OOC: This is what happened to Fade within the year I was inactive.

1

The war between humans and mutants seemed never-ending until the humans devised a plan to rod the world of mutants. In this day and age, there was one word that sent chills down every mutants' back: camp. Soon mutants that had spent their whole lives under the fear of being controlled by humans now found themselves trapped, like helpless puppies in a kennel. There were, however, a fewutants whose powers specifically benefitted the mutant's ability to escape: the stealth mutants. Among this group of retreating stealth mutants was the redheaded X-Man known as Fade. The woman most definitely had a
knack for escaping.

After the roar and panic of the internment camps died down and the number of free mutants in the Big Apple drew closer and closer, Fade decided it was the right time to search for her first love, raph.

2

Every day seemed to get longer, every night became more and more unbearable and the redhead knownas Fade found herself back to how she used to be: homeless. Street lamps spat flickers of light against her pale, tear-stained face. A harsh breeze cackled a remorseful tune as she dragged her feet on, tucking her clawed fingers under her armpits to keep then safe from frostbite. The world had fallen into a deep state of hypothermia and she was caught in the middle: the lonely escapee. Unfortunately, amongst a great amount of unfortunate events, the walk from the Mansion to her old home was about a three hour walk. Since she was short on money and any appearance of a mutant to a human would result in immediate arrest and transport to the camps, Fade refused to risk a Taxi ride.

About an hour into the city, she grew weary of her travels and sat down outside of a shop promenade. It was too cold, nearly freezing, and her low extent of clothing did not insulate her well. After breathing into her hands for while, she finally gave up and turned invisible before phasing through the door to the closest shop. It was not too much warmer in the shop but there was not wind. A large mental debate suddenly struck up at the sight of a warm jacket in the store. To steal or not to steal? The circumstances were a bit different this time, she needed warmth before she continued her journey and it was a long journey ahead of her.

Finally, she bit her lip and took the jacket before leaving a few dollars in its place. The jacket was worth more than a few measly bucks but it was all she could spare. Who knew how long she would be in hiding? After wrapping herself in it and cutting off all of the tags, she phased through the door and continued to weave through the streets.

A few blocks further, the debate struck up in her mind again while in front of a liquor store. Just a shot of vodka would warm her blood, or even a bottle of merlot, not as if she were the wine type, but anything to make her blood warmer.

Feet aching, limb freezing, and fingers curled around a bottle of vodka, Fade walked up to her old home: the Mall. Standing outside of the giant glass doors, memories flooded her mind and she tried her best to keep them at bay. No matter what, she could not become what she once was. This forced lifestyle, where she had to escape back to her old home, live her old ways, steal, lie, and run, it wasn't the real Fade. Her thoughts trailed back to the Mansion and all of the fun times she had in the Danger Room or simply laying in Raph's arms or joking around with Deathstar. Hell, even the bad moments at the Mansion seemed like a walk through Heaven compared to the life she was about to re-endure.

Finally, she took a deep breath and turned invisible. The glass doors felt cold as she phased through into her past life, into the horrors that she had spent the past years trying to erase. Easily, she glided through the drafty, closed mall, making her way to the Mattress Store. When she reached it, she began to climb up the glass, using her claws to her advantage. At the top of the glass, above the ceiling and under the attic was Fade's old home. The damn place looked the exact same. A messy old mattress sat flat on the floor, a few linens and comforters were thrown over it, but it wasn't enough to keep her warm throughout the night. There was a crate next to the bed with a battery powered night light, well, rather a collection of them. Across from her bed was a small DVD player with a few DVD underneath it. Sighing softly to herself, she punched on all of the night lights and took a seat on the bed before taking a shot of her vodka and chasing it with the coke she had also taken from the store about twenty minutes prior to entering the Mall.

Seemed like it was going to be another long night. Trying her best to keep the thoughts that ran rampage through her mind a bay, she put in Gladiator and continued to drink her memories away, raising the bottle before touching it to her dry lips. The attic was drafty and cold, but the comforters actually warmed her more than she had expected and she snuggled up inside of them, watching the movie intently. With every emotional musical intermission, every slow-motion scene, every sad scene that would bring the audience to tears, Fade's eyes watered and she choked them back with another shot. The world was falling apart around her and all she could do to stop it was to sit up in her attic, crying her eyes out to a Hollywood film because it seemed more logical to cry to than her own damn problems. Slowly, she drifted to sleep.

3

The next morning hit the redhead like a subway falling from the sky. Cursing mildly to herself, she rolled out of bed and checked the time. Damn. 2:54pm. She woke up around the time she should have already found who she was looking for. The usua hustle and bustle of a mall full of students who just came from school echoed in her hungover mind and she groaned before descending invisibly into the mall. The hockey rink at the other end had showers and she walked into the locker room after buying a coffee with the little money she had left.

After she was all ready for the day, she left the mall to start her hunt. First things first: Raph used to be a cagefighter, so she needed to find the underground network he belonged to. There was only one mutant that she trusted in the entire city to bring her to Raph's old boss: Snitch. His name threw many off guard but his power could sense anyone in the city, nobody could hide from Snitch. It was about an hour walk to get to his alley and Fade began with a sigh.

The alley was foggy, probably steamed up from the sewage, but the smell was beautiful. Snitch just happened to live right above the best damn BBQ place in New York and he always smelled like a grill. Snitch's security was heavy, but Fade never understood why he even had security if he could sense who was approaching from where. Her hangover was enough to handle at the moment, so she climbed the side of the building until she reached his window. Written on a piece of paper that had been taped to the window read 'FADE'. Snitch knew that Fade could not read and she chuckled before turning visible and phasing through the window. Standing in front of her was an enormous African American with short frizzy hair and a rock pinned to his right ear.

"Living large never settled for ya, Fade," he smiled before tearing some meat off of the pig rib he was holding.

"Yeah, and living large has been your lifestyle ever since you tasted this BBQ," Fade mocked. "I need you to tell me where I can find someone."

Snitch's so called office was all empty but a desk and three chairs. After licking his fingers, he took a seat on the largest chairs and offered Fade a seat, a gentle smile on his face. A few years back, when Fade was first trying to make a life for herself out on the streets, Snitch got wind of her and took her in. Through him, she was given many underground jobs including theft, smuggling, and many other illegal stealth operations. Snitch wasn't the good guy, but he was not exactly the bad guy either. He was a business man. The name Snitch was street generated because most theifs in his area knew that if they crossed him, they would never be able to hide and he'd snitch to his 'employees' the exact locations of the traitors.

"Sorry, Red, you know I don't work for charity," he huffed, leaning back in his chair. Fade had not sat down, there was no way she would allow herself to get comfortable until she found out where Raph was, or at least got pointed in the right direction.

"This isn't charity. I need you to find a Raphael for me. Mutant. One of those healers. He's of great value to me and I can't find him anywhere," she growled, tapping her claws on his desk.

"You didn't come here to intimidate me and I don't know a healer Raphael, so you best just climb right back out that window," his chubby finger, dripping with BBQ sauce, pointed up at the window she had crawled in from.

"You couldn't turn me away even if I set this place on fire," she threatened. A fairly empty threat, because she would not even get a match into the building if Snitch did not want her to.

"And you don't work for me anymore." His fingers intertwined and he pouted out his lips in contemplation. "I tell you what, I've never met this Raph, so I don't know specifically where he is...BUT" he paused, as if rethinking, "if I can lend your services out to, let's say, some of your old bosses, then we can maybe strick a deal. I know ol' Johnny'd love to have you back on his team."

"Johnny never had a team, he never even had a plan, or a brain for that fact-"

"And you never went to school. You're living back at your place. The Underground is the only place that is not affected by the camps and we're all you got. What else are you gonna do? Fade, the secretary? You can't even read. You're useless to the world; stick with me, you may find your man," picked up the phone and punched in a few numbers, holding his finger up to silence the redhead. "Johnny, you want your dear Red back?"

A few 'uh-huhs' echoed into the phone and Snitch nodded his head before discussing prices. The past few years had been spent in vain. All of Fade's efforts to become good, to fight for justice, were demolished in a singular moment when she asked the wrong man for help. Yet he was right, she had no where else to go. The streets were all she had, and Johnny had a certain liking for the invisible acrobat. He'd pay well, but she really needed to weave her way back into the networks before she could climb back to the top. Truth be told, she was never at the top in the first place. Her mission was set and her attitude high, this time, she would not fail.

"Johnny said he'll take ya, if you get to his place tonight. He'd like to see you after all," Snitch chuckled as he hung up the phone. "You know I never took my senses off of you, I knew you'd come back to your's."

Fade growled under her breath before simply walking through the door. Snitch knew better than to try to bring her back for a longer conversation. He did have other clients afterall, and the redhead was a simple pawn in his entire network. With the camp registration running around, he had to keep his humans closer and his mutants far attached. If Fade were to be taken, he would not do a damn thing, but if he was taken, Fade and the entire mutant network he ran (which only amounted to a few homeless talents) would be thrown into the camps.

Johnny, real name Sean Morgan, but who in their right mind would go by their real name with all of this madness occurring? He was a slick boy, yes, a boy. It happened that he was only a year older than Fade, homeless as well. Yet Johnny was a human, no special talent what-so-ever, but a certain knack for plans. Johnny was a robber, but not a bank robber or a street robber; he was a double-crossing job robber. Few had heard of him, but the lot that had, happened to be fairly rich. His cunning plans consisted of finding competitors for a job and beating down on both of them. Working both sides, he'd convince the competitors that he would 'take out the opposition'. Fade's part in the mix was to watch each side, find out which one was more rich, which one had more to lose. When she pinpointed who was the richest, she stole from him or her and threw them into bankrupcy by infiltrating their personal accounts, belongings, even investments. It was a tough job, especially for an undereducated woman, but she videotaped while Johnny briefed her on everything to do. After the rich one dropped out of the runnings and the other rose to the top, the two would put the case to the side and work on other competitors until the underdog rose to the top. Greed usually got to the underdog once he had tasted victory and the chain continued upwards until Johnny had earned enough pay from the underdog and finally sent in Little Red Riding Hood to take everything from the client when he reached the top. It was a dirty, politcal job, but Fade never understood what truly went on, nor did she want to. Staying completely oblivious, she was Johnny's prize poodle that was paid for being clueless.

Times were getting rough and Fade never knew exactly what Johnny did. There is little excuse for the ignorant, but it was all she had left. Deciding that she should cut back on her powers to decrease the possibility of being taken and shipped to the camps, Fade exited Snitch's place visibly and began to walk down the streets, making her way to New York's business district, right into the Devil's vocal chords.

4

Night had already crept over the sun by the time Fade reached Johnny's home, well, one of his three homes. Unfortunately, she had tried the other two homes first with no luck and growled at herself for making the foolish presumption that he had any clients that night. Walking briskly, she hustled up to his townhouse and slipped through the door, rubbing her hands together to keep herself warm. The townhouse had a few photos up in the foyer, one of them had the smiling redhead holding a couple hundred dollars at roughly the age of thirteen.

"I bought some Apple Juice when I heard you were coming," Johnny's voice sounded from upstairs. If there was one thing about Johnny, it was that he always knew when Fade was around. After all, he taught her all of her tricks. The floorboards groaned under the pressure from his feet as he began his descent down the stairs, holding a newspaper. His pajamas were blue and white stripes, just like that stupid board game and he had a five o'clock shadow.

"Beer," Fade growled before walking into the kitchen and grabbing a Blue Moon as if she lived there.

"Tell me, Jenny, I'm curious: where have you been?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen, placing his hand on her lower back as she rustled around for a bottle opener. Fade's eyes narrowed and she pulled herself away from his touch.

"Living," was her single word response before she opened the bottle and took a gulp. Drinking with a hangover seemed to be the only cure for a hangover, or at least it was the only way she practiced.

"Right. Snitch and I never gave up our hope on you. We knew you would be back, you simply needed a little push to bring you back here. Plus, with these camps, you probably should lie low for a bit, not use your powers as much. Being a human myself, I gladly offer my assistance," he paused before turning to her and raising an eyebrow "in any way you require."

"Your flirting may have got me when I was little, but you're nothing more than a cockroach these days," she snorted before taking another gulp. Then again, she needed the money. Perhaps she should change her tone.

"That does not matter right now. Snitch tells me you need money. Well, I need my old assistant. You know damn well that I can pay you, but I need reassurance that you will not go running off again."

"You're not getting any. I need to speak to whoever heads the cage fighting...fights, or whatever that is."

"And you think I am going to do that free of charge?"

Angered, Fade turned to him and grasped his neck, digging into his skin with her claws. "You sure are, and I collect interest."

His hands gently raised and he smirked before choking out the words, "You work for me, I'll pay you with information andmoney."

"Give me my first information tonight."

"Most certainly: there are more beers in the fridge. Have another and we will talk," he negotiated, pointing to the beer bottle in her hand. Smirking, Fade let go of the idiot and drank another gulp of her beer. Johnny's intentions were quite simple: drinking. He loved the bottle and the recent changes in Fade's life brought her closer to his ideals. "You don't need to go home, you can stay here, I have a couch, you know. I even have another half of my bed."

"Save it, Johnny. I'll be going home tonight, I just don't know when," she retorted, passing Johnny his own beer and settling down on the couch. The night was coming to a close, the next morning, she would have to wake up early to get started on her questioning.

"I need his 'supplies' by tomorrow night," Johnny piped up as he grabbed a folder from the kitchen island and threw it on Fade. Inside were photographs and files on a man named Benjamin Hearth, apparently her next victim. She knew what to do with the information, but she did not want to view it until the time came. At best, she needed to keep herself from thinking about what she needed to do for money to ensure that guilt would not take over and get her caught and shipped off to the camps.

"I'll deal with him when I deal with him," she spat before tossing the file on the coffee table next to her.

"I sure have missed you, kiddo," Johnny sighed as he took a seat next to her. The redhead simply got up and moved, not wishing to be any closer to her old friend, the crook, than she needed to be. Times were changing.

5

Dogs. Fade hated when the clients had dogs. Johnny said that she needed money before she could even get into the underground cage fights and she would not be able to get her information without some bribing. She needed to do this job first, then she could get a lead. The man that owned the house she was breaking into had a doberman that barked his head off when Fade phased through the door. Luckily, the victim scolded his dog and locked him in the bathroom before returning to bed. Johnny made Fade swear that she would not do the job drunk, but once she left his house that night, she made her way down to the client's house.

Houses like this that were owned by business men like that always had offices, which were the easiest for Fade. Her breath reeked of alcohol and her invisible body stumbled into the office and crouched down in front of the file cabinet and phased her raptor talon through the keyhole before turning her claws solid and unlocking the file drawer. Fumbling through everything, she took out all of the finincial papers, not as if she could read them, but if a paper had a $ symbol on it, it came with her. When she finished, she locked it back up and continued into the bedroom where she ignored the snoring and stole his wallet. When he work was done, she began her walk back to Johnny's, the dog barking wildly as she left the client's house.

Deciding to give herself a tip, she went ahead and took the forty dollars from inside his wallet and stuffed it in her pocket as she walked up Johnny's steps. POUND POUND POUND, sounded from his front door and Fade simply phased through the front door and clambered over to the couch where he lay, passed out. "Wake up, asshole," she shouted before throwing the client's stuff on the sleeping Johnny. Immediately, he leapt up and snatched the gun from the coffee table and fired it in Fade's direction. The annoying whizzing noise sounded next to Fade, about two feet away and she stood completely still. He missed.