『 ℬυℜηt 』

[Salem Wolf]

When Ember woke up it was like a weight off his chest, Daxter was glad to see she was alright, especially after what Vance had done so easily to her. He wouldn't admit it, but Noah was right and Vance would have wrecked him. But he was still angry with him, perhaps inexplicably so, although he did have to admit he was concerned with why he'd gone to talk to Vance, it seemed so casual that Daxter couldn't imagine it was anything good. But maybe his imagination was running away with him, yet he wasn't letting it go. He wasn't happy with how powerful Noah was, though he was still powerless when it came to actual powers, so Daxter had that on him. Still annoyed by Noah, he gave a little "tch" when he spoke up to Ember about where she was, being vague as his typical self. He respected him, but right now it just seemed like there was too much mystery around him. When Ember decided she wanted to meet in the living room so she could talk to Noah on her own, Daxter shrugged and went to leave, giving a glance to Noah on his way out. Noah approached the bed and sat at the foot of it, looking at her as she asked what had happened. It took him a moment, but he replied with the truth: "I found out by Theodore trying to track you and Daxter the night you both went missing. We found Daxter encountering a girl who took your appearance. Lucia. She was the one who set you up in this kidnapping process. She's also working with Vance," when Ember growled at that name he took a pause, giving her a kind gentle smile, knowing it wasn't easy. "None of us were happy by what she'd done -- " suddenly she gave him a hug, approaching him. He was surprised, taken aback by it, but wasn't minding it nonetheless.

"I'm sorry." She said to him, "any friend of Vance must have been terrifying and gruesomely as evil as he was, so I'm sorry you got involved in my problems." Noah had given a soft chuckle, putting an arm around her waist as her's slipped from his shoulder. "She was not actually too terrible," he told her honestly, and minus the part where she had poisoned him, she wasn't. "When I had given up, Daxter told me the main detail of what happened and what he was willing to do. But you know Noah... you're very important to me. Thank you for helping look for me. I appreciate this." He smiled lightly, it was strange to have friends but he couldn't say he didn't like it. He'd been so hard, so tough, that letting a little softness through was nice. "I don't know what Vance and his people want... But I can assure you one thing, I won't let anything happen to my friends."

"You have nothing to worry about, we can take care of ourselves. I suppose you should go talk to Daxter, me and him are not on good terms at the moment so he'll become jealous here shortly." If she inquired, he would tell her the reasons why they weren't too friendly at the moment, but he was right, it was likely that Daxter wanted to see her.

[Escaflowdra]

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Ember looked at Noah with a kinder smile on her face than anything she had previously offered her in the past, and feeling happy when an arm wrapped her waist when they hugged. She knew he wasn't too open to emotion, but to have her hug reciprocated in some way felt nice after dealing with mental hell for the past few years. "You have nothing to worry about, we can take care of ourselves. I suppose you should go talk to Daxter, me and him are not on good terms at the moment so he'll become jealous here shortly." She gave him a half smile at the thought of what he said... him and Daxter not being on good terms. It was strange, but she couldn't blame Noah for feeling as he did. Daxter was a very outstanding man who did things on instinct. There was always some irrationality that influenced Daxter's decision making, but surely things would work out between the two of them. She nodded, moving past Noah slowly and then going to the living room, but not finding Daxter there. With much surprise, Ember decided to head over to the guest room and see if he was inside. She opened the door without much thought of turning on the light at first when she spoke, "Daxter?"

Meanwhile, Noah sat in the room Ember had just left, his hands clasped together as things were running through his mind. While all thoughts were resurfacing from the chain of events that lead up to this point, Hello, Defiance. Noah widened his eyes, a little shocked that Vayne's powers allowed him to reach the minds of those he'd been around in such short time. His powers were nothing short of immeasurable in some aspects, but Noah closed his eyes as he then replied, I imagine you've got something to say about our exchange of words. Vance chuckled in the depths of Noah's mind, You make an interesting offer, Defiance. I can tell that unlike you're friends, your power of knowledge is truly unsurpassed. For such a youth to have that much experience and power, I imagine that 'reach' of yours could help me in this extermination process I am handling. Noah opened his eyes curiously to the response he got as Vance continued so much without giving him time to ask questions.

This world is growing more corrupt by each passing second that the King and his DOGS Corps operate. I would be willing to take you up on your services, assuming that with my team of operation and methods, you'll be able to eradicate the existence of that chain of atrocity. Noah gave a smirk, feeling that their agreement to cooperate with one another would turn up useful on his end. However, Vance spoke, my power and influence is extended through alterations of my members. You'll find when working with my staff, I extend some of my power to them. If you're willing to comply with this effect, then you will true receive the extensions of my capabilities to achieve your goals.

Noah heard silence. Would he be willing to change himself...

[Salem Wolf]

Ember left the room to join Daxter, watching her walk away he smiled lightly, then when she was out of view he went back to his traditional emotionless expression. He had spent so long alone, fighting by himself that he didn't really know much in the way of human contact, human empathy. He many respects he was a lot like Daxter, he just didn't know how. Sure, Daxter was always like that and Noah had been popular until he was a teenager, until the accident changed him. After that he was alone, he wouldn't let others help him, and to be blind for so long, unable to experience the same things had somehow turned him a little, admittedly, bitter. Once he regained his sight it was a weight that had lifted off of him, and had only done to enhance himself further. But until Theodore had become something of an assistant, it was Noah that had done everything, very rarely relying on others and Zack only there once in a while. He had distanced himself, kept everyone away. And then came in Ember, once she showed up in his life he had been forced to become something of a social creature, and it never ended. He didn't dislike it, but in some regards he still had to get used to it. But the thing about Noah was...he knew what he was capable of, what he could do, what had to be done to remove the DOGS. So when Vance had spoken to him telepathically about the offer, it was strange that Noah didn't accept right away, because now he wasn't just fighting the DOGS, he would be dealing with fighting with friends. Theodore, Ember, Daxter...Melody. Sweet Melody, no he wasn't interested in her in such a way, but she was such a sweet, caring person, he had taken a liking to her quickly. Would he be willing to do the impossible? As Noah thought about every possible situation and scenario that would come from both choices, he heard Daxter.

He smiled when Ember entered the room, patting the seat next to him. He looked at her as she sat down, and immediately he hugged her and left her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad to see you're okay." He said, immediately knowing by the look on her face that Noah had told her they were at odds, or worse. He sighed, figuring this was coming, "so let me explain. When you were gone this b***h, Lucia, had poisoned him. Theodore had figured out a way to help him, but Noah can't heal like us, he was ********. So he recommended making a cure from her blood, which I got -- no easy task -- but, by that point, it had been days since we'd seen you. I was becoming worried, frustrated, every meeting with Lucia got me no where and only made me angrier. I resorted to psychometry, a power that lets me read the memories of objects by way of heat signature. Well since the nuclear bomb thing I'd been able to manipulate smoke, and my fire powers had increased. I figured my psychometry would too. I only meant to scare her, frighten her into telling me what I needed to hear. When she wouldn't budge I had to...I lost it. I took the vial of blood and spilled it in my hands, and I read what bit of information I could. I risked Noah's life just to threaten Lucia into telling us where you were. Though her sister had given us another vial of blood, we really thought Noah would die. It wasn't an easy choice to make, I didn't actually want to do it. Because, surprise, Noah is my friend." He sighed, putting a hand on Ember's thigh, "but I did it for you, I had to. I couldn't be without you. Anyway, he isn't upset but he says it's hard to trust me to do the right thing because of it. Can't say I blame him, I do things on impulse it's just my nature. But I'm pissed at him, when Vance attacked I just...I wanted to pull out his heart and ******** bite into it. He hit him, knocked me down, I'm angry. But even more than that...he spoke with Vance while I was helping you. I don't know what he said or even why he did it, but the more I think about it...I don't know how loyal Defiance really is. It's fishy, he's got a place in every major city, he's incredibly wealthy, I mean how do you trust a guy so two-faced?"

Daxter wasn't really upset at him for that, it was the Vance conversation and what he'd done to stop him from fighting the guy, but he was concerned by how far he would go to get things done. What was he saying to the enemy? Daxter dwelled on it for a while, since the conversation happened, what could have been said what he's planning. Was there a possibility he was going to join Vance? Switch teams because he was on the weaker one? Coward. It made Daxter irrationally angry to think about, hell maybe it was just a talk to try and coax information out of him but it didn't matter. Daxter needed to know. He stood up, shaking his head as he left the guest room, "Defiance!!"

Noah heard his alter-ego being called, standing up from the bed to find Daxter entering the room and looking angry. Grabbing his collar, Daxter stared into the emerald green eyes of Noah. "You and Vance, what did you two talk about?" He asked, though Noah wasn't appreciating the grip he'd taken on his shirt collar. Grabbing his wrist, twisting harshly, and then using his knee to flip Daxter onto the bed, he took a step back. "That's none of your concern, Dax. Walk away before you get hurt." It looked like Noah, but it sounded like Defiance. Daxter flipped backwards onto the bed and clenched a fist, shaking his head, "what are you planning with that guy?! Are you planning to switch teams or something? You ******** coward!" Daxter was making a wild accusation and talking out of his a**, of course he didn't know that that's exactly what Noah was thinking about, but he had no way of knowing that. "Everything I have done and risked for you, your mom, and Ember, and you believe I would betray that?" The arguing had attracted the attention of Theodore and Melody, who entered the medical wing with Ember to watch this. Theodore shook her head, meanwhile Melody was yelling at them to cut it out.

"You know what? Yeah, I do. I think you would do whatever benefits you the most. Your goals, that is." Noah shook his head, "then you have no trust in what I do, and therefore no more ties to me. I won't tolerate being called untrustworthy or two-faced in my home or to my face. Daxter...get out." Melody put a hand to her mouth, surprised Noah was going to kick him out, not that he didn't deserve it because he was being a bit of a jerk, but it was still surprising. "Alright guys, cut it out, we're all friends here. It's been tense, but let's just...talk it out, okay?" Theodore tried to cut in, approaching the two, but Daxter pushed Theodore away, staring to Noah. "You'd turn Ember and I into the DOGS if it meant getting you out of their sights. You're a scumbag." At this point, Daxter was trying to make Noah angry, he didn't even know why he was doing it, maybe it was because Noah was keeping secrets and those secrets were dangerous. Noah had restraint, so he refused to hit Daxter.

"If that's all you think about me then you know nothing about what I've sacrificed for the Gifted. At least I haven't killed my own kind, Daxter, tell me again where you picked up that vibrosword from while in Solica?" That, for some reason, boiled Daxter's blood, bringing up terrible things he'd done in his past seemed like a low blow. It wasn't, but Daxter felt it was. Theodore moved to the middle of them, but was pushed out of the way by Daxter again, who then slammed his fist into Noah's cheek, knocking him backwards into the wall. "Daxter!!" Melody gasped, Noah sliding to the floor. He rubbed the place Daxter hit him, then licked the inside of his cheek, realizing that this was where it was going, and where the turning point was.

He picked himself back up, then shook his head, "come now, surely a murdering lunatic can hit harder than that? Would you hit me harder if I told you I left your mother to die because she was dead weight?" The moment he said that, the cold and cruel words he didn't even know he was capable of, Melody had covered her mouth with both hands and gasped out "Noah!" with tears forming in her eyes. Sure she knew he didn't mean that, but it still hurt. "I...I'm sorry Melody, I-I didn't mean that. I-It was purely out of anger, I swear!" Melody nodded, it hurt, but she knew. "P-Please stop, both of you! This hurts too much to see you two do this. E-Ember do something." Melody said softly, looking to Ember with sad, pleading eyes. It was too late though.

Daxter rushed at Noah and swung at him a few times, missing each attack due to Noah's ability to sense the minute changes in the air, giving him a slight bit of precognition. It was his superhuman radar sense that kept him alive when blind and gave him a better advantage now that he had sight. Daxter managed to surprise Noah and hit him in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps. When he rushed at Noah again, Noah dodged and slammed his fist into Daxter's stomach, chest, then his chin and kneed him in the gut to knock him back in a 4-hit successive combo. "You're pathetic!! You don't even have powers! You're not Gifted you're just a d**k in a costume." Daxter wasn't going to use fire, not indoors, even though he wanted to burn it to the ground he knew Noah would never kick out the others, so it wasn't a smart move. But he teleported behind Noah and grabbed him in a choke hold, pulling out a knife and putting it to his neck, "tell me what the ******** you're doing with Vance!! I'll slit your goddamn throat." He didn't mean it, he was angry, but the entire scene was certainly shocking. "Y-Yeah I know, you have n-no qualms against my death, you ruthless psychopath." Slamming his foot into Daxter's toes, then twisting when he got the tiniest bit of breathing room, he headbutted Daxter and grabbed the knife, slamming it into his shoulder and kicking him into the wall.

Daxter grunted as he pulled the knife out of his shoulder, staring at Noah as he pulled a gun out of his waistband. "Heh...you gonna shoot me? Make it count, if you don't kill me with it I'll make sure you don't survive to get off a second shot." Noah stood there with a gun, then slowly lowered it, tossing it to Theodore. The safety was still on, he had no intention of shooting Daxter. "That will be all, Daxter." Noah turned his back on Daxter and started leaving the room, but Daxter teleported behind him and tackled him from behind, landing on him, but Noah was able to use his weight, momentum, and positioning himself properly to roll with Daxter and throw him off, pulling off a small dart from his belt and tossing it at Daxter, where it struck him. When Daxter stood up he immediately fell down again. "Y-You poisoned me..." He said with a struggle to stand. "Sedative." Noah turned to the others, then glanced back to Daxter, "my home is yours, it always has been. When Daxter wakes up in approximately half an hour the offer extends to him. But I won't be staying here."

Noah walked away and entered the war room, exchanging his casual clothes for his Defiance uniform and mask, putting on his utility belt and reapproaching the group, "see to it he takes care of the knife wound, I won't lie...I twisted it a bit before he backed away." Noah walked away from the group, leaving to the garage and getting on a motorcycle, nothing any of them could say would keep him around any longer. He wasn't pissed, but he wasn't going to tolerate Daxter's antics any longer.

'I look forward to our partnership, Vance. I accept your offer.'

[Escaflowdra]

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"Daxter?" she asked until looking into the room when Daxter patted a seat next to him for her to take. She walked towards him, taking her seat and opening her mouth to speak until she was rather surprised how quick Daxter was to take her in his arms and kiss her on the cheek. "I'm glad to see you're okay." He said. She was slightly flustered, but the thoughts and words exchanged between Noah and her left herself to wander what the hell had happened while she was gone... and why there was tension. "so let me explain. When you were gone this b***h, Lucia, had poisoned him. Theodore had figured out a way to help him, but Noah can't heal like us, he was ********. So he recommended making a cure from her blood, which I got -- no easy task -- but, by that point, it had been days since we'd seen you. I was becoming worried, frustrated, every meeting with Lucia got me no where and only made me angrier. I resorted to psychometry, a power that lets me read the memories of objects by way of heat signature. Well since the nuclear bomb thing I'd been able to manipulate smoke, and my fire powers had increased. I figured my psychometry would too. I only meant to scare her, frighten her into telling me what I needed to hear. When she wouldn't budge I had to...I lost it. I took the vial of blood and spilled it in my hands, and I read what bit of information I could. I risked Noah's life just to threaten Lucia into telling us where you were. Though her sister had given us another vial of blood, we really thought Noah would die. It wasn't an easy choice to make, I didn't actually want to do it. Because, surprise, Noah is my friend." Ember was a little shocked that Daxter was willing to find out where she was by risking the life of their friend. For all she had done and not told Noah, she didn't think she would be able to live an easy life seeing him sacrificied on her behalf... But Daxter did it for more reason than just a mindless choice. He must have gone through a lot to put his friend on the line.

He sighed, putting a hand on Ember's thigh, "but I did it for you, I had to. I couldn't be without you." Ember closed her eyes and inhaled a slow breath. All that Daxter had said on the stage... she believed it all. "Anyway, he isn't upset but he says it's hard to trust me to do the right thing because of it. Can't say I blame him, I do things on impulse it's just my nature. But I'm pissed at him, when Vance attacked I just...I wanted to pull out his heart and ******** bite into it. He hit him, knocked me down, I'm angry. But even more than that...he spoke with Vance while I was helping you. I don't know what he said or even why he did it, but the more I think about it...I don't know how loyal Defiance really is. It's fishy, he's got a place in every major city, he's incredibly wealthy, I mean how do you trust a guy so two-faced?" What? Ember thought as she tilted her head in curiosity. Daxter didn't truly trust Noah from what she could observe in both words and expression. And Noah stopped Daxter from attacking Vance? Well, Ember didn't like to think she was better than Daxter at fighting... that they were more on the same level. In that case, Noah may have saved Daxter;s life. However, Ember was curious what was said between Vance and Noah. That could have been anything.

"Defiance!!" Daxter walked out of the room, Ember following and watching Daxter confront their friend. It was painful for the first half of their conversation, while Daxter was irrational and stubborn. Ember wasn't very pleased with seeing Daxter behave like this.. but he wasn't in the wrong with being frustrated about Noah's secrets. However, just like her secrets... she had to respect them. It was still hard to think something may have happened in the conversation with Vance, but Ember trusted him. Daxter was having a hard time as Noah kept his tone cold and tried to lay Daxter off. Melody tried to step in, and Noah made a dark comment nobody in the room expected. Even Ember was taken back by the darkness and the meaning of his phrase when trying to anger Daxter back. Melody, hurt and shocked, managed to pull Noah's mind out and apologize for what he said. Anger was evident in the fight that unfolded, and while Melody forgave Noah, she looked to Ember, "P-Please stop, both of you! This hurts too much to see you two do this. E-Ember do something." Ember closed her eyes, feeling like she was getting closer and closer to having to step in... but this was not her fight.

Once Daxter had a knife in his shoulder, Ember stepped forward slightly. Maybe things were getting more serious than just a tumble. "Stop it," she spoke out loud until Noah pulled a gun. He tossed it off to Theodore and dismissed his argument with Daxter. However, Daxter decided not to give up and was stabbed with a needle, "Y-You poisoned me..." He said with a struggle to stand. "Sedative." Noah turned to the others, then glanced back to Daxter, "my home is yours, it always has been. When Daxter wakes up in approximately half an hour the offer extends to him. But I won't be staying here." Ember looked at Noah with worry in her eyes. He was going to just leave them in his home? Where would he go... and why? Could he really not stand being around Daxter any longer? Or did they just need time apart? Noah walked away and entered the war room, exchanging his casual clothes for his Defiance uniform and mask, putting on his utility belt and reapproaching the group, "see to it he takes care of the knife wound, I won't lie...I twisted it a bit before he backed away." Ember gritted her teeth, wanting to reach out to him and stop him, but instead she muttered the words, "Take care of yourself," as she turned away. It was painful, but she would do what she could in the meantime. She, Melody and Theodore went to aid Daxter in his unconscious state. They would start searching after a few days.

---

[x]

A woman with long blonde hair and a frail figure was tossed over on white sheets in a charcoal black dress. Her small wings were ruffled with gray feathers, and her skin that used to glow with a warmer hue was dimmed to glow with a colder, more pale shine. She appeared to be sleeping, void of any recognized emotion on her face until she heard the violin. Suddenly, the angel opened her aquatic blue eyes slowly and reached a hand under her pillow, grasping the item tightly as she could hear the strings of her heart being played by a violin on the small radio by her nightstand. There were nights she wanted to be alone and away from her 'master', but some nights... the cold was just too much. She closed her eyes, trying to recall why she felt such sadness, but most of the past had faded from her mind. Only recently did she hear the name Ember, and it brought Nill to think of Sapphire... and how she saved her life. But she never got to pay the full price of bringing Sapphire back to life.

No... Nill was 'saved' by Vance, She turned onto her back, closing her eyes and recalling his black hands taking the dissolving pieces of her in a spiritual state and re-fabricating her back to what she used to be... But making sure that he put his own touch on her heart. Nill was influenced by him that she should be grateful, and she believed that she needed to be. To live a second life was a rare opportunity.. but it made Nill ponder on who she could have used her second life on. Surely, there was no reason to keep her alive? She lived underground her whole life until she found courage to look up to, following that courage that made her come up to the surface. She closed her eyes when she thought of who she admired at that time in the past and moved her hand out from under the pillow, whispering softly until Vance came into the room. She sat up, slyly putting the item back and sitting up as he walked over to Nill and grabbed her chin lightly. She flinched from how cold his hand was, and left him to direct her gaze back into the hollow shadows of his eyes. "Good morning," Vance spoke as he tapped her chin once, and then released her.

She looked at him with a careful expression and smiled lightly, "Hello," but her reply was not so enthused. Rather, she was wondering why he was here earlier than usual. "We have a guest today, I would like you to accompany me in greeting him into our staff." Nill stood up from her bed and fixed her short dress and brushed her hair. She wanted to ask who the new guest was, but she didn't like to keep conversations going long with Vance. She was lucky she was one of the few exceptions to his mind powers... Probably because of her inner holy powers. "Are you curious?" he asked as he looked over his shoulder back to Nill who stood and walked up to his side, just as he expected. She nodded her head once, which he gave nothing of reaction to other than wrapping a hand around her waist and pulling her close for a second. Nill held her breath closed her eyes, and prayed to god Lucia was not around the doorway. When she accompanied Vance outside of the door, he walked in front of her, as she followed him like a pet. A new guest... I was already weary finding out that Salem was here... after what happened in Gradia so long ago. Now... who else could possibly be here...? She never really expected Vance to give away his secrets about the people he recruited, but she would never have expected anyone to voluntarily join.

[Salem Wolf]

The fight with Daxter had taken a toll on him, not necessarily physically or mentally, but just in the way that he had to come to realize that secrets were going to hurt people. If he didn't leave Daxter would have continued, he would attempt to pull his secrets out by force, and Noah couldn't allow that to happen. He left for the good of everyone involved, but he would be back sometime. He just hoped he would still be welcomed later on as he was now, all his efforts would be remembered and he wouldn't be considered a traitor to them. Perhaps they'd understand someday, but for now he had to keep his secrets, he couldn't afford to make such a mess with everything going on. He dressed in his uniform and grabbed his belt to put it on, then began making his way out of the home. He was surprised that Ember, of all people, hadn't attempted to stop him but it was just as well, even without secrets he would need time to cool down. She told him to take care of himself, to which he nodded, "same to you." Then he left, leaving the group. He telepathically communicated back to Vance knowing, figuring, that he kept the connection open, letting him know he was going to be accepting his offer.

He'd been given the instructions on how to get there and followed them specifically, heading his way towards the compound. Once there he had parked the bike and made his way inside. It was difficult to explain how he felt about, ultimately, betraying his closest and perhaps only friends, but it seemed to be something that he had to do. Daxter had pushed him towards it, the secrets were only going to get worse, so he removed himself from the equation. He arrived into the room he was told to wait in, Vance heading inside without Nill for the moment so he could distribute the darkness inside of him, giving him the power Vance promised to Defiance. Getting the others together for their new recruit, Defiance watched Vance enter the room and approach him. "So how many others will I be working with?" When he said with, he figured more like "working for", especially Vance. This might have been mentioned as a partnership, but somehow he was skeptical of such a deal. Too good to be true, so it was likely Vance would be in charge as their boss and he would tell them what to do. Well, Defiance didn't do well with being told what to do, but he would try if it meant removing the DOGS.

Vance explained as much as he was willing, putting a hand on Defiance's chest, picking up and pulling the darkness within and around him, swirling it around him as it came to the forefront of his person, enhancing him from the inside out. Noah could feel the swirling accumulation of power as it drew to him, reached into his core and started to change him in different ways. He could feel his mind reeling with new and interesting power, the way he felt as Vance was doing this to him was both incredible and terrifying. The darkness enveloped him like a cocoon, pushing into his skin and driving to his soul. He felt it, like a tight grip around his heart trying to consume him. He resisted, lasted, he could feel that power swelling and suddenly, like a light, it was over and his power was on. The darkness fell and Defiance stood there, his new abilities recognized within himself, he panted lightly, understanding his power of telekinesis, realizing that with his new power, his radar and telekinesis could allow him to manipulate objects within his senses. That kind of power, ability, it was magnificent, untold potential at his fingertips. Could he also manipulate other powers, bend them around him? Like fire? He would have to train and experience extensively to figure it all out. "Thank you." He said sincerely, looking into the eyes of the mask through his own mask. Then it was time to meet the rest of the crew.

Vance gathered the others and Defiance stepped into the room, immediately Salem had leaped up, "WHAT THE ******** IS HE DOING HERE?!" He snarled, staring at the unmistakable outfit of Defiance. Salem turned to Vance, arm outstretched towards Defiance, "are you insane?! Defiance is a goddamn Gifted and a very wanted enemy of the Dogs." "Down boy, we're on the same team now, least you could do is give me the benefit of the doubt. Or let me buy you a beer." Salem turned his head to Defiance, eye twitching, "don't expect me to rush out to save your a** if something happens. Be sure to know I'll let you die before I rescue you." "Duly noted. Hello Lucia, how was your first skydive? It works better with a parachute." He wasn't bitter, not one bit, he was just going to annoy her a lot. Then Defiance looked at Nill, smiling underneath his mask a little brighter than he'd care to admit. "Nill. It's been a year since we last met, you saved Sapphire a long time ago, I remember that, it was very heroic of you. I look forward to working alongside you." Vance must not have liked that, because he instructed for Defiance to remove his mask, citing that for his teammates to trust him, they would have to see who was underneath of it. Of course he was against it, but for this to happen, for everything he was risking to have purpose, he would have no choice.

"Well then, I suppose I have no choice in the matter." He raised his gloved fingers up to the lining of his mask around his neck, then gripped and gently started to raise it over his head. He exposed his darker skin, raising it over his still grinning lips, over his cheeks and finally exposing his brilliant emerald green eyes and thick dark brown hair, a green highlighted streak in the right side of his hair, a little something he'd done a while back and kept constant. It was Theodore's idea, something to make him stand out, something he could see of himself that he couldn't before. Theodore mentioned a tattoo, something symbolic as a result of his eyesight returning, but the hair streak would be only as permanent as he decided and it was...it made Noah unique, it was that little bit of green streak that reminded him every single day how lucky he was to be able to see such a thing. There was a lot more meaning in that little streak than people would realize, but he didn't care what they knew.

"Noah, everyone just calls me Noah. No offense to you fine group of people of which I do not trust, but my name will remain secretive even if my appearance will not." He didn't mean Nill, she wasn't one of the few, she had proven herself a long time ago and unless she had changed so drastically he was looking forward to seeing someone who could be the closest thing he had to a friend in the new group he was part of. But of course he couldn't come out and admit that Nill would be the only person to know his real name, so it seemed he would lump her in with the others, but perhaps explain later she wasn't actually included in what he said about them.

Salem examined Noah up and down, then declared "I have no idea who you are. Well good job, it seems Defiance's identity is still a secret. Hooray." He said dryly, huffing, walking off and waving, "let me know when I'm needed for something worth my time, Vance. I'm not playing meet-and-greet with an old enemy." Noah pocketed the mask in one of his utility belt pouches, adjusting his matted hair that had been flattened by his mask. "If you don't mind, Vance, I'm going to explore this little complex you have. Uh, Nill, you're the only one here I don't seem to have bad history with, would you mind showing me around?" He looked back to Vance, "I'm sure you have too much to do, and if Lucia approaches me again I may put her face through the wall. You understand." Nope, not bitter at all. "Surely you can spare Nill for a simple task, can you not?" He smiled politely, approaching Nill, "come! Tell me about yourself, I feel like even though we met only briefly a year ago you're the only familiar and friendly face around here." Maybe this wouldn't be so terrible after all.

[Escaflowdra]

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Vance led Nill around until he got to the drop off, which he turned around and pat Nill on her shoulder, then leaning towards he slightly as she looked up into his mask. "I will return. I have to do some minor work." Nill furrowed her brows as he turned away, unknowing that Vance was about to insert some of his dark power into his new recruit. Sadly, Nill turned and watched as Lucia walked in, then looking over Nill and speaking, "Finally out of your cage?" Nill turned her back to the door Vance had walked through and took a seat on one of the single chairs against a wall. She wanted to ignore Lucia, but with the girl eyeing her so much she stuttered, "Y-Yes." The woman chuckled and sat on the loveseat, leaving a space for the host just in case he decided to take a spot. However, Lucia noticed her shoulder bumping into something that wasn't there... That was, until the invisibility wore off and she saw Alice. "H-Hey--" Lucia stood up away from her sister, "Why the hell were you invisible?" "Because I can," Alice stated with a monotonous voice as Salem finally entered the room.

Once he did, the room was awfully quiet. Well... This is uncomfortable, she thought while looking over the other three in the room. Though Vance had many more people following him... Nill was still questioning why these three others seemed to be a key part of his staff... and why she was here when anybody could argue that she did nothing. Finally, when Vance returned, having invitied the other members probably through telepathy, Nill looked at the new recruit with an immediate shock in her eyes. She was absolutely surprised, small tears almost forming out from the corners of her eyes. D-Defiance?! "WHAT THE ******** IS HE DOING HERE?!" He snarled, staring at the unmistakable outfit of Defiance. Salem turned to Vance, arm outstretched towards Defiance, "are you insane?! Defiance is a goddamn Gifted and a very wanted enemy of the Dogs." "Down boy, we're on the same team now, least you could do is give me the benefit of the doubt. Or let me buy you a beer." "There's a reason for him being here. I assure you that he is an asset to what we have discussed."

Nill looked between Vance and Salem, wandering what the hell those two were up to in terms of taking Defiance and convincing him to join this group. Nill's eyes wandered to Defiance's outfit a while longer until she noticed Vance looking directly at her... and the button being held in his left hand. Nill's eyes were fixated on the fact that he took the button out of his pocket for unknown reason, and then looked down to tear her eyes away. She listened as Noah stood between Vance and Salem before Salem issued more hatred, "don't expect me to rush out to save your a** if something happens. Be sure to know I'll let you die before I rescue you." "Duly noted. Hello Lucia, how was your first skydive? It works better with a parachute." Nill was confused about what he said, but Lucia bit her tongue while emitting a growl. It seemed Lucia was put in her place these past few days Nill noticed her absence... and probably something that caused Alice's mood change hence her return to the base. Then Defiance looked at Nill which she could not see his eyes, and failed to look up at him, Her shoulders flinched slightly when she heard her name, "Nill." She tried to stop a light blush on her cheeks, but hid it well while staring at her hands, "It's been a year since we last met, you saved Sapphire a long time ago, I remember that, it was very heroic of you. I look forward to working alongside you."

Nill was surprised to hear such a thing from somebody she used to admire for so long, and she clenched her hands, unsure of how to act about it all. Vance walked over beside Nill's chair, resting his hands in his pocket and then turning to Defiance, "Since we're all getting so well acquainted, let's put a name with a face." Nill looked up, not really recalling whether or not she had ever actually seen Defiance's true identity. She remembered seeing his mask, but memories faded since her revival. "Well then, I suppose I have no choice in the matter." Nill gazed carefully as did everyone else in the room, except they had no taste in appreciating the fact he had no choice and he would obviously preferred not to. He moved the mask, revealing his face which Nill could not help but take in. She was left in awe when she saw the unmasking of her hero from such a long time ago, it was almost like... she was dreaming. A small, nervous smile graced her lip when he spoke his name. "Noah, everyone just calls me Noah. No offense to you fine group of people of which I do not trust, but my name will remain secretive even if my appearance will not."

Nill had to quickly take back her smile when she felt a jolt, and stayed in posture at the appearance of Noah. Vance didn't press the button. In fact, it was back in his pocket and untouched. She just felt a jolt of withdrawal. Anything Vance didn't tell her to do was mostly considered out of line... hence Lucia referring to her cage. Vance looked to Salem as he left the room, and Lucia dismissed herself as well. Alice made some eye contact with observing Nill, who was paying more attention to the only two men left in the room. "If you don't mind, Vance, I'm going to explore this little complex you have. Uh, Nill, you're the only one here I don't seem to have bad history with, would you mind showing me around?" He looked back to Vance, "I'm sure you have too much to do, and if Lucia approaches me again I may put her face through the wall. You understand." Nill looked up at Vance who looked back down to her, "Surely you can spare Nill for a simple task, can you not?" "Very well. Come Alice, we have preparations for the formal gathering tomorrow to take care of." Alice uncrossed her arms and stood up to Vance, nodding and then following him out of the room.

Noah approached Nill while eh smiled politely, "come! Tell me about yourself, I feel like even though we met only briefly a year ago you're the only familiar and friendly face around here." Nill held her hands behind her back as she finally rose herself out of her seat. Her toes clicked together as she looked at Noah and while brushing some hair out of her face, she replied, "S-Sure." She looked up to another door and led Noah to it, unsure of what to say about herself. If he wanted to ask the obvious, she would tell him, but for now she looked forward and spoke, "I'm... surprised to see you." She lowered her eyes as she spoke softly, unknown ears possibly pressing against the walls for every word that she could speak, "I didn't think I would... get to see you again." With that being said, she closed her eyes, feeling the back of her neck hurting. Looking down all the time was doing her no justice, so she lifted her chin and skipped ahead to lead him to multiple facilities.

They stopped by the eating area, the war room, the different offices, then showing him how they could only be opened by a registered hand scanner from a member. She only opened a few doors before turning to him and saying they should find out where his room would be located. To her surprise, when finding the place, Noah had a very luxurious living space where it looked more comfortable and not so... white like the rest of the building. Is this what the rooms for the others look like? she asked herself as she felt a small pain in her chest for being given.. what she was. She didn't understand, but she turned to Noah and smiled softly as she motioned him to explore the room himself, and turned to face the window. Something she didn't know this building had as well. She walked up to it, sitting on the ledge as Noah explored his room and slid her fingers over the glass as she saw the sky... After such a long time I didn't think I would see the sun again.

[Salem Wolf]

The meeting had gone exceptionally well, he wasn't expecting to give away his appearance and yet wasn't all surprised by it, Vance had his reasons for doing what he did, but Noah could sense some square buttoned contraption in his hand and pocket, and Nill kept looking towards him whenever it came out. There was something there, he just wasn't sure what but he was damn interested in finding it out. Salem had reacted remarkably like he assumed, less hostile than anticipated luckily, while Lucia had been silence and he was flat-out surprised to see Alice. He never met her personally, but Daxter did mention of an Alice of whom had given him the blood from Lucia to save his life. He would have to thank her later after this had all died down. With Lucia and Salem leaving the room, he decided this would be a good time to reacquaint with someone he knew to be friendly, perhaps the only one in the compound, while under the guise of having her show him around. Vance didn't seem to actually mind, but he had the feeling the request was a little more than Vance wanted. Regardless, he took Alice with him and they left, allowing Noah and Nill to explore the facility on their own.

"I'm... surprised to see you." He noticed her lowering her eyes as she spoke, Noah glancing to her, "I didn't think I would... get to see you again." He looked forward and nodded, smiling softly, "I'd say the same, after what you did for Sapphire I truly thought you had died from it. I'm glad to see I was wrong, it's good to see you again, Nill." He said sincerely, being shown the complex he would be calling home for a while. After seeing the necessities, she showed him his room, a rather large area with big windows to allow a lot of sunlight to shine through. Noah was pleasantly surprised by the size of the room, he figured they would be a lot smaller. He approached the closet to notice that it was already stocked with clothes remarkably in his size, or at least close enough to it without being uncomfortable wearing them. Well, there was no point wearing the Defiance outfit if his secret was out, "Noatak," he said to her as he pulled off his boots and set them in the corner of the room next to the closet. "My real name is Noatak Kesuk," he said, sensing her touching the window. Did she not have one in her room? How odd it would be to touch a window like that. The way she acted so reserved, quiet, especially around Vance like she would say the wrong thing, the way she seemed to be longing for the outdoors. Noah wondered if maybe Vance didn't treat her so well, or if she'd been cooped up for so long, or if maybe something had happened to keep her from going out. The possibilities were few but varied, something he'd think about, investigate a little further on.

Noah reached up to the zipper flush with his neckline, himself flexible enough to reach it without trouble or straining too much, but then he looked over to Nill with a slight smile on his face. He wondered something, curious about her, she seemed to admire him as much now as she did then, so she hadn't changed. "Ah, Nill do you mind lending me a hand? My zipper seems to be stuck." It wasn't, but to get her so close willingly would allow him to better use his senses on her while he spoke to her. He approached her and turned his back on her, letting her reach for the zipper she would have to feel for near the base of his neck, it was hidden flush with the suit to prevent it from being seen easily, removed if he was ever unconscious. It wouldn't be overly difficult to locate or realize he had one, but it would buy precious minutes for him to wake up in such a situations. "My friends do call me Noah though, but I didn't want you to think you were lumped in with the others when I mentioned my reluctance to give out my real name." Once she had pulled the zipper down far enough he grabbed it on his own and pulled it down to his waistline, sliding the suit off of his shoulders and exposing his scarred back.

Being Defiance, being unable to heal, meant a lot of close calls would leave scars, his body wasn't littered with them but they were here and there. Noah turned to her, his exposed chest now for her to look at, "truth be told you're the only person here I actually like. But tell me a little about Vance, is he nice to you?" 'Ah-hah...I see.' "I mean, he did gave you a bigger room with a nicer view than mine, right? Admit it, I won't be upset to know mine is quite small in comparison." 'Well then...that's interesting.' "Does he treat the others the same as well? I imagine he'd have to give equal treatment otherwise favoritism can end up backfiring very badly. He seems nice enough but truth be told I wish I knew more about him, it just seems like he hides a lot more than he lets on." Then he turned his back on her as he approached the closet, pulling the suit off to leave Noah wearing only underwear. He pulled out some socks, jeans, and a t-shirt and put them on quickly, carefully folding up the suit and sticking it in a large drawer. He pulled the utility belt off of it, clasping it to his waist and pulling the shirt over it, asking her one more question, "I notice that Vance carried around a remote control, do you know what it goes to?" He paused for only a moment, 'ah.' He shook his head, "I would imagine only he knows what it's used for, likely a secretive plan of his. Well, Nill, I hope my questions weren't terribly probing or uncomfortable, that wasn't my intent at all." He turned to her, smiling politely, "I only wish to learn more about what to expect around here. Speaking of, I expect to be fed, and I'm starving. Would you care to have something to eat with me? If you don't mind, that is. I'd appreciate the company." He approached her and put a hand on her shoulder, letting his powers do the work as he touched her, "do you like Vance?" He asked curiously, giving a moment of silence before adding, "I mean he seems nice enough, but sometimes the nice ones turn out to be very different bosses than they appear. Anyway, he seems alright, I wouldn't join if I didn't like him. About that food, what do you recommend?"

With that, he was ready to get something to eat.

[Escaflowdra]

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Nill gazed outside the window with longing in her eyes as she pressed her palm against the glass and curled up her fingers. She closed her eyes for a second as she could taste what it was like to be outside in her mind, and surely if she paid any more attention to how beautiful the outdoors were, she may have ended up crying softly. However, she heard, "Noatak," which she turned her head to look at him with some glimmer of light in her eyes. "My real name is Noatak Kesuk," Nill pursed her lips as she softly whispered his name, "Noa... Noatak..." She was testing out his name by speaking it, and she was genuinely surprised that his name was so... fascinating. Quietly, she thought about how she really admired the name, and how perfect it rang in her head. All these years of admiration she held for his heroic disposition... and now she knew his real name.

She smiled softly to herself as she looked away from him, only to then hear his request, "Ah, Nill do you mind lending me a hand? My zipper seems to be stuck." Nill blinked her eyes whens he turned her chin to look at Noah approaching her. She stared at his back as he turned around, allowing her to reach for the zipper. She hesitated, but replied, "Sure..." and slowly grasped the zipper with her right hand and carefully unzipped it for him. She was surprised to see nothing of a t-shirt underneath the layer of the suit as she slid the zipper down, only to reveal more scars on his skin that made her heart sink slowly. "My friends do call me Noah though, but I didn't want you to think you were lumped in with the others when I mentioned my reluctance to give out my real name." Nill widened her eyes, thankful that he was turned away from viewing the expression on her face as she gave a surprised blush, dying down to a teary eyed smile. She hadn't felt so sincerely special by anything else since she had returned. She did however blink the tears away from being spotted when he turned to face her.

She moved her eyes from examining him to meeting with his emerald gem hues, blinking in surprise, "truth be told you're the only person here I actually like. But tell me a little about Vance, is he nice to you?" Nill moved her gaze from Noah's eyes to her hands fiddling in her lap as she replied, "He is... nice." How to define Vance's type of nice was a little difficult to explain, but he never abused her beyond understanding... Except for the button. However, Nill was never sure why the button existed other than serving the purpose of putting her in her place. She consistently lied to herself that she deserved the treatment when she displeased her savior... But as far as going out of her own way to say he was a kind soul... was impossible. There were just some things Vance did that made Nill think she was just a pretty face.

"I mean, he did gave you a bigger room with a nicer view than mine, right? Admit it, I won't be upset to know mine is quite small in comparison." Nill was quite shocked by such a question. Once she saw Noah's room, she felt undeniably deprived of such accommodations. Was she really that unworthy in Vance's eyes to be able to have a little more breathing space? Did he enjoy cooping her up in a cage? Nill's only response was, "My room is not so bad. There are things about it that make it special... regardless of size." She found that to be true... but only due to one thing. "Does he treat the others the same as well? I imagine he'd have to give equal treatment otherwise favoritism can end up backfiring very badly. He seems nice enough but truth be told I wish I knew more about him, it just seems like he hides a lot more than he lets on." Nill kept quiet after such a statement, only to watch as Noah pulled away and undressed from his suit which she stared out the window for. She didn't expect him to undress in front of her, and she wasn't going to keep staring as she did almost the entire time she was around him.

"I notice that Vance carried around a remote control, do you know what it goes to?" Nill was quite shocked, and felt her heart jump to her throat at the mention of the button control that Noah had somehow taken into observation. How sharp was he? Nill turned her cheek and stuttered, "I-I'm not sure what true purpose it serves..." which was a truth in some way. To come out and admit to Noah that it had one effect on her was only one thing about the device. Bringing it up may cause those effects to show later on. No, Nill knew there was in fact three buttons on the device. One she knew about. Two she didn't want to find out. "I would imagine only he knows what it's used for, likely a secretive plan of his. Well, Nill, I hope my questions weren't terribly probing or uncomfortable, that wasn't my intent at all." He turned to her, smiling politely, "I only wish to learn more about what to expect around here. Speaking of, I expect to be fed, and I'm starving. Would you care to have something to eat with me? If you don't mind, that is. I'd appreciate the company." Nill turned her eyes back to Noah and smiled nervously as she was partially glad the topics were dropped and then spoke, "Yes, I--" but then a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Do you like Vance?" He asked curiously, giving a moment of silence before adding, "I mean he seems nice enough, but sometimes the nice ones turn out to be very different bosses than they appear. Anyway, he seems alright, I wouldn't join if I didn't like him. About that food, what do you recommend?" The question had passed by so fast that Nill paused after Noah asked what her recommendations were for her to look at his emerald hues and think deeply about the question he asked. Her heart raced tremendously when she heard Noah asking her if she liked Vance, when clearly for as long as she had allowed time to pass, she only liked one person. It was so hard to hear such a statement coming from Noah and knowing that he believed Vance was not so terrible a person that he was willing to join... it just caused her some pain. She felt like something inside of her shattered from the mask she was forced to wear, and instead she tried to play it off. "Uhm... I'm not sure--" she said until she felt her throat tighten. Oh no, she thought as she closed her lips, unable to speak.

She was trying entirely too hard to keep herself from crying. And just like that a knock could be heard on the door as Alice stepped inside, Noah having taken his hand off of Nill's shoulder and turned to watching Alice open the door. Alice stepped inside shortly after Noah's statement which she heard from outside the door, "You can save your appetite for a few more hours. We've got a mission coming up right now. Nill, Vance wants you in your quarters," she spoke out loud. Nill could feel the coldness in the order coming from Vance. Chances were, whatever mission this was, she would fail to be involved. She stood up, looking at Noah and smiled weakly as she rested her hands on her sides and spoke, "...Maybe next time." it was a sad farewell, since she really did want to be around him more... but she was needed elsewhere. Alice looked over to Noah as she waited for Nill to leave and then crossed her arms, "I'm glad you're changed, but you'll have to be a little more formal for where we're going." Noah asked what the location and task was, Alice looked at her fingernails as she replied, "Well, since your recruitment was perfect with the timing, you're going to be my guest." She was also a shapeshifter like her sister, but instead of transforming into a familiar face, she transformed in a blonde haired woman in a red dress. Depending on how deep Noah did his research, he would recognize the woman as, "Eva Heartfallow. She's an elite DOGS Corps member we've managed to snatch the identity of. A masquerade between the elites and some former veterans of the DOGS Corps is being held to honor the change in command for the top elites, We're going to find out who the new captain of the Elites is, and then we're going to assassinate him."

---

Meanwhile, Nill walked slowly into her room as she saw her door was already open. Once she made it past the entrance, she heard the door shut behind her as she turned around and watched Vance walk closer. She saw his approach as he came faster and widened her eyes in surprise as she spoke out, "Y-Yes?" but her voice was too soft. When he came closer, she stepped back, which somehow provoked him to keep coming closer until her back was pressed against the door to her closet. She looked up at the mask that Vance had on until he changed changed his appearance in front of her with a shade of darkness swirling around him. She watched, pressing her back onto the door and wishing it would cave in while he kept a palm flat against the door by her face. He had her cornered, and when his appearance finally settled he spoke, "I am going in disguise as this man, and you," he rose her by the chin, "need to get ready. You are going to be my guest," he spoke as he then consumed her body in darkness, changing her attire to a dark dress and vanishing her wings. Nill noticed her wings were gone in this change, and looked to Vance as she stayed against the wall.

He stood back, then motioning her with his index finger to step off of the wall. She pursed her lips as she took a step, stumbling from the lack of weight on her back and stood nervously. "It appears you can keep your balance," he said with a sly smile. "Can you dance?" he asked Nill, but before she could speak he approached her and said, "Nevermind. We will find out soon enough. Please prepare your things. You and I will be travelling in a separate vehicle from the others," he finished as he stepped out of the room to give her time to prepare herself. However, she fell with her back against the wall and landed with a hard thud as she slid down the wall and exhaled roughly. She was going to go from one building into another... still not technically going outside... but she was happy on the account she would be able to leave this place. With her door open and her unwilling to attempt walking for a while, she waited until she heard the voice and face of Lucia streaming down the halls in her new appearance as well, trying to catch up to Vance and spotting Nill. A scowl was given, and Lucia rushed down the hall. Nill rested her head on her knees as she closed her eyes. I'm not sure if leaving this place will be much of a treat if I have to be beside him the whole time... I don't even know what's going on anymore.

[Salem Wolf]

All of his questions had been answered satisfactory, he was pleased with the way she reacted, easily wearing her heart on her sleeve, and for that he was thankful. He was sure didn't want to appear unkind towards Vance, especially for a newcomer into the organization, but he'd already gotten all the information he needed based on her reactions. Her stutters, her heart rate, breathing, it all pointed towards untruths she spoke when she spoke kindly of Vance. Though not entirely lies, but likely hidden truths that she didn't think he'd need to know, or be uncomfortable with Vance finding out. Changing into his clothes in front of her, modesty not really a concern of his and not actually taking into account what she thought or was thinking about it, he asked her about food and invited her along. Then he asked if she liked Vance, and her reply took a moment, which was all the time in the world for him to understand her real answer, even before she could give it. If she liked him, it wasn't something she could do subconsciously, she'd have to think about things he's done, positive things that outweighed the negative. Maybe there were just that many negatives to drown out. He could see he'd gotten her emotional, he was about to console her and put another hand on her other shoulder, but he heard a knock at his door. He removed his hand and turned to the door, seeing Lucia's sister Alice enter, the one who had saved his life. She spoke immediately, "you can save your appetite for a few more hours. We've got a mission coming up right now. Nill, Vance wants you in your quarters."

Noah turned to Nill who seemed saddened by the news, "of course, next time." He replied to her, watching her leave and focusing his attention on Alice, "I'm glad you're changed, but you'll have to be a little more formal for where we're going." This was why he preferred formal wear, casual wear couldn't actually be worn for long. Without hesitation he removed his shirt and tossed it onto his bed, pulling off his utility belt and tossing it onto the bed on top of his shirt. Clad in only his socks and underwear, he rifled through the closet for a formal outfit and found an expensive looking suit, changing into it quickly as he asked: "what are we doing and where?" "Well, since your recruitment was perfect with the timing, you're going to be my guest." Then she transformed into a blond-haired woman he recognized immediately as "Eva Heartfallow. She's an elite DOGS Corps member we've managed to snatch the identity of. A masquerade between the elites and some former veterans of the DOGS Corps is being held to honor the change in command for the top elites, We're going to find out who the new captain of the Elites is, and then we're going to assassinate him." Noah tugged gently on the sleeve of his suit to pull it down and free the sleeves of crinkles, then stared to the utility belt, speaking to Alice as he was thinking: "you clean up rather well, Alice." He told her jokingly.

The utility belt was a necessity, but going to a party as Noah would make it easier to connect Defiance to him should anything happen. He felt naked just thinking about leaving without it, but now that he had telekinetic abilities it didn't seem as daunting to undertake such a task without it. Reluctantly, he put the utility belt in the drawer with the rest of his suit, making sure the safety measures were on in case anyone had any bright ideas about rifling through it, then turned back to Alice, slipping the sunglasses on his face. Felt like old times. "It was my job to ask you to go out with me, as thanks for saving my life." A joke, nothing to be taken seriously, "which I'm very appreciative of. Daxter told me all about it, I'm sorry for tense relations with your sister, but not very sorry. While she did end up saving my life, and as cruel as this sounds my life is more valuable than hers." He approached Alice, "you, on the other hand? Hm, I wouldn't extend the same thoughts your way. At any rate, I've never been face-to-face with DOGS as myself, not top DOGS anyway, so this will be interesting. Who will be assassinating the Elite Commander?"

He left his room with Alice, separating with her momentarily as she went to get their transport ready. Noah scanned for Nill, sensing a body on the floor with head on its knees, and with a loud running through the halls he surmised it was Nill. He knocked a moment then entered her room, approaching her and kneeling down to eye level with her. "Hey," he said softly, "you alright? You look a fright," he said honestly, smiling softly, "did you get asked to the party as well? I'm Alice's guest it seems, speaking of I should catch up to her. Hope I see you there, Nill." He put a hand on her shoulder and then stood up, leaving Nill's room as quickly as he entered to catch up with Alice.

Funnily enough, as Lucia was running down the hall Salem stepped out in front of her and held out his hand, with it ending up pushing her down when her chest hit his hand. He laughed, "slow down, girlfriend, chase after Vance like a love-struck bunny as long as you want but tonight? Oh ho, you're mine. Vance has instructed that you and I go together, and if you're gonna be good enough for me, I'd prefer redhead. Mm mm, love 'em. Anyway, chop chop, if I'm going to look good you need to look good. I mean really? What is that little coat? It's ridiculous." He sighed, rolling his eyes, "whatever, c'mon babe, we're catching a ride with your sister and her crime-fighting anti-hero boyfriend." He waved her along, sticking his hands in the pockets of his very expensive black formal suit. He laughed as he walked away, teasing her relentlessly, but you know what they say...you only hurt the ones you love.

---

The party was formal, it was filled with people talking, and wasn't very exciting. Noah knew these parties, he'd gone to them all the time, hosted them, being rich as he was he often ran in less-military more-money social circles. He didn't think anyone would know the name Noatak Kesuk here, after all most of his parents' friends were investors and other million/billionaires, these weren't those types. His radar picked up every body location on the floor, he sensed each table, every piece of silverware, even the movement of the liquid in the wine glasses. It wasn't going to be very exciting until the assassination took place, which he learned on the way over was...Salem's job. Fantastic. The guy was talented, dangerous, discreet, hell he was the best person for the job tied with Defiance himself, but overall he didn't trust Salem one bit. Anti-Gifted and proud of it, a mortal enemy to himself and his friends? Yeah not much to like. But the party was quiet, and that was all he could ask for at the moment.

Noah, per their disguise, had Alice wrap her arm around him and would be her date for the evening, "James Alexander," he began, informing her of his alternate identity, "26-years-old, lead researcher for the DOGS former Solica region, present during the event and was the commanding researcher during the experiments on Ember Dusk. My research caught your eye when you were stationed in Solica for the three months leading to the nuclear event. We've been dating on and off since." Salem looked to Noah and scoffed, "alright, I get it, you do this kinda s**t all the time. Elaborate back stories, cover up identities, but let me tell you something: these people don't care who you are. They care who Eva is, not her date. Trust me, Noah, you're wasting your breath." Noah made a note of that, but kept to the story, "whatever you say, Vector." Salem muttered something about Noah being a smart a** b*****d, Noah smirking, "James Alexander." He repeated. Salem coughed, "j-just introduce me as Antonio Ricoveri, it was my alias in the Wolfpack. No one will know Salem Wolf, whatever record of me that existed when I was in the Wolfpack were erased when that program crashed and burned." Noah had a good laugh at his expense for that one. "Shut up, I have no DOGS identity, meaning its up to Lucia. In case something does exist of my Wolfpack days, I don't want it coming back up by throwing my real name around."

When Nill arrived in her beautiful, downright gorgeous dress, Noah couldn't help but be awestruck by it, to see such living beauty was something he never thought he'd see, having been blind for over 10 years of his life. But Nill was something of an angel he thought, but despite being so awestruck he quickly turned his attention to Alice, "how about I grab us some drinks?" He said, taking leave to do just that, heading to the drink table. Salem looked over to Lucia, "I'm not a cheap date, after this I expect to be taken out for dinner."

[Escaflowdra]

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Nill's eyes barely lifted from her head resting on her knees when she noticed another pair of footsteps coming into her room. He approached her as she stayed curled up, surprised that he didn't take notice to the fact that this was her room. Although... he was probably in a rush. He knelt down to her and met her on eye level as he spoke softly, "you alright? You look a fright." Nill nodded her head slowly while pursing her lips shut and then looked at his smile, "did you get asked to the party as well? I'm Alice's guest it seems, speaking of I should catch up to her. Hope I see you there, Nill." He put a hand on her shoulder and then stood up, leaving. Nill watched him walk away as the sinking feeling of seeing him being Alice's date was more about the trip that she didn't look forward to. However, when it was time to go, Nill slowly but surely made her way to the vehicle she rode with Vance.

Meanwhile, Lucia strutted down the hall quickly in order to find Vance and ask him a few questions. She was rather proud of her current appearance, and maybe she would find out a little more on the mission. With all kinds of intentions and motivations swirling in her head, she grew more excited with each step until a few more caused her to get accidentally felt up by her 'partner' for the night. She blinked, slapping his hand away and then taking a step back as he spoke up, "slow down, girlfriend, chase after Vance like a love-struck bunny as long as you want but tonight? Oh ho, you're mine." His words irritated her, but being called something like his did manage to make her blood boil under her cheeks. "Says who?" she asked as she crossed her arms and tilted her head when he replied, "Vance has instructed that you and I go together, and if you're gonna be good enough for me, I'd prefer redhead. Mm mm, love 'em." Lucia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, chop chop, if I'm going to look good you need to look good. I mean really? What is that little coat? It's ridiculous." Lucia threw her fists down to her sides as she said, "I could say the same about this" as she referred to his everything.

He sighed, rolling his eyes, "whatever, c'mon babe, we're catching a ride with your sister and her crime-fighting anti-hero boyfriend." Lucia frowned slightly, but walked alongside Salem as they rejoined the others in the vehicle. Lucia was still getting used to Salem and his antics, not understanding why everyone loved to pick a fight with her so much. He was no exception to her feisty behavior, and if he wanted to have a good time at the ball, it was going to be difficult to please her.

---

While at the ball, Lucia was very impatient with most of the people attending. Most of them were middle-aged, the young men elites were boasting about their successes, and the females of the party were too stuck up. Alice fit in perfectly as Eva. She watched Noah as he went under the alias James Alexander, not paying so much attention to Alice or him about their way of handling their date. No, Lucia's mind wandered on when Vance would arrive. She wandered what he would look like, what he would be doing, and maybe.. just maybe... getting the opportunity to dance tonight. She was distracted from her thoughts when Salem coughed and spoke, "j-just introduce me as Antonio Ricoveri, it was my alias in the Wolfpack. No one will know Salem Wolf, whatever record of me that existed when I was in the Wolfpack were erased when that program crashed and burned." Noah had a good laugh at his expense for that one. "Shut up, I have no DOGS identity, meaning its up to Lucia. In case something does exist of my Wolfpack days, I don't want it coming back up by throwing my real name around." Lucia looked over to Salem, having already told them in the car her name was Livian Frey.

When the group turned to the arrival of Vance and Nill, Lucia was genuinely shocked at how Vance looked. It was so different knowing it was still him... even if it wasn't his true appearance... She could finally see a smile, a frown, a stare and the gleam in his expression. She glowed a light red shade as she stepped forward and complimented him, "I'm so glad it worked," she said in reference to her powers. Vance tapped on Lucia's shoulder, giving her a sly smile as he replied, "Yes. Thank you," and so she smiled innocently. She laughed lightly as Nill kept a short distance from the two and fiddled her heels against the slick floor. She was shaking nervously in her shoes, but not so much others could see. When she caught her eyes on Noah, she only glimpsed for a few seconds before turning around, her back facing everyone as she observed the rest of the ballroom. She felt her stomach drop to the pit of her stomach in the thought that she was surrounded by so many DOGS operatives... The people that ran her into the underground. Vance noticed Nill, pulling away from Lucia and grabbing Nill by the shoulders, motioning her to the dance floor as a moderately paced song began.

He didn't mention leaving the group for a little bit as Nill flinched from his hands on her bare shoulders and motioned her forward to dance. She pursed her lips nervously as she walked alongside him and onto the dance floor. Vance placed a hand on her hip, intertwining their fingers with the other pair of hands as he laid her right hand on his shoulder to dance. "Are you ready?" he asked her as she squinted her eyes nervously and nodded, doing her best to follow his lead. She tripped over him a few times, but he was sure to pick her up. Lucia stood with a red wine glass in hand, having watched the first few seconds and turned her back to the two, no longer wanting to see it. Noah came back with the drinks, Alice knowing already to pass her drink to Lucia who inhaled the first wine glass of the night. "I appreciate you grabbing me a glass James," Alice spoke to him with a soft smile, "However, my friend seems to be stressed out. I figure you don't mind," she said as she spoke to Noah.

Alice was then approached by a group of women, then turning and introducing her date, James, to the rest of the group. She blended in magnificently, and his identity was questioned a few times before Alice turned to him and spoke, "Oh honey, would you mind giving me and the girls a few minutes. I'll catch up with you soon," she said, grabbing him by the shoulder and making a kiss sound by his cheek to fool everyone into thinking she actually kissed his cheek. Nill had seen it while in a twirling motion, but closed her eyes when stumbling back into Vances' arms. He didn't catch it, but smiled at her when she grabbed his hand tighter. She was trying to hold herself up from weak knees, lack of confidence, balance, and more. She wasn't good at moving her legs. She was afraid Vance would ask her to step on his feet so he could dance for them, because she didn't want to be closer to him. Lucia finished her second glass, then turning to Salem as he sat on a chair and took a seat on his lap. She tilted her head towards him as she spoke, "So dear, you really want to go to dinner after this?" She decided to try and make something out of this night, although so far it was proving to be more disappointing at the moment. "Then, I want something after dinner," she said while tracing her fingers up his tie to his collar, "I can't pay the price for all the pleasure."

After seeing the kiss from Alice 'Eva' on Noah's cheek, Nill had contemplated a lot in her dance with Vance. Nill with seemingly hopeless eyes felt her and Vance stop somewhere in the middle of the dance floor. With the momentum having slowed that some people took a moment to change the pace, Nill's eyes stared at his chest as she finally stepped off of his feet. She never wanted to dance with him... How much am I truly grateful for? And... how much do I have to pay back? She had been asking her questions ever since he tainted her heart with his darkness. Even her wings weren't white any longer thanks to him... just an ugly shade of grey. I never asked to be brought back she thought as tears built up in her eyes as she clutched onto the front of his suit with her small hands, if I wasn't alive.. I wouldn't feel so much pain right now. She couldn't get the image out of her head. Everything that was happening in this ballroom was consuming the bits of light in her heart and putting heavy weights on her shoulders. However, Vance held her up, especially when he moved his curled index finger under her chin and tilted her to look at him.

She was done with his familiar gesture. Her shoulders were on fire from remembering Noatak's touch, and her eyes were clouded with a mixture of tears and disappointment. I... wish I never left my cage, she thought as she peered up to Vance. He gave no smiles as he stared into her eyes and clicked the second button. Suddenly, Nill couldn't move. W-What's going on? she thought as he wiped a tear from her right eye and brushed the hair from her face. Her body was as still as stone, but her heart was racing too terribly fast. She was paralyzed as if paused in time, and while looking at him, the still sad expression on her face, she was engulfed with a fear as he leaned in. She couldn't breathe as he inched near, and then... He pressed his lips firmly against hers. Nill's mind, heart, soul and body felt an immediate shock from the action which Nill was helpless to move from as Vance kept a still grip on her body. Had he paralyzed her from moving so she couldn't push him away, or because he was irritated with how trippy she was.

The act of intimacy sent Nill into a shock as the tears continued to pool in her eyes, her lips uncomfortable against his, and she was somehow able to whimper from the action. With noises in the other room, it would take very good hearing to sense her sadness that lingered from her weak voice. Vance pulled back, re-clicking the button as Nill regained control of her body and he held her shoulder. "I'll be back," he spoke to her, leaving her in the dance floor temporarily as another gentleman approached her and asked her to dance. She looked at the next gentleman with grief on her expression, then tilting her head down with a tortured smile as she ruffled the front of her bangs. "I'll dance." She grabbed his hand nervously as she felt there was nothing that could take back the feeling of being contaminated. "I'm horrible," she said as she hiccuped, confusing the man and then holding his hand even tighter as she continued, "So please help me." She felt like there was nobody to reach out to in the moment, and she was bound to fall again.

[Salem Wolf]

Running into Lucia presented a lot of different opportunities for fun to be had at her expense, but admittedly he was a little harder on her than everyone else, even counting Alice. He enjoyed poking fun at her, and she always gave it back, so it wasn't one-sided. "I could say the same about this" as she referred to his everything. 'Tch. b***h.' He thought after making a few jokes at her expense about her chosen appearance, in all fairness her appearance was fabricated, shifted into, his appearance was permanent, which was a much more cruel joke to make. Still, he didn't take it personally, that was what they did: bicker. He led her out to the car and the two joined Noah and Alice, heading to the party.

It wasn't very fun, party had a different meaning for the DOGS, sort of like "fun size" candy bars, neither fun nor any decent size. Salem couldn't help but think suicide was the only acceptable answer at this point, but when Noah spoke up he had a way to poke fun at him. Until he shot back and then Salem realized he needed an identity, just in case. With all that taken care of, Noah went off to get drinks until they could successfully start the assassination. He noticed Alice take the glass of wine from Noah and hand it to Lucia, who seemed to be having a difficult time. Salem knew, he noticed the way she looked at him, the way she pined for him, followed him, even if he treated her like s**t she would still please him, which irritated Salem. He might have hated the Gifted for what they did to him and his family, for what Jin's powers caused, but he was still a decent human being otherwise, and right now he had no room to talk. He, now, was technically Gifted. It was incredible power to have, he loved every second of it, in fact it might be the only reason he tolerated Noah as much as he did. He still had plans, goals, revenge, but not with Vance's plans taking precedence, not at the moment. But later, perhaps a while later, he would keep his power and take more of it. Vance was an a*****e anyway, even if they were technically "partners" in this thing. 'She can do better.'

"I appreciate you grabbing me a glass James," Alice spoke to Noah with a soft smile, "However, my friend seems to be stressed out. I figure you don't mind," she said as she spoke to him. Noah nodded and looked over to Lucia, then to Alice, "of course, Eva." Then a group of woman approached her, "Oh honey, would you mind giving me and the girls a few minutes. I'll catch up with you soon," she said, giving him a fake, but convincing sounding kiss on the cheek. He raised his glass with a smirk and took a drink. It was a single sip of a drink he wouldn't even make a sizable dent in, just to look convincing.

Salem was bored, but it was too early and they didn't know who the new Elite Commander was, so right now they had to wait. He grabbed himself a drink of the hardest alcohol they had available, planning to filter it out using his newborn powers before the mission began, then took a seat. He watched Nill and Vance dance together, awkwardly on the former's side of things, then watched as Lucia couldn't stand watching for long. He downed his glass and went to refill, returning to his seat as Lucia began approaching. "So dear, you really want to go to dinner after this?" She asked, sitting on his lap. He had to admit, she had a really nice body, even if it wasn't technically hers. He looked up at her with a sly smile, figuring she was just playing the part, an odd thing to think since no one was paying attention to them. "Then, I want something after dinner," she said while tracing her fingers up his tie to his collar, "I can't pay the price for all the pleasure." There was no way she was already drunk, and there was no way she was serious. He wanted to laugh but she just stared down into his eyes, holding onto his tie. Salem stared back, trying to gauge what she was doing, if she really wanted it. Something told him that she was completely serious. After all, when the man you want is in the arms of another woman, however reluctant that woman is, you tend to feel a little neglected, and go for who gives you attention. He would give her attention, he had been, not always positive attention but attention nonetheless.

"You pay for dinner, I'll pay for what comes after." He said softly as she finished her second drink of the night. He put his hand on her neck and traced down to her collarbone, looking up at her with a very satisfied grin. Noah watched from afar, rolling his eyes, "great, it seems everyone is busy doing something to distract themselves." He could almost sigh, wondering about the incompetence he was working with. Then again, he had to imagine no one was taking this seriously until the time would come later. As he watched his co-workers continue to flirt, his attention suddenly turned to Vance and Nill, watching them dance. It ended shortly thereafter, and Vance went in for a kiss. Nill didn't move, absolutely not a single muscle moving. He could have sworn he heard something, faint, but unnatural, inorganic. A click. A faint clicking. The remote? Noah concentrated his radar specifically on Vance, getting a tight outline of his body, his pockets, what he was holding, and it was a remote. '...so that's what it does. It controls Nill, and you use it to take advantage of her. How far have you gone, Vance?'

He kissed her, she couldn't move, he could feel her heartbeat, he could sense her tears and the way she was so against it. He was using her against her will to act out his fantastical displays of affection when he couldn't obtain it legitimately. He was disgusting, it was clear that Noah had not exactly made the right choice, or perhaps he really had. Watching Nill, then watching Vance walk away and Nill about to cry, he realized that Vance might be able to do this to Nill, but now that he was around he could watch out for her. In a way, his decision could assist Nill, and perhaps free her from the control Vance had over her. That was his goal, his new mission: free Nill. He approached Nill and the gentleman, "excuse me, I'd like to butt in if I may." He said, not giving the man time to dance with her as he took her one hand, then put another around her waist as the song switched to something a little faster than previously. Noah leaned in close, dancing with her as he took lead.

He whispered into her ear, "I'm here for you, Nill. I know what Vance is doing, I will help you but you must do everything I say from here on out. If you want to be free from his control, then remember that Defiance protects the Gifted who cannot do it themselves, and I will let no harm come to you. We're going to stop dancing in a moment, I want you to head into the bathroom and compose yourself, return when you're ready. Vance can not know that I know of the remote's function, or that you are going to be under my close watch. The moment he learns I'm conspiring against him is the moment he will kill me. So please, be discreet." He pulled away and gently grabbed her chin so she would look him in his gorgeous green eyes, then smiled, "trust me, I will never let you down." He let her go with a wink, twirling her in place and backing away, bowing lightly. "Thank you for the splendid dance, Nill, I should be off now." He walked away, letting her go to compose herself now.

---

An hour passed, no reveal, some big build-up likely happening as the night dragged on, bottles emptied, and people became loose. After what Noah counted to be about 8 glasses for Lucia and about 9 for Salem, at which point the two had lost a lot of inhibitions and were being rather flirty with one another. Meanwhile Alice was still gossiping with the woman from earlier, Nill seemed to be doing a little better from earlier, and Noah was keeping a closer eye on Vance than he would admit to his face. Noah was still waiting for the reveal, since Salem and Lucia seemed to be immaturely drunk by now, he would have to carry on the mission himself. Easy enough, three steps: isolate, eliminate, return. Isolate the target from witnesses and bystanders, eliminate the target and all evidence quickly, cleanly, and quietly, then return before too long to avoid suspicion. Doing it right would give at least several hours before anyone realized the guest of honor had not gone home early due to spreading rumors of a stomach virus from some bad seafood at the party, and by time the body was found no one would know who could possibly have done it.

"Screw dinner, screw this shitty lame party, c'mon." Salem grabbed Lucia by the front of her shirt and just flat out kissed her, she didn't seem to care at this stage, and Salem was drunk enough to not give a damn about what he wanted from her. Standing up and grabbing Lucia's hand, he led her away from the dance floor for exactly what Noah was expecting from them after their first several glasses of alcohol a piece. Suddenly the crowd piped up, it was about time for this event to meet the guest of honor, and the target. Salem was gone, so Noah took it upon himself to finish it, heading away from the crowd and keeping his senses tuned to the crowd, waiting to get a read on who this person was. Hopefully Alice wasn't drunk and could possibly help him carry this mess out, as far as Vance? Well Noah wasn't concerning himself with him at the moment, but he was keeping an eye on Nill without ever looking at her. If his radar ability was something known it might be harder to be so discreet, but seeing as how literally two people in his life knew about it, and one of them was dead, it wasn't a power that would be found out anytime soon. It was time to find out who the Elite Commander was.

[Escaflowdra]

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Lucia was bending towards Salem as she was just a little drunk, but not so much to where she couldn't know consciously what she was doing. She didn't hang around just anyone, and for a while of feeling neglected since her return to the organization, she noticed Salem making more conversation than what she was having with any of the other members. She liked the fact he could take a punch, a joke, and a jab. He wasn't as much a pushover, and it was kind of nice to feel more natural around him in her field of expertise... regardless of whether or not it was titled 'b***h' or 'smart b***h'. Regardless of how she acted around him in the past few weeks she had known of him, she noticed that he paid more attention to her. Not sure as to why he did, he was a wonderful distraction for her. Having traced her fingers up his tie to his collar and putting emphasis on the word pleasure had definitely gotten her mind to other subjects. However, even now in the state she was in, she believed Salem to laugh it off and call her stupid.

She was about to release him and quip back to something smart, but he stared at her intently... in a way she decided it was best to hold back her usual habits around him. Has to be the wine getting to my head... because I really like this, she thought as she rubbed her thumb over the soft fabric of his turned over collar. Then to her pleasant surprise she heard him speak softly, "You pay for dinner, I'll pay for what comes after." After hearing his voice in such a soft accent, Lucia couldn't help but feel something stirring in the bottom of her stomach. She flinched only slightly when he put his neck and traced down to her collarbone. Having somebody know who she really was and touching her in such a motion was a totally different feeling than what experienced by disguising as Ember and fooling with Daxter as long as she had. She looked at him, her hand trailing from the collar of his shirt over to the back of his neck and running her fingers gently through his black locks of hair as she had leaned in a bit closer to him. The way of getting attention from him now seemed more enticing. It was most likely the alcohol.

Alice caught a glimpse of the two acting flirtatious, and was surprised to see Lucia leaning into Salem like she did... But again... this was why Lucia was not allowed to have alcohol on a mission. She blamed herself for handing her the second glass of her night, and decided she would own the mistake she made by no longer drinking from hers for the night. She conversed with some of the ladies about what they had been up to, but Alice brought questions that Vance would be more than happy to have later. The women gave out loose details about their respective partners working on city projects in Solica since the turmoil and tragedy it had gone through in years passed. They talked about the downfall of Exitium and some of what those corporations were up to. Alice took in what she could, but looked as Noah walked over to the dancefloor. Not seeing Vance, she wandered just what was going on...

Nill was gripping the hand of the man tightly in her hand as she looked at his chest with some tears built up in her eyes. She would dance with anybody now... and not have so much fear in doing so and messing up. She needed a hero, and for a second... she felt like there was nothing that could be done. But then she heard a voice, "excuse me, I'd like to butt in if I may." Nill's hand was recaptured and she felt herself pulled into the arms of, "J-James..." She looked as he leaned in close, the temperature of her whole body rising to an unbearable level. W-Why-- "I'm here for you, Nill." Nill squinted her tear filled eyes when she heard that. "I know what Vance is doing, I will help you but you must do everything I say from here on out. If you want to be free from his control, then remember that Defiance protects the Gifted who cannot do it themselves, and I will let no harm come to you." Was Nill really going to be saved by her hero from so long ago? She dismissed any hope she had and any expectations about it... because if it was going to happen, Noah would have granted her a higher miracle than living a second life.

"We're going to stop dancing in a moment, I want you to head into the bathroom and compose yourself, return when you're ready. Vance can not know that I know of the remote's function, or that you are going to be under my close watch. The moment he learns I'm conspiring against him is the moment he will kill me. So please, be discreet." Nill wasn't sure about the remote, only knowing one of its major functions. She would never put Noah's life at stake, but she was more enamored by his words and promises than she could ever be when admiring and dreaming of being outdoors. He pulled away and gently grabbed her chin so she would look him in his gorgeous green eyes which she could not help as she wanted to keep him there. The smile that graced his lips was more graceful than anything she could pull off as a tainted angel. Noah was her angel. "Trust me, I will never let you down." Nill felt a single tear slide down her flushed cheeks as he let her go with a wink, twirling her in place and backing away, bowing lightly. "Thank you for the splendid dance, Nill, I should be off now."

The both walked in opposite directions, and Nill went into the restroom. She walked in, then going into a stall and putting down the seat, taking a seat on it and wrapping her feet up as curled up into a ball. She whimpered, hearing no other signs of people in the restroom before she hiccuped and let the tears fall from her eyes. She knew the tears would stain the dress, but she didn't care. Instead, Nill lifted her head up from her knees and looked into the mirror taped on the back of the stall. She could see her tear stained eyes, the once happy face of her past self had dissolved. Had she just danced with Noah in another life, in another place... she might have enjoyed it more. She had seen him get a kiss on the cheek, had experienced the distance from him that weakened her heart more than before, and recalled him telling her he would never let her down. What would be worse if if Noah saw what Vance had done.. but what other reason would he had approached her about everything? Nill wiped her lips, then washing her face and kept scrubbing the lips until they felt dry, hurting, even bleeding slightly on the bottom. She wanted it to so desperately go away.

Nill knew it was currently impossible to love freely.. but her heart betrayed her. So, after taking several minutes to try and compose herself, she walked out the door and came back to the dance floor. Vance was nowhere to be seen, which concerned Nill to look for the rest of the group until a few people began talking to the nervous girl. ]"Are you here alone?" She waved her hands and spoke, "N-No. I am here with Leo--" "Who's that?" they asked as she shut up. These were DOGS agents... and she was scared to talk to them about anything... But jeopardizing the mission would end up worse case scenario. So, Nill being trapped between a group of men, she tried to make the best of small talk that she could.

Meanwhile, Lucia and Salem were still in the back of the room, still toying around with the little things to talk about. Lucia got so lost into their flirtatious ways that she had even bit his ear, a sweet smile spreading on her face after pulling back and retracing her fingers over his chest. It was as if she was getting to be alone with Vance, but her mind was totally absorbed into wine and Salem. Finally, after a while, Salem spoke, "Screw dinner, screw this shitty lame party, c'mon." He grabbed Lucia by the front of her dress and pulled her close to him. She felt their lips collide roughly into a kiss, where she closed her eyes and rose a hand to hold onto his jacket. She didn't expect it, but in the jaw-dropping moment to Alice, Lucia didn't mind it. Even Nill was somehow able to catch a glimpse from a distance... feeling that something weird was in the alcohol. Salem stood up and caught Lucia's hand in his, leading her away from the dancefloor to make it into the limo and leave the party. The driver would probably think about waiting for the rest of their party, but Salem was pretty quick about getting the driver to hit the pedal.

Lucia and Salem wasted almost no time in the limo getting a little more comfortable on the ride 'home', to the point where Lucia's dress attire stayed, but her fake appearance as Livian Frey was gone, and she was herself once again. Alice she heard in her head with some irritation in his tone. She looked to the stage causally as a man began to start the grand unveiling of the new commander. Yes? Where is Lucia? I'm afraid she's gone sir-- She deactivated her powers. I am no longer in camouflage. I'm going to go into back of the building and take matters into my own hands about my escape route, I have a few things to take care of with these new change in plans. You and Defiance are left the task of the assassination now. Don't fail me he said, leaving her with an exhausted sigh. She agreed, knowing Salem and Lucia would pay their dues about their failure in the mission later and looked to her date, nodding. They would manage the death of "Elite Commander-- Davin Riecker" by themselves. After the room burst into applause, the man on the stage taking his medal on his suit and then mingling with the others, Nill returned to the difficult task of trying to handle her own with the DOGS. "Would you like to grab a drink?" they asked the young woman as she tried to look away, "I'm sorry, but I don't drink." This was going to be a painful night.

[Salem Wolf]

Nill seemed to be happier after he had come for her, rescued her in words now where he would follow through later. Then the hour passed and he had watched Salem and Lucia leave, which he knew would be trouble for them in the morning, but for now their cares and worries would be gone as their two bodies intertwined filled with lust. He actually let out a soft sigh, human interaction was rare, touching another body even rarer, and to let himself get lost in pleasure? Once. Just the once. Well, he was happy for them, someone should be enjoying themselves the way they were.

Meanwhile, Salem led Lucia to the limo and got into the back, "home," he told the driver, running a hand through Lucia's natural hair, looking at her. Maybe he was just enamored because of the alcohol, maybe it was the longing he had for feeling another person, but he couldn't have found her more captivating. "Y-You look a lot better natural." He told her, a slight slurring of his words but enough alcohol filtered out he didn't not know what he was doing, but not sober enough he couldn't blame it on the alcohol later if this turned out badly. He kissed her again, but this time it wasn't him pulling forward, it was him closing the gap between their lips, his hand touching the back of her head and another hand grabbing hers. In this moment he didn't care if he was abandoning a job, to him he was to assassinate a member of his own organization, so he didn't care what happened. He still held loyalty to the DOGS, he was a soldier for them for a long time even before being put in the Wolfpack, then again he was well-trained to blend in with the Gifted, and after so long he wouldn't be opposed to killing the DOGS. But it made for a good excuse, he'd have to come up with something to avoid Vance's punishment later. But hell, for now, he had his lips to Lucia's and he didn't give a damn what would happen. He was lost in Lucia's eyes to see the rest of the world around him. "Stick with me, L, I'll take good care of you." It could be interpreted in so many different ways, taking a quick breather from the kissing. Maybe, hell just maybe, this wasn't going to be a mistake.

Noah watched the crowd, he watched Nill as she was cornered by a group, he listened to what they were saying to her by tuning his superhuman senses towards her, then had to unfortunately focus elsewhere. The announcer gave the name of the target, Davin Riecker, and the medal was pinned to his suit. Noah watched as Alice made her way through the crowd going to congratulate him, and that's when Noah took a moment to himself. He was always prepared, ready for any situation he would tell you, what he wouldn't tell you was that what he didn't know himself he could find out easily. Leaning the right side of his body against the wall, looking out towards the crowd, Noah put two fingers to a spot just behind his right ear and pressed three times, two quick presses and one second-long press. With the familiar sound in his ear, he pressed again for two seconds until he heard a voice on the other end.

"Noah! Jesus Christ are you alright?" It was his wireless subdermal communicator, surgically implanted in two locations underneath his skin: ear and neck. The ear let him control it and hear the receiving communication, the neck implant let him speak without actually using his voice, the reverberation of his vocal cords translating it into speech. He could, literally, be talking into it shoulder-to-shoulder with someone and they would never know. It was very similar to ventriloquism. Just a bit of technology he'd taken from the DOGS a long time ago, and one he had to surgically implant by himself, an experience he wouldn't recommend. "Davin Riecker, pull up everything you know on him," he said in his silent tone. Theodore could only sigh, figuring this was his Defiance shtick keeping him busy, and began to tell him everything he could pull up on Davin. "The guy is 35-years-old and has no relationships to speak of, no wife or kids. He's living the bachelor's dream. Whoa whoa, says here he's going to formally accept as Elite Commander...tonight?! N...Defiance you aren't..." He had almost said Noah's name twice, but Noah was always big on code names when using the subdermal communicator system, and Theodore knew that. "Anything else?" "Dax was being a huge a*****e about it, but he admits he was wrong." "I accept his apology, but I have bigger things to do right now, much bigger. I recall the program he enacted in Utalla, it was a big deal. Teddy." Theodore's code name was Teddy, an actual nickname for him as a kid. "Yes...Defiance?" "Thank you, I'll be in touch." He pressed his subdermal twice, one quick and one long press, which ended the communication but allowed Theodore to ring him if absolutely necessary.

A few things on Davin's history bugged him, first of all the guy had never been in a major relationship, or any relationship that was known for that matter. Very few people so high in the Elites or with that much power were known for being celibate, secondly his program in Utalla was successful but was never replicated or used again since. He thought about both points as he weaved through the crowd towards Davin, making a quick stop at the drink bar. "Thank you, but I must decline your drink offer, Eva." He heard Davin say to Alice, rejecting her. He smirked, grabbing himself a drink and another for the man of the hour, heading towards Alice and Davin. "Davin Riecker, James Alexander, a big fan of your work." He smiled to Davin, handing him the drink, to which Davin took with a nod and sipped on it. 'Davin is homosexual. All I need to do is flirt with him to lure him away from the crowd. This...this will be difficult.' Davin smiled, looking to Noah with a curiosity in his eyes. "W-Well thank you, it's always nice to find admirers of my work." He said honestly, a little taken aback by Noah's interest. "Mm," he let out with a bit of wine in his mouth, swallowing it, very thankful Salem or Lucia weren't around to witness this. "yes, your work in Utalla was awe-inspiring. The system that you implemented was absolutely splendid." Alice might have taken notice to Noah's bit of flirtatious speech towards Davin. "O-Oh yes, I...er...was rather proud of it. I-I'm sorry you said your name was James?" Noah smiled, laughing politely, "James Alexander, Solica-region researcher, I was the lead on the Ember Dusk project after her capture. I'm here with Eva Heartfallow, I'm her guest for the evening." From date to guest, not to offend Alice with that or anything but it was clear now that Noah was flirting with Davin.

Davin smiled, nodding as he and Noah got to talking about their respective projects, and then more personal things that Noah made up as he went. After about 20 minutes Noah couldn't help but start to feel it was time to make an offer. "L-Look," he put on a shy act, "it's rather noisy in here, do you mind if we continue this in a quieter place?" Davin nodded, "of course. Meet me upstairs in a half hour, I need to continue on with my guests." "I'd be honored. Try the shrimp salad, by the way, it's delicious." Noah winked with a smile, Davin ready to take him up on that salad recommendation, then he walked away. Noah approached Alice, "I'll meet Davin upstairs and we'll leave shortly after my return. It would help if you also have some of the shrimp salad, it's our ticket out. That salad is going to be rumored to be tainted, with that Davin will be leaving the party early." It was obvious he meant that Davin would be killed, but not found for quite a while. He walked away to go meet Davin upstairs.

It was clear that Davin believed Noah's flirting, believed that he was hinting to something more than talking. As soon as Noah entered the room he could see Davin taking off his shirt, "mm, you play rather coy, James, I have never met such a forthcoming man like yourself. I hope you don't play games with all the Elite Commanders you meet," Davin said with a laugh, Noah laughing with him, shutting the door behind him and locking it. "Mister Riecker, do you take me for a common whore? But...do tell me about Utalla, it was such a masterpiece but never used elsewhere, do you care to tell me why?" Davin stared at him, coughing slightly before slowly putting his shirt back on. "I assumed you were here for me, I must have assumed wrong." Noah approached Davin and knelt on the bed, his knees on either side of Davin's waist and Noah's hand on his bare chest, his lips touching his neck. 'This is...certainly new territory for me. *pause* I don't like this.' Noah kept it up though, Davin gave a soft moan as Noah's lips traced up to his earlobe, "I am here for you, but when things are on my mind it's hard to distract myself." He whispered, causing Davin to grab Noah by the cheeks and move his face in front of his. "Then allow me to help you," to which Noah had to say "no thank you, wouldn't want to disappoint my date." He slammed his hands against Davin's chest and pushed off, knocking him onto the bed and Noah telekinetically grabbing the bedsheets and wrapping Davin up in them like a cocoon. He gripped tightly around Davin's neck with his powers, knowing he couldn't possibly leave any imprints or fingerprints.

"Utalla, why wasn't the system implemented elsewhere? It worked, in six months the Gifted were gone, Project Affinity was the most successful Gifted hunting program ever created. Rumors persist that similar programs couldn't meet Affinity's original results, that it was abandoned when it couldn't be reproduced, the notes and details were erased, lost, and you simply abandoned it. But why?" Then Davin ripped open the blanket with claws extending from his fingernails and getting off the bed. "Oh. That's why." Davin rushed at Noah, but was immediately grasped by telekinesis around the neck, lifted into the air. Noah had to admit, this power was terrifying and incredible. "What is Project Affinity?" He asked, lowering Davin down and forcing him onto his knees, approaching. "Hrk. Project...Affinity was a Gifted relocation service utilizing DOGS technology. I went out, hunted my fellow Gifted, relocated them to safe places around the world. New identities, masked their powers, they would live normal lives. I'd kill humans and bring them back to the DOGS so that I had proof of a Gifted's death. In six months I relocated all the Gifted in the city, it couldn't be reproduced because there was nothing to it. I abandoned the project after my second city failure because I couldn't reclaim the same results. That's it, that's all it was, I was protecting my kind, people like you."

Noah shook his head, "you killed innocent people to protect us, lives you tore away. You hurt people who couldn't protect themselves from a monster, fueling the fires that make us so hated. I applaud you though, you infiltrated the DOGS, you saved countless Gifted from slaughter, but at what cost? I'm sorry." "If I die they'll replace me with a non-Gifted! Someone who won't be working so hard to look so competent but still saving my own kind!! You're condemning us to death if you do this! You're Gifted too, don't you see?! I need to be in this position, I need to be able to keep it going! You let me die and the next person will do nothing to help the Gifted. But this way, this way, I can do something!" Noah stared at him, shaking his head again, "it's not my call to make, I'm just the puppet, someone else is pulling my strings. By the way...did you enjoy the salad?"

Noah left the room shortly after cleaning up the mess made by Davin when he clawed out of the blanket, returning to the party. He approached Alice and nodded towards her, "how's your stomach, honey? That shrimp salad is not settling well for me. We should call it a night." He caught Nill's location still being surrounded by a bunch of men, approaching her, "Miss Heartfallow and I are leaving, that shrimp salad may not have been very fresh. If I recall you had some of that earlier, didn't you? You can ride with us, your date looks to have left and we'll drop you off where you need to go." Noah smiled to her, leading her back to Alice and the three of them leaving the party. The deed was done, Noah's mission was complete and Vance would have nothing bad to say about it. Discreet, quiet, and no one the wiser. Defiance always got things done.

[Escaflowdra]

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As Lucia's back rested against the leather of the limo, she looked at Salem running his fingers through her hair. Her breathing was shaky, even if she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Having somebody run their fingers through her hair felt so nice, and she looked at him with glazed eyes when he spoke, "Y-You look a lot better natural." She listened to him whisper it heavy, a slur in his speech, but she only traced her slim fingers up his collar shirt and undoing buttons of the overcoat as she kept her eyes on him, looking him over before she saw him coming closer. She craned her neck slightly upward as he closed the gap between their lips, and felt his hand touching the back of her head. Her heart raced in her chest as she felt him press against her, and take her hand in his which she was only paying attention the only dancing she'd done tonight in their kiss. Lucia was so zoned out from the mission that she didn't realize she had ultimately jeopardized Vance's position. She was finally feeling herself being wrapped up in human warmth.. something she initiated as a half joke but a dark desire nonetheless.

He pulled away, looking at her while he cradled her head gently in his hand as he spoke to her, "Stick with me, L, I'll take good care of you." Lucia felt him come back to kiss her, but she pulled out of that second kiss quick enough to emit a growl from the back of her throat. Just before another kiss was initiated she spoke out in a slightly heartbroken tone, "Y-You know my name. Use it," and then felt herself swoop in for another. With her hands all over him, she couldn't feel herself but get wrapped up in the warmth that was emitting from him. It was like a dream that she would one day be able to feel some excitement and pleasure from another person... and even if she wasn't sober and initially had no intentions to show Salem any kind of affection, giving and receiving now was all that seemed to matter.

Speaking of giving, Alice tried to offer Riecker a drink. She stood, a little puzzled by the rejection until she saw Noah approach with two glasses, "Davin Riecker, James Alexander, a big fan of your work." He smiled to Davin, handing him the drink, to which Davin took with a nod and sipped on it. Alice glared out of the corner over her eye to Davin's profile and thought, Oh. I see. He's a banana man. She looked over to Noah who was admiring Davin for his work and then talking about his awe-inspiring systems. Oh yes, Alice was beyond entertained by Noah's impressive show of being flirtatious. What was even more hilarious about the scene was when she saw Noah putting on a shy act, then suggesting they take the party elsewhere. If I find a surveillance camera where they go I want every single dirty shot. Noah approached her after addressing Davin for a location and spoke, "I'll meet Davin upstairs and we'll leave shortly after my return. It would help if you also have some of the shrimp salad, it's our ticket out. That salad is going to be rumored to be tainted, with that Davin will be leaving the party early." "Mmm. Shrimp salad. You know what I like more than some good shrimp? Some suckermouth armored catfish~"

She watched Noah walk away, which she grinned slightly and returned the party. After the deed was done, and she turned back to see his return, she had given signs to the guest that she felt funny from the shrimp salad. "How's your stomach, honey? That shrimp salad is not settling well for me. We should call it a night." Alice nodded her head with a graceful smile as she walked alongside Noah over to Nill. Nill looked at Noah's approach with her glazed eyes being torn from the men she was trying to escape and listened, "Miss Heartfallow and I are leaving, that shrimp salad may not have been very fresh. If I recall you had some of that earlier, didn't you? You can ride with us, your date looks to have left and we'll drop you off where you need to go." Nill nodded her head shyly and followed Noah and Alice to the limo. When taking a seat in the limo, Nill sitting away from everyone else in the corner, Alice had scooted close to Noah and spoke, "L-Look" in a shy tone, then giggling slightly and poking him in the shoulder, "I'm sorry. I can't help it. Not everyday you see a new recruit get butthurt about silly jokes." Nill wasn't sure what to think as she gazed out the locked windows of the limo and fell asleep with her cheek against the cold glass on the rather long ride.

---

The next morning came, and Nill was sound asleep in her room. She was curled up, having been set in bed by Vance taking her from the hands of the two who returned. He put her away, not giving out details of how his night unfolded, but received his confirmation about the result of the mission. He made a fairly stingy remark when they arrived, but not directed at them. Rather that he was upset with Lucia and Salem. In fact, after the group split their separate ways, Alice had walked in and out of her room. I need to ask for Lucia's room to NOT be next to mine any longer. She then took her sleep in Lucia's room for the rest of the day. Those two would get hell for it later.

Nill slept, but woke in the middle of the night and pulled the charm out from under her pillow. Her door was open still, but she no longer cared. After what Vance had done, what true privacy did she have? She got up with her charm in hand and sat up in her bed, moving her legs over the edge of her bed before standing up and walking over to the mirror. She took a look at her lower lip, seeing how badly a scratch was along the bottom from having tried to scrub off the kiss. She wondered what Vance would have to say about something like that... since he was becoming so close to her in acts of intimacy. She was scared to think about the future and how those acts may escalate in the future... But she digressed. Surely... It wouldn't be so horrible. She had Noah to listen to... So she went back to her bed, hiding away the one good thing about her cage under her pillow, and fell back to sleep.

[Salem Wolf]

Mission accomplished. Noah had taken out Davin Riecker and sufficiently hidden his lifeless corpse in a place that would take days to find. The rumor spread that the shrimp salad was making people ill, and people were already assuming Davin had left for the evening. Noah returned to the party and found Alice, who seemed to really enjoy what he'd have to do, while Noah was not at all pleased by it. It was part of the job and he didn't hesitate, but it just wasn't something he was extremely happy in having to do. But it worked, he knew what Project Affinity was, but unfortunately Davin was too dangerous to let live. Yes, he was Gifted, and yes he'd become Elite Commander of the DOGS Corps, but the guy had turned on humans, he was working with the DOGS against the Gifted, and against the DOGS for the Gifted. There was no telling what side he was on and what he would do next, it wasn't worth the headache in the future. So, begrudgingly, Davin was dead and Noah could say they'd done what they came to do.

Meanwhile, Salem and Lucia were going at each other like wild animals, kissing and moaning and touching one another. He called her L which elicited a growl from her, "Y-You know my name. Use it," she had said to him. "Lucia," he said breathlessly, their wild night nearing the complex where they would move to one of the beds, "I'll make you feel what no one ever could." They went back at it, out of the limo and into the complex and finding their way into Alice's room, mistaken for Lucia's, and proceeded to lose their clothes and continue nude into the bed, where they would be for the next few hours until falling asleep drunk and exhausted.

Back at the party, more specifically the limo, Noah could only take so many of the jokes before he shot a glare at her in the limo after saying "L-Look" in a false shy tone, then giggling slightly and poking him in the shoulder, "I'm sorry. I can't help it. Not everyday you see a new recruit get butthurt about silly jokes." He put on his sunglasses to cover up his eyes, looking ahead as he did. "You are hilarious, Alice, absolutely a riot. Trust me, I would much have preferred watching Salem attempt it, but seeing as how only a few of us are competent, it fell to me." Then he slowly pulled his sunglasses down to look at her over the rim, "though if you wish to see if you can do better than Davin, my door will be unlocked tonight." Lies on top of lies, his door would be locked and he wouldn't really want her to try anything. But he was going to give some of the joke back at her.

---

Morning came, Salem and Lucia's deed for the night completed more than once in a drunken lusty state, and immediately they were awoken by the sounds of the intercom with a rather venomous but calm tone from Vance, "Salem and Lucia, you both are required to see me immediately." Lucia awoke first, shocked by Vance's voice and seeing Salem nude next to her. Immediately she pushed him off the bed and sat up with a start, darting out of the room without a word. Salem groaned, pulling Alice's sheets off and wrapping himself up in it. [********' great." He said with a sigh, leaving Alice's room and heading to his to get changed. He saw Noah leaving his room and coming in his direction, Salem avoiding eye contact with him until Noah spoke up, "'atta boy." He patted Salem on the back as he walked past, heading towards Nill's room.

Salem grumbled as he dropped the sheet and took himself a quick shower to wash the smell of their event off of him, dressing as quickly as he could and heading towards the meeting room where Vance was waiting. Lucia had arrived just a little bit before him, both of them taking a seat across from Vance as he stared at them from underneath his mask. "I don't know if it was the alcohol or just incompetence," he said, with Salem quickly interrupting. "I knew what I was doing." Vance quickly narrowed his eyes to him, "incompetence then. To say I am angry will be an understatement. Abandoning the mission? Drinking? Lucia I am disappointed in you, I thought better of you. But to find you lost in alcohol and Salem's...lips...to the point you dropped your ability and as a result my appearance? You put me in danger." Salem looked over to Lucia, and he could tell what she was feeling, having let Vance down. He interrupted again, "I accept full responsibility for what happened. I was the one who kept supplying her with drinks, I made the first move, I made her follow me." Then he knew he was crazy, "and I told her I wanted to ******** her natural form, not the one she took on. So the punishment is all mine, not hers." Vance looked from Salem to Lucia, then nodded. "Consider yourself lucky that you are so easily enamored by cheap alcohol and a slick tongue. You're free to go, Lucia. Get out."

Salem watched Lucia walk away, not entirely ready for what Vance would say. "The only thing I will say to you now is this: if you like her, if you fancy her in any way, and this wasn't just because you needed to have an unrestrained night of pleasure with anything that had two legs...don't. Because it will end terribly for you, Salem. And trust me, I would prefer that not to happen. Besides...you can do much better than Lucia." Salem wasn't sure how to reply to that, surely Vance was only discouraging him because he knew that he wasn't going to let go of Lucia, but he couldn't say something like that. He nodded, "I let myself get lost in what was supposed to be in-character acts. It won't happen again." "No. It won't. You're free to go." Salem stood up from the chair, reaching for the doorknob and then gripping it tightly, knowing he had to say something before he walked out. "I don't regret what happened, she might, but I don't. For one night she was mine, and that felt good." Then he paused, adding, "was the mission successful?" "Noah took care of it." Vance replied, then as Salem opened the door he had one more thing to say, "oh, and Salem? If it does happen again, you'll wish it hadn't." Salem left the room and closed the door behind him. He went back into his room to change into workout clothes then went to the recreation room, letting out his anger and frustration on the punching bag until he felt better or the bag exploded.

While Vance was talking to Lucia and Salem, Noah had rung up Theodore again, speaking into his subdermal in silence as he did last night. "Good morning, the party was a blast, unfortunately the host had left early due to stomach problems. Find out everything you can on Project Affinity and a list of every special gone missing, I'll need that list when we meet. 12:30 at the bean brewery on 18th 12th, the one across from the meat bakery. Actually, scratch that, the bakery sounds better. See you then." Even intercepted, he spoke in code that might not make much sense to others. Theodore was well aware the "host" Davin Riecker was dead by his hands, and Project Affinity was the only legit bit of information he didn't have to decode. 12:30 was the time to meet, a bean brewery was a coffee shop on 18th and 12th, across from the meat bakery, in actuality a sandwich shop. A bit of gibberish, but admittedly not too difficult to understand once someone thought about it. He ended the communication and knocked on Nill's door, looking in, seeing her asleep. "Oh, well I'll just catch her later then." He said to himself, turning and leaving.

Salem found Lucia a little while after his workout and didn't give her a chance to say anything before he started talking, "whatever you may think about last night? I don't care. It happened, and it wasn't all that terrible. If you decide you want to do it again, let me know, you're not bad." He turned away from her and walked away, calling back to her, "your natural form really is a lot better though, little piece of me dies when I see that beauty disappear." He chuckled, though he wouldn't admit it, he wasn't really joking about it.

It would be noon when Noah let Vance know he would be leaving the complex for a little bit, get fresh air and take care of some lingering business that would have no reflection or relation to what he did for Vance. Vance couldn't very well keep Noah in the complex against his will, even if he tried he was sure he could find a way to get out, so he let Noah know he was free to come and go as he pleased, but his living quarters would be in the complex for as long as he was with the group and that what he did outside of the complex could have nothing to do with what he did on the inside. "Of course, I hadn't planned on actually living elsewhere and what I do for Defiance's clients have no bearing on what I do for you. Just a few simple jobs I had taken before this, nothing more. I'll return before too long." Noah left the complex and went to meet Theodore at the sandwich shop, taking a seat with a sandwich on the table that he'd ordered, waiting for Theodore and whoever else to show up. He half-expected Daxter, Melody, or Ember to find out the two were communicating and come with. He kind of expected all three to show up with Theodore, which would be a hell of a mess to explain. But if Theodore came alone he would actually be surprised, for now he just had to wait to see who would show up.

Salem remained in the complex, working out again as he went back to the punching bag and took the rest of his anger out on it. He knew Noah had left, everyone did, but he didn't care what the guy was up to on his own time. He just knew he was on thin ice with Vance and right now he wasn't going to start trouble with him. "Damn it, Lucia. Can't get you out of my ********' head." He grunted out as he kept punching the punching bag.