They say all good things, must come to some kinda ending...

But enough quoting Christian Kane. This was serious.

For Ashley, it really didn't mean the end. More like...a slight interruption. But the pain in her head and her chest eventually became too much to ignore. She was on her way to show Bentley her new motorcycle (freshly stolen, of course) when the pain had hit. She passed it off as a headache, but by the time she was in front of the ballerina's house the small headache had turned into a full blown migraine that threatened to make her head fall off. Or something.

Her only recourse were two places (since a hospital was out of the question for her); Sanctuary or the Mansion. Sanctuary was out because she still had a sore spot for Isabel. Mansion...well, The Doc was okay in her book, as he took care of her gunshot wound that those cops had stupidly gave her in a matter of seconds, so maybe this migraine thing would be a cinch for him. She turned her motorcycle around, slightly regretting putting on her catsuit so soon after getting it. It wasn't broken in at all and while it still protected her, it'd be a bitch to get out of if The Doc asked her to.

She almost crashed her bike twice on the way to the Mansion, her vision blurring a few times as the pain began to get more intense. Still, as she asked for The Doc (and Andrew for good measure) when she got to security, they let her in. Why they looked slightly panicked (though in that oddly professional manners guards tend to have) when she lifted the visor of her full helmet was beyond her, but she didn't pay it any mind either. She drove up to the Mansion as steadily as she could, eventually stopping by the front entryway and getting off before collapsing to her knees.

She pulled off her helmet and winced as suddenly the noise all around her became louder then she thought possible. Her helmet had protected her against the noise, muffled it but now it was as clear as day. She covered her ears, gritting her teeth as the sudden noise attack was replaced by the pounding of her own blood...blood that was now spilling on the concrete. She narrowed her eyes, feeling the liquid roll down her cheeks and, taking a hand away form her ear, wiped the liquid away...and noticing it was blood, as well as the blood that was already on her glove.

Well...bleeding from your eyes and ears. Not a good sign.

Therefore she wasn't surprised when she coughed, sending the red liquid splattering all over the ground. She let her body get it all out before getting a knee up to get to her feet...but falling forward on her face. She couldn't move a muscle, and her body was refusing to move. She couldn't hear anything but the rushing of her own blood and she couldn't move anything. She felt paralyzed, and it then that she decided that panicking was probably a good idea.

But her mind decided that shutting down would be the best next move, and Ashley fell to unconsciousness, her last thought that of hoping that whoever found her would be there to help, and not something more...sinister.

Today had been a fairly normal day of paperwork and such around the Mansion. Therefore it coming to a screeching halt should have been no surprise to Andrew. After all, it had been a little bit since the last bout of weirdness that interrupted his life. Not only that but his birthday was fast approaching. That would just put the weirdness magnet into overdrive. Andrew glanced down at the girl he was carrying toward the infirmary.

"Why is it that we seem to meet when someone's hurt? Not that that's all that strange an occurrence in my life."

He'd had his work for Sam mostly done and had decided to head outside for a little bit. It was nice enough outside that he just couldn't resist a walk outside. However he hadn't gotten further than the front steps. There, collapsed in a pool of her own blood, was the girl that had helped Lydia and him. Rhythm she'd called herself. He only spared a few seconds to look over her outfit and ride before scooping her up and using his shirt to wipe away some of the blood. Following this he'd hurried inside and ran the well worn path to the infirmary.

That led him to where he was now, standing outside the infirmary. He headed inside and hailed DocProf.

"Hey Doc! Got some work for you."

The man in question was at the far end of the room and began to speak before he turned around/

"Injure yourself again Andrew? What was it this time? An acid blob mutant? Or perhaps another bullet wound?"

Andrew shook his head and walked over to one of the beds and set Rhythm down gently as Doc turned and saw his patient, hurrying to her side.

"Afraid it's not me Doc but she is a returning customer."

When she woke up, it was to the glorious site of The Doc and Andrew. She couldn't speak, still paralyzed, and all she could do was blink. Still, she could feel her senses returning, and she began to twitch in an effort to move. She was grateful that she was here though, and really couldn’t have hoped for someone better to find her. Andrew was a nice guy, probably one of the only nice guys she knew. A bit on the thick side if she judged him on his past actions of charging a huge spike mutant guy with no real protection, but a good guy all around anyways.

She growled, which was a good thing because she wasn't able to before. Andrew had put her on the bed and was staying close by as The Doc looked her over, letting her twitch and only raised an eyebrow when Ashley emitted the growl. There was a slight twinkle in his eye as he watched Ashley fight the seemingly temporary paralysis.

“Well now, isn't that fearsome.” Doc said, clearly amused as he pushed Ashley down on the table. “Rhythm, was it? What seems to be the problem?”

At that point Ashley could almost feel herself scream...but it came out in a small whine that sounded as pathetic as she felt. Her desperation clearly shone in her eyes, and her twitching had died down to mere jerks of her appendages. She could change her facial expressions though, and her gritted teeth and knitted eyebrows seemed to be enough for The Doc to understand.

“Hmmm.” The Doc nodded thoughtfully. “Well, if I remember correctly, Ms. Rhythm had a sort of speech impediment the last time we saw. And I do not think it would regress to the point of being unable to talk, so clearly something happened to take her speech away. And she's not moving despite now being conscience...”

The Doc muttered a bit more, his words lost as he poked Ashley over, his hands touching her face as that was where the blood seemed to be centralized. He opened her eyes wide, as well as her mouth and looked into her ears with some device whose name Ashley didn't know. Another wave of pain hit Ashley, and this seemed to make her regain control of her body because her hand shot up, clapping on the side of her face and her temple. She let out a small yowl before The Doc pulled her back.

“Ah...headache. Migraine, more like it. Let me help you child.” The Doc put his hands back on her face and Ashley felt almost immediate relief. She collapsed back onto the table, breathing hard, the only discomfort now coming from the slight hiccups and the occasional cough from the blood that was still in the back of her throat. The Doc smiled down at Ashley, nodding. “There you go my dear, all better? Odd how this all came about. Sudden, was it?”

Ashley nodded, closing her eyes. “Yes.” she croaked. “No fighting. Just...there. Dunno why.”

Andrew watched as DocProf worked. Paralysis, bleeding from the ears and eyes, inability to speak. It was like something out of a movie. Thankfully Doc figured it out and fixed it with a minimum of fuss. Apparently it was a migraine and it had come on very sudden. He blinked. Could migraines cause all of that? He was no doctor but that seemed pretty heavy duty for a bad headache. With a mental shrug he dismissed it. Rhythm was better now and Andrew could easily dismiss any incongruities with one word: mutants. They were a weird bunch after all.

He was simply glad that this had happened after his promise to her had broken. Andrew didn't know if illness and what not would cause a break in a promise like the one he'd made to Rhythm but he really didn't want to find out either. The idea of ending up here with symptoms like hers but nothing except his power causing them didn't appeal in the slightest.

"Hey, as long as you're better then that's all that matters right?"

Now that she was here he wanted to talk to her about his promise to protect her and how that had turned out. Doc had been pretty curious about the sudden knife like wound that he'd turned up with with no explanation for. Andrew was curious about the whole thing too. He wanted to know what had happened that caused it. Sure the wound was healed up and forgotten but getting a knife wound without a knife being nearby? It was weird even for him. Since his promise to her was the only one that would bring such a thing on it was a point of interest for him. Had she gotten similarly knifed? If so then did that mean he'd end up with the same injuries as the person he'd promised to protect when he made that sort of promise and broke it?

“Right...”

Ashley sighed, rolling her eyes at her own predicament. At least she still had her catsuit on, and the blood on it could easily be wiped off even if it did dry on. The thing was meant to protect Ashley from road rash, among other things, so a little blood wasn't that much of a problem. Still, she felt slightly confined at the moment so she reached up and pulled down her zipper, revealing the lacy bra on underneath. It was one of the new ones Bentley had gotten her, and she liked it because it felt nice.

“Bentley...” she muttered. “Gonna kill me.”

Well, not right away. She's be in a panic at first, bouncing from foot to foot before she finally got to slug Ashley good for worrying her. The thought made Ashley smile a tad, and it gave her enough energy to sit up by herself, but not without a thunderous grunt in the process of. She looked up to Andrew and nodded before hopping of off the hospital bed and onto shaky legs. She steadied herself before nodding to The Doc, then to Andrew.

“Mrrr.” she said brilliantly, shaking her head and putting a palm to her temple. “Thanks.”

Rhythm was busy trying to collect herself so Andrew looked around the infirmary some. The all too familiar walls and furnishings were exactly as they were the last time he'd been here. Funny how he couldn't remember what he'd been here for last. Maybe that was a side effect of having so many injuries land him in here? Rhythm muttered to herself. That in itself wasn't notable. However Andrew thought he'd heard a name in that utterance that he was familiar with.

"Bentley? You know Bentley?"

Granted he'd only met her the once and they'd ended up fleeing mall security after helping a couple of teenagers out, at least one of which was a mutant. It was worth an inquiry anyway. Andrew smiled at her thanks.

"No problem Rhythm. I mean you were laying there bleeding on the doorstep. If I hadn't picked you up one of the other residents would have. Most folks here are of a decent sort."

He said most because he knew he didn't know everyone that lived there. For all he knew there might be some bad characters about. It didn't seem likely but that might just be him being biased.

"What'dya reckon Doc? A sit down and something to drink do her some good?"

Andrew glanced between DocProf and Rhythm. He was essentially asking if she was good to leave the infirmary and inviting her to go relax in the living room for a bit at the same time. Most of the students would be outside at this time of day so the living room would be perfect for the chat they needed to have.

>>"Bentley? You know Bentley?"

Ashley eyed Andrew for a moment, bleary eyed a moment after a yawn and nodded, giving her savior the smallest of shrugs. She had come to the conclusion that her relationship with the tiny dancer wasn't as complicated as she made it out to be, but it wasn't any less confusing since...well, to her knowledge she'd never been in a relationship before. But somehow she knew that Bentley was a good start.

“Yes.” Ashley answered shortly, then decided that elaborating would be a good thing for someone that just helped you out of a bad situation. “She's...girlfriend. Live with her.”

She really did hope that was the end of the conversation about her and Bentley. Calling the ballerina her girlfriend was bad enough. She liked to be private about certain things, and since she was relatively new to the world of dating, letting people know that Bentley was off limits and hers was about the start and end of it as far as other people were concerned. Well...that was her line of thinking anyways. She didn't know what Bentley would say.

>>"No problem Rhythm. I mean you were laying there bleeding on the doorstep. If I hadn't picked you up one of the other residents would have. Most folks here are of a decent sort."

Ashley nodded, glad that she had a place to go to that wasn't all bad. She didn't think it was, not really, but their open door policy she was told about was a tad odd to her. She wouldn't let any old hoodlums into her place, that was for sure, and she wondered what kind of person the guy who ran the place was.

>>"What'dya reckon Doc? A sit down and something to drink do her some good?"

“Yes, drink...” Ashley spoke up immediately, suddenly realizing how thirsty she was. “Ummm...water, please. Throat dry. Hurts.”

The Doc looked at Ashley up and down, nodding his approval. He gave Ashley a reassuring smile, the brunette returning the gesture mainly because The Doc deserved it, having saved her twice now. Ashley walked to Andrew and reached out, holding onto his sleeve like a little girl (a gesture she would normally despise but Andrew brought out in her) and looked at him to lead the way.

Andrew barely controlled his shock at hearing Rhythm describe Bentley as her girlfriend. He supposed it just proved that saying about a book and it's cover and what not. Bentley hadn't struck him as that sort when he'd met her. Since Rhythm said no more than that Andrew figured that she didn't want to talk about her. He wondered at that for a moment and gave a mental shrug. Who was he to question? He didn't exactly know either girl all that well.

"Ahh well I just met her at the mall recently and was just surprised to hear her name again is all."

He left it at that. Rhythm didn't seem to want to talk about it and her poor grammar made it difficult to hold a long conversation anyway.

In either case Rhythm agreed to going to get a drink and relaxing and DocProf okay'd it. Rhythm seemed a little weak but she grabbed onto his shirt sleeve for support and looked to him to lead the way. Andrew gave a wave to DocProf.

"We'll get out of here then. See ya Doc!"

With that Andrew strolled out of the infirmary with Rhythm in tow and retraced the same steps he'd taken last time he'd been with Rhythm in the Mansion. They were heading for the living room where Andrew would get Rhythm situated then get her that water she wanted himself. He glanced over at the girl as they walked. The compulsions from his promise had faded within days of its breaking. However seeing her like this still made him feel somewhat protective of her. Maybe it was a lingering effect of his promise or maybe it was just the fact that she'd ended up hurt both times they'd met. Or it could just be that he was way too nice for his own good now and really should start looking out for himself again.

When Andrew lead her to the living room, Ashley actually collapsed onto one of the bigger ones, setting her feet up and everything. The last time she was here wasn't under the best of circumstances but it did give her options in terms of having a place to stay. She had overcome her fear of relying on people, and people in general, so coming here a second time wasn't as bad. Plus, she wasn't brought in on being a gun shot victim, so that was always good.

The overstuffed couch was so very comfortable, and Ashley couldn’t help but curling into a little ball and waiting for Andrew to come back with her water. She hoped it was a big glass, because she was thirsty as all hell and felt like she could drink gallons of water. Why was she so dehydrated? Did loss of blood cause that? She imagined it did, but since she didn't know for sure and didn't wanna ask anyone for fear of sounding stupid, she kept her mouth shut.

She thought about staying here, at the Mansion, but decided against it. There were still other things out there she wanted to so, and she had a feeling the Mansion folks wouldn't take kindly to a thief living among them. Thinking of that, Ashley shot up and looked back to the entrance of the Mansion. She had left her bike back outside, along with her helmet. She didn't know what they would do, or if they would check to see if it was stolen or whatever, and the thought of only being able to ride it once made her feel terrible. How else was she going to impress Bentley if the motorcycle was gone.

She looked back to Andrew, who was coming in with her glass of water. She forgot it momentarily as she grabbed his sleeve again.

“My...bike?” she whined, her eyes big. “Safe? Is it, safe?”

Andrew settled Rhythm on the couch in the living room and headed into the kitchen to get her a glass of water. She didn't seem as uncomfortable this time as she was last. Of course she didn't have a bullet wound this time. That probably made some difference. He collected a glass out of the cupboard, filled it with ice and then water. Following this he grabbed a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge. This way if Rhythm finished her drink and was still thirsty she could have a refill without having to head to the kitchen for it. It was a short walk but still.

Upon returning to the living room Andrew had barely gotten Rhythm's glass of water down on a side table before she grabbed his sleeve again and asked after her bike. Of course it was safe here but she didn't know that.

"Of course. No one is going to take it. It will still be out front when you decide to leave."

With that Andrew sat down in a chair by the couch and faced Rhythm. How did you ask someone if they'd been stabbed recently and where aside from the obvious?

"So, how have you been?"

Well it was a start. Heck, he might get lucky and she'd mention if she'd been stabbed recently. More importantly, did he want to tell her about the broken promise and what it had done to him? He didn't think she truly understood his ability and Andrew wasn't entirely sure if he wanted her to. Maybe it would be better if she didn't know about the knife wound he'd sported.

Ashley shrugged at the question while chugging her water. She stopped when she thought she might actually drown herself and took a few deep breaths before looking to Andrew. She cocked her head slightly, taking in the sight of him before smiling. She was happy to see him, though she didn't know why, and she set her drink down in front of her. She settled herself down and leaned back into the couch, happy to be somewhere soft again.

“Good.” she responded. She liked talking to Andrew. He didn't look all impatient at her halting form of speech. “Dating Bentley. Live there. Not homeless.” A shrug. “What more?”

Well, there was a ton more, but she didn't mention that after being stabbed by a particularly vicious shop owner she had went to a clinic where she kissed a hot Russian chick, almost blew herself up (well, that’s what it felt like anyway) and a random madwoman had kidnapped her after the Russian herself was kidnapped, and then she (Ashley) was tortured for information about her own life, and random other crap she'd really rather not think about.

The last time the brunette had seen Andrew was after Santa Cop Jorge had questioned them about the Spiky Metal Mutant that had rampaged all over the cafe they were at. He wasn't happy then, but at least now he looked a little better. Though Ashley figured him for someone who carried a lot on his shoulders because he felt he had to as opposed to sharing his burden. The noble type. A little stupid, but Ashley could understand. He was just too nice.

“You?” Ashley said after she took another drink. “Dating Lydia? She's nice. Hot.”

Andrew smiled as Rhythm said that she'd been good. Having a girlfriend and a place to call home definitely qualified as good. Heck, she was better off than he was in that respect. He didn't have a boyfriend or girlfriend and he lived in a school as a secretary to a man who served as the leader of a city sanctioned vigilante group that operated out of self same school. Eh, it was a job and kept him close to that same group. Maybe eventually he'd get a chance to join up.

"That's good."

Andrew was about to answer her in regards to how he'd been when she made a comment that he couldn't hide his shock from. She thought he was dating Lydia?! She was another one he didn't know that well and had only met twice. And again both of those were bad situations. Andrew was beginning to see a pattern. It took him a minute to gather enough of his wits to answer her.

"Uh, I'm not dating Lydia actually. I'm not dating anyone." regaining his comfort Andrew grinned a little, "Plenty of hot people around to choose from but no dates."

Whatever else he had to say about his life since coming to the Mansion he couldn't complain about the sights. Andrew shook away thoughts of the people he'd had anything like an attraction to since he'd got here. Verdy, Kate, and (if he was going to be honest with himself) Tasean were not what he needed to be thinking about now.

Ashley nodded, understanding. Well, kinda. Andrew wasn't exactly bad looking, maybe a little nerdy but that wasn't something that should hold him back. He was strong, and he had plenty of muscles (she figured that's what most women liked), and he had very 'agreeable' (as Bentley would put it) hair. All in all, he wasn't hard on the eyes and there were women out there that could definitely do worse. Much worse. Also, his dressing style wasn't all bad either, though Ashley admittedly knew little in that department.

“Hm.” Ashley nodded, looking Andrew up and down before coming to the conclusion that she wasn't going to find an answer to this inside her own head. “Don't get it. Not bad looking. Talk good, dress good...why no date?”

The brunette realized that maybe this wasn't the best of conversations after being damn near paralyzed and bleeding from her freakin' eyes, but all that seemed like a distant memory now that she was sitting down with Andrew and drinking water. She suddenly realized how hungry she was as her stomach produced a sharp, stabbing pain. She clutched at it for a moment as a rumble let out a second later.

“Hn.” she grunted. “Got mayo, Andrew? Need food. Simple, though. Mayo, bread...meal.” She stood up and wagged a finger at him. “Still talking, though. Need date. You help me twice. I help you now.”

Andrew laughed a little at Rhythm's confusion. She didn't seem to understand why he hadn't had a date. He shrugged before trying to explain.

"Not that I haven't had a few chances. I've met some people that I probably could have asked out and gotten a date from. It was simply that at the time I had other things to worry about."

Like a murder trial.

"And for the most part we've all been busy lately. The only one I've seen recently is someone I just met not long ago and I'm not entirely comfortable asking for a date there."

He laughed when Rhythm's stomach interrupted the conversation, letting them both know that she was hungry. As he got up to get what she asked for he smiled at the statement that had followed. Apparently she felt like she owed him for the help he'd given her and decided that getting him a date was just the way to go about it. He made his trip to the kitchen short, all thoughts of asking Rhythm about knifes and stab wounds banished by the idea of this odd girl trying to get him a date.

"No need to do that. I helped you because I wanted to and it was the right thing to do."

The brunette listened to Andrew and his explanation, a rather weak one if anyone asked Ashley, and she simply shook her head. Not a word escaped her lips though, because...well, she didn't think well on a empty stomach, and she really didn't have anything more to say at that moment anyways. She was determined to help Andrew be happy because right now he looked...well, she wouldn't say miserable, but certainly not happy like he should be. Almost-Heroes like him should be happy, right?

Instead of having Andrew just make her a mayo sandwich, Ashley decided that making her own would be just as good. It was good that Andrew didn't flinch at the mention of a mayo sandwich the way others did, but mayo was a delicacy to Ashley and she was pretty particular about how much she wanted on there. Besides, she wanted to see the kitchen, if only to see if there was anything else she could snag. There were things to eat at Bentley's (it was still a little hard to think of it as her own home now, too), but old habits were hard to break.

>>"No need to do that. I helped you because I wanted to and it was the right thing to do."

“Hm.” Ashley nodded as they reached the kitchen, immediately going for the fridge and pulling out her prize; a giant sized mayo bottle. She swooned a bit before getting the bread that was on the counter and, after a little searching, a knife. “Still, need partner. Be happy, yes?”

After all, it wasn't like Ashley knew much more to being happy then that. Her life, thus far after being mind wiped, was finding the mutant that had ruined her life and killing her. She trained with her surrogate father and did what was needed, but beyond that she didn't know much about happiness or...anything. So when she met Isabel the bonemancer had unlocked these feelings inside of her...well. It wasn't a perfect first experience to be shunned in such a way, but Bentley had showed her the alternative.

Ashley giggled with slightly perverted thoughts before shaking her head and looking back to Andrew.

“Who you like? I can help.” Ashley nodded, making her sandwich of two pieces of bread smothered with mayo. She slapped the two pieces together and took a bite, smiling contently before looking back to the fridge for a pop of some sort. She found a Sprite and took it out, popping it open and taking a swig before eying her friend again. “Go on. Tell me. I not laugh, promise.”