Walking in the cornfield felt safer than out in the open, but it was much harder too, and Lily found herself making extra effort to keep everyone within sight. Finally she gave up and let her sixth sense work instead, walking at the end of the row and monitoring everyone by their bracelets. Streak, of course, was a shining beacon at the front.
She didn't worry about the noise as much as she worried about the other signals she got from ahead. She kept her thoughts and what she gathered to herself till they reached the other end of the field. No sign of a farmer, no house, no lights, not even as much as a dog barking. Whoever the cornfield belonged to did not live nearby.
The field met a row of bushes and a ditch, and on the other side there were trees again, and a hill that stood out against the night sky. As soon as she saw the view opening up she darted forward, weaving her way between people to get to Shawn.
"It's a tower." she whispered to him "Ahead of us, that way. If I have to guess I'd say it's on top of that hill. We are close." she added "They need to be in... shooting range from the border."

Streak slowed his pace down. They were getting close to the end of the corn field. Luckily no one had spotted them yet, but that wouldn’t be the case for long. Everything was a little too cliché for right now. It was quiet too quiet. As he walked he heard the people following him and nothing else. Not even owls seemed to be hooting and best of all the toddlers weren’t making any noise. The silver man stopped just short of falling out of the cornfield, into the bushes and probably into the ditch below. Just about that time Jewel walked up to him.

"It's a tower." she whispered to him "Ahead of us, that way. If I have to guess I'd say it's on top of that hill. We are close." she added "They need to be in... shooting range from the border."

Shawn looked in the direction she was pointing and saw it. Everyone stopped behind him and he announced, “Take a little break guys.” He walked a short distance away from the group, with Lily, and said, “I see it. We can’t go straight at it. It won’t do us any good. The thing to remember is that if we can see them then they can see us too. Once we jump into that ditch we’ll be sitting ducks, if they’re paying attention, which I’m willing to bet they are.” The silvermancer didn’t see anyway around getting spotted here. He’d planned this perfectly. There wasn’t supposed to be a hitch like this. The government was smarter than he’d given them credit for. In one simple action they’d undermined his entire smuggling operation. “How can we get through?” it was a rhetorical question, “Any ideas?” This last one wasn’t though. He really did want Lily’s opinion.

“We’re probably within about half a mile of that tower. So they’ve gotta have some pretty long freaking guns to reach out here. However, I would hate to think that they wouldn’t have any ground troops nearby incase the tower sees something. Once we make it into the trees again we’re gonna have to be on our toes to make sure that no one gets caught by surprise. We have no choice but to go forward. If things get too hairy then we’ll have to head to a different area of the border and try to get into a different country than the one right in front of us.” Streak said. He’d always had this as a back up but he was hoping that he wouldn’t have to use it. At this point it was looking more and more likely by the second.

Lily frowned, glancing back at the group of people, then forward into the forest and the tower on top of the hill. It was partly covered by trees.
"Once we are in the forest, we cross or we give up. I doubt we could make it back this way. Not with them anyway" she murmured, nodding towards the group "You are right, they probably have people patrolling along the border. And let's hope they didn't put landmines down yet."
This whole situation did not look as good as it did on the maps. Romania was serious about the mutant issue. It won't be easy to sneak out. Or sneak back in.
"Do you think we could create some kind of distraction?" she looked at him "If they have towers like this all along the border, I doubt many people can be in them at once. It's not that big either. And if some of them are out on patrol..."
She trailed off, looking at the shadows among the trees again, and a glint of an idea crossed her mind. She frowned at herself. She never expected her own mind would come up with something like that. She hated fighting. But she was in it now, ready or not. She turned back to Shawn. "You know what I mean?"

“Oh God! I didn’t even think of the possibility of land mines. Geez this is unraveling quickly.” Streak said dejectedly. Streak listened to her comments. She’d changed so much since he'd first met her. The first hint of a smile, since they started this mission, came across his face as he looked at her and heard what she was saying. She had some great ideas. She seemed to be helping him so much more with ideas than he ever thought she would. It wasn’t that she didn’t have great ideas all the time; but, he just didn’t expect her to think so much like him so quickly. “I think I’m rubbing off on you. Well I’d like to avoid violence too, especially right now ‘cause it’d make it easier for us to get there and back across the border. But if it can’t be helped then it can’t be helped.”

Already plenty of fighting strategies and plans to get through were pumping into his brain. Most of them involved fighting, but the one that stuck out was the one that he would voice to her. “Ok, how ‘bout this…we make a dash into the forest. Once there we push through and fight off any patrols that might have been alerted to our presence. After we get through that we’ll have to take the watchtower so that we can get to the other side without being shot in the back or something.” But she was right. If there were a lot of them on patrol then there couldn't be that many in the towers. It was a big border. There was no way they could have a bunch of people here and leave the other side of the border practically unguarded. They’d have to have it spread out as evenly as possible.

“Maybe we can get lucky and slip in without getting seen. But with all of them it’s a slim chance. We’re gonna have to fight; there’s no way around it.” he continued, “I don’t think we can get a distraction off…unless… and mind you this is a really bad idea… but what if we use the teen to cause a distraction and have him meet up with us in the forest. He’s wanted to help but I’d really rather not use him this way. Hell I’d rather not use him at all, but it’s an idea. It would all depend on how fast he is. I can protect him and you can take the rest into the forest. We can meet up with yall in the forest well before yall get to the tower.” Streak said. He had a strong feeling Lily would object strongly to them using the teen as bait; but unless she came up with something better than it might just have to do.

“I think I’m rubbing off on you."
Lily returned his half smile with her own. "You wish, cowboy. This is all me."
What he said made sense though. She listened to his plans, glancing back and forth between the forest, the group and the tower, measuring the distance as well as she could in the moonlight.
“I don’t think we can get a distraction off…unless...”
He was right, Lily did not think it was a good idea. Then again, it was not bad either. She was silent for a few moments before she shook her head.
"No. That won't do. I can't protect all of them alone." she pointed out, without looking up at him "But you can." she looked around to see the teenager's glowing eyes glancing their was from the group "So I'll take him, you take them, and we meet before the tower." she finally turned back to him "I'm a better distraction than you are anyway. And I can take care of one teenager." she added with a smirk.

"If that's all you then we're all in trouble." Streak said smiling back. Streak followed Lily's glance and saw the teenager glancing back at them both. This was a bad idea. He didn't want Lily to go off and do the more dangerous part. That was his job. Shawn took another glance over at the teenager who was still staring at them. He signaled for the teen to come over. "I don't want you to cover him. You'll probably run into more trouble with him than if you were to take the entire group." He wasn't sure that this was true but he was fairly certain that it was. After all the distraction always seemed to get into more trouble. Or get caught.

"With all of them with you, at least it wont put all the pressure on you. Some of them will be determined to fight no matter what. And some of them will fight. I want you to go with them." Streak said arguing his point with her. Just then the teen walked up and joined them. "Hey you said you wanted to help. Is that offer still on the table?" Streak looked at him, as the teen nodded. The silver mutant explained to him the plan. The teen was all for it, and the only detail that Streak left out was who was going to be going with him to protect him. Lily and Streak still needed to figure that part out. "Just one question. What's your power and how fast are you?" They'd need speed to get them out of there.

"I can run as fast as a leopard. The tail is for balance and can be used to hit people with." So the teen could speak. He hadn't spoken much the entire trip, except for a couple of previous words a few hours ago. "Sounds good. We'll call you when we're ready. You can go back with your family." The silvermancer said dismissing him. Once the kid left and was back out of ear shot he continued to argue with Lily about this task. "I don't think you should go." That was all he was going to say on the matter. He didn't think that she would be able to get away in time.

"I don't think you should go."
Lily sighed.
"I know you don't. I'm still doing it." she looked up at him, hands on her hips "Listen, Streak, if it was just us, I would let you handle it. But on this mission our priority is to keep them" she nodded towards the group "safe. You know I am not strong enough to protect them. Heck I can hardly protect myself. It's the bigger responsibility. They need you."
Glancing back at the teenager again, she considered their options for a moment. She was not happy about the fighting, or the idea of being the distraction, but she'd always followed logic, and this was the only logical solution. It didn't matter if the distraction failed as long as she managed to buy some time.
"On the other hand, if I do the distraction, I might not even have to fight at all" she said as she turned back to him "I think I've got an idea."
Her jacket was already off; the glowing baby was wrapped safely in it. Now she proceeded to take off her sweater too, which left her in a tank top and the silver she pulled from Streak earlier and now wore as a fourth layer of clothing over her chest and shoulders. She still shivered in the cold. Walking over to the group in no time she traded the sweater for a coat, a much more ragged one than her own, and returned to Streak, adjusting her outfit and retracting the silver under it.
"Besides, you can bust me out of anywhere. If it's up to me to save you, that's when we're in trouble." she added with a smirk. She was only half joking. Or half serious.

"I know you don't. I'm still doing it." "Listen, Streak, if it was just us, I would let you handle it. But on this mission our priority is to keep them" "safe. You know I am not strong enough to protect them. Heck I can hardly protect myself. It's the bigger responsibility. They need you."

She was right and she knew it. Streak knew it too, but that didn't mean that he liked it. The way she was standing told him that it was no use arguing with her. Lily had made up her mind and she was going to do it. Streak sighed and shook his head, defeated. "Alright fine. You take the kid and I'll take the group." Streak watched Jewel get ready for whatever she had in mind. "What's your idea?" He asked her when she returned with a older and more worn jacket.

"Besides, you can bust me out of anywhere. If it's up to me to save you, that's when we're in trouble."

True. He could find her anywhere. And like they'd discussed earlier, nothing would be able to keep him away from her. Streak smiled at her last comment. The silver mutant hoped that he'd never have to worry about finding her... or her finding him. This was going to be tricky. Neither of them had been in a situation like this and it was something that he was ready for. But was she? With Lily coming up with a plan by her self he knew that she was as close to read as she ever would be. Shawn started to work on his own plan to get his group into the forest.

"Alright fine. You take the kid and I'll take the group... What's your idea?"
Jewel almost flashed a triumphant smile... the only problem was she was too occupied with her new plan to feel any triumph at all. She decided to wait and see how they survive the night, and celebrate later. The fact that Streak accepted her decision and respected her opinion gave her more confidence.
"Trust me. You are better off not knowing." she sighed "I'll meet you before the tower. Don't go in until we arrive." she thought for a moment, then "And whatever you hear, don't come for us. We might need to put on a little show."
I'll be fine.
Turning away from him, Lily motioned to the teenager to follow her, and together they walked away from the group, crossing the ditch at a place where the bushes created some kind of a cover. A few moments later they both disappeared among the shadows of the forest.

***

'Bless dentists for amalgam fillings.'
'What?'
'Never mind.'
'You've got them?'
'Yes. Now, listen to me. I'll go ahead. You stay back, and do not show yourself, understand?'
'What do do then?'
'Make noise. Let them know you are dangerous. Howl, or whatever. Just make sure they can't see you. And keep moving. All the time. Can you do that?'
'Yes ma'am.'
'Good. Be careful. You mom's gonna kill me is you get hurt... oh, don't grin at me like that. Let's go.'
...
"HELP!!!"

***

Fifteen minutes later Jewel and the teenager arrived to the watchtower, unhurt and looking for the rest of the group. Her arms were still covered in silver, and he was pacing back and forth with a newfound energy. His eyes glowed in the dark, silently repeating 'Did you see that? Did you see that?' over and over again.

"Trust me. You are better off not knowing." "I'll meet you before the tower. Don't go in until we arrive." "And whatever you hear, don't come for us. We might need to put on a little show."

Streak watched Lily walk away from him. He definitely wasn't a fan of her not telling him what was going through her head. but he figured that the more he knew the more he'd argue with her going off by herself to play the decoy. However, nothing about this was too comforting. It wasn't too soon before she was shouting and making a commotion. It was now or never. When Lily walked away with the teen Streak walked back to the rest of the group. "Ok everyone time to go. Stay low to the ground and move fast. Try not to do anything that attracts attention." Streak said to them. They all got up without a word and started following him. The mother didn't seem to notice that her teen was missing. It seemed like a good thing because she wasn't making a big deal about putting her child in more danger.

After making a mad dash to the forest they soon were able to slow their pace to a walk. A little while later they were meeting up with Jewel and the teenager. "How'd it go? Sounded like yall were having fun?" Streak said glad to see that Jewel and the teen were unscathed. The silver mutant then turned to the guard tower, that was still in their way, and began assessing the next potential threat. "That should have distracted any of the ground troops that might have been on the look out. So we should have no problem taking control of the tower." Streak said to Lily.

"How'd it go? Sounded like yall were having fun?"
"It was awesome!" the teenager chimed in, tail swishing back and forth in excitement "I got to be the monster in the woods and she was all 'please help' me, and..." the sentence was cut off by a glare from the mother, and the boy snapped his mouth shut, embarrassed. Lily chuckled and flexed her fingers as she retracted the silver from her hand.
"They are patrolling in pairs" she said "We got four of them, I doubt there would be more nearby. I think they are low on manpower."
The teenager looked like he badly wanted to say something, and Lily grinned at him before turning back to Shawn. "He was great help. And very menacing. They never expected the damsel in distress to be dangerous until they were out."
She handed the coat back to its owner, and put on her sweater.
"So, what do we do about the tower?..."

"It was awesome!" "I got to be the monster in the woods and she was all 'please help' me, and..."

Streak listened to the teen before he was cut short by him mom. He gave a little chuckle as the teen stopped talking. "I know this is a stupid question but you hid them right?" Streak asked. He knew she was smart but he also knew that she wasn't experienced in these situations, like he was. To tell the truth he wasn't to worried about getting past the tower.

We got four of them, I doubt there would be more nearby. I think they are low on manpower." "He was great help. And very menacing. They never expected the damsel in distress to be dangerous until they were out." "So what do we do about the tower?..."

"That's good, cause it is a big border. And I doubt that they'd have enough people to plentifully staff the borders. They ain't taking over other countries so they don't have an unlimited supply of people to use. But it shouldn't be to hard to over throw it." Shawn said. Streak thought for a minute about the best way to get up to the tower. A sly smile crossed his face. It was his turn to do this. He wouldn't need anyone's help.

Streak took Lily off to the side again where they wouldn't be overheard. He didn't want the people they were smuggling to have any opinion of what was about to happen to get them across. It would only make things more difficult with more suggestions flying about. "I should be able to get up there without any resistance. There can't be more than a two or three people up in the tower." He told her. "I can take 'em and that would open up an entire section of border for at least long enough for us to get them across safely, and maybe get back safely. Shawn wasn't going to act on it without her opinion. He didn't have to listen to her opinion but it he would at least listen to what she had to say about this matter. Because it was dangerous.

"I know this is a stupid question but you hid them right?"
The corner of Lily's lips twitched, but she didn't say 'Duh.' She just thought it. "Yes we did. And tied them up too."
With silver. Oh well. A little bit of compensation for the bruises and the concussion.
"I should be able to get up there without any resistance. There can't be more than a two or three people up in the tower. I can take 'em and that would open up an entire section of border for at least long enough for us to get them across safely, and maybe get back safely."
Lily nodded again. Something inside her mind kept nagging her that she should be worried, or say 'be careful', or something of the sort, but she knew Streak too well to worry about him. They were on a mission, it was only natural to do things like taking on a watchtower.
"Go ahead." she nodded "I'll get the group ready to go." glancing at the tower, she added "I'll be able to sense you. Let me know when we're free to go." she smirked "Be creative."
He'll be able to catch up to them, she knew that. It was essential to cross the border as fast as they could. They were almost there...

Streak smiled once again. He knew it was a dumb question but he had to ask. Now that he heard that he was feeling more at ease about their transit. “Good.” Was all he said, before covering himself in silver. He didn’t expect her to say much… he knew what she was thinking and he knew that it was something that she was wrestling with and decided against. They did, after all, just have a big discussion about stuff like this. Once he was covered in silver, he nodded, and walked up to the base of the tower.

It was pretty crude set up, but it was definitely going to be hard to sneak up there without being noticed. He started to move up the stairs as quietly as possible. It was very difficult considering the fact that they were corrugated stairs and made noise just when the wind blew across them. Unfortunately he weighed more than the wind so every step was a noise that was going to give him away. Well so much for the sneaky part. Since Streak was making a lot of noise it didn’t surprise him that as soon as he reached the top there was someone waiting for him. “Howdy.” And the fight had started. Streak was full out fighting. He was moving too fast for them to use their guns. Unfortunately they were all pretty good fighters. He was able to take a few breaths while they were picking themselves up off the ground. As they were doing so, he took the time to look over the edge and go wave at the rest of his group to tell them that they could start heading across. He’d still be fighting when they went through but he would still be able to join them after a bit. These guys were getting slow and pretty soon they’d be out for a minute.

Lily made sure the group was alert and ready to move, and stood watching the tower with her eyes as well as her sixth sense. She could follow as Streak moved up the stairs, and she felt the change in the way he moved when the fight started. She held her breath for long moments before she saw him waving to them.
"That's our cue, let's move, go!" she nodded to the group, and led them through the forest into the clearing that was nobody's land. A fence of barbed wire marked the border itself, apparently this was as much as they could do, besides making sure there was no cover on either side of the border within shooting distance.
From this point on it was up to Streak to keep them alive.
"Let's go!" she nodded, leading the group at a run into the clearing and to the fence. Silver was already moving down her arms and forming itself into a new shape before they got there. As she cut across wire after wire, she could feel the teenager leaping across the border above her.
One.
There were other hands helping her, and soon the way was free. One after the other, all the people hurried across the clearing, and into the forest on the other side. Several mintues later Lily ordered them to stop.
"Catch your breath" she told them "You are free. We are no longer in Romania." she sighed.
Turning back towards the tower, she used her senses to make sure Streak was still moving.
"We'll wait for him" she decided, leaning against the tree.
Well, the worst part of the night might just be over.