The situation was tense, as was any situation where a firearm was drawn. As a conman, it was always the ideal for Nate to never put himself in a situation where he had to deal with a gun, let alone one wielding by the police. He did have enough experience to know panicking in the face of a gun was only going to get him shot.

Given his presence at the crime scene and his unique attire, it was understandable that Nate might seem suspicious to the Officers trying to get an understanding of the scene. It did not help that the brat of a thief had enough awareness to understand her opportunity here. In her broken English, he listened as she tried turning on the water works to claim he was the source of the evening’s mayhem.

Punk. ****ing. Kid. Nate wanted to bite his tongue, but his annoyance got the better of him. ”You were not try stop! I mean, trying to stop the—”

“Silence!” One of the cops interrupted before rolling her eyes. “That’s enough.”

Luckily for Nate, his faith in the New York Police Department was not completely unfounded, as they made it clear that both he and the girl would be taken in for questioning, along with tape of the incident. They would find much more than video proof once they let the shop owner out of the bathroom. Nate was likely not his favorite person, but would at the very least be able to confirm Nate did not make an attempt on his life, unlike some people.

The police approached with handcuffs and Nate offered his arms willingly. It was easy to submit to cuffs when he knew he would be able to slip out of them when needed. This situation was still salvageable.

His eyes were focused on the girl… what would her move here be?

Astrid was hyperventilating.

They were trying to arrest her. They were trying to arrest her for robbing a convenience store. There were too many people around for her to successfully fend off, so there wasn't really anything she could do about it.

So, instead, she was panicking.

Her eyes bulged, and she looked around for some kind of escape. There was nothing in sight. Nothing that could conceivably get her out of the situation and keep her safe. No one to help her.

The man working at the counter was pulled from the washroom, a little dazed, but otherwise alright. As he was led out of the store, he pointed at Astrid. "It was her! She did it! She tried to rob the place!" He shouted angrily, finally receiving some sort of vengeance.

Astrid shrank into herself. She was well and truly screwed. With wide eyes, she looked between the group of cops and the man. There were no options for her... except...

She made herself small, backed into the nearest wall, and then dropped the cash she'd been holding. "I-I am sorry! I do this! Being hungry! Not jail! Not jail! Not jail!"

She repeated the last two words over and over, growing quieter and quieter. That time, the tears that streamed down her face were entirely real. She was petrified. 

Nate’s body was tense as he could see a sense of panic and dread overcoming the young girl. This was concerning, because panic could motivate people to do some stupid things, and up to that point, he had watched this girl make bold, reckless, emotional decisions. His shadow was ready to emerge from the ground if necessary, but for the moment, he was watching in anticipation.

More police entered the scene and got the man from out of the washroom, (which was surely going to be a source of questions,) and he corroborated the truth: the girl was the one trying to steal from the store. She caused the scene, killing her plan to frame Nate before the plan could get off the ground. (But this was no time for wing puns.) It was a weak plan, but it was hard to think rationally when experiencing helplessness and anxiety.

It would have been easy to have lost his sympathy for the girl up until that point, but once all her spite and attitude faded away, Nate was reminded of what he was really dealing with: a scared, optionless girl. She shrank back, pleading desperately with tears in her eyes not to go to jail. She was just hungry and made the wrong choice.

Some might say her decision was extreme, but Nate remembered starting out just like that: desperate and hungry. He grew bolder with his crimes, but the core reason he stole was still the same. He had no clue how long she had been doing this, but if a teenage Stephen Graves had been caught like she was now, he could not say he would not have been making the same plea. (Though in slightly better English.)

Against his better judgment and instinctual need for anonymity, Nate took the risk of removing his mask. ”Officers. We’re coming along. I’ll explain everything at the station, but… she’s just a kid,” he said, his voice pleading for some leniency.

Nate was still in his cuffs as he walked over to the girl, under the watchful eye of the on-site police. He explained to the officer accompanying him that his name was Nate Holloway, and after they looked him up, (and surely enjoyed the interesting read,) he would appreciate if they would reach out to another contact of his, Devon Hadden. He hated to call in favors so quickly from a business contact, budding friend, and leader of the organization he was now part of, but Devon was a reasonable man and would see the why of Nate’s plan.

Kneeling down near the crying, trembling girl, Nate offered his hands (since they were cuffed together) to help the girl up. In a soft, reassuring voice, he spoke to her in French. ”We will figure this out, but if you want to avoid jail, the best way will be to come along with the police for now.” If there was any hope of his plan working, he needed the girl to be compliant and remorseful, one of which she was already demonstrating clearly.

Astrid drew her limbs into herself as she sank to the ground, tears steaming down her face. What was she becoming? Valkyrie wasn't some stupid weak thing that broke when confronted by the police. Heck, she'd stabbed cops before. They were not something that she should have been afraid of.

Other mutants? Also something that she shouldn't have feared. She'd faced many of them. She'd faced X-men before, for Pete's sake. Two at once. So why was she afraid of some stupid man trying to interfere with her robbery?

She glanced at the door, trying to decide whether or not she could successfully make it out of the building alive. The cops had their guns drawn, and the shadow guy was still around, so it was probably unlikely, but...

The man was kneeling in front of her. Astrid glanced at him, her attention diverted. He was suggesting that she go with the cops. That was... death. That was death. If she went with the cops, then they would definitely recognize her and send her away for good. There had to be some other option.

She wiped her eyes and tried to look past the man, but realized that there was no use. She was surrounded and would definitely be overpowered. She looked back at him, and recognized that he was probably right. She would just have to hope that she would be able to retain her supposed innocence and anonymity. 

<Fine,> Astrid nodded and made a move to stand up. She would go with them, but she definitely wasn't going to talk, and she was not going to go to jail. That was not going to happen. <I will go with you. Just... please don't let me go to jail.>

It was odd to see the young girl like this after she had intentionally tried to impale him moments earlier. Turned out, not holding a grudge was easier when one could turn their internal organs into shadows as a way to escape death.

Now, she was making Nate think about his students: this could have been any of them if the hands of fate had acted differently. His head was often so focused on the small world around him, but Devon was right: there was more to fix in the world than the people closest to him.

The girl was hesitant to come along with the police and even after resigning herself to Nate’s plan, was still reiterating that the last place she wanted to go was jail. Some street urchins would not shy away from imprisonment so committedly, knowing it was a place where they would at least be fed while their crime was sorted out. As a former delinquent, Nate had some idea of what was going on: this was not her first crime. A young Stephen would have adamantly avoided being taken in by the police because there would likely be a string of crimes he could be tied to once he was caught. Admittedly he worried what kind of crimes this girl might be attached to…

But this was still a teenage girl. He had to believe that there was a chance things could be fixed, and as much as he wanted to play his new life close to the letter of the law, this seemed like the right time for an exception. ”I will do everything I can,” he assured her.

While the police handled the girl, (delicately, at Nate’s request,) the older mutant spoke with one of the officers and explained the situation. The girl was a lost orphan Sanctuary was aware of and had been trying to locate in hopes of giving her a place to stay where she could adjust to a place of acceptance and work through the issues she might have developed on the streets. He may have subtly incorporated some hints of past relationships between homeless mutants and the police, to create a sense of underlying guilt.

He explained the theft as an act of desperation, which was backed by the girl’s panicked words, and explained that damage caused was done in self-defense, as could be seen on video with the store owner shooting at her.

It was not easy, but between his explanation, the good will Sanctuary and Devon now had with the police, and the desire for the cops not to deal with a PR nightmare, an agreement was made. They were still in cuffs for the moment as they were walked to the nearby Police Van, (since a cruiser would not comfortably fit the girl’s wings.) Nate leaned in and quietly whispered to the girl in French to explain what would happen now. ”Okay, that was not easy. But we’re going to have you give your statement on the way: you needed money for food, he shot at you, and you defended yourself. It’s easy because it’s true.” Nate did not care to go any deeper into the girl’s motivations than that. ”We’re not going to the Station; we’re going to Sanctuary.”

The police were clearly doing their best to be kind to her. Astrid was grateful for that, in the very least. If she was going to be arrested, at least they were doing it nicely, without extreme force. Her arms were pulled behind her back, a little ways under her wings, and maneuvered into a pair of handcuffs. They were uncomfortable, and she was still angry, but she wasn't fighting against them.

>>”I will do everything I can,”

<Thank you,> Astrid nodded toward the man. He didn't have to do that for her, but he had. Even after she'd stabbed him. Maybe people weren't all as horrible as she assumed. It was strange what different circumstances could do for ones' world view.

>>”We’re not going to the Station; we’re going to Sanctuary.”

Astrid felt as though a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. They weren't going to jail. Sure, they weren't going anywhere good, but at least she wasn't about to be incarcerated. There were few things that would be worse than that.

The two of them were led out of the store and toward a police van that was waiting for them outside. Astrid ducked her head as she was ushered into the van. She let the man move to the middle seats while she went to the back. She took up all three seats for her wings, letting them spread out behind her. Cars were annoying, but vans were less so. Yet another thing for her to be grateful for. 

<Can you translate?> She asked the man once she was settled into the back of the van. She was supposed to give her statement. She could do that, just not in English. 

Without waiting for an answer, Astrid dove into her tale. <I went to the store to get money. I was hungry, so I wanted to buy food. I know that I shouldn't have, but I tried to rob the place. Then the man pulled a gun. I tried to defend myself, and then that man came to fight. Then the police came.>

She'd told the truth. Sure, there were good chunks of it missing, but it was the truth nonetheless, and hopefully a truth that would keep her out of jail.

Nate was appreciative of the girl listening to him. She was not optionless, but all her options outside of what he offered involved violence. Even if she was comfortable with that, (which he guessed she would be,) it did not make her odds any better. An attempt at a violent escape could have easily resulted in her getting injured or losing her life in the process. Nate could attest: captivity was bad, but it was life.

He followed the girl as they shuffled into the van. She was not the only one thankful for the extra room; if they had traveled in a cruiser, Nate would have been the one in the back with her, with her crystalline wings vying for his space.

Before the officer could even begin asking about what happened, the girl was asking him to play the role of translator. He was about to run the idea by the police when she started talking, prompting everyone to focus on her. It was nice to hear her stay on message, even if he was the one curating said message. If one of the cops had an understanding of French, the last thing Nate needed was to be caught lying for the girl.

”Okay, she gave her statement, if you don’t mind me translating. She doesn’t really speak English.” It was recorded anyway, so they could reference it later. ”She went to the store because she was hungry and desperate for money to buy food. She knows that she shouldn’t have, but she tried to steal from the place. The man then pulled out his shotgun and she defended herself. Then that man—me, intervened in the fight. Then the police arrived.”

One of the officers was recording his response, and asked if he had any input on the situation to provide. ”Like I said earlier, I intervened because I heard the shotgun fire and wanted to deescalate the situation.” There was a pause. ”She’s a kid who’s clearly never been given a chance. Thanks for helping us try to give her one.”

He might have been lucky to get some of the more empathetic cops in New York, but they nodded and accepted his information willingly.

When they finally arrived at Sanctuary, Nate turned and gave the girl his last piece of advice before they parted ways. ”You’re going to be taken up to talk to a friend of mine. He runs Sanctuary and honestly? He’s a good guy. Try not to be a total brat to him, okay kid? He’s sticking his neck out for us here.” Calling in a favor with Devon was a risk for Nate as much as the entire thing was a risk they both took on behalf of the nameless girl. He considered asking her name, but it was best to keep it off any police recordings, in case it would tip anyone off to who she was.

They were uncuffed, and Nate placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder and sighed. ”Good luck, kid.” He did his part. Hopefully he was not a total idiot for doing so.

All that Astrid could do after she spoke was hope that the man was repeating exactly what she had said and not fabricating his own tale. It was a bit of a trust exercise, really. She was putting her very fate in the hands of a man whose name she hadn't bothered to ask.

To her relief, the police nodded along with what he was saying and didn't appear to be making a move for her. Apparently what he'd told them had been sufficient enough to make their deal go through. That was all Astrid really needed.

>>”You’re going to be taken up to talk to a friend of mine. He runs Sanctuary and honestly? He’s a good guy. Try not to be a total brat to him, okay kid? He’s sticking his neck out for us here.”

Astrid nodded gratefully. She didn't really want to be nice to the man that she was going to see, but she did owe that guy. She owed him a lot, actually. He'd essentially just saved her life. Even if it was his fault that they were in that situation at all.

She scooted awkwardly out of the car, the task being made far more difficult by the fact that she couldn't move her arms from behind her back. It was amazing how many things were made that much more difficult by restricted movement.

Once she was out of the van, a cop moved behind her and led her into the building. The man had been uncuffed, but it seemed that the cops were still a little worried about letting her roam free before they were done with her. It was probably a good move in the long run.

Astrid felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to meet the man's eyes. <You too,> she nodded toward him as she was led into the Sanctuary.

[End]