The last few days was all a big blur to Tony. He had taken a plane for the first time in his life, from one of the few places he ever called home, to a strange new world. He found a little crummy apartment, and a crummy job at a crummy bar in some crummy part of town where he made crummy pay. But he didn't expect much else from a place like New York City. He always heard it was a rather dirty place to live. He already missed Texas something terrible, and was wondering why he didn't just stay there and just move away a few miles.

"Because they would have found me, i was all over the local news." He said to himself every time his thoughts started to dwell on home, " They would have found me and i would be dead."

Bartending, even in a scum-bucket bar like the one he worked in, was a good job for Tony. He liked doing it and he liked the atmosphere. The problem was every once and a while their would be a strung out dead beat buzzing around just asking to get the snot beat out of him. It took all his self control to not start swinging some days but overall he was successful.

Today was like any other day in the city. It was his first day off at his new job, so Tony figured he would see the sights and get acquainted with his new home here in NYC. He was strolling down a street that had tons of newspaper salesmen, hotdog guys, you name it it was there. Hundreds of people hurried by him not giving a care in the world he existed, and it was great. He noticed at the end of the street was Central Park, so he headed that direction. Grabbing a few hotdogs along the way, Tony was hoping for a relaxing lunch chilling in the park.

" Man i could get used to this, so far so good man!" Tony said to himself, glad that things had turned around for him.

It was another day without missions. Hair dyed brown and trimmed, she looked good. Lenna looked too good, in fact, to sit around and waste it reading books at home. She needed something else today. Words were great, but every now and then, one needed to get out and get a drink, or walk the streets. Inactivity was boring. Idling engines wasted fuel. Maybe, she’d visit the Sanctuary, and see what everyone was up to? Maybe she’d grab a hot dog on the streets? Maybe later, she’d hit up a bar. She had all day. Anything was a-go. Maybe, she’d choose all of the above? Her first stop was Central Park.

As usual, the park was busy. She could see so from a street away. Lenna left the purse at home, this time, and kept her wallet close in her coat pocket, right next to the bottle of mace. One couldn’t be too careful. Let your guard down in New York for one minute, and someone might mug you. She’d seen that on April 1st at Bethesday Fountain, no joke. Since then, she’d learned to keep a closer watch on her surroundings. She hadn’t had any major problems (yet). There had been one man. She’d kicked him. That had been the end of that problem. A boot to the chest did a lot to make someone reconsider their options.

Lenna swept past a group of people, to a hotdog stand. She reached the head of the line, and held up one finger. She’d heard rumors about what went into these dogs. Didn’t care. “One, please.” She stated. What was the worst that could go wrong?

Tony made a beeline for the park, already munching on a hot dog furiously. He had heard of the famous New York hot dogs, but dang this was good. He could defiantly get used to this.

Trying his best to save the other dog for the park, he managed to get to the crosswalk before his will was defeated. Whatever, it was farther than he thought he would get anyway. Before he could finish enjoying it however, he heard a yell from around the corner and a man came sprinting as fast as he could toward him. Despite his past Tony kept his eyes glued on the guy, making sure he didn't pull anything. A guy running that fast in New York was not just a jogger, he was up to something.

"Dont do it, dont do it, dont do it. Do not do it Tony." He started saying to himself.

The running man zoomed down a small alley way, and Tony found himself jogging over to take a look. His mind was not his own in these situations, never has been. He had been screaming to himself to stay out of it but darn it his body had different plans. It worked alone apparently. Peering into the alley way his eyes met two guys jumping a third, one of them the running man he had seen.What were the freaking odds?! The victim was crying and begging for help, but no one but Tony seemed to care or even notice at all.

Grumbling heavily to himself, Tony did a sort of awkward jig trying to fight impulse, dropping his food in the process, but he didn't even notice. Slowly while the mugging went on, his jig was dragging him into the alleyway. After a few feet he cursed very loudly and sprinted head on eyes closed into a very stupid and big mistake.

"Leave him ALONE!" he cried, his mind completely out of his control at this point, and he didn't care in the slightest.

This was his element and he would regret things later, now was not the time. His mind locked onto one thing and one thing only, a guy needed help and no one else seemed to be in the mood. So it fell on him, ad he wasn't going to disappoint.The thought of calling the police didn't even cross his mind. He didn't have a cell phone anyway. Plus heck, a street brawl would be refreshing right? Right! He just wished he had not forgotten his trusty knife back at home.

Absolutely nothing, that's what. Nothing could possibly go wrong. As Lenna walked away from the hot dog stand, bun in her hand, everything was great. There was not a problem in her world. The sun was shining, the dog was good, there was a fight breaking out in a nearby alley.

Wait. A fight? Lenna paused in her place, and watched, dog perched in her hand. This wasn't the sort of thing she'd get into, usually. At least, not today. Lenna really wasn't the hero type, unless people she could empathize with were in danger. Right now, it looked like the only one in danger was the guy who'd interrupted the fight. Whoever he was, he was probably planning to help the underdog. Lenna shrugged, and finished off her hot dog. Finger-licking good. The napkin turned in Lenna's hand, then she was walking. Past the shouting man, over to the trash can near the head of the alley. She lifted the lid, and tossed the napkin in, only turning to feign interest in the fight after the napkin-disposal deed was done. She crossed her arms and watched.

"Who's winning?" She announced, to no one in particular.

Tony heard someone say something behind him, it seemed like he already had onlookers. It was fine to let them watch, but Tony was definitely not having one of his finer moments.He had been in New York for more or less a week and he had already done something stupid. True he didn't expect it to take this long but all the same he was disappointed in himself. He of course did not have much time to dwell on things, he was kind of busy.

"Random flailing has never worked so well. I guess they just don't make em as good as they do back home. Man, any ole' texan boy could probably whup any one of you, heck." Tony smirked.

His first few punches were surprisingly effective. He managed in quick order to get the thugs off of the man, and was currently trying to knock their head off. He felt very much naked without his knife however, especially when one of the thugs pulled his own.

Screw you old man, you wanna get cut? This isn't any of your buisness. The thug sneered and brandished the knife threateningly.

That did it. Fun was over."....old? OLD?! I don't know what business you got goin on,heck i don't rightly care, but it IS my buisness now!"

He leaned back and took a deep, deep breath. He hadn't let one of these puppies off in a long while, for a split second he was not sure if he still could do it or not, but his fears were allayed as he let the smoke loose. His face in a tight grimace, a strong billowing blast of black smoke was sent from Tony's mouth. It easily engulfed the two thugs, and the victim as well, and continued to flow for as long as Tony could bear before his lungs gave out. His lungs burned a bit, but shoot it felt good to go full power like that again. His doubts and shame for already breaking his promise faded shortly after the smoke did, he felt great. He only felt a slight twinge of guilt that the poor guy he was trying to protect got hit with the blast to, but he would have to make it up to him later.

The thugs rolled around on the ground coughing as tears poured down their face. One already threw up a little and looked as if he would again. The poor victim was huddled in a corner breathing heavily, his eyes slightly unfocused as he tried to catch his breath. The thug had dropped the knife but was already slowly coming to his senses. Tony immediately sprang on him and starting giving him a lesson in head pounding.

From her distance of 6 feet, it was obvious enough to tell at a glance just who was winning the fight. The other people seemed as good as puppets when it came to combat. Unless someone was pulling their strings, they were just strung up for someone to cut down. The guy beating the puppets into the cement seemed relatively skilled, but perhaps, holding back. Someone cracked some comment, and then, the gloves came off.

From out of the man’s mouth, smoke came billowing. It seemed he was a mutant. She was far enough away that his mutation wasn’t affected, but she had to wonder, what would have happened had she been closer. Lenna took another step back. She didn’t care to find out how well her own power weakened the effects of the smoke. Her hand dropped to her coat pocket, locking over the trusty bottle. This man had attacked both the bullies, and the victim. He didn’t seem the type to be trusted as a hero.

“You know, from the way you’re pounding on the bad guy while the good one’s struggling for air in the corner, one might assume you were a bad guy, too.” Lenna mused. Her eyes locked on the brusque brute’s back. A smirk slipped across her lips. Not that that was a bad thing.

After a few moments, and after the thug's buddy had already high tailed it out of there, the fight got boring. Heck it wasn't really a fight to be honest, they were wimps compared to some of the jerks back home. A random drunkard's jaw did more damage that these jokers, Tony's fist at least stung a bit after. He hopped up and as soon as he could the second thug ran with his tail between his legs deeper into the alley way. Turning a corner he was gone.

“You know, from the way you’re pounding on the bad guy while the good one’s struggling for air in the corner, one might assume you were a bad guy, too.” A voice said from behind.

Tony wiped his hands on his jeans as he turned quickly to look. A young girl with brown hair stood at the entrance to the alleyway, apparently watching the fight the whole time.

"Uhh... Well," he smirked, half amused and half annoyed as he scratched his stubble, " I was getting to that part. Im sure he'll live. See? Hes fine!

Tony knelt down and patted the guy on the back to prove it, making him cringe as a few bruises were right under there. The guy seemed to be getting his breath back as he stood up awkwardly, taking a few steps away from Tony.

" See? besides uh, a moderately bruised face hes just out of breath. Did you see that random gas leak? Blew up right in my face. Insane, who knew New York could be that dangerous. You gotta be more careful bud, maybe invest in some karate classes or something heck I dunno. Your welcome by the way." He smiled awkwardly at him and the girl.

The man slowly walked away mumbling to himself with a less than friendly backward glance, right out of the alleyway and right past the young brunette. Tony felt like a idiot. All he wanted to do now was somehow slip off and hopefully put this little incident behind him. Hopefully cops wouldn't be involved in that process, that would really ruin his day.

Fine, was he? An eyebrow arched. The other eyebrow joined it when the man passed off an obvious lie. Gas leak. Right.

"Don't put your skills down like they're some freak accident," She tilted her head at the man. Lenna paid no attention to the fleeing victim. The other guy was her focus, right now. "You did that. You're a mutant. Admit it. Take pride"

Lenna took a step away from the garbage can, closer to the man, putting him in her range. "You know, there are places in the city you can go to meet people that share your sort of gift."

And so, the Order recruiting time began.

Tony figured his pathetic lie wouldn't hold up, but he still didn't like it being seen through so fast. Maybe next time he should think of a better one. Hadn't he come to this place trying to stop himself from doing things like this? Maybe New York City was not the best choice true, but he had blew it and he knew there was no one to blame but himself.

But wait, did this, woman say there was a place in the city for mutants? She called it a gift, others with his gift. No, she could have came a bit late into the fight, it must have looked like he attacked these people for no reason. Maybe this place she was referring to was a jail for mutants or something!

She came a little closer, and Tony for some reason felt slightly threatened. She must be a mutant to, why else would she call what he had a gift and talk about a place for mutants in the city. Right? What were the odds? New York was huge, there was bound to be others like him here sure but what were the odds really of running across one?

"Well uh, you see I Do-" Tony let out a small cough. His lungs felt like they broke out in goosebumps, but only for a split second, then felt normal again. He cleared his throat and continued, it must have been just a slight reaction to going full power, as he hadn't done that in quite some time.

" I don't exactly, i mean aw heck... You caught me. I'm a mutant man. He sighed. " And not exactly a graceful stealthy one neither, otherwise you wouldn't be talkin to me now. "

He felt it safe not to talk or reveal much more than that for now, not until she explained herself a bit more. He couldn't lie to himself, this place for mutants or wherever was intriguing. But he wanted to hear her elaborate more on things first. First he wanted to find out if he was going to be ratted out.

>>"Well uh, you see I Do-"

Lenna arched an eyebrow as he corrected himself. Finally, he was coming clean. Not that there was much to come clean about. In a city as big as New York, there were guaranteed to be countless hundred mutants. This man was but one of the many.

"Tell me, Mr..." She looked to him for a name. "Have you heard of The Sanctuary? It's a place where mutants can go, to find shelter or other mutants. A real nice location. Away from judging human eyes." Or, at least away from the non-Adapted ones. "If you ever need a safe-house," Lenna added with a shrug. "My name's Lenna, by the way."

A safe house? The Sanctuary? That sounds interesting.
Tony thought to himself. Hadn't he come here to escape from being attacked by humans? This place, according to this girl named Lenna, was away from human's judgement. Maybe he ought to check it out, it might keep him out of trouble for a little while at the very least.

"Tony, m'names Tony. Nice to meet you Lenna. he said with a shrug.

" The Sanctuary eh? Never heard of it but it sure sounds nice. Though haha, it would be more of a safe house for them," he motioned to where the thugs ran off to, " I tend to lose my temper when i see scum like that messing around.

Tony didn't know exactly what to say at this point. It felt sort of sudden that this person pop outa nowhere telling him this Sanctuary was a good place for mutants. But hey from what he's gone through, a Sanctuary sounds like a nice reprieve. Maybe they had a bar there.

" Wheres it at anyway?"

Tony. She noted the name. Also, the disinterest.

"I don't think," Lenna began. "The men that ran off would be welcomed at the sanctuary. They seemed rather human. And cowardly. Unlike you." Lenna smiled.

The man had stood up for someone getting beaten up, after all. Even if he'd done a poor job of it, the fact remained. "That was pretty impressive."

>>" Wheres it at anyway?"

Lenna told him the location of the Sanctuary.

"If you're interested," She added. "I could show you where it is."

She had the time. She wasn't sure he did.

He let Lenna's compliments wash over him. He wasn't exactly used to being complimented like that, so he didn't know exactly how to respond. He just decided to nod and shrug at them.

The Sanctuary must be just a place mutants can go to be themselves around other mutants. Tony decided. She sure seems adamant on it. What could it hurt? Ill go check it out. Might meet some new people.

" I didn know New yorkers were so friendly. Sure ill go, Ive got some time."

He was REALLY feeling uncomfortable about leaving his knife back at home now. It wasn't like Lenna gave him creepy vibes or looked all that shady or anything, it was just Tony knew to never be to careful or trusting. This being a new place and new faces, he didn't know what to expect from people. All the same, if worse came to worse he could take care of himself right? He's been through some tough stuff before and come out all right more or less. That and heck it's just a knife, they might be a bit more popular back home but here Tony was sure the weapon of choice was either words or guns, and he wasn't all to good at either. No, he was fairly confident he wouldn't need it. Tony smiled at himself, he felt like the awkward kid in high school that just got asked to the dance.

" Sooo, alot of people go there? The Sanctuary I mean.

He said trying to strike conversation as he stepped out of the alleyway, starting to feel a little less nervous every step. At the very worst, he'd make a new friend or two right?

>>" I didn know New yorkers were so friendly. Sure ill go, Ive got some time."

Was she friendly? Well, at least she'd sold him for the moment.

Lenna tried a friendly smile. "That's good. Follow me."

She led him out of the alley way, and down the street. As they went, they conversed.

>>" Sooo, alot of people go there? The Sanctuary I mean.

"There are many mutants. It's a bit like a hostel," She answered his question. "They come, they leave. The food's good there, too." She added. The food was indeed good. Anything you could possibly want, Cornelius could make. The clone Mars had shown her. Lenna wondered if this Tony would get along with the clones.

"How long have you known you were a mutant?" Lenna asked casually, as they stepped down the stairs to the subway. Lenna walked up to the ticket booth, held up two fingers, and paid. She again smiled at Tony. "We'll need to ride the train."

She hoped he understood. Silently, Lenna led them onto the subway train. Lenna found a seat. The silver bullet shot through the dark.

As it rattled along, Lenna made smalltalk. "Anything you can do, beyond the smoke?"

The foods good? Awesome. Tony grinned to himself, at the very least he'd get some good grub, not that he was starving or anything, he just wans't exactly a 5 star chef and eating out all the time was going to be rather expensive in the long run.

Tony had to think a bit to Lenna's question. "Well, for a good while now, about 13 or so years. Found them out in my early teen years, I hear thats a pretty common time for em."

He was taken aback when Lenna paid for the tickets without a word. Tony quickly shoved his small crumbled ball of paper back into his pocket, hoping she didn't notice. He couldn't deny however, it was a very nice change of pace for once. He was always the one paying for things since he was the guy. This was obviously a girl who took care of herself and didn't care for all those old fashioned mores, she did what she wanted. Tony smiled back, awesome free train ride! His first one to, he had never been on the NY subway before. It was as nasty as he imagined it to be.

Tony plopped down into a seat next to Lenna and sighed, getting comfortable. He saw some people in the back standing up and holding the poles. Brave devils. he thought.

>>"Anything you can do, beyond the smoke?"

" Yeah, I can sing to. And I make a mean origami swan." he said with a chuckle. " Nah though, the smokes the final act. Has been for quite some time now, so i figure thats the end of it. Haven't exactly gone fully scientist on it though so maybe one day ill learn a new trick for parties, right?"

He chuckled again, remembering all the times with his mutant friends as a young teen, blowing smoke rings for them while they were all smashed. For some reason it was hilarious back then.

" What can you do? Something cooler than smoke? Like this one guy I read about few years back could turn himself into animals and what not,or another could fly." he hoped his voice didn't carry through the whole cabin, though he wasn't sure anyone would start anything anyway, it was New York City after all. All this jargon should be old news to everybody.