”See? What did I tell ya? Calm as a cat, didn’t scratch or bite anyone. Might want to check the back seat. I might have thrown up.” Carrick said stepping out of the vehicle. He didn’t but he figured that was a cat thing to do. One of the agents did a double take. ”Ah he fell fer it!” he laughed.

The S.U.P.E.R. agents that had picked him up seemed on edge with him at first. Granted there might have been some yelling on both sides when they acquired him in the park. Carrick wasn’t ready for the night to end unfortunately that wasn’t his call. When the dart guns were flashed he immediately shut up and even managed to ride in a car. Hopefully the princess would understand.

”Like I said, misplaced me phone. Was gonna call here to check in and make sure there wasn’t a misunderstanding. Sorry, gents. Just glad ya didn’t send the guy with the cowboy hat again. You guys seem reasonable at least.” when he spotted the front door of the building he saw a tiny blonde waiting for him with someone else.

Looking back to the other two guards, ”Sorry fer shouting earlier, sooo close. Almost got the kiss." Carrick placed his hand on his heart with his wings tucked behind him almost like he was sulking. "Great timing you two… Bout as handy as tits on a bull. Thanks for the lift I think she's got it from here.” he handed them the handcuffs they placed on him and rubbed his wrists.

The doors opened and he looked upwards one last time debating on booking because there was a chance this would be the last time he see the open sky. ”**** sakes.” he sighed and entered ready to play the part.

”Heya love. Been good?” he smiled sheepishly with an awkward wave. ”Did I get ya in trouble?” the shifter had a feeling he already knew the answer. ”Was on my way here?” he lied not making eye contact so he distracted himself with the other woman, ”I’m Carrick. Nice meeting ya. Muscle?” he asked looking to Pippa raising an eyebrow. ”Should I have kept the cuffs on?”

"We should have got him in through the back door" Pippa muttered, glancing at Sabine, as they watched the winged guy clamber out of the SUPER vehicle. He had been picked up by agents because he was meandering around Central Park with blatant disregard of his tracker. Bad form, especially given that he had killed a man in the same park last time. He'd also gone awol for two days earlier, without the tracker. This guy just did not understand how easy he had it so far.

So now, it was time for the big guns. Namely, Sabine.

>>”Heya love. Been good? Did I get ya in trouble? Was on my way here?”

"No, you weren't" Pippa deadpanned. She'd seen the tracking info. Technically, none of this was her department, but she'd handled Carrick before, and he was definitely a PR nightmare waiting to happen.

>>”I’m Carrick. Nice meeting ya. Muscle? Should I have kept the cuffs on?”

"Yes. Muscle." Pippa smirked, glancing at Sabine. Surprise Carrick did not know who she was. She could decide when she wanted to enlighten him. "You don't need the cuffs as long as you behave yourself. You do realize what that is for, though, right?" she asked, pointing at his ankle "The use of it has been explained to you?"

It was not the function they wanted to advertise frequently, but SUPER did still take and hold mutants when they were a threat to themselves and others. Thankfully, unlike the old days, the process involved less mad science and more guidance and protection. Some mutants, like Sabine’s mother, were well-meaning but inherently dangerous. Instead of punishing them for that, SUPER was trying to offer training or technology that could help them thrive while keeping people around them safe.

Each mutant in voluntary custody was different; some were reluctant and others were surprisingly thankful. That last part was validating. And then, of course, there were troublemakers. Sabine empathized with Xavier’s Mansion, because if they had a whole building full of Carricks, they must all be exhausted.

It was late, and Sabine had been looking forward to sitting on her balcony with a book and a beer. Unfortunately, Pippa came to her office, catching her just before she could slip her coat on. ”Bad look bringing him in the front? Noted.” Sabine was not going to question Pippa’s advice; she was past fighting helpful suggestions. Even if the Headquarters was on an island, they were not off the grid and people who wanted to snoop could still likely see the front gates.

Carrick was brought before them and he quickly struck up a conversation with Pippa. Always Pippa. It was fair; she was the friendlier face, Sabine would gladly admit. She could also hold her own against a rambunctious, rebellious teen, which is clearly what they were dealing with. Sabine did not think Carrick was inherently malicious, but she expected his attitude and lack of respect for authority to make him a challenge.

Sabine’s lips remained in a smirk, feeling like a principal dealing with a frequent offender. Pippa was the good cop, clearly. Sabine brandished a custom key and unlocked Carrick’s cuffs. ”If you paid attention to your briefing, I hope you understand your anklet is a good faith gesture. We’re trusting you to go where you want, with an appropriate heads-up. You’re good faith gesture is to work with us, considering what happened last time you took a stroll in the park.”

Sabine hooked the cuffs to the back of her belt and sighed. ”Care to give us an explanation for why you decided to run off without reporting in?”

>>>> "No, you weren't"

”Got me there.”The Irishman shrugged and smiled when the ‘muscle’ removed the anklet, he was about to reply further but then thought better of it. Again Pippa was helping him in all of this so he thought it best not to poke the short blonde too much.

>>>> "You don't need the cuffs as long as you behave yourself. You do realize what that is for, though, right?" "The use of it has been explained to you?"

‘Rhetorical question don’t answer.’ He thought to himself offering a slow nod to Pippa.

>>>> ”If you paid attention to your briefing, I hope you understand your anklet is a good faith gesture. We’re trusting you to go where you want, with an appropriate heads-up. You’re good faith gesture is to work with us, considering what happened last time you took a stroll in the park.”

‘And another rhetorical question?’ the shifter thought more to himself, not wanting to get slapped with the cuffs again or put in a cell.

Carrick was suddenly a kid again with his hand caught in the cookie jar and this time his mother wasn’t around to scold him and move it higher on the shelf (never mattered where she hid it he found it). His wings and tail drooped slightly when he was getting lectured, the shifter refused to make eye contact with anyone at this point trying to add to the ‘guilty’ act.

>>> ”Care to give us an explanation for why you decided to run off without reporting in?”

Thumbing his chest he looked back as if she was talking to someone else then asked, ”Oh ya want an answer?” he cleared his throat and went on before either could respond to his question. His tail and wings along with his demeanor perked up now that he could explain, ”Circus was in town, the one I ran with back when I first came stateside. Took me in fer a year before I decided to do the whole school thing. So I thought because I was so well behaved, not shifting and staying at the mansion” he might have shifted once or twice to show off to the princess but he neglected to point that out, ”I’d treat me ‘self with a night out… that might have turned into a day or two…”

Inhale. ”It was originally only supposed to be fer one night then I’d put the thing back on” he kicked out his leg, ”No one would know then this would be an even better conversation.” he stopped pointing at his foot then continued on. ”Then they invited me and me mate for an after performance thing. Might have been some drinking and next thing I knew “I’m in a cage again”, wondering why I’m naked and why was there blood?” he said shaking invisible bars.

Throwing his head back he continued acting out the events that unfolded, ”Animal mutants from the circus and I got mind controlled end up fighting each other from some sick kicks and then the whole thing caught fire, I snapped out of it.” he snapped his finger. ”Me and me mate saved the day.” he neglected to point out he shifted a few dozen times in both forms.

Everything sounded better in his head. Carrick probably should have led with the circus now had something to do with animal-mutant trafficking that was no longer in operation because of them, or the fact he saved all his old friends from being controlled and saved a life. Scratching the back of his head, ”With everything that happened I figured Better to ask fer forgiveness than permission? Some good came of it though right? So split the diff?”

At least the guy had the decency to look appropriately sheepish about the whole thing. Sabine took the cuffs off, and the drooping wings and tail signaled that he would behave himself, for now. Pippa nodded to a nearby empty room. There was no reason to get the whole story out in the hallway.

>>”Oh ya want an answer?... Circus was in town, the one I ran with back when I first came stateside. Took me in fer a year before I decided to do the whole school thing. So I thought because I was so well behaved, not shifting and staying at the mansion, I’d treat me ‘self with a night out… that might have turned into a day or two…”

"You decided you were well behaved, huh" Pippa noted, adjusting her classes. Such a teenager, even if the second time around...

>>”It was originally only supposed to be fer one night then I’d put the thing back on. No one would know then this would be an even better conversation. Then they invited me and me mate for an after performance thing. Might have been some drinking and next thing I knew I’m in a cage again, wondering why I’m naked and why was there blood?”

Pippa glanced over at Sabine. If Carrick was telling the truth, someone else at that circus had a much worse criminal record than Carrick. Kidnapping and all. They definitely had to deal with the kid on the long run, as a prospective SUPER intern, but if someone else was going around dosing mutants, then that was a whole other can of worms. And not a PR problem.

"Did you find out what happened?"

>>”Animal mutants from the circus and I got mind controlled end up fighting each other from some sick kicks and then the whole thing caught fire, I snapped out of it. Me and me mate saved the day.”

"Mind control." Pipa glanced at Sabine again. In the olden days, a gang of agents would already be on their way to shut the psychic mutant down. Mind control was the be all, end all of the human public's worst fears of the gifted. If this story broke, there would be panic.

>>”With everything that happened I figured Better to ask fer forgiveness than permission? Some good came of it though right? So split the diff?”

"There are so many problems with that philosophy" Pippa sighed "And we're gonna have to talk about all of them." she looked at Sabine. She could take over the immediate questioning for now. In a moment. "First things first. Are you alright?" They had picked him up from a date, so he must have been. Or he was really good at denial.

There was something about a young man with an Irish brogue that made someone sound mischievous. Sabine should address that bias, but it was hard when Carrick found ways to live up to those expectations.

Watching the griffon-shifter, Sabine’s gaze fixed on the young man as he played at not knowing he was the center of attention. His mutation, while a danger when left unchecked, made Carrick very expressive. He clearly felt the weight of her tone with his wings drooping before he mustered up that trademark bravado.

The Circus was a unique answer, and the story made sense on paper. They might even be able to verify some of it if he was not talking out of his ass. Sabine said nothing at him judging his own behavior, but she may have cracked a smirk at Pippa repeating it as an accusation. This job was easier to smile about with her around, at least.

The smiling stopped when Carrick explained waking up in a cage with blood. She did not interrupt or jump to conclusions, but Sabine knew they had systems in place for a reason and this turn of events only affirmed why they had the anklet on him in the first place. She considered whether he ended up caged after another outburst, but the look in Pippa’s eyes made her reconsider the situation. Kidnappings and mutant abductions were running rampant lately; what better group to sneak people in and out of cities than a circus?

A circus with mind control was the answer, evidently. That sent a chill up Sabine’s spine when Pippa repeated the words. Her lips pressed tightly as she considered the situation. ”Yeah,” she muttered, leaning closer to speak specifically to Pippa. ”We’ll get more info on that and send investigators.” She had an idea of the trouble Pippa was already envisioning and they were on the same page. That would be addressed ASAP, but Carrick’s story did continue.

Carrick may have saved the day, but he got himself so far in over his head, he was lucky to get out at all. ”Pippa is right.” Most people were addressed by titles or last names, but it made more sense to call Pippa by her first name. ”Asking forgiveness could end with you in a cell—an actual one. It also means we couldn’t send backup when things go south unexpectedly. Which they did.” Her tone was stern, but not cold.

Finally softening, Sabine let Pippa take the lead in making sure Carrick was okay. ”It does sound like you’ve been through a lot.”

>>>"There are so many problems with that philosophy"

>>>”Pippa is right.”

”She usually is.” Carrick said nodding his head in agreement, trying to get on Pippa’s good side. He gave Pippa thumbs up. Whoever was he boss should appreciate that.

>>>”Asking forgiveness could end with you in a cell—an actual one. It also means we couldn’t send backup when things go south unexpectedly. Which they did.”

The shifter adjusted his collar and made an audible ‘gulp’. It was part of the show but at least this time he felt the way he acted. No part of him wanted to end up in a cell. Ever again. Once was enough thank you.

>>>"First things first. Are you alright?"

>>>”It does sound like you’ve been through a lot.”

The talk about him not being in a cell seemed to lighten his mood a little so much so he gave both the women thumbs up. ”Luckily, only thing I learned as a kid was how to take a beating.” he smirked, ”Honestly the shifting was the worst of it. Tearing yer skin off that many times…” he shuddered a little and his wings ruffled. ”Still can’t hear anything else the other two are thinking. Never done it that much before.” he said truthfully. ”None of us liked it.”

”The mansion’s healer fixed me right up except fer me wings… those looked rough.” he opened one and showed off how well they looked now. The Princess really did a good job preening him, he however wouldn’t admit it was her that fixed them up. ”Was more worried about them, I’m not the most reasonable I change faces.” he said scratching the back of his head his grin faded a little.

>>”We’ll get more info on that and send investigators.”

Of course they would. If news about a psychic went around, MRC, SUPER, hell, Haven all would be in a scramble to do something about it. And SUPER was nothing if not efficient in these cases. For now, they would have to deal with the problem in front of them. Giving them the charming innocent eyes.

>>”Pippa is right. Asking forgiveness could end with you in a cell—an actual one. It also means we couldn’t send backup when things go south unexpectedly. Which they did.”

Sabine backed her up. It was strange, thinking of her out of all people as someone Pippa could rely on without saying things out loud. Their adventure on the ship had put things into a different perspective. For now, Sabine gave her the lead in the conversation, not insisting on carting the kid off somewhere right away. So far, so good.

>>”Luckily, only thing I learned as a kid was how to take a beating. Honestly the shifting was the worst of it. Tearing yer skin off that many times… Still can’t hear anything else the other two are thinking. Never done it that much before. None of us liked it.”

Most mutant kids did not have good childhoods, especially the ones with visible gifts. Pippa frowned a little at the easy comment Carrick made about his upbringing. She filed that away for later. It sounded like he'd pushed his powers to their limits, shifting between his different forms. "None of you, meaning the griffin and the... other one?" Where those three personalities, or just the one, in different moods?

>>”The mansion’s healer fixed me right up except fer me wings… those looked rough. Was more worried about them, I’m not the most reasonable I change faces.”

Pippa looked at the wing, it looked alright to her, with a few of the feathers ruffled. It could have been worse. Feathers were delicate things.

"I am glad you are healed" she nodded. She meant it. Carrick, with all his stubbornness, was still pretty much a kid. "Well then. You understand that putting that tracker on you was never meant to be a permanent solution. But Carrick, we need to talk about all this, because frankly, our agents can't keep picking you up every time you go on an adventure."

There was dedication to a job, then there was real passion. A great PR person might respond to a potential scene like Carrick, but Pippa handled the situation with empathy. She could have been an efficient problem-solver, but she made the effort to care. Agents were not always lucky enough to get that side of Pippa, but she looked out for her fellow mutants.

Carrick may have masked his concerns with flashy gestures, but Sabine did get the sense he knew how poorly his night could have gone. If the senior agent had not believed that, she might have leaned into him further, but there was no need to put the Fear of God into a kid who was receptive, openly or otherwise.

That meant slack for Pippa, the softer side of their duo in Sabine’s opinion. It was not the typical SUPER technique, but the young man opened up about the pains of his mutation and the personalities he dealt with. Some mutations were like that; a mutation that manifested some secondary identity. The concept was dangerous, because it meant variable control. (When Sabine made a personality, it was temporary and under her control, so that was different.)

The conversation would loop back to that. Pippa brought them to the crux of the conversation. ”She’s right, and as much as I’m sure you get a kick out of losing tails, but you’re only handcuffing us, kid.” Sabine took a deep breath and an accompanying sigh. ”We don’t want this to feel like house arrest; we want to trust you so you can trust us.” Carrick was not the only one in his position, but for young mutants like him, SUPER had a chance to find a better way. Guidance and support over control.

Sabine thought back to the aspects of Carrick’s mutation. ”We want you to feel free and safe. The more you’re willing to work with us instead of against us, we can work with you. There are ways for you to control what you can do better. We’d be glad to help you find them.” If you could stop being a brat for five minutes.

The shifter nodded his head, ”Aye, know it sounds crazy but we don’t normally agree on everything. The big guy’s more agreeable, understands what happens to me happens to him. Much easier to control when I’m in that form.” Carrick said trying make sense of his powers. He understood how it sounded but he wanted to be clear with them, they were keeping him out of a cell for the moment at least for now. ”Beasty is the form yer familiar with. He’s difficult, hardly listens to me as is. He did not like taking orders or waking in a cage.” he said folding his arms Carrick never liked admitting he didn’t have complete control of his powers.

”Was hoping it just stop working honestly.” he said scratching the back of his head with a nervous chuckle looking down at the anklet. His tail flicked towards the women when he felt like he was getting lectured. ”They didn’t have to pick me up tonight, I was on me best behavior.” he knew why they picked him up and that his behavior for the evening had nothing to do with it he just liked pointing out when he was being good. It was when he wasn’t pointing it out people should worry.

”I trust ya… well her fer sure.” he said nodding his head over to Pippa, ”Just met you, but ya seem ta be looking out fer me so I guess I’m gonna have to aren’t I.” he shrugged and sighed not liking the idea of trusting strangers, they usually wanted something from him. ”Does the muscle have a name?” he asked looking to Pippa.

If his frown at the next comments weren’t an indication for anyone his tail had always been good at showing his reaction. It flicked low, like he was being backed into a corner. The shifter wanted to growl at least some part of him. The side he had trouble reigning in. The thoughts stirred and he heard ‘Fight?’ in the back of his mind. Carrick had enough sense to ignore it. ”Didn’t really think I was acting against ya figured it was less of a headache fer everyone but ya pointed out I was wrong so… lesson learned.” he hesitated before asking, ”What did ya have in mind?” he folded his arms again.

It was not easy to deal with a teenager on the best of days, and this kid was more difficult than most. Not to mention him carrying two other creatures inside him at any given time. One of which Hunter had to shoot at the last time it had made an appearance. Even Carrick had to admit, this was not a simple situation.

>>”Aye, know it sounds crazy but we don’t normally agree on everything. The big guy’s more agreeable, understands what happens to me happens to him. Much easier to control when I’m in that form. Beasty is the form yer familiar with. He’s difficult, hardly listens to me as is. He did not like taking orders or waking in a cage.”

Pippa made mental and actual notes on that. It was another thing they would have to circle back to later. Possibly in CLASS. She glanced at Sabine, wondering if she was arriving at the same conclusion. Because some things had to change, after the tracking thing had failed spectacularly.

>>”Was hoping it just stop working honestly. They didn’t have to pick me up tonight, I was on me best behavior.”

"You were on your best behavior outside Mansion grounds" Pippa specified. The rules were rules.

>>"She’s right, and as much as I’m sure you get a kick out of losing tails, but you’re only handcuffing us, kid. We don’t want this to feel like house arrest; we want to trust you so you can trust us.”

Well done. Pippa gave Sabine another, more appreciative glance. She was not usually a very warm and fuzzy person, but at least she was adjusting her tone for the brat. Kid. The kid.

>>”I trust ya… well her fer sure. Just met you, but ya seem ta be looking out fer me so I guess I’m gonna have to aren’t I... Does the muscle have a name?”

Pippa arched n eyebrow. She had not been sure whether he was pretending or not, but it seemed like he really did not recognize the face from the news.

"Sabine Sang. She is the big boss of SUPER."

Okay, so that might have sounded more ominous than needed...

>>”We want you to feel free and safe. The more you’re willing to work with us instead of against us, we can work with you. There are ways for you to control what you can do better. We’d be glad to help you find them.”

>>”Didn’t really think I was acting against ya figured it was less of a headache fer everyone but ya pointed out I was wrong so… lesson learned... What did ya have in mind?”

Pippa looked at Sabine, wondering if they were thinking along the same line. Because if not, this would get very awkward. She sat back, giving Sabine the lead.

"Well, your relationship with SUPER will have to change..."

Carrick had to deal with one of Sabine’s greatest fears: a power he did not fully control. Sabine spent her teenage years and, honestly, most of the years after that fearful of a manifesting a power she could not handle.

“Best behavior would be not ditching your tracker, for the record,” Sabine interjected following Pippa’s own correction, but her tone was less stern. Carrick carried himself with casual swagger, even if he was learning when to bite his tongue and listen. She mirrored his energy, which came with a hint of smugness. If he hid behind relaxed confidence, meet it in kind.

Sabine bit back a response to being called the muscle. He was not wrong. Pippa was not wrong either, but she may have overreached. ”Something like that,” she muttered. ”There are plenty of people over my head, but I’m the Senior Agent handling Personnel Management and Training. More title than I’m a fan of, but I want to use this to help mutants in our custody.”

Carrick was curious what SUPER intended to do with him and what the two women were planning. Sabine looked to Pippa, hoping Sabine’s decision was in line with what she would approve of. Sabine did not want to strain SUPER’s relationship with Haven, or her working relationship with the PR Specialist. Especially when it gave them access to Haven resources. ”R&D has been working with psychology and behavioral specialists in hopes of developing training exercises meant to help mutants work on controlling aspects of their powers tied to mental blocks, inexperience, or in your case, clashing personality.” Less controversial than split personalities, which it sounded like Carrick was describing.

”A local organization we have a working relationship with, Haven, has a simulation environment called CLASS that we can likely request access to use for training.” Sveta might even approve of a request like that, and using Haven resources should get approved by the higher ups if Sabine spoke to the right people. ”We can work with you in an environment where you can experiment with your powers without risk to anyone.”

There was, of course, an administrative detail they had to address. ”To approve this, you would be reclassed as a SUPER Asset rather than a Mutant In Custody. SUPER identifies potential talents to invest in as potential future assets. This is a non-binding role; you would not be an Agent. You may choose to never be an agent once your custody period passes. But appointing you as an Asset does let me request what I need to help you.”

Sabine leaned forward in her seat, meeting eye to eye with the young man. ”It’s up to you. But we want to help.”

>>>"Sabine Sang. She is the big boss of SUPER."

Carrick’s jaw dropped slightly while his eyebrows shot up. For the first time that evening Carrick couldn’t control his reaction. His tail flicked first then he tried to form the words but failed to as Sabine went into more detail about what her title involved. It seemed like a lot she thought so too apparently.

Having enough sense the shifter kept his mouth shut till the ‘big boss’ finished explaining what SUPER was all about and how they were there to help mutants like him they worked with HAVEN, the place that had that pool party that he didn’t get an invite to but apparently everyone else in the city did. He tried not to take it personal.

”Sorta like at the mansion.” he said summing it up. He already had the option to train there as well but that didn’t mean he had the proper motivation. It seemed now he didn’t have much of a choice however, the alternative didn’t really seem like an option. Even though he hated class.

”I like the sound of Asset though.” he said finally his tail flicking behind him as he thought more on it. ”Sounds important, better than Agent.” he flashed a smile showing off his pointed canines. ”This will really piss off the old man, better than the alternative right?” he looked to Pippa for conformation. He trusted her so far and it hadn’t come back to bite him yet.

Carrick leaned forward in his seat to match Sabine, the big boss. ”Do I get a gun?” he asked raising an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure how he felt about guns but never had an interest in having one. They were loud and someone with his kind of hearing it would be a pain.

Sabine laid out the plan. Carrick was offered the opportunity to become a SUPER asset. They had talked about this before; it was still a risk, having someone like this kid officially affiliated with SUPER - but on the long run, it was bound to be less of a headache than a kid with an ankle tracker. And hopefully, he'd learn. Eventually.

>>”Sorta like at the mansion.”

"Less high school, more training. But yes." she nodded.

>>”I like the sound of Asset though. Sounds important, better than Agent. This will really piss off the old man, better than the alternative right?”

Pippa nodded. It was better than a lot of alternatives. Even though she still could not quite believe that she was sitting here, talking a mutant into joining up with SUPER.

>>”Do I get a gun?”

"Yes. Because we really want to give New York City the gun-wielding gryphon it deserves." Pippa deadpanned. She knew he was joking. He had to be, right?