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By the time he got over to where Mary was currently eating out of a stranger's hand, he was out of breath and little bit more than upset with the large canine construct. Hands on his knees, he waited a moment to get some air in his lungs before speak. "S-sorry, she, uh, she slipped away from me. C'mon, we gotta go Mary." The canine only gave him a bored look, before huffing and laying down next to the stranger. "Geez, don't be like that."

He gave an attempt at lifting the heavy creature, regretting almost immediately his choice in weight for the construct. Mary only had to shift for his grip to slip and for him to land on his backside. "Okay, fine, we'll stay." The big dog seemed pleased with this, laying her head on the strangers lap.

"Um, I guess she likes you. Sorry again, she's...stubborn." He shrugged helplessly, "Since I'm stuck here, what's your name? I'm Alex by the way." He really should just cut the connection, keeping his secret be damned. Mentally he tried to prod Mary for answers, warning her that he would be sure to shove her as far back in his mind as he could if she didn't. But she remained calm, arrogant vibes radiating off her. He really should have gone with Ace instead, Ace would have listened. Usually he didn't have such problems, it was disconcerting to say the least.

This guy was getting really annoying, the hypocrisy was probably the biggest problem. Then he had the nerve to tell him he was wound too tight, as if he had nothing to do with it. Honestly, how could any one be so idiotic. He did his best to keep from getting visually angry and only rested his arm on the papers to prevent them from flying off. Carrick had his full attention now, he could feel the constructs in the back of his mind bristle with his tension.

"Out of curiosity, if your so above it all, why are you even still here? Why are you even bothering living here? Or going to classes? Or hell even staying in the city? The majority of the U.S. is cover in farmland and forests. Why not go feral and just leave society behind?"he pointed out, keeping his voice low as the teacher began to lecture, "Unless you admit on some basic level that you need other people and all the advantages society brings. That you can't actually survive on your own, that even if you have wings you're too afraid to use them. But of course you wouldn't because that would destroy your rep, the big bad monster that doesn't need anyone."

Usually he wasn't one to do things like this. Usually he'd avoid confrontation when he could. But unlike those other times where he could simply walk away. There was no escape route to plan. If he didn't want Carrick hounding him from now on, he'd have to face the problem head on.

”Thought I meant you hate mutants? No, normal is boring. This is boring.”

"Well you did point out mutations specifically, so I'm pretty sure you were talking about that."he stated not buying that he was initially talking about situational normality. He was starting to get annoyed at this guy. He spoke big, like he was better than everybody else, like he was too good for this stuff.

”Survival… What’s the point of surviving if you aren’t living. Buncha sheep n’cattle”

"Hard to live if you don't survive and honestly where do you think everything that makes your life so cozy comes from. Those sheep, as you put it, made this building, which I assume you live in, made the A/C which you are currently enjoying, deliver the food you eat to the stores you buy from, pave roads you use, program computers you use, make vaccines that keep you alive, even study the genetics that make up you."he said pointedly, glaring back at him. That cocky smirk doing nothing but piss him off. "Sheep; normal, everyday people, both mutant and human alike, are what make everyday existence comfortable for jerks like you. Hell, they improve it every year because they work within a functioning society that encourages growth. But what do I know, huh? I'm just a geek."

He wondered if Carrick even understood, hell even cared, that he's been fighting for this. Looking for a place that was safe and normal and didn't come with the caveat that he might die or loose people after they become close to him. It was important to him and he felt insulted by Carrick's commentary.

“A couple of years. I couldn't stand being at home, so I ended up heah. I guess I was glad this place existed.”

He gave a small hum of agreement, looking back at the house. He was certainly glad that this place was around. He didn't think he would have had the chance to stick around if Gawain hadn't found him when he did. Still, perhaps it was the paranoia speaking, but he couldn't help but think something awful was going to happen to drive him away.

"Yeah, just hope this lasts."he said with a small shrug, more to himself than Clyde. He was liking this place, he was making friends, things were working out. He wanted it to stay that way.

        Alex couldn’t believe he had been wrangled into this. But Shield was a force to be reckoned with when it came to these sorts of thing. As he was slowly but surely finding out. It started out small, a drug store here, a corner store there, places the cops would ignore if a couple of hooligans walked out with some candy bars without paying. He wasn’t so keen on the thefts, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t done the same thing with Herbert before.

        Then Shield started planning for bigger thefts, break ins after the store was closed, testing Void and his abilities to get in get the stuff and get out without being seen by cameras. Void’s was a simpler task, as long as he’s been inside the place at one point he could open a shadow portal there. Alex was tasked with blocking out the cameras, which often meant tagging along with Void to scope out the place, spot the cameras then use his constructs to block them.

        Still they stuck to stores, only moving up to grocery stores once Shield learned how break locks with his own powers. Make a small shield inside the mechanism and expand it till it broke. For the first time they had gotten their hands on cash, real cash from the store's’ back room safe. Comparatively to actual large sums it wasn’t that amazing but it was more than both him and Void ever had in their own hands. Shield only wanted more at that point.

        They spent Christmas and New Year in a fancy hotel, there was plenty of food to go around and new clothes in those months. Alex grateful his luck had taken such a good turn. He may have lost Herbert, Olive, and B.D. but he had a better group now. One he could actually depend on, they promised each other that they would work together no matter what. A band of brothers against all else. At least in those times he thought so.

        In their little hideout, which had grown progressively better, they hung out Alex pillowed by the blankets they collect in one corner of the room. He flipped through a book he had stolen on biology when it was suddenly yanked out of his hands.

        “We should hit a bank next.” Alex stared up at Shield’s grinning face and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea Shield. How would we even get in.”Alex sighed trying and failing to grab the book back. Shield didn’t even seem to be paying attention, going off on his own thoughts. “That’s the thing, we’ve got all the skill we need to pull it off. We just need to pick a place that isn’t too close by and figure out a way to get Void inside the vault.”

        “Well duh, but how do we get in the vault if Void’s never been there?”Alex grumbled attempting once more to grab the book. “I talked with Merriam, she knew we were going to make it and how too.”

        The next morning Alex found himself walking with Void into a bank, the kind that was sure to have a vault with plenty of valuables. The kind that had them stick out like sore thumbs. Void tugged on his hood subconsciously, doing his best to hide his weird skin from sight while Alex kept a comforting hand on his shoulder. It took a bit of finagling but they were able to convince a few people that Alex was writing a report on banking systems and he had brought his brother along to see the vault and other cool stuff.

        It had actually worked, they really had been able to get in. That night they grabbed more money than they had ever grabbed before. It was also the night Void started getting sick. Really sick. They had to stop for a while, there was no way Void’s power was going to work like this. Alex kept watch, not really paying attention to how antsy Shield was getting without Void there to help out and consequently Alex there to pick up the slack.

        As the youngest of them got sicker, slept longer and longer, Alex decided to the only thing they could do. He’d go to Merriam and hope that she had some advice for him. He had never gone to the woman by himself but he knew the neon glow of her little shop easily. Zodiac was one of those places that was filled with healing crystals that probably didn’t actually do anything, dream catchers, and watered down cure alls.

        Ignoring the clutter, he headed straight to the curtained off back. While the front may be full of fakes, the back is where the real magic happened. Or rather where a mutant with almost magical abilities sat. “Merriam? We need to talk, I need your help.”

        The older woman, skin wrinkled with aged, smiled at him, “Rebirth, came alone I see. Could have sworn you’d bring bring the others with you.”

        “Shield isn’t being very helpful right now and Void...Void’s sick, really sick. It’s actually why I’m here. You gotta help me, I don’t know what to do. Medicine’s doing nothing and he keeps sleeping for longer. He didn’t open his eyes once yesterday.” Alex tried to fight down the panic that was constricting his throat, but it had been days and any help would have been preferable to just sitting and waiting.

        “Oh dear, oh I didn’t think he’d go through with it. I warned him this would happened.”Merriam put a hand to her mouth, a worried apologetic look on her face, “I told him that the smallest of you would be lost if he went through with this task. I’m so sorry Rebirth, there’s nothing you can do.”

        Alex could only stand there, the words rumbling through his head like a thunder cloud. The next moment he was racing out of the shop, intent on finding Shield and getting some answers. But by the time he got back to their hide out it was obvious Shield wasn’t coming back. Half their things were missing, with only a note to explain, ‘It’s time I moved on, good luck, Shield.’

        Alex crumpled the paper in his hand, half tempted to go find the bastard and beat an apology out of him. But looking over at Void the fight drained out of him. The kid was wrapped up in nearly all their sheets, sleeping like the dead. He couldn’t just leave him alone to...to...His brain refused to think about it.

        Instead he found himself laying down next to him, holding the kid close as if to prove that Merriam’s prediction was wrong. Nothing bad was going to happen, not as long as he was right there to protect him. Void wasn’t lost, he refused to believe it would happen. “You're not going anywhere. I promise, you’ll be alright. You’ll be alright.”he whispered, slipping into sleep himself.

        And yet the next morning when he opened his eyes Void was gone. Not dead but gone, disappearing into thin air like he never existed. This sent Alex into somewhat of a panic. He searched high and low, went to Merriam for help and when that bore no fruit searched again. He went on like this till summer broke through and he could no longer defend their little home from other homeless.

        He had failed Void and Shield’s betrayal stung deep. How could things change like this? It made no sense. Then again, he hadn’t thought Herbert and the others would abandon him either. The thought made everything hurt worst. May be that’s the way things were supposed to be. He wasn’t supposed to have a family or people to depend on.

        Packing what he could, he left, hoping to sneak on to a train or a truck to get out of here. It was decided, no more groups, no more depending on others. He was living on his own.

“So, how long have you been heah? You new?”

He tilted his head in thought, "Not too too long. A couple of months I guess. I usually don't hang around here for long." He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the already messy fluff, "I have a tendency to wander about." Though with the increasingly cold weather he's been sticking closer to the mansion. It was better than walking and freezing all the way to and from the park. Plus he was able to work on bigger projects, like the one buzzing behind him.

Thinking back on it he was honestly surprised how long he had been here with little happening from the day to day. It was kind of nice, he was worrying less and less about survival. Less about where his next meal would come from, where was a safe place to sleep, where danger may come. Hell he's been able to sleep in, instead of waking up at first light.

"What about you?"

Alex was, perhaps, a little too excited for class to start. But it had been months since he's moved in and only now was he able to join an actual class. The paperwork had been taken care of, there was no fear of being kicked out, and he seemed to be on the right track for once in his life. Things were finally stable for him. He could feel the construct personalities buzzing in his head, emboldened by his excitement and the new situation. It had been a long time since he's been in a class room, long enough that many of the constructs didn't even understand what was going on.

Still he tried to keep his excitement contained to the jittering of his leg and focus on the sheet the teacher had handed him. He was apparently partnered up with someone who's been having some trouble keeping up. With the both of them behind it probably made sense to put them together. Though from what the other students were murmuring his lab partner wasn't the greatest person. Apparently the failing grades wasn't just a difficulty with the subjects but an utter lack of trying. There was also some murmuring about the violence of this particular person. But he wasn't going to believe it just yet.

Maybe the guy just needed a shove in the right direction. With that in mind he focused on filling the sheet. Some of the answers he already knew, grateful this was biology and not something like chemistry. He was sure he'd be fine in chemistry but biology was definitely one of his stronger subjects. And his lab partner would probably appreciate someone with a good understanding of the subject to help them.