Seriously... Seriously? Seriously. They were actually going to leave a bar with an unconscious woman only seconds after someone fried her? Riley glanced around at the various levels of shock and surprise in the bar. The bartender was still on the phone with someone. Definitely the police, paramedics, whoever you called when something like this happened. Riley could already hear the sirens in her head…they probably didn’t really exist yet…but she felt like she could hear them.

Aurum picked the blond woman up, and Riley winced as he made his way to the door behind Lori. There were two options for her now. Stay in the bar, and risk being recognized as someone who had spent time with the people who ran from the scene of an accident, or follow. The first option meant the possibility of ending up at the precinct. This situation could look like assault and kidnapping.

Riley sighed, muttering curse words to herself as she followed the others out the door. It was the only way she could avoid unwanted attention.

Outside she went, glancing wistfully at the Ginger Ale she’d left sitting on the bar. It was funny how a drink in a girl’s hand could bolster confidence…even when there was no alcohol in sight. Lori was flagging down a cab. Riley sighed as she approached, put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Loud.

A cab pulled up and Riley approached, ”My friend had too much to drink. We need to take her to a clinic. They know the address.” she said with a thumb jab in the direction of the other three. The cabbie leaned forward and glared.

“She’s not going to puke in my cab is she?”

Riley shook her head and pulled open the passenger door. The other three could cuddle in the back.

”If she does, I’ll pay for the damage.”

It only took 5 magical words to win the heart of a New York cab driver. >"I'll pay for the damage."

"Get in."

Lori slid in and helped steer Lenna's head and shoulders so she wouldn't bump anything. Well, if Aurum was good for anything, he was at least good for sweeping a girl off her feet... and help stuff her into a cab.

"56th and 6th, Manhattan." The blonde hairs that lay across Lenna's face, Lori tucked back behind her ear for her. She would be okay. Sebastian would make everything better. He always did.

"How do you know Sebastian?" She'd been expecting shock and outrage about the unicorn comment not someone who knew the man.

"I work with his wife," Aurum said. He made sure the blond was seated properly, buckled in and all that jazz, then looked to her friend as the cab moved away from the curb. "I'm a friend of the family's." Sebastian had come to his birthday party and played in a ball pit. He'd rescued his boss from the jaws of death when a wanderer had nearly ended her. Aurum had been there at their wedding. Someone had cried. Had it been Shin? Had it been him? He couldn't recall. He didn't say all this. He knew the man. That was answer enough. "What about you?" He turned the question back on the woman.

It certainly was strange meeting like this. Had he even gotten blond number two's name? He looked at her. "I don't think I caught your name." The cab took a corner, and hit a bump. Aurum steadied the unconscious blond offhandedly. "Or her's."

Riley sat in the front of the cab listening while everyone got to know each other in the back seat. No, she thought, it wasn't that interesting. This was going to be a long night

Apparently they all knew where they were going. Everyone except her. Riley wondered if the selective amnesia would wear off when they got to this “clinic” or if she’d be able to slip off with the cabbie. There was surely enough cash in her pocket to get her from 5th and 56th home.

She was almost counting on it as they pulled up to the brick building. Maybe Aurum would carry his damsel in distress up to the front steps and they could all ride off into the sunrise with the ‘unicorn.’ While Riley made her way home. She’d drop Lori a note later thanking her for a great time.

”I told you she wouldn’t get sick.” Riley said, jerking her head towards the back seat and its occupants as the cab pulled to a stop. This was the clinic? It looked awful nondescript. Definitely not sparkly enough for the lair of a unicorn.

Sebastian had a wife. Lori knew that. She'd thought it was an inconvenience before. One more person Sebastian would give priority over her and the Sanctuary. Lori turned and looked outside as she rolled the idea around in her mind that a wife meant more connections to other people. What kind of wife associated with a not-really-but-could-in-a-heartbeat stripper anyway?

> "What about you?"

"Sebastian is in my employ as an on call doctor." Let him think her sickly. She would rather he try to put things together without all the pieces. Someone like Aurum, if that really was his name, was not the type of person which wich Lori would share her position in the Sanctuary or in the Pharmaceutical world.

> "I don't think I caught your name. Or her's."

She turned back from the cab window. They were slowing down and it wasn't because of traffic.

Looking at Aurum, her first instinct was to lie. To protect herself. To protect Lenna. To distance herself as much as possible. She looked at him and knew that Riley knew her name. Knew that once she had started to tell the truth that it was very much like lies, cascading through life ahead of you or behind you. Stupid legitimate face.

"I'm Lori and this is Lenna." And if Lori had through it was awkward getting a limp body in the car, it was a hundred times more awkward to get her out.

The brick looked pale by the light of the street lamps, but it was definitely the right building. Riley's little 'I told you so' moment with the cabby made Lori smile. They were here. Now they would get help and everything would be alright. Lori marched up the steps and knocked on the wooden part of the door inlaid with glass and covered with wire bars.

She waited a reasonable amount of time all the while her insides were twisting tighter and tighter. She knocked again, louder. A light flicked on inside and Lori could dimly see someone long and pale descending the stairs. It was not Sebastian. That much was clear when a girl with white hair, a delicate chin and sleepy eyes opened the door with the chain still on. She blearily scanned the crowed, fixed her eyes on Aurum for a moment and the shut the door in order to remove the chain.

"What's wrong?" She addressed Aurum which irked Lori to no end. She was the one knocking on the door here!

"We need Sebastian."

She seemed to really take stock of the situation now. Limp girl. Strangers in the night. She was lucky this wasn't a real emergency.

"Come in. All of you out of the cold."

((OOC: I give you guys full rights to move Ghost around like a NPC to get us through this part of the thread. We can fudge Sebastian being there or not as you think is needed, Lenna.))

On-call doctor. Aurum didn't know what that meant. The thought that the blond speaking to him was sickly hadn't even crossed his mind. For some reason, possibly from the bossiness she had exhibited earlier when ordering him around, he'd just assumed... she was healthy, with a healthy ego to go with her attitude. Strong enough to drag him around and throw him into carrying duty.

Maybe the on-call doctor was for men she beat up for a living?

Now, that was a rude thought. Why'd he think that?

Oh right, Aurum had done a little drinking earlier. That always brought out the franker side of him. Sometimes, people didn't like to meet Frank. He wasn't being rude, though. He didn't say a word.

Aurum nodded. "Right."

On-call doctor. Whatever. He wouldn't ask any questions about doctors. It was a strange enough meeting scenario, as was, and he hadn't even caught their names.

He asked.

Lenna and Lori. Two blonds, both with names starting in 'L'. They needed two more with names starting in 'H' and 'E'. It'd fit, on high heels.

It took a bit of effort getting Lenna, if that was her true name, free of the vehicle. Lots of limbs getting in the way, lots of awkward body-shifting. He wasn't trying anything, he'd swear by it, but the alcohol he'd drank definitely had started affecting his coordination. Somehow, finally, he'd pulled her free of the cab and scooped unconscious Lenna up into his arms.

He followed Lori up to the door, glancing back at Riley once or twice on the way. She probably wanted to be here as much as he did, but here they were. He jerked his attention back to the entrance as a door opened slightly.

Ghost answered the door. She asked him what was wrong. Lori answered for him. Aurum eyed her, then turned back to Ghost. He didn't look happy about the situation. The woman invited them in.

Aurum entered... after Lori and Riley, of course. "Ladies first."

Riley scowled as everyone got out of the cab, maneuvering the blond this way and that and dragging her from the backseat. To his credit, the cabbie kept both a straight face, and his mouth shut. It was impressive. He was also alone in the cab with her, with an expectant look on his face. Riley cursed, looking at the people standing at the door to the building, then handed over the last of her cash for the night. Someone was going to pay for her trip home.

Maybe against her better judgment, Riley got out of the car and made it to the rest of the group just in time for them to all be invited in by a woman who was far too ethereally pretty for Riley to trust.

Aurum told her and Lori to go in first…and Riley rolled her eyes, ”You’re the one holding the injured party. Chivalry was dead years ago. Get your ass in the door and get the woman some help.” she said, casting a withering look at Lori that suggested that if all men of the species were this thick she wept for future generations. Was he really trying to impress them still? More importantly, how much had he had to drink at the bar?

Chivalry might have been dead, but she was still going first. This was her Lenna (not to mention her fualt). Aurum was just the means of her transportation, in effect, her mule.

She watched with clear eyes as the pale girl directed Aurum to a bed, helped settle her in and checked her vitals.

"What happened?"

"She got electrocuted."

"How bad?"

Lori shuffled her shoulders as she tried to take inventory of her personal store. "Pretty bad."

The girl didn't really seem to know what to do about that other than to hook up some monitoring equipment. "See that she stays breathing and her heart keeps beating. I'll see if I can't get Sebastian on the phone." Suddenly Ghost understood why he hated to be away from the clinic.

She took the stairs three at a time and suddenly it was the four of them all alone together again.

"Let me pay you back for the cab." Because surely Riley had to slip him something to keep his big flappy mouth shut. Lori fished around in her back pocket for her wallet. "And let me pay for your next." Was that a hint to gtfo? Maybe...

Aurum turned and looked Riley directly in the eye. "Chivalry is not dead." He stated. Then, he followed Lori through the doorway, into the clinic.

Aurum set Lenna down and stepped back. Ghost moved in. Aurum was silent as Ghost and Lori did the question-time back and forth. Electrocution, bad, he had nothing to add to those details. It had been Lori's power. Must have been. It was a logical conclusion, judging from the details and the tone of her voice.

He turned and mouthed a quiet 'thank you' as Ghost made her way up the stairs. He doubted she'd even caught it, at the rate she was taking them.

When he turned back, Lori was paying Riley. Aurum plopped down in a nearby chair and ignored the transaction. Now that he wasn't being of use, he felt out of place.

Lori explained that the other woman had been electrocuted and for a moment Riley considered correcting her. People were only considered to have been electrocuted if they died. Hopefully the other woman wasn’t dead…then the night would have been wasted for nothing.

Scowling at herself for even thinking that way and wondering when she’d become such a heartless cow, Riley sighed and surveyed the situation. The lovely woman who’d ushered them in disappeared up a flight of stairs, and Lori surged into action, throwing dollar bills around like confetti. Riley didn’t mind…she could take a hint…and a payoff. Aurum on the other hand…took a seat.

Yeah. That wasn’t going to go well for him.

Riley looked at lawyer-boy for a moment and her eyes involuntarily narrowed. Why did that constantly happen? Because he was scum, who’d helped even lower scum try to ruin her life on behalf of the lowest piece of scum…

Riley sighed. She owed a penance to karma for her earlier thoughts about how inconvenient it would have been if the other woman had died. Riley took the money from Lori and smiled gratefully.

”Hey, it’s no problem…and I wouldn’t even let you pay me back…but work’s been real slow lately.” she said, a fresh glare shooting in Aurum’s direction before Riley nodded to the woman in the clinic, ”You’ve got bigger fish to fry though. I’ll get the golden boy home. Just remember my name the next time you film a commercial.”

That said, Riley turned and walked out of the room, barely pausing long enough to give Aurum an incredibly impatient look, ”If I were you, and unless I was planning on walking my happy ass home…I’d get up and follow, cause trust me golden-boy, this is your only chance.”

She’d given him the benefit of the doubt. If he followed she really would let him share her cab…as long as it wasn’t too far out of her way.

Lori hesitated to let go of the bills, but it was a worthwhile transaction if for no other reason than to stay on Riley's good side. And to remove the stripper. Because he was like a lamp or a forklift. He had served his purpose. Now, like the thing he was, he needed to be removed.

He was lucky that Riley was here as a witness or else she might be tempted to remove him a bit too permanently.

She was getting a big head. The power was corrupting her. She was making mistakes... like Lenna.

The deed was done. She'd paid and now turned back to her... friend. Lori stepped in close to touch her hand but... the constant beeping of the machine started to sound a bit tortured. She ended up sitting on the next gurney over some feet away. That way she could see, but hopefully wouldn't interfere.

Riley gave him a way out, albeit, a begrudging one. He didn't like her. She still maintained her hatred of him. He could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice, sense it in the way she moved. The only reason she offered was because he'd helped her friend's friend. If he hesitated in responding, he took her words at face value that he'd be walking until he found another cab. Neither of them cared for each other. The answer was simple.

He accepted.

Aurum got to his feet, quietly, and grunted an "Okay."

Maybe he was a masochist? Maybe he was still a little drunk, and making bad decisions. Maybe he just didn't want to walk.

He really didn't want to walk. Yeah. It was probably that one.

Aurum followed the angry lady out the door, into their cab. He buckled in and gave out his address.

((OOC: Continued in Late-Night Partially-Drunk Cab Ride Home ))

Bzzzt, even in her dreams. The buzz of electricity droned in the background of her mind, like a hive of bees. In her mind, they swarmed, vicious, with shocking stingers, wings blurred arcs of voltage. She slept restlessly, sweated. Her brows drew together now and then. Faint words escaped her lips. 'No,' 'Stop'.

Time passed, and the morning came.

Her eyes crept open to Pollock chaos, splashes of color, and distorted patterns. An abstract world. Her head throbbed as she clutched it, muttering something to herself about the pain. Slowly, order returned to her, and Lenna sat up. She looked around sleepily, eyes narrowed. She grumbled a comment.

"Feels like I was hit by a bitch. ... brick." She corrected herself a second later. Ugh. It hurt bad, bad enough to give her troubles thinking. "The hell happened?" She tilted her head to the side, looking for someone who could clue her in.

"You were hit by a bitch." She shrugged and tried her damnedest to not feel guilty from her gurney across from Lenna. She looked tired. Felt even more. Her admission of, "Accident." was akin to an 'I'm sorry' and probably as close as she ever really got.

"Are you uh..." okay didn't really seem to cover it. She'd hurt a friend without meaning to. A friend. Someone she had come to rely on. Such attachments would only lead to disappointment in the future. For now... Lori had to admit a certain amount of emptiness in her life.

She didn't rely on anyone. Not really. She kept her cards close to the chest and sent down the orders from on high or did it all herself. Because any time she shared something like this happened or they disappeared or worse... they left. She stayed on her gurney, shoed feet crossed in front of her.

"On the plus side you're a real boy now. Full null and everything." Which was both tragic and inconvenient, but maybe some kind of right of passage for Adapteds? Maybe they all developed like this? However it happened, one thing was clear: Lenna would be working some feet away from now instead of elbow to elbow.

Accident? So... Lori had hit her? With what... oh, right. She flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, remembering the sound. Bzzzzzzzzzzt.

So, how had that happened? She probed her memory for a second. She remembered a bar, a rude guy, leaving... nothing else. The back of her arm felt like beef jerky. Lori was still talking. Lenna shoved the mental probe away, and glanced sideways at Lori, from the bed. The angle her neck turned brought on another wave of... something. She couldn't place the word. The unpleasantness was making it hard. "No." Lenna replied, shoving her back up against the wall so she was seated again. She let her focus fall to the white sheets crumpled around her like a burrow. Eyes narrowed as she thought about how she felt. "Like I said... I feel like trash."

>>"On the plus side you're a real boy now. Full null and everything."

Trash that apparently had new stuff to think about. "What the hell is that supposed to mean...?" Lenna looked up at her boss.