Aura's mind was a swirl, she knew she was slipping in and out on consciousness and did her best to hide it. She tried to listen in on what who she assumed were Doctors were saying, but her mental notes broke when she fell under again. She could feel her power and that gave her comfort. If they wanted her dead she would be, if they thought she would hurt them she would never of been aloud her power. Still her focus was a rough sell and could never fight her way out without her mind clearer. She felt her mind begin to break apart again and despite her protest the darkness swallowed her whole.

She had no idea how long it had been since she had last been awake. She recalled her powers worked but checked again and was delighted to know they did. That excitement died as she heard the doctors voices grow excited and felt a cold prick in her arm, Aura responded out of reflex, her Aura flared and by battle trained instinct she severed the needle from the plunger.

Her eyes open now, she looked around at the people around her who well backing away, did their best to show they were harmless. All three she also noticed were visible mutants. She leaned forward feeling the weakness and the stiffness of her body, she steadied herself by propping her back up with her aura. Her head seemed to be clearing though and she was sure she could stay awake this time, in fact she felt her body surge with energy.

"We injected you, with..." A woman said looking down at the shortened half filled plunger in her hand"Half a dose of B12, energy" She explained taking the lead. "Do you remember who you are, are their holes in your memories?" She asked knowing what Aura was beginning to suspect, she had endured some major head trauma. She decided against her first reaction response. Her memory was so full of holes and duplicates she could have went on for hours.

She then tried to recall what happened at the woman's prompting but found her memory failed her. She recalled a bright yellow flash sweeping past her after an impact but before and after the event were blurry.

Aura was shocked to find out she had been in a coma for almost three months. It explained the bigger gap in her memory. She dropped her aura even with her cleared mind her concentration was still on the shallow side. She found out Lisa had sent her to this place after she had been found by ex order members. No one seemed to know how she wound up near death on the lawn of sanctuary. Only that she had lost a lot of blood, that her back and head had been burned badly enough, Lisa had to stabilize her and find a mutant who could heal and even then Aura slept. Options limited do entirely do her reputation Lisa and had found this place.

The mention of Lisa comforted Aura further. From the wound descriptions the Doctors believed some kind of blast had struck her. She agreed, the bits she could recall sided with that train of thought. For the first time she glanced at her Hair, it's natural brown. That with the different length backed up the doctors story to.

"It seems the Lord of Souls still does not find me worthy" she said looking down at a hand well clean, dropped with the needless blood of her deeds. Aurs slid her legs over the side of the bed which the Doctors clearly did not think was wise. "It's not that im ungrateful, but you people do know what i have done right? Theirs a lot of people that will be pretty mad I am alive" she said making sure they knew what they had been given. Aura rarely hid much and not everything on her Wikipedia page was exaggerated.

A single door opened to the small medically equipped bed room. The hall behind him revealed light-colored wood and not the white sterility of a hospital. Devon Hadden, dressed in black dress pants and a black short-sleeved shirt walked in. His eyes were brilliant blue, a stark contrast to hair and clothing. He smiled softly.

“Doctors,” Devon nodded his head. “Trunks, Derana, Elly, thank you very much. If you wouldn’t mind giving me a few moments with Aura while you review any information for her?”

Derana – the one who’d informed Aura of the injection – nodded with a smile. “Sure, Devon,” she said quickly and glanced back to Aura, “Please take a few moments to relax. I know you must want to move and get around but you should lay back. We need to get some scan while you’re awake.” She had a strange opalescent hue to her skin like each cell was a pearly scale.

“And check for scarring on the cranium to avoid epilepsy,” the man replied. A plate like horn grew around his head like that of a triceratops.

Derana nodded. Devon looked concerned and nodded. “Quickly, yes,” she said.

“Thank you very much,” Devon said and then waited for them to depart. “I’m glad you’re awake, but you’re right. There’s plenty who would be mad, including whoever attacked you of course. Sorry, they called me when you were awake and it took a bit.” He frowned slightly but then grinned anew, “Quick stuff? Lisa called me. I couldn’t let you die like that. Considering your reputation, we couldn’t use a normal hospital. We’re at my business on Plum Island, off Long Island. You’re safe here.” He nodded.

“I’m not exactly sure how to handle the situation. Considering you didn’t attack people at Sanctuary, let alone the humans there, and were even wanting to donate, let alone some speak kindly of you… I figured this was the best interim solution. You’ve done a lot for mutants and weeding through the reports it’s hard to separate wanton homicide – genocide of humans even – from attacking anti-mutant gangers. So we focused on keeping you stable, healing, and getting you awake safely.”

She had never heard of plum island before but she recalled Devon. She understood why the Doctors did not want her to move to much. Her head seemed to lag when she moved it quickly. Aura ignored it or tried to, she was use to the pain, it concerned her but for now she knew she could keep herself ready for the conversation ahead which she knew had to be handled carefully.

"I am grateful for that and the fact Lisa trusts you, mean's i trust you. You took risk hiding me as well, I will not forget that" She said wanting to begin by being polite.

"I have done what i was trained and destined to do. I will not hide what i have done and will answer whatever you need to know. Attacking the people at your party would have gotten mutants hurt and damaged what you were trying to do. Might have caused a riot if i did as well and the last thing i wanted were a few dozen mutants wounded because i wanted to fight. " she said with a s shrug.

"I am a Monster Mr. Devon, that much is true. Their is no scrubbing these hands clean. However someone must do what i do and so long as i can, no one else must have so much blood on them" she said going on.

"So did you keep me alive because part of you believes in my actions or did you need something of me? I owe you much either way. If you have need of me i am yours to command" she offered owing him that much. SHe hoped it would not involve saving humans but she felt she could even over look that.

>> "I am grateful for that and the fact Lisa trusts you, mean's i trust you. You took risk hiding me as well, I will not forget that"

All of that was true. He knew Aura had altruistic intentions for mutants and at his first meeting with her she’d shown control, decorum, even care. He didn’t know how true all the murder allegations were and who, why those attacks had been for. Aside from all that, he was concerned that if she went to a hospital she wouldn’t be treated fairly or she’d simply be a target if someone was trying to kill her. She needed dutiful care in a safe environment so for now she had that.

Devon listened to her carefully.

>> "I have done what i was trained and destined to do.

Trained by whom? And who set forth this destiny?

>> I will not hide what i have done and will answer whatever you need to know.

That was promising but there was some foreshadowing there.

>> “…Might have caused a riot if i did as well and the last thing i wanted were a few dozen mutants wounded because i wanted to fight.

Devon nodded slowly. It would have completely damaged what he and others were trying to do. No doubt some humans were racist or dangerous. There were mutants who were out rightly so as well, but often in response – a behavior they had developed. The proof of that was before him. Though again, trained by whom and who had set upon her this so-called destiny?

>> However someone must do what i do and so long as i can, no one else must have so much blood on them"

If it wasn’t brain washing, there were signs of a true psychosis and martyr complex. Of course, Devon also knew she wasn’t wrong. You couldn’t scrub all the blood away. Sometimes bad things happened. Sometimes you did bad things. There was no forgetting, no ignoring. But to view oneself as a monster also showed a growing detachment to the things that made us mortal. Mutants weren’t humans, but they weren’t gods either. Neither were they monsters unless of course someone had trained them to be…

>> “… I owe you much either way. If you have need of me i am yours to command"

Devon blew out an exasperated breath. He bowed his head slightly but kept his eyes on her. “I won’t trivialize your offer. I appreciate and respect that,” he nodded. “But let’s step back. I kept you alive because you deserve fair treatment and healthcare. Everyone does as much as the white house administration might like to make it difficult,” he smirked. “I’d no idea what a hospital might actually allow happen to you. It takes one angry person – human or mutant – to cause a catastrophe. One might want to kill you; the other might rush in to save you. Heck some even blame you. There’s a whole spectrum of love and hate out there.” He gestured behind him.

“I don’t actually know much about you, Aura,” Devon shook his head. “If nothing else, let’s learn about each other? You’ve got some recuperation to make before you decide on what you want to do. Hopefully you won’t attack anyone,” he smirked. “I’m not exactly sure how much is exaggeration or fear mongering. Why don’t you tell me about your training first?”

She nodded when he mentioned the hospital. "Yea, i really don't like being touched by humans either. A normal hospital would not have gone well" she agreed with him. She assumed the hospital would have her arrested once she woke up but she would not have blamed the humans from pulling the plug on her.

"I will attack no one well I am here" she replied as she considered how best to begin talking about her training. She knew the story well of course but ir was a considerable tale.

"My first leader Lady Miracle trained me and the others she broke us out from the holding center. We were then trained in a near by forest. At first we fought each other, those who did not wish to fight were punished, those who continued to fail to follow orders were killed. We then moved on to fighting and killing humans, again those who resisted were pushed or killed. A Mutant named sayr was used to erase and manipulate our memories, " she said reciting the story easily.

"To train i was made to remove the bones from the human corpses then by forming a drill with my finger i was taught to drill into the bones so they would fit together to make things like a bed. Some nights if we wanted food we had to go out and hunt our food down ourselves." she went on remembering sometimes cooking and eating humans, she decided that knolage might be better left out unless he asked directly.

"Then the humans came, with their guns and mortar. From then we were expected to fight them for the future, for our people. We were trained and reminded that our life spans would likely be short in the morning, then sent to find and engage human solders by afternoon. We were solders and out job was to follow orders without question, weather we agreed with them or not. We were weapons to be wielded and the paradise our actions would found would come upon our ashes. The first time i disobeyed my orders, over 200 people died in a hail of automatic rifle and mortar. The screams of that day still echo in my nightmares." she said trying to shorten the over all response she could have given to the question and she also assumed he meant her training up until she came to new york.

"What do you think of Human and mutant relations? Can their be peace? Can you see a future for our people?" she said as a sinking feeling developed in her mind. She ignored it, pushing it away mentally. "Are we really just humans? Or was Miracle right and humans are no more then animals?" she continued trying to probe his beliefs, her mind starting to want to know what Tempest was up to. She knew he had invited humans to the Sanctuary party or atleast she thought she recalled that.

Devon felt like Aura didn’t really like being touched in general. Sure she was a threat to the people there, but if he’d brought her to a normal hospital he was fairly certain she’d never have woken up at all. Too many enemies if by reputation alone would find their way there. Let alone, it didn’t seem likely they’d give her the opportunity to wake until they had the situation completely in control.

As she began her tale Devon moved to a counter though he hesitated, choosing not to lean back against it. The young man slipped away and the psychologist stood resolute. He watched Aura carefully. She didn’t seem to tire during the story. It wasn’t only behavior he was studying, but she was hurt after all. If she was showing any negative signs of about to pass out, they needed to make sure she was comfortably laying back quickly.

Devon was a careful listener too. ‘first leader’ ‘holding center’ ‘punish’ ‘kill’ How many leaders were there? She’d survived the camps. How many hadn’t? Her training involved negative reinforcement and violence. ‘remove bones’ ‘like a bed’ ‘hunt our food down’ Further desensitized from doing and being around violence, let alone the dead. Removing sensibilities of humanity, morality. Encourage base activities and survival.

They’d been trained for survival: us or them, programmed for violence and baser instincts. Then they’d been sent out against the opposition: human soldiers. Devon wondered how many had secretly been mutants. Aura said it herself: they were weapon. It was a nightmare on either side, achieving little. It was fear and hatred, perpetuated by cycles of violent leadership. Aura was traumatized by the very thing she’d relied on to make her strong.

Then she ended with her own questions, none that surprising but a clue to her mindset.

“Miracle wasn’t right in that or how she treated you,” Devon shook his head, his voice clear of anger but firm in tone. “It’s fine to ask my beliefs on the matter and I’ll answer, but what matters is what you truly believe. That’s up to you, and hopefully with consideration beyond the so-called training you’ve received.”

It was more like brain-washing.

“I think the common human fears what mutants can do, but not mutants. Society is showing increased trust and care for mutants, especially when they see what kind destruction humanity has brought on those that are different. It’s those in power, the status quo that want to keep themselves there. They’ll do whatever it takes. There will be peace, but there will be challenges and costs. Wanton destruction and violence will not win it for us,” he shook his head. “Those who are privileged, the educated, the powerful need to lead not control or abuse like we see in our current government. There’s a future for humans and mutants, but it’s not a clear future. You have to work for that, build it.”

Devon nodded slowly, “That’s what I believe. I won’t condemn you for what you’ve done, that’s not my place. I wasn’t in those camps… How much of it was made for you to do, ingrained into you and how much you enjoyed it is something you need to reflect on. What do you actually think? How do you feel about all that’s happened?”

She listened to Devon speak. Devon was not preaching the eradication of humans but Aura had found in the past year or so that that goal was likely not obtainable. Roach had started teaching her to select targets more carefully. He was right that the strong had to lead, had to take control to ensure survival. She could fight for that she knew, but for who? The order was as dead as Miracle and the others and her own efforts to revive it had been ineffective.

She looked down on her hands as he asked her the questions. She had unaware of her aura flickering on and off quickly around her in response to her emotions. "I think im tired of all the bodies at my feet and all the blood on my hands. Im tired of feeling alive and clearheaded only in the heat of combat. Tired of feeling nothing when i kill someone. I'm tired of being looked at like a monster, even among our own kind" she said a clear hint of sorrow and pain in her voice.

Looking up, her eyes had taken a haunted to look to them that lasted just a moment. "But our people come first. They must be safe. They Must have a future. I must ensure our people have a future. " she said her aura flickering off as she noticed it's stray actions."I know only combat, how to fight and kill, to take orders and serve. That is the only way i know to help our people. It's all i know how to do" she said before the next issue dawned on her.

"i'll have to try and find someone to serve who has our peoples interest at heart. After that, their orders and beliefs will take precedence over my own. " On her own she was capable for violence and vast slaughter. Aura knew however that was not useful, her power and abilities had to be directed.

"I don't know how powerful you are in your abilities or in your company but protect our people and make sure no one has to be like me. After all what use are people like me if you do bring our people the peace they so need? Would be best if i could fall knowing our people will survive and flourish" she said not sure if she was answering his questions well at all. She had told him things she had revealed to no one.

"I lived at sanctuary a number of years and barely a day went by when some poor mutant did not come in with some awful and sad story about how they ended up there. Those sad stories must stop. I knew one mutant who lived in the sewers because her appearance scared everyone who saw her" she said recalling countless stories of abuse pain and abandonment.

"It is people like you who will need to lead our people, once they are safe you know" she said not knowing Devon well but believing he had their peoples interest at heart. SHe was betting his hands were still clean enough to guide their people into and thrue peace.

“Maybe,” Devon said after Aura had reflected on the blood on her hands, the violence of her life, the sadness she saw, and the tragedies of it all. But he’d replied to her last comment, that it would be people like him that would have to lead. He always considered himself an advisor, a helpful guidance for those looking to lead. If anything, Haven was for encouraging leaders and those who worked actively to support them. Nate and Natalie were people he felt closely understood their mutant-centric goals and that’s why he brought them into those plans.

It wasn’t meant to be nefarious, but how public could that be in today’s climate? At what point could advocating for civil rights – mutant included – also be a public admittance of a task force intent on mutant activities and their needs? It’d have to happen one day. But there was a clear line of an undisclosed group concerned with mutant needs and someone like Aura, wanted for numerous human murders, working to achieve such things. Protecting her for health and safety reasons was one thing, and Devon was willing to weather any outrage for that. However, there was a bigger discussion to be had, perhaps with Nate and Natalie.

“I want to help, Aura. I want to help people that want to help others especially,” Devon nodded. “If I lead, I’d rather it be by example.” In modern terms he was a kid still at 21, just graduating college. He’d seen some things, lived a sheltered life that became a dangerous, hard one, but he’d survived. Aura had survived too but not with the same result… “More importantly, if you truly feel that way about your past, that’s good. I can’t condone wanton murder, even if maybe some of them truly seemed like they deserved it. But you also clearly had extenuating circumstances that amount to serious psychological torture. It certainly sounds like you wanted to survive and wanted to help, and found your way to do so…”

Devon frowned, “Not that I’m naïve enough to think violence isn’t sometimes necessary. Some will abuse their power to the point of evil. There’s those that have been abused, used, or even controlled – trapped in their cycle of hatred or violence. Should those humans die? No, but they’ll have to pay for what they’ve done too.” He sighed, glancing around like he wanted to sit, but did not.

“We need to talk more; I want to talk with you more. But I want you to rest. You deserve time to heal and in a safe place to do so. I’m hoping we can have some more conversations, hopefully easier ones though I appreciate what you’ve said thus far. This is going to take time though, and possibly some hard decisions and conversations but I promise to include you in those choices. I’m not going to turn you over to the police or dump you on the streets,” he shook his head. “We’ll get you healed up and then talk a plan, okay?”

she nodded. "Every creature wants to survive, even when it knows its doomed. It was survive, follow orders and fight a violent war or die. The more Sayre reached into our minds the easier it all became, the less each death mattered. " she said considering that from the forest on she had basically just been following orders, even those of Miracle who was long dead. She had no idea if what she wanted was truly her own or just what Miracle has forced upon her.

The cycle he spoke of however she knew all to well. She was trapped in it as well. She understood in the past few years what she had not at first, not all humans could ever be wiped out. One had to target certain humans who were the causes of the issues. Finding those people and determining which they were was something a Leader needed to pick out.

"As you wish, I appreciate what you have done. Take whatever time you need and let me know if you need my help. I will abide by your choices, untill i leave here" she said simply. Devon seemed like a decent enough Mutant and Aura had no one else to follow, so she decided for now she would follow his word. Once she was completely better she could go and find someone to serve.

She laid down grateful to Devon and to lisa. Though it was confusing as always to feel so alone she knew she would get thrue it. If she could not the lord of souls would have taken her soul and passed it on. Part of her wish he had but who was she to question the whims of gods.