It had been a while since Chris had been to a bar. His fake ID had worked on many of the bouncers and bartenders that he didn't need to show it to often and he could casually go in them without much question. Chris decided to try a new bar. The Hideaway. It was a nice bar from the outside, surrounded by other similar bars. Chris showed his ID and the bouncer let him through. There were plenty of people inside the bar already even though it was relatively early in the night.

Nine o'clock was early for bars to start getting a steady influx of people. "I'll take a rum and coke." He said to the barkeep once he'd caught her attention. It wasn't often that he saw a female working behind the bar and serving drinks; however, when one was working it was quite often that they were very attractive. She quickly made the drink for him, he took it, and took a sip. It was made right and it was obvious that she knew what she was doing. Not that he doubted her skills at making a drink, but it was often that people made drinks to strong or not strong enough.

Chris found an empty table and made his way for it. Fission sat down at the table with his back to the wall, ever paranoid about people being behind him, as he watched the door and the rest of the people in the bar. Some were dancing. Others were trying. And some were just having a guys or girls night out, enjoying each others company. The young man wasn't looking for anyone in particular, just perhaps someone, some girl, that would catch his eye tonight. Chris slowly sipped his drink as he watched the people in the bar socialize.

How had she gotten roped into a shift? She was supposed to be dead. Dead people didn't cover shifts, but when Stephan had caught her elbow on the street earlier tonight she just couldn't say no. It helped that she had a paycheck waiting that she couldn't pick up until she was not dead. Not that she could cash it without being not-dead either. Choices, choices.

The Hideaway was like home to her, more so than any of the apartments she'd camped in. This was the job she'd worked the longest, the only job she'd had before and after the activation of her x-gene. 8 years, she'd been plugging away at this joint as a waitress and finally now as a mixologist. If anyone deserved a goodbye before she disappeared into the anonymous dregs of mutant society, it was the staff at the Hideaway.

It was still too early to know if it would be a slow night. But the staff had all taken turns coming and saying hello. Brickson must've had an amazing song and dance with the cops on her front door because every single one of them seemed to be relieved that she was indeed not dead. Touching. She hadn't thought anyone had really cared, and maybe they didn't, but it was a pretty thought. Lori made everyone who came by for a chat swear on all things holy that they wouldn't tell the cops or the press. In return most reassured her that so far no one'd come sniffing. So far so good.

Now that the people were all squared away, Lori could relax into what she did best. Working behind the bar was fun. Always had been. It was much like working at the lab. You had to memorize formulas and have an exacting eye for measurements. That mixology license wasn't just for show.

Nine o'clock and the first rush hit. Lori was back in the groove like she'd hardly left. They weren't so much faces, but drinks and methods of payment. There was a rum and coke at one point that Lori thought a mite young to be hiding in a bottle, but who was she to judge? She hardly looked old enough to be drinking let alone passing out those drinks. Besides this was the Hideaway. Where people could cloud their problems with alcohol, take a break from responsibility, and just hide.

After about ten minutes of watching people and listening to the music that had started playing in the bar, he finished his drink and got up from his seat to get another. It wasn't like he was having a bad day, he just wanted to blow off some steam and get away from the mansion for a little bit. Being radioactive meant he was constantly watching himself and practicing to get better at controlling his powers.

He looked back over at the bar. The bartender looked familiar, like he'd seen her before. Chris walked up to the bar once again and, after catching the bartenders attention said, "Can I get a Bud Light?" his southern accent coming through his speech. He waited for the attractive young woman, who hardly looked older than him, to hand him the drink.

While he waited a random drunk came up to him and started harassing him. "Look man leave me alone." he said to the drunk. It was easy to tell he was intoxicated because he could smell the booze coming off his breath. "You don't look old enough to be in here. Are ya buddy?" The man was starting to get loud. "Lets see the ID! Come on man!" He started to yell. At his last comment the man grabbed Chris's shirt and pulled him closer.

Great a bar fight just what the underage guy needed. He easily loosened the mans grip. However, the drunk wasn't giving up. He continued to grab and Chris and pull him closer. Finally the young mutant had had enough of the drunk. He swung and punched him square in the face. It wasn't a hard punch , but since the man was drunk he fell out of his chair and onto the ground. Crap. was ll Chris had time to think. There wasn't much time for him to do much, once the drunk man got back up and started swinging. "I've had enough of this." He said after easily dodging the mans swings.

Chris got some space between him and the drunk. The drunk staggered towards Chris. The young radiation manipulator raised up his hands as if applauding and quickly clapped them together. The lights suddenly went out and so did all the lights within four blocks went out. Outside street lights went off, cars screeched and people shouted inside and outside the bar. Now what. he thought as he started heading towards the door.

Ten minutes and Coke and Rum was back, this time for a Bud Light. Lori shrugged and ducked behind the bar, she had a rubber kitchen glove that she used to sort through the ice box. It was only a moment that she was gone from sight and when she popped back up, using her free hand and a bottle opener to pop the cap. She wrapped the bottle in a napkin so she didn't touch any condenstation as she held out the beer to the...

"Let's see the ID! Come on man!"

Lori opened her mouth to say that it was the duty of the man at the door to check IDs, not the inebriated patron, but... the drunk had already pushed the kid too far. 9pm and there was already a drunk. Whoever had the shift before her had some explaining to do.

SMACK.

The drunk was out of his chair and Lori couldn't tell how hard he'd been hit. Great. The one day she's back and a friggin' bar fight breaks out right in her face. Lori strained to her tiptoes to maybe catch Buzz's eyes. Buzz the bouncer. You just couldn't make up silliness like that.

Buzz seemed to hear the commotion and after catching Lori's eye started to make his way over. Neither fighter seemed done, though. The drunk swinging and the youth dodging for the most part.

"I've had enough of this."

Lori dropped the beer against the wooden bar. That was never a good phrase, especially when said with such even confidence. She used her arm strength to push up against the lower inner lip of the bar and she reached out toward him, unsure of what she was going to do, but it didn't matter---she was too slow. He clapped and all at once every hair on Lori's back, arms, and neck were standing on end. It was... a magnetic field. A very fast, very powerful, out of no where magnetic field. Lori's hand caught cloth, but the sudden darkness meant that she could just have easily grabbed anyone.

Was there nothing without a freaking micro chip anymore? Every electronic device seemed very suddenly dead as the field arced electricity between the pins effectively frying all electronics. Cell phones, lights, the bar TV, the speakers. It was all dead. People were shrieking, panicked with the sudden severance of their most important sense: sight. As if being loud and overwhelming one sense would somehow make up for the lack of another. Idiots. Some were shouting the obvious "Mutant," there was a mutant afoot.

Bars didn't exactly have a lot of windows. It was an inky darkness that was almost oppressive especially with the sudden noise.

Lori wrenched the cloth that she had in her hand toward the bar as hard as she could and took a good sniff of the person that was suddenly kissably close. If it was Rum and Coke, she'd know it by smell alone. If it was Rum and Coke they had some talking to do.

Chris headed towards the door. Unfortunately he didn't get far, because someone had grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled him close to them. Great He thought as he was pulled back closer to the bar. He was about to say something when in the absence of light his now lightly glowing neon green eyes, lit up the face of the person that had grabbed him. It was the barkeep. "What." he whispered a little angry to her. It was smell the alcohol on his breath from the distance she was from his face.

The young mutant wasn't going anywhere and this could turn into a bad situation with someone yelling the obvious. Mutant. Well no duh. Four blocks of lights don't just go out for no reason. he thought as he waited for the woman to let go of him so he could make his escape. He knew full well the people weren't friendly to mutants here. They never were.

"What?" He sounded pissy, but that was none of her business. She smelled Rum and Coke. Bingo. She also noticed that his eyes were a lovely toxic green. But that wasn't right. She shouldn't have been able to see his eyes let alone the color. She shouldn't have been able to see anything.

Lori wrenched the mutant's closer to the bar so that she could reach the lever that opened the bar and she did her best to man handle him, to steer him through the entrance. It would be relatively more safe with her behind the bar. She put her other hand over his eyes to cut off the points of light and pulled them both down to be shielded by the bar before she let his eyes go. "You're glowing." And she wasn't the only one to notice, but the heavy barkeep door had swung shut and Buzz's booming voice could suddenly be heard at the bar entrance. The glowing had essentially disappeared to any who would have noticed anyway.

"Everybody out!" Buzz's voice cut through the din of voices and there was suddenly light when someone had the bright idea to open the door. It wasn't much, residual light from the stars or moon or something. It didn't matter. Lori was already pulling at Rum and Coke's arm with surprising urgency and strength toward the employee exit at the back. It could only be reached through the store room behind the bar. They were as good as gone and in the opposite direction.

"Follow me ... you don't want to risk the crowd, Rummy."

Chris was roughly pulled through the barkeepers entrance. He bumped into a few chairs as he was pulled back behind the bar counter. Once he was behind the counter she covered his eyes. Her statement was true. He knew exactly what she meant. "I know." He said quickly, now unable to see anything. The next thing he knew was that he heard the bouncer coming into the bar and start clearing everyone out. "Everybody out!" People started bustling out towards the exit. There was a very dim light coming through the exit to the bar. The light was coming from the moon and stars that were out as well as the occasional headlight that passed by the bar.

It seemed the female knew something he didn't. Personally he was glad that she was leading him somewhere other than out with the rest of the bar goers. He didn't think things would end to well if he went out with all the other patrons. She was pulling him along the back of the bar with some urgency. What a nice gesture. he thought a little sarcastically.

Luckily they were going through the exit that the employees used. They were out before the bouncer even knew he was there. "Thanks but why are you helping me?" he asked. Usually there was a catch and he wanted to know what it was.

"Thanks but why are you helping me?" There was a healthy dose of suspicion in his voice, and even though that earned him a point, she couldn't help but let out her scathing reply after she shut the door behind them, sealing them in the complete darkness of the store room. Complete darkness except for those points of green light. "Because you're obviously incapable of taking care of yourself."

Lori reached out until she found Rum and Coke's arm. "Look left. There should be some shelves there... " She directed him to turn the soft, green lamp-light of his eyes to the shelving unit. With the faint light she was able to root out some light bulbs. That should do. She shoved one into her pants and it lumped weirdly in her pocket.

The other she took in her hand, focusing briefly until the naked bulb began to glow. It wasn't glowing to full capacity, but she was afraid to max it out or draw attention to their little hiding spot. She said nothing of her ability to make a bulb glow. It should have been obvious what she was since she had taken the time to save his sorry butt. With the light it was easy to find the back door and unbolt it. The steel door swung open on well-oiled hinges and Lori saw just how far the damages went. She cursed.

"Did you stop and think about what you were doing or did you just feel like frying everything in sight?"

Her rude comment didn't go unnoticed but he was willing to let it go for the fact that he'd already done something that was probably stupid. Chris looked in the direction that she had indicated. He watched her find a couple of light bulbs and she lit it up. Her power obviously had something to do with electricity. I bet she hated that EMP.

After she lit up the room, they found their way out. He had done more damage than he'd planned; however, he couldn't control how far it went. Chris answered her, rude statement. "I can't control how far this shit goes. Yes I did think about this and it seemed like the only way out. Of course I wasn't counting on you dragging me out of their. Don't get me wrong I'm glad you did. But hey lets face it, it's not all the time an attractive woman save you, so I'm not complaining." He said smiling a little towards the end of his statement. His eyes had started to glow less, making him less obvious to the public.

"I can't control how far this shit goes." Oh? Lori tried to see past the towering building next door. The lights were all out there. There was a strange sense of silence as if some general background noise was missing. How far did the damage actually go?

"Yes I did think about this and it seemed like the only way out." He mouth had pulled tightly to the side of her face in a skeptical kind of scowl. She turned the full force of her clear blue eyes to his slightly less glowing greens. "Magnetic fields don't stop fleshies... Just like I grabbed you, it could just as easily been Straight Scotch that nabbed you. Besides. Hiding in the dark is hard for somebody" She stepped in close, impolitely close. "like" she tapped him between the eyes with her free hand. "you." Just as soon as she'd stepped in close, she was stepping away again, into that strangely still night. "You should probably think these things through more carefully next time."

"Of course I wasn't counting on you dragging me out of their. Don't get me wrong I'm glad you did. But hey lets face it, it's not all the time an attractive woman save you, so I'm not complaining." He smiled and it was all male. Even if he was as young as he looked, that look on his face alone let her know that his thoughts at least were all grown up.

"It's called a brain. Get one and you won't have to be saved by anyone." And she stepped out into the alleyway behind the bar holding the lightbulb at her side like a flashlight to light her way. She'd done her good deed for her life time. Now it was time to skip town. Crap. Whoever checked this incident out had better no pin this on her... Lori paused at the mouth of the alleyway, the lightbulb going dead in her hand as she surveyed the damage. Lori debated what she should do with Rum and Coke because something had to be done. "Where do you live?"

"Magnetic fields don't stop fleshies... Just like I grabbed you, it could just as easily been Straight Scotch that nabbed you. Besides. Hiding in the dark is hard for somebody" "like" "you." "You should probably think these things through more carefully next time." Chris listened to her and was a little suspicious as she stepped oddly close to him. He flinched when she poked him between the eyes and once she'd back away he replied to her, "I wasn't trying to stop people I was trying to get away during the confusion."

He followed her into the alley. She wasn't a particularly nice person with all her snide comments she was making at him. "Where do you live?" He debated the answer that he would give her. Chris didn't mind telling her where he lived, since the mansion seemed safe enough with the xmen living there. The mansion was quite a ways from here, since he got a cab ride into the city, it probably wouldn't have been affected with his EMP blast. He quickly thought up a lie to tell her. There had to be a hotel around here somewhere close enough that was affected by his EMP.

"I'm, uh... staying at one of the hotels around here. I don't know if they're be any power in the place right now. So I'm not sure where I'll go. I'd heard there was a mutant school around here, so I could go there for the night if I need to." He said to her, knowing full well that he already had a room there and would probably end up there for the rest of the night.

"I wasn't trying to stop people I was trying to get away during the confusion."

She looked at him again with deadpan eyes. He just didn't get it, did he? Glowing eyes in a dark room full of panicked people who have just had all their favorite gadgets EMP'ed... Lori didn't have to say it. It was clearly written on her face. Coke and Rum was the obvious and easy target in a room full of angry people.

Maybe Lori shouldn't have saved him. Maybe mutant kind would have been better off without him in the gene pool. Lori shook her head with a sigh. Bah. He was young. He still had time to learn.

When she asked about his living arrangements he hesitated a bit too long. "I'm not trying to stalk you, hot shot. I'm trying to make sure you get home without scarring or maiming, but if you don't want my help-- fine." She tossed him the light bulb and turned around so that she could re-enter the bar.

"I'm, uh... staying at one of the hotels around here." Lori rolled her eyes and tried the door. She forgot that it auto-locked from the inside. Shoot. "I don't know if they're be any power in the place right now. So I'm not sure where I'll go. I'd heard there was a mutant school around here, so I could go there for the night if I need to."

She hesitated with her hand on the handle of the door. If he were really staying at a hotel he'd need to stop in and get his things. Assuming he had things, of course. But even beyond that, he would need to check out and pay. That was assuming he was going to pay. Lori frowned. She didn't know enough about this one to assume much of anything beyond an certain level of naiveté, but there was just something fishy about the whole... 'oh there's conveniently no power. Perhaps I can go to this school place.'

"If you wanted to go to this school, then just say so. If you're still up in the air, there's also a homeless shelter. Yeah - whatever, you don't have to be a hobo to stay there. They put up folks like us in a tight spot." 'when they're not busy developing viral wmd's,' she added to herself in her head. Lori folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against the door as the sound of angry people only intensified out in the street. It wasn't specifically her blood that they were after, but she sure as heck wasn't going to take the fall for this one.

"I'm not trying to stalk you, hot shot. I'm trying to make sure you get home without scarring or maiming, but if you don't want my help-- fine." "Well, aren't you considerate." Chris said snidely to her. This woman wasn't even a slight bit nice. The nicest thing she'd done was save him from the crowd in the bar. He was thankful for that, however, he wasn't so keen on how rude she was being.

Chris could tell from her expression that she thought he was an idiot. It didn't make him any more fond of the bartender so far. he listened to her talk again. "If you wanted to go to this school, then just say so. If you're still up in the air, there's also a homeless shelter. Yeah - whatever, you don't have to be a hobo to stay there. They put up folks like us in a tight spot."

She offered him a stay at the a homeless shelter that also took in mutants. He wasn't to keen on going back to the mansion, especially at this point. The young man decided to make tonight up in the air. "I'm guessing that you stay there. But my night is pretty much up in the air. That school thing's the only one I've heard of." he replied to her comment. Even though she was rude he had a feeling that she was just having a bad day. Or she just didn't like many people.

He heard the crowd getting louder as more people came outside shouting for answers as to why all the power suddenly went of. He glanced around to see if any one was coming down the alley way. As far as he could tell no one was; however, that was never always the case with him since he seemed to be the epitome of Murphy's Law.

Rum and Coke's attitude was getting on Lori's nerves. Here she was being as nice as she'd ever been and what did she get in return? Snide remarks. She had enough sass for the both of them and that meant she claimed dominancy when it came to being a jerk. She did and didn't know how rude she was. It was a natural defense for her to push anyone and everyone away. And the looks that screamed 'you're an idiot'? They were second nature. No one measure up to Lori's standards: not even Lori.

"I'm guessing that you stay there." Lori prickled at his assumption. Yeah, she stayed at a homeless shelter, but she didn't exactly like hearing it. "But my night is pretty much up in the air. That school thing's the only one I've heard of."

Lori pulled free her hair from it's high ponytail and shook out the stringy strands, it wasn't that it was super dirty. It was more like her hair needed a good brushing. She sighed and had a hard time hearing it over the rabble of the crowd. "School it is." Lori turned to follow the alleyway down and away from the voices. New York was her town, this bar was like home, and she owned these streets. If there was ever a secret or safe way out, she would be the one to know it.

She led without bothering to look back. Rum and Coke should know how to follow at the very least, right? She also didn't feel threatened by him. She probably should have since she didn't know the full extent of his power, but she just wasn't. He just didn't give off a threatening vibe. He was too soft. Too young.

There were sirens, but that was to be expected. There was also the sound of a helicopter. The searchlight swept over the buildings, but the angle wasn't right for the light to reach down to where Rum and Coke and Lori were currently walking. They needed to get farther away from the epicenter, but taking alleyways and threading through gates and past chain link fences took more time than a direct path on the street would.

"School it is." This woman apparently assumed from his answer that he was interested in going to the mansion. Truthfully, he had just left there and was interested in seeing other things. The young female started walking down the alley. She didn't look back, which meant that she was expecting him to follow her.

Chris wasn't sure if he was going to follow her until he heard the sirens. He knew that they were only coming to do crowd control, but it didn't make him any more comfortable hearing them. Chris quickly followed the bartender as he watched her walk in front of him. She obviously knew where she was going, as she led him through alleyways, gates and past chain link fences. It was a safer direction to go than on the open streets, especially with a helicopter looking for them.

After a short time Chris started walking next to the bartender. "What's your name? and your powers? The least you could do is let me know a little about my heroine." He finally said to her. He wasn't sure how much the snide older woman would tell him about her self; then again, it didn't seem like he was asking something to personal. The voices didn't seem to get any quieter as they continued to walk.

Fission thought that was odd and so he glanced back. As he did he saw what looked like a mob following them. "We'd better hurry." He said taking her arm and walking faster. Chris didn't know where they were going, so he turned around another corner where they were met by even more people from the mob. He turned around to see if they could retreat the way they came. Unfortunately he turned around only to face the other half of the mob. "uh oh. Hope you've got something up your sleeves."