Trista Evans dark brown eyes darted watchful too and fro as she stalked down the busy streets, not very mindful of the people she shoved out of the way if they didn’t move for her, she easily blended in to the busy urban landscape in her jeans and jacket, though the red hair was defiantly a highlight- maybe she should consider going black again, she mused softly …..She was hurrying home after an annoying day of errands and shopping, her arms hugging a shopping bag close to her chest….Trista glanced over her shoulder as she kept walking......she was unsettled <though she wouldn’t cop to it>, which never happened to her, was like being in a horror movie of something. She just couldn’t shake the weirdest feeling all day that of that unpleasant sensation of eyes staring at you from unseen corners, and she didn’t enjoy it at all……dismissing the unpleasant feeling as tiredness or something…..maybe she was coming down with a cold…..she turned off the busy streets down an alley that was a shortcut to her tiny apartment, quickening her step even more and looking forward to curling up in bed with a good book before going to work later tonight.

....besides- nothing the alleys could come up with could possibly be more fearsome than her.

Zephyr haunted the rooftops of nearby buildings as he silently shadowed his target. Hunter had contacted him earlier in the week and assigned him the role of recruiter for the Kabal, his vampiric employer had also designated the elementals first potential recruit; a young woman by the name of Trista Evans.

After receiving a photo and being given her address Simon had located the petite girl fairly quickly, however the red head had an annoying habit of sticking to crowded places and Simon wanted to make his offer in private incase Tris turned out be as volatile as the last two red heads he’d met. Simon had no desire to publicly expose himself as a mutant he still wanted to enjoy being anonymous for a while longer. There was also another problem he had yet to resolve, Hunter wanted him to identify the girls mutation but so far the girl had yet to demonstrate any evidence of her X gene and Zephyr was of the opinion that she wouldn’t use it unless provoked.

Fingering the tranquilizer darts concealed in his sleeve Zephyr kept his gaze focused on his target as he toyed with the idea of simply abducting the girl and bringing her back to the labs. It wasn’t exactly what Hunter wanted but the man hadn’t been that specific on how the girl arrived, however he doubted the woman would take too kindly to such an act and that would make the act of recruiting her more difficult.

Finally dismissing the idea Zephyr turned his head as he caught a flicker of movement on the edge of vision, ‘what’s this?’ A pair of masked men had somehow managed to get onto the rooftop parallel to Zephyrs own and were busy trying to pick the lock on the trap door that led to the buildings entrance. A thin smile formed on the elementals features as he swiftly formed a plan, noting Trista’s current location he made a hurried prediction of her most likely route before gliding over to the two oblivious masked men. Swiping their feet out from under them with a burst of wind Simon kept the two pinned faced down on the ground with a strong down current of air, kneeling down between them he made sure they couldn’t see his face as started to speak, “Gentlemen today is your lucky day…”

A few minutes later after he had convinced Fred and George that it was in their best interest to help him Zephyr was once more silently following his unwitting target. Everything was planned, if somewhat hurriedly, Fred and George would follow Tris with as much subtlety as they could and the moment she entered some desolate area they would attempt to mug her hopefully forcing her into using her mutation. Even if she was a woman as long as Tris had some kind of worthwhile mutation she should have no problem taking care of her pursuers

‘Here we go’ Simon thought to himself as he watched Tris enter one of the many dark alleys that were scattered over the city.

(OOC: lol sorry to make ya wait so long Zephyr, I had in my head that you wanted to control your robber type people....however now I know I'll get on with it)

Trista's resolute steps sounded loud in the stillness of the alley, though her body was tense and her eyes watchful as she couldn't shake this stupid paranoia. Her gaze darting around to assess the alley's landscape and smiled, forcing her body to relax as she breathed a deep breathe, what was she worrying about- even if she was having an off and funky day, she would be fine..... A dumpster full of trash, old wooden crates, walls made of crumbling brick with the mortar cracking up, and rusting fire escapes might not suggest themselves to be defensive weapons aplenty for the average joe.........but Trista knew how to use her hands to a greater advantage than most....

Lost in these internal musing only for a moment, Trista turned her attention back to scanning the urban environment...was that her imagination or did she heard footsteps not her own???
Trista almost hoped for the worst, wanting something to happen, excitement and danger and knowing her, explosions would be involved- considering the day she'd had, putting on an impromptu fireworks display for some punk of a city kid who thought to fleece her might be just the thing she needed to lift her mood.......but only almost, she wasn't stupid.....just restless.

yep...defiantly footsteps, clumsily trying to stay quiet, and shadows trying to avoid detection from the corner of the eye, but very real.

.......Tris shook her head in amusement at the inevitability of a young women walking down a dark alley and attracting the wrong sort of attention- these men deserved alittle lesson in good manners if their intentions were as she suspected....

She turned and faced them, and the men, seeing they'd been discovered, turned to the familiarity of menacing brute as their back up, spouting elegant poetry as they went.

Big thug A was obviously the man in charge-
"Whats a chick like you doing in a place like this?"
While big thug B did the looming in the back ground.

Trista sighed, putting down her bag of shopping to get her hands free, before picking up the lovely bottle of scotch she'd brought and handling it thoughtfully.
"I'm just taking a short cut, no need for any trouble."

Big thug A raised an eyebrow and quipped;
"Not as long as you do what we say......<he nudged thug B>...see she wants us, even got a drink for us."

Tris decided it was time to wrap this up, she didn;t have time for stupid thugs and didn't appreciate the way they were looking at her.
Trista's sweet smile was alluring as she lobed the bottle slowly towards the men afew meters away.
"here- catch."
she simply said, throwing out her hands and exploding the contents of the bottle mid air, the force of shattered glass and alcohol traveling towards the two men at high velocities, glass fragmets ripping into their skin and the alcohol following......

oooo, that would have ta hurt

From his place in the shadows Zephyr observed silently as Tris launched and somehow detonated a rather well aged bottle of scotch. An expression of distaste crossed his features as he watched the two goons writhe in pain from assault, 'What a waste' he thought sourly as he gazed upon the spilled contents of a bottle, 'That whiskey would have been aged for at least twelve years if not more and in a single senseless act all of that time has gone to waste... such a pity.' Shaking his head in dismay the elemental tried to rid his head of such thoughts, it was not Trista's fault that she was ignorant of the finer things in life.

Landing without a sound on the ground behind Trista Zephyr calmed his features. Now that he had identified her mutation he still needed to get her to accept Hunter invitation and that task would be easier by far if she didn't view him as any kind of threat. 'Time to ascend to the stage once more' he thought dryly as he placed a warm, albeit thin smile on his face.

"Most impressive" he stated in a pleasant tone as he emerged from the shadows, "You seem to have a reasonable grasp on your gift and you have demonstrated a certain underhanded initiative that is rarely seen these days." For a moment the elementals eyes flickered over to the two men who were still moaning over the injuries, their whining was quickly becoming a nuisance, however the problem was quickly solved as Zephyr constructed a dome of nothingness around the two quickly muting out any sound they could make as well as giving them a limited supply of air.

Turning his gaze back to the explosive red head Simon continued his charade of harmless bystander, "Tell me Ms. Evans would you be interested in answering to a higher and rather lucrative calling?"

"Most impressive" he stated in a pleasant tone as he emerged from the shadows, "You seem to have a reasonable grasp on your gift and you have demonstrated a certain underhanded initiative that is rarely seen these days."

Trista visibly flinched as the voice sounded behind her<which she cussed herself for>, but that was the only outward sign she was anything other than calm and collected. She spun around to the face strange voice, hands raised....to see a slim young man with brown hair with a polite social smile on his face, addressing her in the tones of a dis-interested teacher who has just had to add another student to their class. Suspicion colored her perceptions- she didn't particular like his tone, it annoyed her, it reminded her of contempt, his smile seemed alittle too fake, and while trying to appear friendly, he was doing so in a lonely little alley in which she'd just blown up a fine bottle of scotch in the faces of two thugs....and he wasn't afraid, and he seemed to know what he was talking about...

Trista lowered her hands to her sides with reluctance as curiosity warred with distrust and annoyance....the curiosity won.....

For a moment the elementals eyes flickered over to the two men who were still moaning over the injuries, their whining was quickly becoming a nuisance, however the problem was quickly solved as Zephyr constructed a dome of nothingness around the two quickly muting out any sound they could make as well as giving them a limited supply of air.

Trista eyes flicked over to the two thugs as she noticed the stranger do the same, her eyes widened just a fraction as suddenly she could not hear their annoying whimpering anymore. A small smile twitched at her lips, trying to voice her excitement at even this small display out of the ordinary, she only let it show for a second......but the realization dawned, flashing in her head like a neon sigh- this guy was gifted.....like her. But it wouldn't do to show her feelings to early into this conversation, she still had to find what he wanted from her....she doubted it was to invite her to a mutant friendly tea party and a lovely talk of their lives and abilities.
Trista crossed her arms across her chest, a sign of closed off body language and an internal message- so I know your there and now I waiting to find out what you what.....though also if you knew Tris alittle better, you'd know that the crossed arms position, arms being locked ment she'd have to have an extra second to get her hands free and clear to "aim......it ment she was willing to listen.


Turning his gaze back to the explosive red head Simon continued his charade of harmless bystander, "Tell me Ms. Evans would you be interested in answering to a higher and rather lucrative calling?"

Trista ignored his statement for a second, nodded her head in the two thugs direction in their silent prison, her voice a deadpan mimicry of his only earlier;


"Most impressive........You seem to have a reasonable grasp on your gift and you have demonstrated a certain underhanded initiative that is rarely seen these days."

Her sour smile and expression seemed to convey the full range of sarcastic 'don't mess with me or I'll make you suffer' facial expressions available to her petite features....before relenting just alittle.

"And in answer to your question Mister 'I like to sneak up on people in alley's' guy, I might consider any higher purpose on a case by case basis......however I consider all lucrative propositions that come my way."

Zephyr's eyes narrowed only slightly as he examined the girls body language, the first and most important thing he noted was that she was far too expressive in her gestures; she wielded her hands in the same manner a human would a gun. This was a glaring weakness for many battle able mutants with insufficient control of their abilities; not only did it mean they were half a second behind in any attack they chose to initiate, it also publicized their intentions to the entire visual world. Making a mental note of this deficiency Zephyr resolved to mention to it Hunter if the girl was accepted into the Kabal; the elemental would not have his own life put at risk becuase of the incompetence of his supposed "allies".

When Trista gave her mocking imitation of his earlier comment Simon simply raised an inquisitive eyebrow, as one would do with an eager nephew proclaiming they had a new magic trick. Although the impression wasn't half bad, in Zephyr ears it was found severely lacking and he gave a low "tsk" of disappointment in same manner a school teacher would to a mischievous pupil. "I'm afraid to say Ms. Evans that your talent does not lie in mimicry, fortunately my employers six figure rate is for your rather unique abilities and not your severely lacking comedic skills."

Giving the equivalent of a mental shrug Zephyr put the slip behind him, 'Whats done is done' he told himself idly as he fired out a final question in an attempt to distract the girl, "Tell me Ms. Evans do you always rely on your hands when using your powers?"

"I'm afraid to say Ms. Evans that your talent does not lie in mimicry, fortunately my employers six figure rate is for your rather unique abilities and not your severely lacking comedic skills."

"I however am not afraid to tell you Mister Shadow Man, that sadly your talents do not lie in interpersonal skills and public relations."
Trista flung back, her ever present temper being to simmer- the mental equivalent of the hackles rising from the back of her neck, she was a red head after all, but because of her explosive power being linked to her emotion, she tryed deep breathes and calm imagery before she got really upset- she didn't know what that would do to the alley, let alone the guy standing across from her.

That was the trouble, she reflected inwardly- trying to take her mind off the annoyance that was quickly steering toward anger, much as she hated people sometimes, she couldn't completely let go of her feelings and give vent to her rage....always holding on, always controlled for fear of losing it completely and the deep subconscious terror of the destruction she might cause.

Giving the equivalent of a mental shrug Zephyr put the slip behind him, 'Whats done is done' he told himself idly as he fired out a final question in an attempt to distract the girl, "Tell me Ms. Evans do you always rely on your hands when using your
powers?"

Trista started at the man blankly for a short time, his question succeeding in helping to focus her attention on something else.
"Thats how it works."
she said slowly, in a tone of telling a toddler something they should already know, she then switched to the offensive- questions for him now.
"What about you? You can sound proof stuff.....is that it? I means its cool and all, and I got a neighbors yippie dog that sure could use it...."

Zephyr frowned slightly as the girl mocked his social skills. It wasn't that the pitiful insult had actually offended him, he wasn't vain enough to care about the opinions others had of him. No what irked the elemental was that the girl hadn't seemed to notice his not so subtle hint about her future salary if she agreed to work for the Kabal. Zephyr had seen where Trista worked and lived, neither had been particularly remarkable and so he had been sure that she would be impressed by his somewhat vague offer, but she hadn't. 'Perhaps she has a different motivation' he mused to himself as he watched Trista struggle with her anger. He had come across such people before, those who thought nothing of money, those kind of people had always been somewhat of an annoyance to the merc, however he had learned a long time ago that everyone has a price, some simply used a different form of currency.

When Trista revealed that she did indeed rely on her hands to control her mutation Zephyr restrained a disappointed sigh, he didn't really need to provoke the girl more than he had as it would only drag things out longer than needed. However when the woman continued speaking and attempted to mock his abilities the elemental could not suppress a low chuckle, for she truly had no idea what she was talking about and he found her ignorance amusing.

"I'm afraid to say Ms. Evans that you only scored one out of two" he said in a light tone, still not completely capable of removing the slight grin from his face. "I may be able to "sound proof things" as you put it, however your mutation does not require the use of your hands, they are merely a crutch..." he trailed off until he was suddenly struck by a thought as he recalled her struggle to control her anger, "Would you like to learn control Ms Evans? Would you like to be free of the fear of accidentally destroying a city block and countless lives becuase for one moment you let your anger take hold of you? My employer can give you that." It was a shot in the dark but Zephyr was confident that his words would have the necessary effect and just to be sure he had been subtlety increasing the ratio of oxygen in the air around Trista the entire time he had been speaking. The increase in oxygen would make the girl feel light headed and hopefully make her more agreeable.

Trista cocked her head to the side slightly, weighing his words as she couldn't help but find herself listening...and more annoyingly, being tempted by the prospect of cashy money in hand and control...a fun combination.....Was this guy a mind reader as well? Then she risked a quick glance down at her self, at her stance......or maybe he was just insanely good at reading people- body language, facial expression, that sort of thing.

She took a deep breath to clear her head, but it didn't happen.....she felt lightheaded and dizzy, like a feather might knock her over...well stood to reason she supposed, a mutant drops in out of the blue who knows about her and her powers and offers her a job??? Who does that? What weird bizaro world did she wake up in? Course she kept up her blank stare, in no way wanting this guy to guess anymore of what she was feeling.
Trista still did in no way trust the guy in front of her, but she could play along till she found out whats what.

Tris flashed a wicked smile at the man;
"Sooooo.......what was that you said about a six figure salary?"
showing she had not forgotten that incredibly attractive feature of this deal.
"And if your employer can do what you claim...I might be persuaded into talking alittle business."
relenting just alittle.

Zephyr allowed a smug grin to tug at his lips as Trista finally seemed to comprehend what he was offering her. 'About time' he thought with no small amount of annoyance. This little hunt had gone on far longer than it had any right to and now that the elemental had something that could be construed as acceptance of Hunters invitation Zephyr planned on returning to the labs as soon as physically possible, however that meant flying and the merc wanted to keep this woman in the dark about his abilities for a while longer.

Standing up to his full height Zephyr crossed his arms behind him, in doing so he once more felt the outline of the tiny array of tranquilizer darts that lined his sleeves and for a split second his eyes gleamed with gleeful malice as he concocted a plan. Swiftly schooling his features into a pleasant expression of triumph over Trista's supposed acceptance the elemental gave a slight flick of his wrist, the action would be invisible to Trista but this precise movement dislodged one of the sedative darts from it's place and allowed it to fall to earth where it was quickly caught by a wayward gust of wind.

Maintaining eye contact with Trista the entire time this was happening Simon continued his role and began speaking once more, "I can assure you Ms. Evans that your salary will be suitably impressive, in fact if you are a good negotiator you may be able to persuade my employer to give you more than you are worth... As for the matter of control well, those are questions best left to my superior as I will not be in charge of your training. Now if you have no further queries I shall arrange us transport." Retrieving his sleek obsidian phone from his pocket the elemental began entering a number.

The whole time Simon had been talking the unobtrusive dart he had released earlier had been traveling silently as it made towards it's target. Sticking to the natural shadows of the alleyway the projectile had journeyed far above the two mutants heads and had essentially made a giant loop so that it was now behind Tris. Altering the projectiles path just slightly Zephyr made sure that if dart did somehow fail to it's target it would not be heading towards him.

'It seems I finally get to test my new toy s on a mutant' the elemental mused to himself with no small amount of satisfaction as, with a final thought, he directed the dart to impale itself in Trista's neck. as he did so Zephyr planted a look of alarm on his features and shouted out a warning, "Get Down!"

If Tris did somehow manage to avoid the projectile she would think they had come under fire from a third party, if not well... that would just make things so much easier.

---

((OOC: It's your choice whether ot not you get hit by the dart Tris, I just thought I'd try and wrap this up so we can get to the labs that much sooner.))

Trista listened to the mystery man talk, musing on the fact they were talking about the job proposition and she didn't even know mystery mans name yet.
She still didn't particularly like him, defiantly didn't trust him but was feeling they'd defiantly reached an accord, she didn't catch the hint of the mans underhanded dealings.

He directed the dart to impale itself in Trista's neck. as he did so Zephyr planted a look of alarm on his features and shouted out a warning, "Get Down!"

Trista saw the mans face distort from a pleasant social smile into something almost akin to fear, and heard his sharp warning.

The body responds well to danger as the survival instinct took over, she spun around in an instant- panic, fear, and apprehension seeping into the adrenalin rush her body fed her, hands raised and ready to blast anything or body who looked even vaguely threatening. Never the less, her body moving though fast seemed not quite fast enough, she turned, hands up, looking for danger, saw a silver blur, tired to blow it up...and blinked, was it just her or had the thing slowed down alittle bit? closing in on her with remarkable speed- but not the faster then light velocities of before.....Tris deiced to try her luck again, trying to blow the thing up..... and succeeded in totally failing to control the aim......ending up blowing a good potion of the alley's brick wall into nothingness.......and suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her neck.

As ruble and dust and rubbish came back to earth and settled, she put a hand up and pulled out the small cylinder with the needle point.....She looked from the dart to empty alley way and back again through rapidly blurring vision, a confused expression on her face. She staggered slightly as the toxins release into her bloodstream begun to effect her motor functions, however managing to half turn
and look at the guy who was smiling at her.....her only companion in this alley way apart from the two goons in stasis, the tranquilizer dart in hand, her fuzzy brain presenting her suspicious conclusion. Trista gave the guy a look, full of hurt and fear and empty acceptance of the situation and his clever ploy.

".....Son of a.." was all she managed before succumbing to the full effect of the drug and collapsed, vision darkened, expression blank and consciousness gone.

((OOC: lol- no problem Zephyr, its a good plan. Hope my interpretation of the drugs effects is okay....PM me if you want anything changed. ))

Zephyr watched as the woman slowly collapsed to the earth and heard her mutter a half finished curse before she lost consciousness. Gazing at her vulnerable form for just a moment the British merc allowed a predatory grin settle on his features before turning his attention to more pressing issues, such as escaping with his prey unnoticed. Although Tris had failed to destroy the dart that had rendered her unconscious her ill aimed explosions had succeeded in drawing the attention of those outside the alleyway. Even now he could near stunned civilians whispering rather audibly, asking each other about the source of the explosions. The elemental wouldn't be surprised if the local authorities had already been contacted and were on their way, he would have to move fast.

Striding over to the girl's prone form he swiftly scooped her petite body into his arms and tossed her over his shoulder steadying her with one hand while the other grabbed her discarded bag of shopping, he would leave no trace of her presence. As he stood up to his full height he glanced at the two thugs he had muted earlier on, they had long since ceased moving upon running out of air and now lay motionless on the grimy alley floor. Still they were not yet completely useless, picking up the sharper pieces of debris with a miniature twister Zephyr impaled the dead bodies with crumbling shrapnel, making it appear as though the two had died in the explosion instead of from suffocation. Of course a thorough forensic examination in the morgue would reveal otherwise but if Hunter was as influential as Zephyr believed him to be then bribing, or even blackmailing a few scientists shouldn't be a problem.

Examining his hurried work with a critical eye the elemental searched for anything out of place before nodding to himself. There was nothing here to suggest that either he or Trista had ever been in the alley, police would investigate the scene, discover the two dead bodies covered in alcohol and would have to conclude that the idiots had somehow blown themselves up. As Zephyr slowly began to rise into the air though he was struck by a thought and he paused, 'it wouldn't take much' he told himself, 'just her work ID or possibly even one of her shoes.' If such evidence was found the forensic team would then have reason to suspect Trista Evans for the murder of two men below him, it was a tempting opportunity...

After debating the pros and cons of such an action mentally for what seemed like hours but was in fact seconds Zephyr decided against it. He would be better off if no one knew that either he or Trista had ever been present here, if framing Trista turned out to be necessary then Hunter could simply throw money at the police until they they agreed with him.

Taking off silently into the clouded skies overhead just as the first pedestrian came to investigate the alley Zephyr settled the sleeping woman more comfortable on his shoulder and began sorting through her shopping as he made his way towards the labs. He was pleasantly surprised when he was greeted by the sight of anothere bottle of scotch. 'It seems I'll get something out of this little run around after all' he thought to himself as he closed the bag and sped off towards the labs, fully intent on enjoying a drink or two the moment he releived himself of his burden.