The bloody rain had set in, carving the sky with lightning, yet everywhere he went the blood kept following him. Stumbling around as his vision wavered he kept moving forward, with no goal in particular. Hand over stomach blood ruining his white tank top yet no one seemed to bother, no one wanted to be involved yet Deven was clinging to his life like a kid to his teddy bear.

It streamed away as the water poured down on him, sometimes the blood was grayed out at some moments but most of the time it was reddish just like anyone. It seemed like the wounded man was going slowly but surely towards the hospital and he was wounded to the stomach, yet he still had his headset on and was listening to music as if it was going to stop the pain.

Gritting his teeth he kept walking forward short yelps of pain emerging from the bottom of his throat as if his very pride didn't allow him to be wounded so, he needed to work and to work he needed to be fixed up.

Heavy techno music could be heard from a close proximity of the man his dark blue bandanna drenched with water stuck itself to his back like a wet tower you want to slap people with. Laying his shoulder on the wall, he needed to catch his breath back, after all walking with a knife wound to the stomach had to be a harsh treatment to one's endurance. Cars rolled by hardly slowly down splashing him with water yet he hardly moved even though he hated the bloody thing and tried to keep away from him aside from keeping himself clean. Looking at the street he was at, he couldn't even read it.

The taste of blood rose to his mouth as he rubbed his tongue on his lips and muttered some words that could sound like ''Ah hell, why does my own blood have to taste like shit 'ey?'' Anyone that could take a look at him would know he wouldn't make it to the nearest hospital without help, it was still about ten blocks away.

Someone had been very sloppy with their blood. It was all over the sidewalk. That meant someone had been stupid enough to let their prey get away. If you were going to hurt someone then you ought to do it properly and make sure they died. Otherwise they'd just crawl off, find someone to help them, and then set the cops on you. Out of curiosity Mina followed the trail of washed out blood. The rain made it difficult in spots but she managed. The brunette mercenary found the source of the mess fairly quickly and began to follow him.

It didn't really matter to her that he was injured. If he couldn't protect himself then that was his problem. The sounds of pain that he emitted as he struggled elicited no more sympathy from her than they did from the rest of the New Yorkers on the street. He was not dressed in such as way that would indicate wealth. Nor did she recognize him as one of the elite that might have been slumming for some reason. As such she saw no real reason to aid him. However she was curious about how long he'd be able to hold out on his own. Perhaps she'd offer to help him to the hospital once he'd exhausted himself for a fee.

There were oddities in the stream of blood issuing from his wound though. It was occasionally grey, as opposed to the red she was used to. Mina was led to conclude he was a mutant of unknown capability for she knew of no disease that turned blood grey. That made it a very good thing that, though she was wearing the red dress and heels that she reserved for bar hopping, she hadn't foregone her weaponry. A discreet knife was strapped to her thigh just above the hem of the dress and a gun resided in her purse. It didn't pay to go out without something to hurt people with.

The man kept to the wall, his life fluid seeping away as a twirl of gray and red, the scent was everywhere on him and the hospital was still very far away he knew this was bad, taking his free hand he wiped the rain out of his face and pushed himself away from the wall, he took off his tank top, with both his hands, revealing the knife wound, right under the liver area. With no hesitation he ripped the now reddish tank top wrapping it around his pelvis making sure the blood would have more pressure than his hand.

''Use your head...don't panic its only a flesh wound'' He chuckled to himself hearing those comments trying to get his hope's up. Of course it wasn't just a flesh wound and if he didn't get the help he required he'd probably not make it out. Tossing a wild glance around he tried to find a phone booth, with no such luck they were either broken like the one right beside him or very far, so he kept walking silently, holding down his grunts and going more towards the middle of the side walk.

What was he doing? He was looking for some idiot with a cellphone, he didn't have one and he cursed at himself for it. It took just about four minutes to find someone, who like all the other's didn't care for him, he waited for the man to walk right beside him before stepping aside in his way. The unnamed man, surprised stepped back looking at the shirtless deven, bleeding in front of him, before giving him a disgusted look and trying to step aside but Deven wouldn't let him.

Without a word it went down to aggression adrenaline pumping down his veins, heart beat increasing wound gushing out more blood Deven crashed his forehead on the man's face most probably breaking his nose in the process before taking his cellphone and going out in the nearest alley while the man was squirming in pain on the sidewalk. ''So long sucker'' Deven said.

Bloodied, cold, and shaking hands tried to open the cell phone as his vision blurred even more. He tried to press the buttons 9-1-1 but ended up doing 6-1-1 and not noticing it putting the phone to his ear he heard. ''Tourism assistance, my name is Kelly how may I help you'' A growl of anger rose from the bottom of his throat before Deven said ''Go to hell, I want the police not your face'' Before closing the phone like an idiot. He was now in a small street looking around trying to find his way towards the hospital, and luckily for him he went off in the good direction trying to call again.

Well, the space between the man's ears wasn't a total loss it seemed. He used his bloodied shirt as a makeshift bandage. It might hold him over a little longer. He didn't seem like he was going to be conscious for much longer. His head swung about wildly as he seemed to look for something. Following his gaze she caught sight of a phone booth, followed by the other people on the street. Trying to call 911 huh? His IQ rose a few more points in her estimation. The phone booth nearby was a loss though and any others were too far away to be of any good. That was when his gaze had shifted to the passersby.

The wounded man approached one of the other people on the sidewalk. This was followed by a brief scuffle that made Mina smirk. Even when injured he was enough to put an average man on the ground with a punch. The wounded man stole a cell phone from his victim and darted down an alley. As Mina followed him into the alley she heard him growl in anger and say something. Perhaps he'd misdialed and was too angry and stressed to do anything but shout. A bloody gut wound would do that. It seemed like the appropriate time to reveal herself. She picked her way daintily down the alley and followed him out the other side to a new street. Mina came even with the man as he attempted to dial again.

"Do you need some help?"

Her voice was sweet and kind but the smile on her face would have been equally at home on a crocodile.

Deven was at a loss, trying to dial on the phone seemed like impossible his hands were shaking and his vision became blurry, it felt like eternity was crashing down on him from everywhere, then a voice caught up to him, like it was yanking him out of his total despair, a sweet voice that of an angel he was sure. From up close Deven looked like any early twenties guy, yet the fact some gray spilled out of his blood here and there really put him out of the ordinary faction. His muscles were defined as if he could be running the marathon, the only thing out of place was the nasty knife wound. His eyes were raging with energy as he fought against unconsciousness.

He heard the voice of the woman resonate in his head as, and he needed to concentrate and hear it again to make sure he didn't make her up in his head. His eyes filled with courage and mixed with rage locked onto hers, not that he was pissed at her, but it was the only thing keeping him up, there was definetly something different about this guy.

''Hell'' He'd say wiping his mouth trying not to look like a total mess. ''if I knew I'd get any help in this city, I wouldn't of busted that guy's nose'' Deven said with a smirk on his face, and indeed he could crack a witty comment even wounded like this.

''I'll-'' He caught up his breath and took the time to get his balance back. ''I'll pay gas or whatever, I don't ..have any money on me, but I do at home, get me out of this shit hole..you won't regret it...'' Deven was the kinda guy that would do anything for money, so that was the solution he decided he would do.

He looked fairly ordinary to Mina, well muscled and young, the only thing that marked him as extraordinary being the grey that mixed in with his blood. However he was possessed of a smart mouth, even while badly injured. Her smile twitched upward into a smirk before she force it into more comforting lines. It wasn't a the sort of smile that Mina was used to wearing and that would show if you looked close. However she didn't think this one was being too perceptive at the moment so it would pass, she surmised.

"As if anyone is going to care about another mugging on the streets of New York. You did what you had to."

Her voice was still sweet and her smile warm and comforting. It was of course a false front. In truth she was curious and a little amused. However her facade melted away for a few brief seconds when he offered to pay her for helping him out. A calculating look gleamed in her eyes and her smile became vicious. It was all wiped away and back into the warm and comforting guise she had been wearing almost as quickly as it had appeared. He wouldn't be able to pay her much but depending on his capabilities she might have other uses for him.

"Lets get you to the hospital then."

She could have taken him elsewhere and patched him up herself. That would save the trouble that taking a mutant to the hospital would surely cause. However she wasn't quite as skilled at such things as he needed and he didn't seem worth the effort of finding someone who was. They'd back track to her Jaguar and drive to the hospital. It would be a shorter walk for him, though she'd probably have to wash blood out of the seats.

Deven was a smart lad, he knew where to look and how to look at someone to know their intention's and he was quite good at it, but he was in no shape to actually take a look at the woman let alone take a look at how she looked. He raised his face trying to get a decent look at her while chuckling as he said ''Eh, guess he'll be seein' red for a while'' A natural smirk emerged on the side of his mouth as if he enjoyed what he did, he might just be a mean person himself.

A flash of something appeared on her face, it was as if she showed her true colors for a little while, but she was about to get him out of shit or so he hoped. ''Alright let's get outta here'' *He'd say trying to push himself off the wall, dizziness catching up to him for a second then he started walking forward, following the woman, towards what seemed to be her car. ''To the hospital, hospital..right... hospital'' At this point he was just standing there so dizzy he couldn't go forward, meaning he was just a few seconds from losing what most people could call consciousness.

He felt himself get the light effect and started falling forward, but he reached with his foot forward and said ''Damn you ground, I told you to only catch me when I'm dead drunk'' Yeah pride could really push people to limits they didn't know they could reach, but the real explanation was that his blood was clogging behind his tank top. So he slowly but surely he'd be on her lead. ''Cmon lady, dun' keep me waitin'''

Her charge, for that's what she decided to refer to him as, couldn't seem to stop cracking jokes. Maybe it was the blood loss that made him so irreverent. Not that she cared per say. There were far more wise-cracking mercenaries out there than one would believe and Mina had had the fortune, good or ill, to work with a few of them. Wise cracks were something she was used to and could ignore or enjoy at her leisure. Right now it was a mix of the two. When she wasn't ignoring him she was amused by his jests.

As they walked it became increasingly clear that he could barely stay upright now. She'd have to help him if she wanted to make it to the Jag quickly. Mina slowed down and stopped until they were even again and slipped a steadying arm around his shoulders.

"Well if you and the ground are on those sorts of terms then maybe I should catch you instead?"

She offered him a bright smile and helped him forward. Soon enough they arrived at her Jaguar and she helped him into the passenger seat of the silver vehicle. Mina slipped behind the wheel and pulled out into the road.

"Won't be long now."

She would likely stay at the hospital after dropping him off. He owed her money and she wanted it as soon as possible. If that meant threatening a few doctors then so be it. There was also the possibility of a gentler form of persuasion if necessary. So long as she got paid in the end it was worth at least some effort.

The charge, as was referred wasn't going so well but he kept walking slower and slower, as she then responded to his comment about the ground. ''Ah! I think it would be the first time a man fall's into a woman's arm and not the opposite'' Allowing himself to chuckle a little, and accepting her help forward he offered a smile, as bright as he could handle as well, it was honest. ''Seriously though, thanks, I'll owe you a life dept.'' And those words meant alot for him, he knew mostly how the underworld worked as his job see's alot of those kind of people. And those word's were never said lightly from anyone.

Deven did his best not to dirty the seat, undoing his makeshift bandage to just put pressure on it as best as he could, and surprisingly enough his efforts not to dirty the seat worked so far. ''If you don't mind I'll lower the seat, so if I fall unconscious I won't destroy my face on the dash.'' He waited for a nod or something of approval. If she did approve he would proceed.

By the time she said it won't be long, he was already out cold, not just from loss of blood, but from exhaustion and pain, he didn't show it much, but his jokes were meant to make him think of something else.

Mina smirked as the man fell unconscious. She'd wondered how long it would take. He'd lost a lot of blood to the pavement before she found him. With him out like that she was free to allow her expression to assume it's natural lines. Her usual smile eased into place and pleased look danced in her eyes. Not only had he promised to pay her but he also claimed to owe her a life debt. She would be seeing money from this one. That much was certain. And why wouldn't she? She was saving his life after all. A small laugh issued from her lips as she maneuvered through traffic toward the hospital.

A glance over at him told her that he was amazingly not staining her seat. How he managed that small miracle she was unsure but Mina wasn't about to question it. No instead she brought her attention back to the road and turned into the hospital lot. As she drove up to the emergency doors she schooled her expression into one of panic and concern. She parked as close to the doors as she dared, darted out of the car, and into the waiting room.

"Help! Please! He's been stabbed and he's bleeding and I don't know what to do!"

It was a convincing enough routine since a pair of nurses followed her out to her car. Soon enough he was being wheeled inside on a gurney. While the two nurses that had collected the man from her car did what they could for the man another questioned Mina as to his identity. Once she made it clear that she didn't know him and had only come across him in the street they left her alone. She stayed in the waiting room only long enough to confirm that she would be staying to see to it that he got proper care before she went and got her Jag settled into a parking space.

Deven was a man of his words, he will pay her back as she saved his life, many times over, but first she needed to save him, it didn't take long for her to get to the hospital as he started to get pale and sweaty, never a good mix to have on the same person. The nurses rushed to the car and put him on wheels for the lack of words. One of the nurses went to question the woman who was brought here while the other, gained a smart point and checked his pockets, turned out that his name was Deven Mckinnon, he had his driving license but and his canadian NAS alongside his American NAS. Some picture of a woman was inside, seemed like family.

The look on the nurses faces when they saw his blood properly changed, as if they both knew what the other was thinking, nodding to each other they brought him to another wing. People in the waiting room started whispering about mutant and such things yet he didn't move.

As his savior left, the two nurses brought him to another wing for special treatment.

It took her about an hour to track the man down again after she returned to the hospital. As she'd surmised, they'd decided that since he was a mutant he needed 'special treatment'. What that entailed Mina didn't know since she didn't frequent hospitals. The fewer records of her there were that she didn't orchestrate the better. She really didn't want to cause a scene here if she didn't have to. If this turned out to be what she suspected and there would be too much effort to put into extracting him she'd leave him there.

Of course that wasn't to say that she'd abandon his promise of payment. Oh no. She'd just wait until he was out of the hospital, track him down, and collect. Especially since she now knew his name. At the moment she was being given the run around by a nurse who claimed that Deven was still in treatment and she'd need to wait to see him. They'd let her know the moment he was out of treatment but it seemed like it might take a while. While that could be entirely true she knew it could also be a total lie meant to get her to give up on him. She'd wait for now. However she was an armed woman that was being kept from her payment. There was only so long she was willing to wait.

It took just about three hours for the man to wake up, to find himself patched up, and tied down with lights looming over him, this...was definitely not something normal to happen and wake up to in a hospital. Looking down on himself he saw that he was tightly tied to, so he started to panic just like in the alley when he got stabbed.

''Hey I don't think I should be tied down, get me outta here'' He started struggling when nurses came about with a syringe with a transparent liquid inside it. ''Hey HEY! you don't need a needle to fix a stab wound Are you NUTS!?" He was getting angry, and he couldn't see it but iron started to seep out of his skin, using his instinct he formed blades of iron the length of his spine breaking the bed in half and making him fall on the ground. Rattle could be heard all over the first floor.

Deven didn't question himself why blades appeared out of nowhere, it was as if everything was natural, and he had practised with swords before, as if his subconscious prepared him for it all his life. The nurses looked at him flabbergasted, he had what seemed like an iron equivalent of a porcupine spikes in his back and two blades in his hand. Looking down at his hands, then back at the nurses a wicked insane smile poped on his face as he said. ''Better start runnin' I'm gettin' outta here'' At this point he still had his pants but his tank top and his bandanna were on a plate besides him, grabbing his bandanna he started walking as the nurses ran out.

Nurses would run here and there as what seemed to be security guards hassled towards the 'mutant' wing. Deven greeted them a large smile on his face and iron blades in hand if they wouldn't move he would move them. The young man darted through the hallway going in the opposite direction of where the guards were coming from, he tried not hitting them even though he was...rather armed and dangerous.

The shirtless man emerged in what seemed to be the waiting room looks turned towards him as mother's covered their child's eyes making sure they wouldn't see his mutations. Deven glanced around for the woman that brought him here, slowly losing his smile he didn't want to drag her in this so he ran deciding she could follow him without getting in this turmoil. Deven dashed out the emergency rooms to flee in the same dark alley he had met the girl, two streets away from his bar.

Mina was getting impatient. Nothing happened for two hours after she'd located the place that purported to hold the man she'd aided. Then all hell broke loose and Mina immediately knew why when security ran past. On one hand it made her grin to see him cause such a fuss. On the other hand though she'd have to hunt down and discipline a few people responsible for this hospital now. They'd gotten in the way of her payment and that just wasn't allowed. Not to mention she now had to hunt down Deven to receive her payment. She knew his name. She could find him another day. Right now she was going to have words with a hospital administrator but her knife would be doing all the talking.

Some two hours later Mina exited the hospital with a smile on her face. The chaos caused by Deven's escape had covered her perfectly. There was now a very frightened executive being stitched up in his own emergency room. She had assurances that the staff involved in the incident with Deven would be fired and the hospital's policies changed to avoid such things in the future. The deed would have good consequences for any mutant that came here in the future, should he keep his word. Mina would be keeping an eye on him to ensure that he did. One or two of her contacts could lean on him regularly to make sure he didn't forget his lesson.

She need not worry about showing up on the hospital security. She had seen to it that the cameras weren't actually recording before stealing some appropriate garments to hide any identifying features. It had been an easy enough feat, since the security office had been empty when she'd arrived due to Deven's escape and the security in the place was old. Mina slid into the driver's seat of her Jag and decided to cruise down the streets she'd traveled to get to the hospital, just in case he'd returned there.

Deven was standing on the main street crossing the little alley they had met in the first place, he stayed there, some people who knew him waved at him normally as he seemed to have the time to get a new shirt from somewhere. In fact he lived on the story above the bar, which explained everything, and even why he worked there. Any trace of mutation had vanished on him, and the bloodstains had been washed. Some person walked by him and gave him a cellphone, he smirked and nodded saying something that looked like thanks. He lifted the phone to his ear and called somewhere, alot calmer then previously. He cleaned his throat and talked to the person on the other side of the phone. '' 'Tis Deven..Alive...yeah, remember that dept you owe me? Yeah..Yeah..I need it now....NOW, I'm calling in the favor I need to collect as much as possible...Yeah, got stabbed...yeah ..yeah I'm fine...Someone DID help me out, but nothing come's free and I want to reward as much as possible without emptying my pockets completly...cmoon Joe, I thought one broken leg was enough..Okay..see you tonight.'' He closed the phone and glanced around, trying to see if he could spot the car he rode in earlier..he remembered it to be neat but he couldn't say anything.

Rubbing his newly found scar under his shirt, Deven stayed on the lookout, he wanted to repay his dept as soon as possible, he hated owing anything to anyone, knowing himself he probably swore a life debt somewhere in there like a complete idiot. Soon after another guy was walking towards him yellow envelope in hand, gave it to Deven and left without a word.