The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
"****!" The cigarette drooped balancing precariously out of a white coat's mouth. It wasn't everyday that you got to see some kind of illegal drop-off. His feet were moving before his mind had registered the cigarette his body so craved, would never get finished. "Get the license plate number!" He shouted to a paramedic team that was starting to unload gurneys from the back of their vehicle to accommodate this newest disaster.
Stethoscope at the ready, the doctor was all hands. Turning the semi-coherent man over to a paramedic, he checked the vitals of the entirely limp girl. Looked like someone took a sledgehammer to her face. Vitals OK, he checked for fractures on her face or spine or any possible reason why they shouldn't move her.
"What happened?" someone was asking the man and the question was enough for the doctor to pause and flick some ash off of his cigarette. He motioned for the second gurney to come and get her. Concussion maybe, though loss of consciousness didn't bode well in that scenario.
The interns and orderlies were out now. Tubing and checking and doing the heavy lifting. "We're gonna need a CT and did anybody get that license plate?"
A paramedic handed the doctor a slip of paper from his notebook with a combination of 6 letters and numbers and the white coat flicked the last half of his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. Well, it wasn't all bad. They could perhaps get the felon.
The S.W.A.T. officer was continually drifting back and forth in the realm that was between consciousness and unconsciousness. He knew that he and Lily had been thrown out of a vehicle and were now being attended by physicians. He wasn't sure what was being said but they were checking him over with a thoroughness that would have made anyone proud. The scent of cigarette smoke lingered in one of the attendant's coats but Jacen was willing to over look that little fact if they just took good care of Lily.
"The giant and the cat!" The thought slammed into Jacen's brain like a sledgehammer as he finally drifted close enough to consciousness that his memory came back. A moment later he, as well as his blond um-friend had been placed on separate gurneys and were being wheeled inside.
"Get this guy on an IV and see about getting those scratches and the gouge in his arm patched up." One of the doctors instructed several nurses as Jacen was lifted off of the gurney and onto one of the emergency room beds, "We're taking the girl back for an MRI. Also draw some blood and run all the basic tests just to be on the safe side. I'll call the police and notify them of the drop off. I'm sure they'll have questions."
"ID... am a cop." Jacen murmured though none of the nurses or doctors seemed to hear what he was saying over the noise of the emergency room, "Lily... where's Lily?" He could hear the sound of Lily's gurney dissapearing off in the distance and he honestly had no idea where they were taking here. Everything had gone wrong. They had been supposed to have an evening of enjoyment and instead they were in the hospital. Jacen was supposed to protect Lily and instead she was unconscious. Would the doctors realize Lily was a mutant? Would that affect how they treated her?
Jacen fell silent, not even bothering to try and say anything as he once again realized how different things might be because of his mutation. He had to protect Lily and right now that meant staying silent. Maybe when she got back from wherever they had taken her he could do something but not until then. "Rest." He thought to himself as he felt the prick of an IV going into his right arm followed a few minutes later by the prick of a needle going into his left arm to draw blood, "Just rest."
Lori's gurney was wheeled straight to radiology where they stripped her of her damp and disgusting smelling clothing and hooked her up with a sweet paper-thin, backless number. She didn't mind. She wouldn't have minded even if she were awake. Almost anything was better than vomit soggy clothes.
"Closed Trauma to the head. Swollen eye indicates the point of impact was over the optical nerve. Patient appears to be in her late teens, early twenties unconscious for as long as she has been in our care. We can't get a pupillary reaction until the swelling goes down so we thought we'd get a scan."
The intern carting Lori around passed off her chart to the technician and they set her up for a cerebral scan. Funny thing about CT scans was that the computerized equipment was very sensitive and even unconscious on minimal reserve power, the corresponding magnetic field was enough to make her scans show up fuzzy. The strange visual artifacts alone had the technicians scratching their heads.
The technicians ended up running diagnostics and taking some blood work while they prepped her for an MRI. MRI's were more accurate anyway. Perhaps the cat scan machine was broken? This unconscious kid didn't scream mutant to them.
They'd started the MRI machine and curiously enough, the girl's body had been flung violently toward the top of the machine. She slammed into the top of the machine before the magnetic fields evened out and Lori was left floating equally pulled from multiple angles. Her legs and arms dangled limply, her body's personal, weak magnetic field obviously originated from some place in her chest.
Another brain boggler until the blood work came back. Active x-gene. From the way she reacted to the various tests, she had something to do with magnetism. That information went into her chart and they cuffed her to her gurney and carted her off to a private room. They'd have to try more traditional means of medicine since their fancy tests were of no use.
The man's heart rate had finally evened out and his breathing was calm. As he lay in his emergency room bed he found that his tenuous link on consciousness had grown stronger and he was no longer drifting back and forth but instead was now able to focus on his surroundings. Even without bothering to open his eyes, Jacen could gather Intel about his current situation by listening carefully to what the various doctors and nurses were saying. While most of the conversation had to do with other patients and their various conditions, there were a couple of statements that were of some importance.
"Did you ever get an ID on our mysterious drop-offs?" One nurse had asked another as they stood near his bed looking over his vital signs
"I haven't heard about the woman's ID but he's Jacen King a police officer. But that's old news. Did you hear what they found when they tried to MRI the woman?"
"No. Tell me!"
"The MRI did something really weird so they rushed her blood work and, what do you know, she's a mutant."
"Really?"
"Yep. They put her in a private quarantined room and everything!"
"What about him?"
"I had no reason to rush his blood work so it's buried in the pile there somewhere. I wish I had stamped it with urgent though."
"A hottie like that couldn't be a mutant, could he?"
"I don't know... remember that ice manipulator?"
As the two women walked away Jacen missed out on the rest of their conversation but he had heard enough. Lily's secret was out in the open and that meant the longer they stayed in the hospital the more likely it was that his own secret would be made public. There were still officers nearby that were waiting for the poor man to 'regain consciousness' but if he worked it right then he just might be able to slip away without them knowing. It took a good twenty to thirty minutes but finally Jacen heard one of the nurses closing the curtain in order to give the 'poor unconscious' man some semblance of privacy. Immediately his eyes snapped wide open only to squint as they tried to adjust to the bright lights.
"Private room... just gotta find her and get her out of here. The longer we're in this situation the more awkward questions we might have to answer." He murmured to himself as he turned in the bed, allowing his legs to hang over the edge. Gritting his teeth against the pain he knew was coming he reached over and yanked out his IV followed moments later by the blood collection tube that had been left in his other arm. Digging in the small table next to the bed Jacen quickly found bandages and after taping up his arms so that the blood wouldn't be obvious he finally stood back up to his feet.
The wooziness was almost instantaneous and if Jacen hadn't been able to lean back against the hospital bed he would have collapsed to the ground. "To fast you idiot." He gritted out as he vainly tried to make the room stop spinning, "Still not back to 100%." After a few more minutes of recovery Jacen was finally able to take the time to pull on his jacket which was laying on the table by his be bed. After zipping it up to conceal the fact he didn't have a shirt he stepped over to the curtain and peaked outside. Doctors and nurses were rushing this way and that and off in the back corner two plain clothes policeman sat sipping at coffee while they idly watched one of the TVs that hung on the ceiling. He couldn't tell exactly what they were watching but it was obvious that the two men were enthralled.
"1... 2... 3..." Jacen softly counted to himself before stepping out through the curtain without opening it and walking purposefully down the aisle as though he were meant to be there. In all the confusion no one seemed to notice his appearance and rapid exit so in just a few moments he found himself on an elevator taking him up to the hospital's main floor.
"Police." Jacen said in as strong a voice as he could muster as he walked up to the information desk and flashed his badge, "You've got an unidentified female mutant that was dropped off at the emergency ward. What room is she in?"
***
A few minutes and a few quarters later Jacen stood easily on the correct floor, idly sipping at a vending machine coffee as he waited for a nurse or doctor to exit Lily's room. He was going to get in and help her but he couldn't do it with just everyone watching either. Right now it was a waiting game but he was up against the clock. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed he was absent from the emergency room and this was probably the first place they would check.
"Hurry up in there." Jacen muttered before taking another sip of the overly strong coffee, "Just leave her alone already!"
The group of interns groaned. House jokes just weren't funny anymore.
"Well maybe it's something to do with her x-gene?" More groans. "Well, they're all different, right? I mean, it could be!"
"You can't always blame it on that, Schulyer."
The interns debated for a time over the cause of her ailment before the attending brought them to order again. "Medical Coma. It's a coma, people. Cause unknown, but how do we proceed?"
"Well, if we knew the cause it would be easier to proceed. Blood glucose and iron levels are a little low, but that just means she hasn't eaten dinner yet, not that she's in a diabetic shock."
"Uh, keep her under close observation?"
"Two points for Blake. You're on monitor duty, I want electrocardiogram and EEG updates every hour. Every hour, you got that?"
"Yes, ma'am!" The other interns rolled their eyes, jealous that Blake got the mutant case. The interns all trailed out after the attending, leaving Blake to check the hook up on Lori and a small amount of paperwork before he too left the room leaving Lori alone.
She lay in a foam of her own damp blond hair. An oxygen level monitor clipped to her finger, heart monitor pads stuck to her chest, sensors stuck to her temples, an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose, an IV inserted into her arm, and one of her hands connected at the wrist to the bed by handcuffs. She was thoroughly hooked in, and in no danger of waking up on her own anytime soon.
It seemed to take forever but finally a group of doctors walked out of the room, apparently leaving Lily alone. Turning, Jacen began to walk past the group as though he were heading down the hall just as yet one more person walked out.
"Damn! How many are in there?" Jacen wondered, doing his best not to appear interested in the room as he walked past this last doctor. "Do they always call in this many specialists on a mutant case?"
Quickly side stepping into the room, Jacen nudged the door closed silently and then walked over to the bed where you blond beauty was lying. She didn't exactly look peaceful in her current state of repose but then it was hard to describe exactly how she did look. Of course, none of that really mattered. All that mattered was helping the woman that had and still was helping him accept life as a mutant.
"I'd much rather be doing this while you're awake." Jacen murmured quietly as he carefully ran his hands under Lily's back and over her sides, making sure that the medics had dried her off completely before fastening her to the bed, "We don't want this charge draining off before it can do you some good."
While he didn't claim to be an expert in Lily's mutation he knew at least a little bit from what she had told him and what he'd observed. Water was her weakness and obviously it drained her of her energy. If he could get some energy back into her then she just might rejoin the land of the living. Glancing around the room quickly in order to find something that would work in this situation Jacen's gaze fell on a crash cart that was tucked away in the corner. He didn't think that crash carts were normally stored in every hospital room but he wasn't going to complain about the hospital keeping one in this particular room.
Moving as quickly as his injured body could handle, Jacen wheeled the cart over to Lily's bedside and then began to carefully look over the various dials and switches. Part of his training in the military had been as an assistant medic so he knew how to use these machines although it had been some time so he was just a little rusty.
"If this doesn't work I'll let you smack me with that power pole next time you want to." Jacen muttered as he flipped the switch that would start the machine charging and then turned around, pulling down Lily's gown so that he could get to bare skin. "And if it does work... you owe me." He continued to ramble as he squirted gel onto the two paddled and then rubbed them together as he turned back around to face the blonde beauty.
Yep nothing. Or apparently nothing. Her body didn't jerk dramatically as they do on TV, she didn't gasp back to life either. What did happen was a jerky stutter on the heart monitor and a serious jump in the level of brain activity. She absorbed it, but she needed more. More than a 5 millisecond 100 joule shock anyway. That was hardly enough to keep a light bulb lit for over a minute.
The second shock made her blond eyebrows furrow slightly pulling together in obvious dislike of something.
The third shock allowed her fingers to move and a single eye scrunched groggily.
The fourth shock was just gravy. Lori's non-swollen eye opened slowly and she attempted to put her hand out to keep him from pressing the paddles against her skin again, but her wrist caught on the handcuffs. Her heart felt like it was break dancing to an irregular beat, but still beating. The handcuffs earned a dirty glare before she turned that one blue eye back to Jacen.
"Oh a biphasic truncated waveform. Sexy." Her voice sounded like gravel, but there was a certain lilt to her lips that said she was proud of his craftiness in bringing her back. She cleared her throat before speaking and this time she sounded a bit less like a chain smoker the second time. "How long?"
Was it the same day or two weeks later? Had the giant taken her away somewhere and they'd just recovered her body? She couldn't remember what Jacen had been wearing, was it the same thing? How had they gotten here and why did she have so many fresh scrapes like concrete rugburn? She moved to be able to sit up (she didn't seem to care about the lack of hospital gown in a closed room with only Jacen) and attempted to brush her hair behind her ear, but the handcuff kept her short. "Please tell me these cuffs aren't yours." She wasn't in the mood for kinky stuff at the hospital just yet. A few more shocks and maybe, but now? She just wanted out.
He hadn't expected the first shock to wake her up though the fact that she still wasn't conscious after three was worrisome. "Come on Lily... don't give up on me." Jacen thought to himself as he applied the paddles a fourth time. Finally, ever so slowly, the one unswollen eye blinked open. He could feel his lips moving into a relieved smile as he slowly pulled the paddles away from her body and placed them back in their cradles on the crash cart.
"Welcome back beautiful." Jacen said with obvious affection and relief, though not necessarily love. Lily was becoming one of his best friends in this new mutant lifestyle and while he knew neither of them would probably ever be interested in settling down, there was still some sort of emotion between the two fo them.
"Oh a biphasic truncated waveform. Sexy." Even in a voice that sounded like it came from a woman that had chain smoked for the past fifty years, she still came across sexy. Obviously in both of their current conditions Jacen wasn't out to start anything now or in the near future, but he could still appreciate the beautiful, albeit slightly battered woman that was currently in front of him.
"How long?" She asked after learing her throat, this time sounding a little bit more like herself.
"Uh... a couple hours by now I think." Jacen said as he glanced over at the clock on the wall as he tried to figure out exaclty how long they'd really ben there. "I was out of it for a while so I can't really be sure but I know it's still the same day... I think."
Turning back around Jacen did his best to stifle a grin as Lily asked about the handcuffs. That wasn't a bad idea to file away for the future but it was quite clear that neither of them were in the mood or condition for anything like that at this point in time. "They're not mine." Jacen replied as he checked the handcuff to see if was standard police issue or whether it was the safety cuffs that were sometimes provided to hospitals. Though most people would miss the difference any professional would immediately see it. Police cuffs could only be opened with a key while hospital safety cuffs had a release button because, after all, not every doctor or nurse could be issued a handcuff key. "My guess is that after your antics in the MRI they handcuffed you because they knew you were a mutant. "
Moving his hands deftly over the cuffs, Jacen found the apropriate place and with a firm press, released Lily from her restraint. "Now let's see about getting you out of here." Glancing around the room quickly he had to pause as he realized that there were no clothes lying nearby for the woman to put on. "Uh... guess we gotta find you some clothes. Since speed is of the essence we better go with a nurses uniform for now." Glancing back over at Lily he raised an eyebrow questioningly, "That work for you?"
Lori started by pulling down the oxygen mask. Every movement was achy, but the most painful thing of all? ...She'd missed the MRI experience. "What happened in the MRI?" She balked, her physics mind reeling. They put her in a MRI and she wasn't awake enough to change it into energy! Damn! She'd so wanted to try that someday. That made her realize that her ever-presnt bangles were gone. The shoes and clothes, she could deal without but those tightly coiled wires were an integral part of her charging process. Without them she was stuck leeching power, never generating it on her own.
"I hope you have wire at home." She muttered as he freed her from her one-armed bondage. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and re-settled her dressing gown before she began the arduous task of peeling all the diodes and sensor pads off of her chest and head. She pulled off the finger sensor and winced at the IV, not wanting to take it out, but knowing that there could be no strings attached if she wanted to leave. She took hold of the metal piece and pulled it out slowly, her other hand ready to press at the wound in the crook of her arm once it was bleeding free.
Lori dropped the cord letting it dangle before sliding off the bed onto weak knees. It wasn't so bad really, but a fast paced getaway was entirely out of the question unless she got something more in her system. if the idea didn't so completely revolt her, she rather felt like puking herself. She just felt so sluggish and empty.
Lori poked at the charge box for the defibrillator as Jacen suggested some dress up. "Didn't peg you for a role player, but if it's naughty nurses for you now is like your best chance..." She was all too serious and casual about her comment as if it were just a passing idea they were discussing over dinner. She was incapable of a smile at the time. Lori prodded until she found a panel that popped off and exposed the wires that protected the direct current system. Excellent. She grabbed hold of it without a second thought.
And this time her body did jerk back. The box sparked and started smoking, the lights flickered on the entire hallway, and Lori swallowed. "Whoa." That... was a lot of voltage all at once. She hadn't been able to catch all of it hence the spark and jerk routine, but she was much obliged to the good creators of the defibrillation machine. Lily smiled comfortably for the first time since she'd woken. Her body was tired, her mind not as sharp as it should be, but she was at a comfortable level of charge now. She wouldn't run out unless she attempted to bring the metal frame of the hospital down or something equally tiring and foolish.
"Gonna get me that outfit so we can waltz out of here?" Lori went to check on the clipboard at the end of her bed. What did the doctors have to say about her? "You think it'll work with my...?" She motioned to the horrifically puffy eye that the feline had gifted her. There were angry red marks where the adhesive had refused to let go of her skin as well.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you what happened in the MRI." Jacen said somewhat apologetically as he moved toward the door to take stock of where the nearest supply closet might be, "All I over heard was that you made the machine act kind of crazy so they rushed a blood sample through the X-Gene screening."
Peeking outside he was glad to see that the hallway was deserted. Looking back over at Lily just to make sure she would be OK he answered her last question. "I think I have some wire at my house and oh yeah... your eye." For a moment he stood there apparently stumped and then a slow grin spread over his face, "Actually I think I can even make that work. Just hang out here. I'll be right back."
Stepping back out into the hallway, Jacen carefully closed the room door behind him and then walked down the hall as non-chalantly as he could manage. Off at the end he could see several nurses hanging out by the nursing station but there wasn't anyone in this corridor at the moment. Finally, about sixty feet down the hallway Jacen spied the supply closet. "Bingo." He murmured to himself as he glanced back toward the nurse's station to make sure that he hadn't been spotted. The hall was still clear and so Jacen quickly slipped into the closet.
As was normal hospital protecol, the closet was stocked with all kinds of drugs, bandages, sheets, hospital gowns, and even a few spare sets of scrubs. "Blue... green... purple... and pink." Jacen muttered to himself as he sorted through the garments, "Should I? Most deffinately."
***
Less than ten minutes after he had left Jacen was slipping back into Lily's room. In his left hand he held a pair of brown crocs that someone had left in the storage closet and in the other hand was a pair of pepto-bismol pink scrubs. "One nurse's uniform for the lady." Jacen said with a cheshire cat grin on his face as he walked over and placed the clothing on the bed, "Since you haven't been leaving any clothes at my apartment I'll either have to take you to your place or run out and pick up some clothes for you after we get back to my place."
Turning around so that the blond woman could have at least a little privacy while she changed he made his way back over to the door, listening carefully for anyone that might intrude. He knew that it couldn't be to much longer before the nurse's were making their rounds again and he really didn't want to have to deal with someone walking in on the middle of the great escape. "How would I handle that?" He murmured quietly to himself, trying to decide just how far he would go to protect Lily and himself, "Could I really hurt an innocent person?"
***
In relatively short order Lily was dressed and immediately Jacen ushered her out into the hallway. Walking normally but with a purposeful stride his walk ate up the distance that would take them to the bank of elevators. So far everything had been going smoothly and for a brief moment he even though they might escape without having to use the cover story he had come up with but of course, that would have been to easy.
As the doors to the elevator slid open they revealed a nursing assistant with her pill cart, apparently on her way down to one of the other floors.
"What happened to your eye?" The woman gasped out without the slightest hesitation as Jacen and Lily stepped onto the elevator.
"Domestic dispute gone wrong." Jacen spoke up immediately as he whipped out his wallet and flashed his badge toward the stunned woman, "The clothes were collected as evidence and I'm taking her downtown for a formal statement now. Please... she's still in shock."
While Jacen was gone Lori perused her chart. Medical coma, iron count low, yadda, yadda, yadda... oh? active x-gene was on there with a hand written note: magnetic ability. do not use sensitive equipment around patient. Well, that was good to know. She didn't especially like that they had pegged her, but she really didn't have much of a choice if they stuck her in a MRI machine... She tried to imagine what exactly happened. Something visually interesting to be sure because magnetism wasn't exactly the easiest thing to identify if you weren't trained to know what to look for.
Her name was "Jane Doe" on the page and that made her happy. No questions to answer from Jacen just yet about not being Lily... she really wanted to be Lily for him...
Lori gave Jacen a flat look when she saw the clothes, but said nothing. If it would get her out of here without too much fuss, she would do it. It's not like he chose that for her, right? Surely he had better taste than that. She thought it was pretty cute that he turned around when she started to take her dressing gown off. His innocence (no matter how small) amused her.
"I don't have much at my place. My house burned down, remember? I'd say my wardrobe is still recovering if I had anything resembling a wardrobe..."
She dressed in what looked like bubblegum rolled in peptobismal and sprinkled with all things foul. But the rubbery shoes weren't so bad. Ugly as all sin, but it really put a spring in her step.
She followed Jacen and tried to play it cool, her hair lay loosely over her swollen eye. Jacen said he had a plan so she thought to trust him and he didn't disappoint. She wished she'd known what part she was playing earlier, though because she was pretty good at looking helpless and wounded. Oh Policeman Jacen, Lily's hero.
"You get that beast thrown in jail, honey!" The nurse said as she turned her attention back over to Lily, the outrage obvious in her voice, "Men like that don't even deserve to be on this earth!"
Jacen did his best to maintain his serious expression even though a grin was trying to fight its way back to the surface. Somehow he had a very difficult time imagining Lily doing anything 'domestic' and it sure didn't seem like Bacchus was really her type. Of course, that brought out the question of what exactly was her type. Other than the fact that he could nullify her power and allow her to enjoy a shower and more intimate activities was there really anything about himself that would attract her?
"Good luck honey." The nurse offered again as the doors slid open on her floor and she stepped off. Moments later the two escapees were once again left alone.
"That was to close for comfort." Jacen murmured quietly as the elevator car began moving again, "We're about to arrive on the ground floor. From here it's a short walk through the lobby and out to the nearest taxi." Even in an escape as basic as this the former Ranger found himself examining every step of the way as if it were a military mission. The hostage rescue had been successful but now it was time to get to the extraction point. If they could get there without being spotted then things would go much more smoothly. If they were spotted then Jacen would actually have to face just how far he was willing to go in this situation.
*** (In The Emergency Room)
"Is our boy awake yet?" One of the detectives asked a nurse that was passing boy. It was obvious from his tone that he was getting tired of the baby sitting they'd been doing so far and he was much more interested in getting on with their case.
"You can't rush a man to wake back up." The nurse snapped back, obviously in a pissy mood. After having worked nine hours of a ten hours shift all she wanted to do was finish up the last of her work and go home for a nice long bath. Having to deal with impatient policemen was not part of her job description and she sure wasn't going to give them any sort of special treatment, "I"ll check on him in a minute!"
Apparently cowed the detectives turned their attention back to the TV as the nurse walked over to check on a couple of other patients while slowly making her way over to where Mr. King was resting. Aproximately five minutes later she stepped out of the area, a confused expression on her face. After having a quick conference with two other nurses she hurried back over to where the detectives were sitting.
"He's gone." She said bluntly, obviously bewildered by the situation, "But who slips out of an emergency room?"
"A person that's guilty of something." One of the men responded grimly as his parnter pulled out his radio and called up to the other officers that had been dispatched to the young woman's room.
"She's gone too, Murphy." He said grimly as he lowered the radio from near his lips and place it back on his belt, "They've either been abducted or their making a break for it."
"Get men to all the exits." Murphy said even as he was already breaking into a jog that would take him to the main entrance, "Jenkins, you and I get the front!"
*** (Back In The Elevator)
Even though the elevator was relatively fast, Jacen felt like it was crawlinga long. Mere seconds could be the difference between failure and success in a mission like this and being stuck inside a sealed room was never really a great idea. "Maybe we should have taken the stairs." He muttered in an annoyed voice only about fifteen seconds before the doors slid open.
Stepping out of the elevator Jacen turned to head for the exit doors when his eyes locked on two men that were hurrying ahead of them. Grabbing a hold of Lily's arm without the slightest hesitation Jacen quickly pulled her aside and shoved open a door into the 'family' bathroom. "We've got two detectives between us and the exit." He murmured quietly as he locked the door to give them a few moments of privacy, "Any ideas?"
When the woman in the elevator cheered her on, Lori assumed an honestly muddled smile. She liked the lady instantly for her expression, but could not ever imagine what would lead her to a domestic dispute she couldn't end by force... except one with Jacen. And they weren't exactly in domestic bliss even before the vomit incident. Of course, it was always easier to pretend when Lori had something to work with. She thought her heart had been doing a crazy break beat break dance before, but after the large shock she just couldn't seem to get herself to calm down. She was focusing very hard on even breaths no matter how shaky.
"Just a friendly pointer..." After the nurse had left and the doors had re-closed Lori had a hard time resisting touching Jacen in some way. She ached for the comfort that physical proximity allowed, no matter how small. Her hand rested against Jacen's arm, an innocent touch, but proof that he was there and warm and helping. "Just because one can absorb electricity, doesn't mean arching it across their already beating heart was a spectacular idea."
She withdrew her hand and settled into the persona of a wounded woman, which she was. How long until the icky smell went away? How long until her eye un-puffed? How long until she could fall into bed and sleep and sleep and sleep?
The door opened and they took perhaps two steps before Jacen was yanking an unsteady Lily to the side. "We've got two detectives between us and the exit. Any ideas?"
She let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, that maybe you shouldn't be getting your hands dirty." She pulled out of his grasp and walked toward the waiting room area that was adjacent to the front doors. Hopefully Jacen would be dumbfounded or perhaps indecisive enough to let her do her thing. Her hands couldn't get much dirtier, but Jacen's obviously could. He had that feel to him like one just discovering that the rules didn't always apply to their kind.
She wasted no time. Jacen could be coming behind her and the cops could have spotted her. She raised her arms at the door frame that the detectives were guarding and formed a shaky, but strong field ripping the metal from the wall and doors and flinging it straight toward the men in a sort of scooping motion. She wanted them off their feet, disoriented, blindsided. People were screaming and running as they often did when things started moving on their own or by obvious mutant power.
Hopefully they could dodge out to the street in the chaos or at least find another exit. Lori next turned the mass of metal scrap and drove it toward the ground. She wanted to go home. Maybe have a good cuddle. These men were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. For Jacen's sake she didn't drive it down too hard. Stupid man making her want to be a stupid better person. it was stupid. She pushed it down harder just to spite herself.
Jacen froze as Lily pulled away from him and walked off rather shakily. What in the world was she planning? Could he really let her do something that might mean innocent people getting hurt? Shouldn't he move forward in order to stop the woman before she went to far?
Sometimes not making a decision is just as good a decision as consciously deciding. As Jacen stood there, torn between his internal struggle he could only watch as the blond ripped away the metal doorway and then used it to shove the detectives to the ground. In the doorway there was no sparking electricity from where the automatic doors had been yanked out from their wires and the emergency lighting for the hospital had even come on as screams of fear filled the air.
"I can't be seen... they know my ID so if they have me on film escaping they'll have even more questions." Jacen realized as he took a single step toward Lily. Looking around quickly he scooped a baseball cap up off the floor from where someone had dropped it and then took off at a jog toward the entrance that Lily had opened up.
"Keep your face down and angled to the right!" Jacen said just loud enough for her to hear, "That'll avoid the cameras!" As they stepped outside he could already hear the sound of the police sirens in the distance. The trouble was going to be getting out without anyone noticing and a cab wouldn't really be the right decision. Glancing around quickly his eyes locked on the box of keys right next to the now empty vallet parking station. Speeding up his pace just a bit more he ran over and swiftly looked over the keys before his eyes locked on a set. "Porsche?" They needed a car to escape in and Jacen had always wanted to drive one of those things...
Throwing caution to the wind Jacen grabbed up the keys and then headed for the parking lot. Not only had the Porsche been a good choice because it was something Jacen had always wanted to drive, it was also easily identifiable in the parking lot! "I can't believe I'm doing this." He muttered as he vaulted into the Boxter S and immediately fired up the engine, "Lily... I don't know how we get in these situations."
Damn, she was really off her game if she'd so easily forgotten about the existence of cameras. Even after the warning it was probably too late for her. What about the elevator? Was there evidence there too? She was kicking herself. Lori flipped off the camera as it exploded into more sparks. Very adult of her, but she was irked at herself for not thinking clearly. She dashed out into the parking lot before Jacen had a chance to catch up and overloaded the garage cameras one by one. If they linked her to this, she was going to be very angry.
Lori tied her hair in a knot to keep it out of her face as Jacen hopped into an open top porche. "Grand Larceny. Aren't we quite the felon?" But that was the most of a complaint that she would give. Shouts were heard at the mouth of the garage and Lori knew backup wasn't too far behind.
"Lily... I don't know how we get in these situations."
She settled into the passenger seat and buckled herself in. "I don't know how we get out of them..." But Jacen was handling himself quite nicely, slamming the car into gear and fishtailing a bit in his haste to go around the garage labyrinth exit. Lori ducked and flipped off the exit camera. It would have overloaded like the rest had Jacen not been there. "We'll have to ditch the car pretty soon-- turn left."
Jacen gave her a look and she shrugged. "I've lived here all my life. Turn left. This early in the morning 23rd is gonna be slammed because of all the bars and people who don't know when to quit and go home." She didn't want traffic cameras to see them , but she couldn't take out any so close to her umfriend. Lori ducked down in her seat, mind racing about where they could go or where they could ditch the car.
She was not taking Jacen to the Sanctuary no matter how well they swept disasters under the rug. There were plenty of neighborhoods that when a car this good looking was left out on the street would be stripped within hours if not minutes... especially if the key were still in the ignition. Why did they never question the silver platter? She wondered. Of course, the same neighborhoods weren't the place she'd want to take a date let alone a place she'd want to be while weak.
"Right at the next light, we're headed to Mid-town." She closed her eye, the wind rushing past her face was making it water unnecessarily and she needed to be wary where they were going. "We're going to leave the car running outside the 7-11 at 50th and Reno and then walk a couple blocks. There are cameras so choose your parking spot wisely. Maybe we can catch a cab after that or something..." It was definitely not a safe plan, but it was the fastest way to ditch a car that she could think of.