long after they'd faded, there was still the faintest outline of their presence.

When he heard a young girl's scream, Devon's eyes immediately rushed to darkness as he charged head first into it. There were dangerous types here too and while most times he could deter them by a quick revelation of his purpose, a demonstration of his power worked even better. He urged for conflicting heat and cool air currents to collide as was easy in late summer, while encouraging the humidity.

His focus was of course a little preoccupied as he came around another corner, heading for the wails and the screams. There were voices and- Was that a white armored knight and a dragon? What the heck!

>>"Idiot!" Linely bellowed, turning round to see who it was. "I'd just about got her calmed down!"

Ah Linley.

A rush of wind enveloped through the air as Devon dove back behind the corner. The flames went rising up as they were buffeted back and out.

>>"Devon? What the **** are you doing here!?"

"I heard a screaming child," Devon stated, sarcasm faint but evident in his voice. "So I came running," he sighed. His voice grew louder as he shouted, "Sorry young miss! I thought you were in trouble so I came to help. If you're okay, I'm sure the Officer can help."

He'd only had a few seconds to spot the girl but she didn't look well, let alone she looked very upset.

>> "I heard a screaming child...So I came running"

Well that was just great, while he was sure Devon could look after himself, and Linely knew he was X-Gene, this girl was clearly very powerful, and extremely distressed. He just hoped there wouldn't be another-

Another fairy-tale creature appeared. Wolves this time, three of them and they looked angry, slavering from their mouths like in your typical Children's books. Big eyes, ears and teeth, all the better to track you down and tear you to pieces my dear. Their black fur , over-sized red eyes and curled, red claws gave Linely the shivers.

Linely had his baton out now, and came into what he assumed to the full view of the girl , the wolf pack was slowly approaching him, almost taunting. "Devon, I think it's about time you filled me in on what your actual powers were?"

The girl was not well at all, she was looking rather pale... Linely feared what could happen if she fainted while one of her little fairy tale creatures was still in place. At least the Dragon manifestation had dispersed, fading away like smoke.

The little girls shrill cries of emotional pain and fear echoed off the old brick walls of Brooklyn. Then three howls broke through that distressed din. This girl had quite the arsenal at her command. Thanks to whoever had read her all those fairy tales.

>> "Devon, I think it's about time you filled me in on what your actual powers were?"

"Well," the black-eyed Tempest spun back around the corner. "Suffice to say I can huff," he inhaled as he lifted both hands. "And puff," he added as his hands came quickly against one another and then away in sweeping motions. Twin gusts rose at either end of the three wolves and then slammed into them, colliding in cross winds to knock the wolves off their feet and against one another. "And blow a house down."

Devon smirked, "Or the weather." His gaze sought out the little girl's, "Miss, the officer and I can help you. See, we have special powers too. But you have to be careful they can hurt people." He nodded eagerly.

The black-furred wolves were rising up on their feet as Tempest dropped one hand and lifted the other. Electrical energy crackled along his fingers and then between them as heat lightning danced in the clouds overhead. "And I doubt your parents will be happy if you let wolves hurt people trying to help you," Tempest added.

The girl looked between Linley and Devon, her lower lip quivering as her wails turned closer to whimpers.

Linely watched with amazement as the big bad wolves were blasted from side to side, so this guy was a weather manipulator? Interesting, it was a pity the manifestations were made of tougher stuff, and were getting back up on their feet. At least they were further away than before.

The girl was now trembling, she was looking at Devon with big , brown eyes, filled with tears, clearly very scared. "I-I don't wanna hurt you" she spoke with the innocence only a child could ever have. The wolves went back on the approach, less menacing than before, but still there. Linely could smell the iron scent of their breath on the air.

"We're going to take you somewhere safe, and your parents will join you there, away from the bad people" Linely spoke very clearly, he hated having to arrest people like her parents, lumped into the back of a van under false pretenses, and then thrown into a warehouse like so much refuse.

Linely approached Devon, slowly "Is there somewhere specific that can house someone with her gifts, I'd rather not have to put her in a cell, our adapted human officers are already at low morale as it is." The wolves were now carefully circling the two of them, seemingly more interested in guarding the girl than attacking...for now.

Tempest watched the wolves even as Linely addressed him. He was ready with a moment's effort to blast the imagined creatures back to fairy tale land. Linely's line of comments and then his question made for an easy transition to-

"Sanctuary," Tempest said in response. "We can go to Sanctuary. Numerous families and kids come there," he nodded slowly. "Many have different abilities, but there's games, toys, computers..." His tone softened as he looked to the little girl, "Just like Quasimodo in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. There's a sanctuary for everyone. I'm there all the time."

Devon smiled, "You could even play with your friends there," he gestured to the wolves. "Provided you talk to them about playing nice with everyone else. I'm sure people would love to see them and what you can do," he nodded slowly again.

Devon's eyes softened to blue, the darkness vanishing from them. "Sorry that I scared you, but I'm glad you're okay and Office Linely is here. How about we go get some food and play at Sanctuary so your parents can join us and get out of this stinky place?"

>> "Sanctuary, we can go to Sanctuary"

Wasn't that the gang he had heard about? He remembered the first time he had met Rachael, that had been the "place" that the strange punk girl was trying to lure her to. He had assumed that she was just recruiting young mutants into gangs, but perhaps her intentions had been more benign.

"I think that would be great. Better that she's around people she feels comfortable around, then we can go and get her Mummy and Daddy." Linely was all of a sudden quite glad that Devon had arrived, it had certainly made his situation far more positive.

>> "Just like Quasimodo..."
Upon mention of the story, the girl whimpered a bit less through her tears. She seemed to remember "Esmeralda" from the story, which she spoke with familiarity . The sound of a Church bell could be heard as the girl manifested the story as best she could. Not a reality manipulator then, just storybook manifestations, she had a lot of power besides. The wolves kept circling the two men, keeping their eyes firmly fixed upon them, waiting for a false move.

>> "You could even play with your friends there... I'm sure people would love to see them and what you can do."

The girl smiled shyly at this remark, "Really?...will Mummy and Daddy be there?" , she seemed very tentative, despite the assurances of Tempest, watching his eyes fading into a blue certainly made it easier on her. The wolves seemed to relax more , but they were still getting closer to the two men with each circle that they repeated

>> "I think that would be great. Better that she's around people she feels comfortable around, then we can go and get her Mummy and Daddy."

"And there's plenty of room for all of you with other kids who like stories too," Devon nodded. He eyed the wolves warily. One clap of thunder, and they'd be electrified, but he had no desire to scare the girl. He hadn't any desire to hurt fake wolves either but as far as he was concerned they were fake. This was an interesting ability for a young girl to have.

>> "Really?...will Mummy and Daddy be there?"

"Yep, you can stay there together. We've got bedrooms for you and them, plenty of toys, food... I bet people would love to see you make stories real," Devon nodded eagerly. "That's a great, special power you have there. At Sanctuary, you and your family can have a home until you get your own place and in the meantime, we'll have story time every night after dinner. What do you think?"

Devon smiled eagerly and held out his hand like a big brother might.

>> "And there's plenty of room for all of you with other kids who like stories too"

Linely smiled at this, Devon was handling this situation very well indeed, this girl was probably capable of killing them both if they caught her in the wrong mood. Her abilities were fascinating as well, story book manifestation...she could be very dangerous if she was allowed to get into the wrong hands. What if Judgement Day, or Ragnorok managed to get near her? Linely could have shuddered at the thought, but didn't. Clearly Sanctuary was the best place for her, until she could get involved with the X Men.

>> "That's a great, special power you have there"
The girl smiled a bit more at that. "Are there other people like me there? Like you there?" She seemed curious, a child of 10 would find it difficult to understand the mutant politics surrounding NYC, but it was not unreasonable to assume that she hadn't encountered too many mutants before coming to the city, Linely had no idea what it was like for mutants in Mexico, the fact that her parents had come here was a slight giveaway though.

"We'll have story time every night after dinner. What do you think?"
The girl's smile turned into a grin, she would be more than happy, Linely thought, to show off her power to the other children and adults, she'd be pretty scary at first. Linely dreaded to think what would happen when she started reading Twilight. One of the wolves noticed Devon's outstretched hand, sniffing closer, and closer. It lunged at Devon, opening it's mouth and... proceeded to lick his hand. The other wolves joined in, behaving like puppies, each begging for Devon's attention.

"I think that's a yes, Devon." Linely spoke, nearly laughing , he just hoped that this girl hadn't made enough of a commotion that there would be others with less pleasant intentions coming to meet them. The people who had trafficked her were still at large.

>> "Are there other people like me there? Like you there?"

"Yep," Devon said with a bright smile. There were indeed.

As one wolf drew closer Devon steadied himself but kept his eyes on its. Should it take a foul temper or hostile action, he was going to have to dodge quick but he had faith in their behavior now that the girl was calm. He was happily rewarded with its lick and the docile actions of the rest of the pack.

>> "I think that's a yes, Devon." Linely spoke, nearly laughing

"I think so too, officer," Devon smiled. "Glad you're here to help. We can head to Sanctuary now if you want?" he asked, looking from Linely to the girl. "I'll call ahead to get some dinner ready. We can try and beat your parents there!" he smiled. "I've got quite a few books we can look through to decide what will be story time for the first night. The other kids will be so excited."

Devon looked to Linely and nodded, quite thankful for the continued activity and well meaning officers like he and Cafas.

>> "We can head to Sanctuary now if you want?"

Linely nodded in agreement with this suggestion. "We ought to get there quickly, the traffickers are probably around somewhere, and I don't particularly want to get into a fight." He knew that they would likely win, and win easily, but little miss fairy tale princess would likely cause quite a bit of damage if she got mad enough, as docile as her wolves were now, they were still pretty vicious wild animals if they were angered.

>> "We can try and beat your parents there"
The girl smiled at the thought of this, quite frankly Linely was surprised she hadn't created herself some kind of carriage to travel in, complete with giant mice to draw it. Someone clearly hadn't read her Cinderella yet. Probably a good thing in honesty. "OK, just promise you'll both stay with me" she looked from Linely to Devon to Linely again.

"I think we can manage that don't you Devon?" Linely said, smiling, and was just about to set off with them in tow. When his face fell . The girl appeared to go white as a sheet, the wolves started barking, snarling once more. A chilling voice came from behind the two older mutants.

"Not so fast, muties" A male voice, calculated and rough , sounded from the entrance to the hall. "We're armed, so don't you try anything weatherman." There was more than one of them...oh dear. This was going to be more difficult than first thought. Still, it seemed they hadn't factored in the little girl...Linely was in the process of putting his hands up when all hell broke loose.

The wolves charged before anyone had time to react any further. Barks, growls, misfired gunshots the sound of screaming cut off by the tearing of flesh. All the better to eat you with my dear was all Linely could think. The bird hunters (which he presumed they were) didn't stand a chance.

He turned around, and saw one of the wolves happily scamper towards him, it looked like a puppy that had just rolled around in mud and was now strutting around looking rather pleased with itself. The mess on its paws wasn't mud though. It was a fresh scarlet. Linely didn't bother looking at what the other two were doing, the playful growls coming from the distance being enough to satisfy his curiosity.

"Devon, we're really going to have to teach her to keep her powers under control, Sanctuary storytime sounds perfect for that." He spoke, wincing at the violence that he was pretty happy not to have witnessed with his own eyes.

>> "Devon, we're really going to have to teach her to keep her powers under control, Sanctuary storytime sounds perfect for that."

"I couldn't agree more," Devon nodded quickly. "Time to go," he said, looking back to the girl, "Let's let your friends take care of the bad men."

He eagerly approached the girl and waited for Linley to join them before moving on. He glanced at Linley's pocket, hoping he had a comm or phone or something. Meanwhile, his eyes darkened to black as a cool air mass began to gather and roll up into Red Hook from the water. Fog gathered quickly, disquising their retreat and hopefully aiding the wolves.

Tempest had no sympathy for their prey.

The cops could handle them once they arrived. They may be dealing with corpses but by then the wolves would be long gone. Linley could explain. And if they really had a problem with the power of this girl, well she'd have a whole Sanctuary of dangerous individuals trying to help her, willing to protect her. Hopefully with Linley's help and the help of other mutants on the force, there wouldn't be a problem.

>> "Time to go"

Linely nodded in agreement, leaving the girl's wolf companions to their prey, one went with the three of them as they exited the warehouse. Linely noticed Devon's eyes go dark once again, and was unsurprised to see a mist appear. None of them wanted to be seen at this point, it would allow Linely to simply suggest that there had been a fatal animal attack, just some large, stray dogs that the hunters had been stupid enough to provoke.

The fog concealed the brutal scene they may have viewed as they exited, but Linely recognised the metallic smell of blood in the air. "This is PD Linely, we need some officers at Red Hook, there are a few bodies, looks like an animal attack. I'm needed elsewhere with the trafficking case, but there doesn't seem to be anyone around in this mist."

"Not ideal Linely, but we'll have someone there in 5 minutes, you're lucky our patrols are nearby because of recent events." Came a beleagured reply from the radio. That would give them enough time, or at least Linely would hope that it would.

"I'll escort you to Sanctuary, but leave you with her at the door if that's alright Devon" Linely spoke "I hope that we've been bought enough time with that. Now which way are we going?" The fog had the added benefit of concealing the wolves as well, somehow Linely doubted that the residents of NYC would be too thrilled to see wolves on the street...

((OOC, after your next reply Tempest, good place to wrap up this thread I think))

((OOC: Sounds good, thanks for a great thread! ))

That fog was a real shame. Those gun-wielding, child threatening, mutant-hating criminals should have known better to come into Red Hook, let alone an area known for mutants. Devon had no sympathy for them. He doubted they could see in the fog whereas wolves - provided these wolves had all the capabilities of normal wolves - could rely on scent and other far superior senses.

The eager roars had replaced the howls. Screams were in the distance as Linley, Devon, and the young girl headed off.

"This way," Tempest guided. They descended into a subway station. It was only a few stops north to Sanctuary. "She and I can get settled. I'll make sure rooms and food are ready for when her parents arrive. I want things as comfortable for them as possible. I'll speak with them more in the morning," he nodded.

"Thanks for your help, Linely. I'm glad to have another officer working with Sanctuary in a positive manner." He smiled though the darkness did not fade from his eyes until a few minutes into the ride. By then they were almost at their stop.

"Sanctuary needs to be just that: a sanctuary."