Ren led the way, and Sveta followed. They were heading for a place nearby, a place that had food, which was good, because she was hungry, and also because they needed to not be in the open when the cops started looking around, but she was not sure yet if she wanted to be left alone with the guy either. He was a lot stronger than she was, even without the boost.

Ren told her that he used to live in LA. He was a long way from home, then. Sveta had not spent much time on the west coast, but she had an idea of what it was like in LA. Mostly from movies.

>>"There it seemed like everyone and everything wanted something from you. Here people mostly keep to themselves. Don't get me wrong, I had my fair share of fun down there. I think that part of my life is behind me though. It's time to start something new."

Sveta was not the only person coming to New York City for a new start. At least they had that in common. She listened, not minding at all that the guy talked about himself. It was interesting, and better than having to talk about her own past.

>>"Of course I have no idea what that new thing is. Maybe I'll reopen my store or after things calm down I might start traveling. There really aren't to many exciting places to go climbing around here. I'll probably be stuck in my dad's shop for a bit longer, but I can't say things have been dull around there."

"Things are never dull around here." Sveta chuckled. So, he had a shop, and no plans for the immediate future. He was not a big-time vigilante. Or he was really good at hiding it.

>>"Sorry, I've droned on enough. um...What about you? What do you and this mysterious team normally do?"

"Normal is a relative term." Sveta smirked "We... help mutants. Not just individually, although we do that to. I certainly have been helped a lot... But also, we try to improve things, on a larger scale. For mutants, and humans, alike."

They turned the corner and Ren could see the bright neon sign flashing Toni's in big blue letters.  He nodded still listening to Svetlana.  "So you're basically Mutant activists?" He was surprised to find himself thinking that it would be nice to do something like that.  To feel like he was actually making a positive impact on the world around him.

Ren opened the door to the small Italian restaurant and was immediately hit by the smell of hot grease and good food.  Good food, not great, but good enough.  The taste wasn't the main draw here.  The main reason why Ren came to this spot was the amount of food you got.  If you got an order of spaghetti it would probably wind up feeding four people.  Not to mention the B.L.Ts.  The bacon was just on the side of too crispy for his taste but you got at least a pound of the stuff for one 'sandwich'.

Lana was the current waitress and she recognized Ren as he walked through the door. The place wasn't to big on uniforms so she just wore a dark blue t-shirt with some well worn jeans and stained apron strung across her waist.  She must have only been a few years older then Ren, but she always acted motherly towards him.  

She lead them to a large corner booth in the back, and laid down some menus with a large smile on her face.  "Is it going to be the usual for you hun?" Ren smiled as he slid into the booth.

He nodded. "The usual sounds great, but lets make it water, instead of coffee." Caffeine was the last thing he wanted right now. The longer he was by Svet the more restless he became.  Was she trying to amp him up on purpose or was it something that she couldn't control? If it was like this just being by her what would it be like to just touch her?

Lana then turned to Svetlana. "What about you darling?  Do you know what you want or do you need a minute?"

>>"So you're basically Mutant activists?"

"Yeah... but with money." Sveta smirked. Tempest's money, mostly, but they did have enough to buy into the circles that mattered, rather than carrying protest signs on the streets. It was a welcome change for an ex-vigilante to actually be able to achieve results in a different way. She wanted to tell Ren more about it, but she also wanted to know more about him first.

They got a place in the diner, in a nice booth away from people. The waitress was nice too, and she already knew the guy.

>>"Is it going to be the usual for you hun?"

>>"The usual sounds great, but lets make it water, instead of coffee."

>>"What about you darling? Do you know what you want or do you need a minute?"

"Club sandwich and water sounds good" Sveta said, glancing at the menu, and waited for the waitress to go on her way. She sat back, glancing around, aware of her surroundings, and also that Ren, still sitting in her aura, looked a little hyper.

"They will be searching for witnesses" she noted, glancing out the window. "Not that you have done anything wrong... but displays of powers tend to make people suspicious."

Ren nodded, he knew she was right. "I know that I did the right thing but I also knew there are laws like use of excessive force and assault with a deadly weapon.  Of course there are laws protecting those that defended others, which is what I did, but I don't exactly know what they cover.  I'm actually waiting for a call from the cops"   He didn't know how she would find out but he knew his sister would find out about what happened at the park and she would want to give him an ear full.  "Well a cop. My sister is part of the NYPD and there's a good chance she'll know it was me." Of course it would just be her assuming that he had done it which wasn't okay.  This time though she would be right, and he would never hear the end of it. 

Their waitress came back with a big smile and a couple glasses of water.  Ren voiced his gratitude as she set the water on the table.  He also noticed his phone play the distinct ringtone that he set up for when his sister texted him.  He checked the message and it was short and to the point.  'Call Me!'  Ren chewed his lip and groaned. He gave Svetlana an apologetic look. "Sorry Svet, but I need to take this outside." 

The autumn night was getting a bit chilly but Ren didn't notice.  He paced back and forth outside the diner just looking at his phone.  He must have started at it for a solid thirty seconds until he finally gathered the nerve to call Liz.  She picked up before the first ring finished.

Ren visibly flinched when Liz started yelling. "What the hell are you doing beating the crap out of people in the middle of the night!?"

"Okay first, It's not the middle of the night.  The sun went down like less than hour ago.  Second, I was defending an innocent girl.  They were going to rape her or do worse to her."

"Yeah I already know that part, but this might be news to you.  You broke one of their spines and he might never walk again.  Actually all of them have some broken bones.  Dad warned me that this was exactly what was going to happen.  You were going to come home, start your vigilante crap and I was going to have to throw you behind bars."

"Hey, it's not like I went looking for this. I was just taking a run through the park and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.  Would you rather I just kept running and let that girl be assaulted and defiled?  I'm not the bad guy here Liz." He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Look, I know I went a bit to far but I'm not going to sit here and apologize for saving her and then defending myself.  One of them had a knife and another pulled a gun on me.  I just reacted."

He heard Liz let out a defeated sigh.  "Yeah, I know Ren.  I know you did the right thing, but I'm a detective here.  I have to do my job, and that job says I have to bring you in for questioning or at the very least a statement.  This is putting me in a very tight spot."

"Well It's only he said, she said stuff at this point right?  Nobody has actually named me?"

"Right."

"So why can't we just pretend we never had this conversion and let the investigation fizzle out?"

"Is there anything you could have left behind at the scene that can be traced back to you?"

Ren chewed his lip as he thought about the fight.

Liz sounded concerned. "Ren, can they connect you to the fight?"

He swore under his breath. "The knife.  I grabbed the blade.  There's a good chance my prints are on it."

"You stupid son of a...Alright lay low for the next couple of days while I poke around and see what I can do."

"Aren't there laws and stuff that protect people using force to defend others?"

"You're a mutant Ren.  Stuff like that doesn't always apply to your kind.  Just keep your hands to yourself and let me work." 

With that she hung up and Ren was left thinking that maybe he made a mistake.  No, he couldn't let himself think like that.  Given the choice he would have to done the same thing the next time around.   Broken spine and all, people like that didn't deserve to walk.  He took a deep breath to calm himself down and went back inside. 
He slid into his seat across from Svetlana and apologized again.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to be gone for so long."

The cops were no doubt already at the scene. If Ren was lucky, none of the a**holes that did the assault actually died in the fight. If they did, a**hole or not, it would be a much more serious situation. Especially for a mutant who had a vigilante past.

>>"I know that I did the right thing but I also knew there are laws like use of excessive force and assault with a deadly weapon. Of course there are laws protecting those that defended others, which is what I did, but I don't exactly know what they cover. I'm actually waiting for a call from the cops..."

A call? Sveta arched an eyebrow. Was he one of the usual suspects, or what? Eventually they'd get to him if he left anything behind, yes, but they probably had some time before they started canvassing for witnesses.

>>"Well a cop. My sister is part of the NYPD and there's a good chance she'll know it was me."

"Oh." Sveta nodded and smirked "Not sure if that's better or worse..."

True enough, the phone soon rang, and Ren went outside to take the call. Sveta could see him through the window, pacing up and down and making faces. If he had not been suspicious for the casual observer before, now he definitely was. Sveta sighed. Ren eventually returned, and he did not look relieved.

>>"Sorry, I didn't mean to be gone for so long."

"So, I'm guessing your sister knows it was you..." Sveta ventured, looking at him "Was it a lucky guess, or do they have evidence?... Is she going to turn you in?"

Some siblings were better than others.