They'd tracked her down... It'd taken some time, but CS's contacts had pulled through; she was sighted recently in one of the shadier warehouse districts, though there was no hint of what she might be up to, or where exactly she was... Even so, they'd opted to start the search sooner rather than, and see if they could spot her using old fashioned footwork.

"So... what... If she doesn't agree to come with us willingly... We disable her and take her right to jail, or what? She's got some powerful friends... something like that might end up getting a lot of people killed." Was he probing a little bit? Yes. He was feeling better about the situation than he did this morning, so his voice had lost the confrontational edge it had earlier. Wait, he didn't know about her friends... "Least that's the word on the streets." Flashes of his battle with the big red guys popped into his head... they were a nightmare; something unnatural in his opinion... they could easily break into a jail. Hell, Fort Knox would be a cakewalk for that kind of strength.

He didn't see arresting Aura as an option... that left few... Talk to her... Sort it out, like CS said... or neutralize her. Maybe there were more, but he couldn't think of them now.

Saphirus had opted to drive while CS got his contacts together. The former homeless man was... a unique driver. He wasn't bad, mind you... not by a long shot... but did he follow every rule of the road? That shot was a little longer. He got them to their destination rather quickly, though! That was good, right?

They were pulling into the area as he finished his sentence, and the place had the feel that he figured it would when he found out Aura hung out here... It was a dirty place... he'd hate to be here in the dark, but the place seemed to have a dark air about it even in the day; like it was a haven for those things an upright society would shun. His eyes slowly drifted from the nearest warehouse to Sam. "Gotta give it to her, she's got great taste in hang outs... Love the view..." He motioned toward an overflowing dumpster with a scantly clad working lady standing outside of it with a black eye and a cigarette.

Aura was entirely unaware of what happened above. Under the warehouse was an old bomb shelter, the very one she had used once before in the short lived fight club. That was a mistake she would never touch again, however it was large, mostly unused and relatively few people recalled it was there. Aura had corrected her mistake of using gang security, the result had been a bloody mess and weeks of tracking. It was irreverent she told herself as she looked around the gleaming wall's of the candle lit of the shelter.

A row of electric lights hung from above but failed to reach more then the middle of the room. Instead it was lit by hundreds of candles arranged around the edges. Each of the nine groupings of candles were on pedestals, built from wood. Each pedestal;s candles had a single color, Red, White, Black, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Green, Orange and silver. Other then the sound of dripping wax, their was no sound in the shrine other then a single voice from the middle of it all.

Eyes closed Aura invoked the names of god's and goddesses she had until recently, had complete faith in. The Ritual had been meant to be invoked by great leaders of the faith or by devoted Priests. She was nether and resisted an urge to glance at the Red Candles, the Lord of Souls might yet devour her soul for her latest blasphemy.

She stood, upon a raised platform, her arms, spread out at her side's and her head looking up at the ceiling if her eyes had been open. White silk, form fitting robes covered her body, flowing to her ankles and flowing down to her wrists. Her long black hair mostly fell behind her, though a few of the dark tresses snaked their way over her shoulders. SHe had been meditating for a few hour's now and still only silence greeted her, no sign no demonstration of their power. She needed to find the true path and she had quickly run out of options to do so.

Uncontrolled, her aura appeared and disappeared around her in thin wisps of pink energy, an outer reflection of the inner turmoil of her mind. Her foot stayed coated in her Aura as if she were unwilling to touch the nine lines that lead from each miniature shrine to her feet in their respective color's. A pile of wax was at her feet already from the largest candle in front of her.

She could only hope one of the god's would show her what was needed next to save her people. The human's were so numerous, ten of her could never hope to eradicate them all. She would die of course, never fated to see the utopia she wanted so badly for her people. Still the mutant children of the future might not have to fight if only she could solve the issue now.

When they arrived Sam finally answered Saph, it was something he had been thinking about the entire ride down to the warehouse district, ”I called a few friends in the police and they are equipped to handle her if need be however like I said, we talk first and if talking doesn’t work…” Sam stepped out of the car and ran his fingers through his hair trying to steady his thoughts, ”I’ll worry about that if need be.” he didn’t like the idea of fighting with Aura but if she refused to take her in… Well he was willing to do what needed to be done.

During the car ride while holding on to the ‘oh **** handle’ for dear life due to Saph’s personal brand of what he called driving, Sam took the steps needed to legally bring someone in. He hadn’t been apart of the justice system long but he learned to adapt quickly when it meant bringing someone in. The warrant for Aura was already being processed and officers were already en route and were told to stand by for Saph and himself to try and talk to Aura. If he could bring her in on his own he would, the last thing he wanted was for her to actually stack up a body count during this meeting proving her guilt.

”Not too worried about her friends right now,” Sam added not going into it further with Saph. Sam knew who Saph was referring too or at least a general idea. She satyed at the sanctuary and that meant she had a few questionable friends. People Sam knew he had met before and didn’t care much about. He just hoped Abyss, Garret or anyone else he knew wasn’t aware of Aura’s out-of-sanctuary activities.

Looking Saph’s way Sam nodded his head, ”Eyes open.” normally Sam would have laughed or added another comment but his thoughts were preoccupied. Looking over to the woman Sam smiled and headed over in her direction hoping she’d have some idea where to find Aura, ”Excuse me, my friend and I are looking for someone, can you help us?” Sam said gesturing towards Saph when he said friend.

When it came to driving, it probably didn't help that Saph never looked at his blind spot when checking lanes... Then again, he really didn't need to, having a sixth sense that could feel those things out... No one really knew that, though, and he hadn't thought to explain it... It kinda dawned on him now... Oh well, he'd explain if Sam brought it up.

Hmm... He would worry about it, huh? Saph nodded slowly while looking away, and pulling the door handle. The smell of the outside almost made him sick... It wasn't that the place was foul, it just smelled... dirty.

”Not too worried about her friends right now,” His eyebrow shot up as he heard that little statement, which lacked context, but seemed... well... like quite a statement. Did Sam know something he didn't? Either way, the me didn't give him time to push it further, opting to head to the nearest person and ask them if they know anything. He gave a grunt and a short nod when Sam told him to keep a look out. His eyes scanned the area as his senior spoke up.

”Excuse me, my friend and I are looking for someone, can you help us?”

The woman turned to him, and scanned him up and down quickly, looking to Saph when he was referred to as well. "Ulm... Look, I can be who eva you wan me to be, baby, as long as you got thu money." She took a drag from her cigarette, and pulled out some lipstick, smothering her lips with it.

Saph nearly fell over laughing, managing to wrangle himself in only because of the seriousness on the situation. He cleared his throat as the woman eyed him, and then put her lipstick away. "I ain't no narc, if thas what you's askin." A greedy look slowly formed on her face as the opportunity dawned on her. "Not if you ain't got money."

The former hobo turned X-man rolled his eyes. "Sam, we're wasting our time, here..." The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, and tapped her foot.

"Yu's gunna ask or what?" The girl pressed, her hand reaching out to accept some form of currency.

It was clear what the woman was before she said anything, before the applying of the lipstick or the long drag on her cigarette. It was clear as to what she wanted and she’d do next to anything for it. Normally Sam wouldn’t waste his time with someone like this but given the urgency of the situation he was willing to go out of his comfort zone to do it. Sam reached into his pocket after Saph suggested they leave her be.

The thought defiantly crossed his mind but, ”Gotta spend round here to make any progress.” Sam said shrugging and reaching into his back pocket where his honorary police badge resided giving him full authority to arrest this woman for her profession which he was still convinced was illegal in the state of New York.

The badge stayed in his back pocket as he pulled out his wallet and removed a small stack of bills from it. ”Half now, half later. Four hundred sound reasonable enough?” Sam asked pulling out a few bills and putting his wallet back in his pocket. ”I might even up the anti if you point us in the right direction.” Sam turned his head and smirked slightly to Saph, the first major emotion he had showed to his teammate since he found out about Aura possibly being linked to the murders.

”Now the person we are looking for hangs out around these parts, about this tall,” Sam raised his hand and to where he remembered Aura stood when they were next to each other, ”Mutant, pink light show about seventeen or eighteen.” Sam looked to any of the buildings Aura could have been hiding in back to the woman who hopefully could point them in the direction they were looking for. Sam held out his hand with the bills in it hoping he she would take the money for the information.

The Mansion-Null had told her she could be more then just a front line solider. She had been told this before but had never considered taking it seriously. Now however she had acquired doubts and watched much of her past revealed to be shams. She had never been to into the religious aspects of Mircales group. She knew them of course but she was told early that she likely would die a quick death on the front lines. Her powers had sustained her while a good number of the mutant kid's around her fell.

Still in the wake of the truth of her past Aura had clung to just a few thing's one of them was religion. The god's had always refused to speak through any but Mircale and Solkat and she had not had much luck. She glanced to her right at her patron Goddess, Alpha, Lady of the Forest and Evaluation. She chose what races lived and which died, creating new creatures to defeat the old. The others had not been mentioned much and it was a sore subject with Miracle when asked.

The other was Allsion. For the first time Aura found she wnated to live. She had never wnated to die, but her life had been singular thing, everything in preparation for the great war that would one day fall on humanity and Mutants. Only one would emerge the other would be a memory. Aura was still unaware of how close Frosty was to her. The camera she wnated to hide in that area had not arrived.

Saph shook his head as Sam pulled out the money, and he couldn't help but be a little shocked at how much money the guy had... Jees... he was still saving up for a half way decent car! He wondered what kinda dough a team leader raked in... Prolly not that much... He was willing to bet the guy came from a rich family... He tried not to be too envious of that.

The working lady's greedy smile was replaced by shock for a second, and then a big grin. "You's speekin mai language now, pirate man." She reached out for the money, snatching the first few bills from him, and counting them with expert quickness. "I know tha' freaky b$@%^... Seen her comin in an ou' one of dees warehouses... I ulm... Can' remember the number, dough... You's got summin more to remin' me?"

The team leader flashed a smirk and him, and he shook his head grumpily... Okay, so maybe this wasn't a waste of time. "Sam, how do we know she's even telling us the truth?"

That drew a look toward him from the working lady. "Cuz I is, uggo. You's talkin about that lady who always got blood on her. We keep away when she comes aroun'. Not F%#^in wit dat."

This made Saph perk up a little. Not the uggo part. The blood part. That was more evidence toward his case in his mind. He looked to CS, and then back to the girl, who was eyeing his stack of money. "200 more might jog mai memoree."

Sam scratched the back of his head as Saph and the woman argued back and forth. Not knowing what an uggo was Sam sighed and grabbed another bill and held it out to her. ”Really Saph?” Sam asked starting to try and humor the woman, ”Never knew a lady to lie, though she is starting to drive a stiff bargain.” he took out another bill glad he went to the bank in the last 24 hours. What he wasn’t glad about was that was his last major bill he had on his person so it would be all up front and none for later. Of course he didn’t let her know that.

”200 more it is.” Sam said noticing the reaction Saph had when the woman mentioned Aura was always covered in blood. Whose blood she did not say but he tried to keep a level head about it even though the evidence was starting to go in favor of Saph’s theory. ”It is really important that we find her.”

Looking to the area of warehouses that the woman had pointed to earlier Sam looked back to the stack in his hand and then decided that the initial 200 was plenty. ”On second thought, your prices are starting to become rather steep. We should be able to find her. If she was all covered in blood like you said it shouldn’t be that hard to find a trail not to mention you see her coming out of a few warehouses.” Sam smiled and put the money back in his pocket, ”Thanks for the help.” Sam looked back to Saph and shrugged, and then pointed to the nearest warehouse, ”We can start there.”

Sam closed his good eye and started to walk away from the woman hoping that the sudden lack of a chance to make a quick buck would cause her to blurt out the warehouse. If it didn’t Sam was confident enough in his abilities to root Aura out of a warehouse. With a slow breath the air around he and Saph started to become colder as he activated his sixth sense.

Saph put both of his hands up and rolled his eyes as Sam lamented his mistrust for the street walker. "Psh... wouldn't call that a lady if it slathered on enough make up to make Sarah Jessica Parker attractive..." He uttered under his breath so that only Sam could hear clearly. The girl stepped forward as if to try and listen in, and Saph turned back, smiling innocently.

It was about then that Sam counted out more money, and the girl's greedy smile grew even more, exposing even less teeth than he'd figured she'd have in the first place. He coughed a little, and turned away, It was then that Sam put the hook in the bait, and cast it into the water... Clever, giving her a taste of big money, but not the whole pie. Saph walked off with Sam when he opted to do so, grinning and shaking his head as the woman's smile was wiped away, and she watched them go, caving quickly at the thought of more money. "EY! EY! WAI'! issin block C! S'all I know! You's gonna pay me affer you fin her, righ'?! RIGH?!"

Well... that narrowed it down quite a bit. "I gotta ask, Sam... Where do you get all of that money? I mean... You got a sweet ride, and stacks of green that would make Trump blush. Does bein in charge pay that well?" He was exaggerating a little bit with the Trump blushing thing, but still... Coming from a guy who was saving ever penny for a car that didn't have a taped on bumper, he might as well be filthy rich.

"Hey, it's getting a little cold... You up to something?" He found himself shivering a little as they approached the first warehouse, Saph didn't know about Sam's sixth sense, but he ha one of his own to help... He stepped close to the door, and felt out into the place. "I don't think this is the right one... lots of heavy machinery knocking about in there... I think I feel people moving about, too, but it's faint... next one?" There were only four buildings on C block, so they would run into the right place soon either way... If the broad was telling the truth.

She looked around the room, a small shrine for each of the nine. She eyes looked over her own patron's shrine. She expected if any spoke to her it would be Alpha, the Lady of the wood and evolution. It was her choice which species persisted and which were chosen to be replaced. Aura had sever her unflinchingly till recently, her silence was the most perplexing of all of the nine's. It was Alpha who had given Miracle and Solkat the decree that she was meant for front line duty, destined to die a short and violent life.

The ritual was simple, one set up nine shrines and one would call to them, and tell the Priestess of the person's true path. The Priestess was dead and so Aura had to do so herself. SHe bent down to pet a somewhat fluffy, Black creature with a thick white stripe heading down its nose to the tip of it's tale. "Never was much good at this part" she said as she pet the skunk. Looking up she found her eyes resting on a shrine done in red, Solarrus the Devourer of souls, the god who could deny you rebirth after death by devouring your very soul, Aura knew it was he who picked who moved on and who did not.

Aura's building was set a bit apart from the other three and seemed as though it was made sturdier then the other three when built. STill it was clean, their was no blood, no obviously slash mark's or even vandalism, that spotted the other three in the form of spray paint. The windows were however broken and had never been boarded up. A stray dog was chewing on a bone in the unkempt grass as well, the half chewed bone looked long enough to be a human rib, but was to mangled to be identified exactly. The entrance to the Bomb shelter underneath was easy to find as well, this door looked like it had been shatterd and hacked into untill it had given way, which was indeed what happened to the door.

”Block C?” Sam asked as he was walking away, ”Yeah,” Sam said to the woman before he started to get quite so just Saph could hear him, ”Saph, make sure you remind me to pay her, I might forget.” joked Sam whose thoughts were about Aura and looking around the nearest warehouses. The last thing they needed was more trouble so it was best to keep his eye and ears open.

Once they headed to the C block and Saph poked his head in the first warehouse Sam shifted his eye to the next one knowing Aura wouldn’t pick a crowded warehouse full of people and machines that were still in use. If that was the case the would have had more witnesses to her location than the lady who was far too greedy for her own good.
”Not really the best time to ask questions like that, but I don’t get paid for being in charge.” Sam said without much thought, ”I’m nothing more than a team leader, as far as I’m concerned I’m third on the totem pole, Neena and Tricity run the show.”

He looked to the next warehouse they were approaching and he noted the graffiti saying something vulgar about mutants and cops. Ignoring the blue and silver paint Sam looked through one of the tinted glasses and saw some machines inside along with some boxes. He reached out with his sixth sense and didn’t really feel anything other than a few rats and some birds.

”Only thing I get paid for is teaching, just invested my time and money wisely.” Sam lied not feeling the need to go into detail how he stole and stored quite a bit of money from T.A.T.M.A.H. before he decided to give them his ‘Two week notice’ which resulted in a lot of trouble for them. Sam figured if Saph was going to be informed of his past this was neither the time nor place. ”Not to mention yesterday was withdraw money day.”

Sam shifted his eye to the next warehouse, and frowned feeling once again nothing that would clue him into Aura’s location. Sam waited till they were past the third warehouse before he commented on Saph feeling a temperature difference, ”I can sense body heat.” he paused for a minute and looked at the last one, which the thing that stood out was the lack of graffiti, ”Unfortunately my range is limited and I’m not really sensing a single heat signature that would fit one person.” Sam frowned, ”Other than you the other three warehouses had rats and birds.” he didn’t point out the first one because it seemed Saph had another ability as well how else would he know there were people and machines inside.

”We need to go into each one.” Sam said turning back to the second one they passed, ”Unless you can see something I can’t, didn’t know you had heightened senses.”

"Saph, make sure you remind me to pay her, I might forget.”

"Tchyea... I'll get right on that." He spoke through a smirk; oops, it appeared he'd already forgotten. How convenient.

He shrugged at the response to his money question... He could see the teacher thing throwing a bit of money his way, but investments, in this economy? Still, he didn't press the issue; Sam was right, this was not the time.

Sam's sixth sense put a grin on his face... It was kinda funny... Two guys walking around with sixth senses, not seeing a damned useful thing. "I don't really see anything... I guess it's more of a touch thing... It's like my skin's expanded out, and anything that moves too fast, or is heavy, I feel... The more force, I guess, the further away I can feel it from... He eyed the three factories he hadn't seen anything in... Was the working lady thinking right? Maybe it wasn't is block C after all.

Wait... One of the warehouses did look a little different than the others... It kinda looked abandoned... "Maybe we should take a closer look at that one?" It looked like it's decorator was a hurricane that didn't like windows. Most importantly, it looks abandoned.... If he were hiding, it was where he would hide.

He started walking toward the building, ignoring the stray dog as he approached the door. "No machinery... least nothing I can feel... Looks like it might have been cleared out..."

With no reply from the god's Aura decided hunger had won her over. Once she could of stood and waited for day's but now it seemed little point. Instead she went to a side a room and pulled out a grill, as well as a pair of small animal's. Not many people seemed to eat rabbit but Aura had long ago gotten past eating anything she was sure would not kill her. They were two quick for her normally and the last snare she had set, had taught her the difference between catching animals in the wood's and n the city. She had long since adapted, she bought them from the pet store.

As the smell filled the area she wondered if the dog would come in. She had fed it a few times and since it sometimes came into the shelter to beg for food. As she cooked, she used her Aura as a fork to flip the meat to even out the cooking. It was not long before the smell of roasting rabbit filled the room. with it's fragrant scent. Aura used no spice, having never understood it to well, and she found that weather a food tasted good or bad became less meaningful as one grew hungrier.

Aura looked down on her own hand's as blood stained as they were, she could only hope her people would benefit from what little she could offer. Their had to be a better way to deal with the threat humanity posed however.

Sam nodded slightly; he felt vibrations that were the best way to sum up what Saph was saying. Making a mental note to see if there were any other useful tidbits of information he could add to his active X-man’s roster Sam waved Saph forward, ”We go in and check them all then head to block D and go from there.” Sam said as he walked to the warehouse door and slid it open enough for two people to walk in without bumping into each other.

Once inside he looked around the building for anything that would stand out, first and foremost blood. The color red if Aura was truly the one guilty of all those murders would have left a trail or at least an indicator of where she was hiding. He debated calling out to her at first deciding that it would be best to let her know they were there. Sap wouldn’t be thrilled but Sam wanted it to be known he meant her no initial trouble at least until he was sure she was guilty or not. Finally he called out to her without warning, ”Aura!” he used a calm but loud voice one that if she were in the building would have heard the echo from the large and empty warehouse.

A few boxes scattered the warehouse floor and a few were up on shelves lining the walls but for the most part it was empty. Reaching out with his sixth sense Sam picked up the stray dog body heat and moved forward. The dog for the most part didn’t seem too interested in them skittish if anything. ”Aura are you in here?” he yelled again this time turning to Saph and added in a husher tone, ”You feel her?”

Saph had a feeling... you know, that clench you got in your gut when you just knew danger was nearby? He reached out with his sixth sense as Sam inquired about it. Slowly, he reached out and retrieved his crowbar from his coat, holding it tight in one hand... His sense felt small hints of movement, but nothing was really moving quick enough for him to get a lock on it. "I can't tell... That don't mean she isn't here, though."

Sam was yelling for her, so if she was here and chose to run, he would feel it... That was for sure. He stepped into the warehouse cautiously, eyeing the tail of a dog as it rounded the corner into the next room. "... You smell something... It's kinda like... something's cooking." He uttered under his breath... It was cold in here; he wondered if it still got heating.

"I wish they'd knock places like this down... It's practically begging for lowlifes to hunker down and run drugs out of..." He knew because he'd been a less acute brand of lowlife in the past. Back in the day he and his friends would have loved to have a spot like this to huddle in; it was better than the streets, after all.

As they moved further into the warehouse, he quieted up, and the air got more tense. If she was here, they'd see her any moment... Whether or not them seeing her lead to a battle, he didn't know, but he was damned sure he'd be ready for it.