Well that was good at least, her papers would eventually be signed, but she'd probably need more protection than just one police officer , considering how trouble almost always seemed to follow her. Linely lay back down at the ushering of the paramedic. It would be a short stay at the hospital that was for sure.

Upon hearing that the mutants had talked to her, and recognised her Linely's face turned serious. "The 'roach has people looking for you? Not really surprising, and it could be his cockroach minion thingys...I've heard about them, never actually seen them, we have a file on him". Yes, if you could call it a "him" in the first place, from what he gathered it was a very odd mutation. He'd been briefed to shoot any large than normal cockroach as quickly as possible, something told him an exterminator would probably make better protection.

"My advice is not to worry about it too much, but we are going to have to increase your protection, at least two officers with complementing mutations, if the X-Men can't supply you with sufficient escort. That's what I'd reccomend, no offense, but vanilla humans aren't going to be great against a powerful mutant like the 'roach." Linely wished he could sit up again, but he didn't want to upset the paramedics again.

"The 'roach has people looking for you? Not really surprising, and it could be his cockroach minion thingys...I've heard about them, never actually seen them, we have a file on him"

"You should feel lucky. They aren't pretty." Not when they threatened to eat you as a greeting, that is.

"My advice is not to worry about it too much, but we are going to have to increase your protection, at least two officers with complementing mutations, if the X-Men can't supply you with sufficient escort. That's what I'd recommend, no offense, but vanilla humans aren't going to be great against a powerful mutant like the 'roach."

She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and resisted the urge to pout. While she wasn't exactly surprised about his recommendation, she wasn't happy about it either. Gallagher and Linley being the exceptions, she wasn't generally fond of being trailed by people she didn't know on a regular basis.

Still, she was going to have to deal with it. "Does that mean I wont get to see you or Gallagher again?" She wasn't aware that Linley was actually one of the mutants he had spoken of, as she hadn't really witnessed enough of the fight to come to that conclusion. In her mind Linley was the same as her, albeit much more capable. He'd taken down four mutants on his own, after all.

"I suppose the easier thing to do would be try to work it out so I don't have to leave where they've got me cooped up Probably wouldn't be that hard, and it would cut out the issue of trying to find people to escort me around places." She slid a glance at the paramedics, who were chatting quietly to themselves. She'd wasn't quite willing to divulge any more information in front of strangers than necessary, especially since they knew her real name. Never really knew who you could trust these days.

>> "Does that mean I won't get to see you or Gallagher again?"

Linely sighed but decided to make things very clear. "Shelby, I'm a Mutant, and actually quite a powerful one at that." He spoke carefully, not wishing to alarm her. "I can manipulate pain, I can sense physical trauma that your nervous system has suffered and force you to relive it. That's how I was able to take out most of the motley crew with out so much as breaking a sweat, it was only because your double had a gun that there really was a problem." He hoped that wouldn't alarm her too much. "As to Gallagher, she's MRC, that means normally that she's a mutant..." he let out a more pained sigh. "I haven't asked her capabilities, but they normally give the ones with enhanced senses to witness protection".

>>" I suppose the easier thing to do would be try to work it out so I don't have to leave where they've got me cooped up Probably wouldn't be that hard, and it would cut out the issue of trying to find people to escort me around places"

"I don't think it's going to be so easy, the 'roach is not exactly well known for giving up, or willingness with diplomacy. He's more of a I'm going to eat you because I'm hungry type of guy from what I've heard." Linely hoped there would be some kind of way to sort this out for her though, that didn't involve her being paraded out with several policemen or an X Man every time she wanted to go to school.

"I can assure you that the people protecting you will be very capable, I'm normally reserved for going on high profile missions... no offence. But I mean like handling escaped murderering mutants, busting drug rings and bird hunter cults" His voice lowered and he smiled cheekily "the occasional undercover operation. Not that you aren't important, but they had me assigned to you because they had no-one else to fill, now we can see you are more of a target than first thought , especially with my recommendation, I could be assigned more often."

She blinked as he launched into an explanation. Oh... well. This was embarrassing now wasn't it? She'd just assumed he was lacking an x-gene. Her cheeks tinted a tiny bit and she shifted awkwardly on her seat. 

At the very least it explained a lot about the court house show down. A plus side was that the way he described his power was, well, neat. Pain control? Access to the nervous system? She briefly wondered how that worked exactly, before abandoning the thought. It wasn't like she was going to ask him to show her how it worked or anything.

...

Nope! Wouldn't even consider it!

...

Maybe she'd ask him when she got to know him a bit better. The artist scratched at her cheek, for the better part ignoring her own thoughts. "Oh! Well... erm, sorry I kinda snap judged you then. I'm not terribly good at picking up on those kinds of things."

The news that Officer Gallagher was also a mutant, and probably one with some kind of extra sensory ability garnered her attention. A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck. God, she seriously hoped it wasn't some kind of mind reading ability, because when she'd first met the woman her thoughts hadn't exactly been kind...

"I don't think it's going to be so easy, the 'roach is not exactly well known for giving up, or willingness with diplomacy. He's more of a I'm going to eat you because I'm hungry type of guy from what I've heard."

Yeah, she could speak for that element of his personality first hand. She chose not to comment on it, simply nodding and moving onto what he had said next. 

"None taken," She waved his apology away, really not offended in the least. "I mean, you do you and all. I still appreciate that you were even willing to agree to this, given that it doesn't match up with what you normally do." She laughed. It was quite an interesting list, wasn't it? "Personally, i'm rather happy to have people like you looking out for me until it gets resolved." She pointed at him, or rather his arm. "Though, next time I hope not to walk into a mess like that. I'm kind of a fan of boring and normal, even if this city isn't. Maybe I can buy you a coffee instead of you getting shot?" 

>> "I'm not terribly good at picking up on those kind of things"

"Don't worry about it" Linely said "I am not a particularly visible mutant, I just make people collapse with a look." He tried to make humor out of a power that was pretty morbid, or so he'd been told. To him it was just a weapon that he could use. No more "evil" than throwing a fireball, or freezing someone solid , or breathing a poisonous gas.

>> "Maybe I can buy you a coffee instead of you getting shot?"
"Yes Shelby, I'd like that. Can't stand coffee though. Anything is preferable to getting shot. Except Coffee which is about equal. I'm actually able to show you exactly how it feels with my power." Linley laughed at his own rather dark joke. "Don't worry, I only use them on criminals, it certainly helps with letting them understand how I feel about the situation."

And then the ambulance shuddered to a halt. "Looks like they're going to take this souvenir from this fight away, what a shame eh?" He could only really make jokes in this position , though he knew it was distinctly "Cop" humor. Hey , with their job they needed to have something to laugh about right?

Still, the fact that Shelby was unharmed meant a job well done for today, even if she hadn't got her papers signed. She really needed to get those done when he was given the all-clear.

"I am not a particularly visible mutant, I just make people collapse with a look."

That was... interesting, actually. He was a case of a mutation that wasn't visible. Like, at all. She wondered if people even knew he was a mutant most of the time, or if many just chalked it up to some random kind of spasm happening within them. "Only a look? No glowing eyes or your hair turns gold and stands on end?" She tossed in a bit of her own humor, chuckling at him. 

"Yes Shelby, I'd like that. Can't stand coffee though. Anything is preferable to getting shot. Except Coffee which is about equal. I'm actually able to show you exactly how it feels with my power."

Now that earned a real laugh out of her. "No getting shot, or getting shots. Tea it is, then?" Being born and raised within proximity to Seattle, she practically had coffee running through her veins. They didn't hand babies a bottle of milk in the Emerald City, they handed them a bottle of double shot espresso, three shots caramel, with soy. She liked to think it was where all the hipsters came from. 

As the vehicle edged to a stop, she scooted back into her seat so the paramedics could start to get the stretcher ready to move. 

"Looks like they're going to take this souvenir from this fight away, what a shame eh?"

The artist grinned, "If it were me in your shoes I would ask to keep it. Make a necklace out of it or something. A conversation starter, if you will." She paused, an image in her head of a necklace with a hundred or more bullets on it sitting heavily around his neck, and blinked. "Just don't get shot a lot, or that would start to get really heavy really quickly."

One of the paramedics opened the doors while the other gripped the back of the stretcher behind Linley. Carefully, and with practiced ease they pulled him out. Shelby hopped out of the ambulance after, and shuffled awkwardly off to the side. She wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen now... if someone else was going to come pick her up, or if she was going to wait until her current overseer got himself patched up and cleared to leave. She pulled her phone from her back, glancing down at it as she pondered. She wondered if she could call Saph... If he wasn't busy he could swing by and get her.

"They might notice me concentrating more than usual, but that's unlikely, I normally have to claim it as my own in order to prove that I've done it." He wasn't going to lie, it was an exceedingly useful power for staying unseen in a place that disliked mutants. Also had the added benefit of being very powerful.

>> "Tea it is then"

Linely laughed hard at that "Yes, very much tea. Being British where we practically breastfeed our children tea, it is the only Hot beverage that I drink socially, other than the occasional hot chocolate", the irony of the USA rebelling against the UK because of taxes on tea was not lost on Linely, but he had come very much to the land of coffee when it came to commonwealth countries.

>>"Just don't get shot a lot, or that would start to get really heavy really quickly."


That earned an extremely hearty laugh "I don't intend to get shot a lot , I can assure you of that" he watched as Shelby got out of the way of the medics , who were hurriedly making the arrangements to move him.

"Well, goodbye then Shelby, I'll probably see you when I get out of there." His tone was somewhat like a man being cheerful about being incarcerated. He was then taken out of the ambulance, put on a stretcher, and then pulled through Hospital doors. This was going to be quick and easy...he hoped.

"I don't intend to get shot a lot , I can assure you of that"

With a grin, she nodded at him. She was glad he was okay, and that his sense of humor was intact after the incident. She really needed more happy people in her life.

"Well, goodbye then Shelby, I'll probably see you when I get out of there."

"Of course. It was a good meeting you officially, if interesting." Hopefully the next time would be less chaotic. She could go for more of that. "Take care of yourself, Officer Linley!" She waved as they rolled him away, phone still gripped in her other hand. 

The day certainly hadn't turned out as she had wanted it too... but it hadn't been all bad. She was thankful for that. The artist shuffled off toward a different entrance, already tapping a number into her phone, not quite trusting enough of the open space to stand around out in the parking lot for someone to come get her. 

[End]