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(...cleared the exit. No one takes my bait, but I do just fine.)

Mairead felt her fingers slide over the wood and finally found what she was looking for, a deep unusual yet consistent groove in the wood panels. She felt around it to see how large it was and finally found the catch, she tried to pull it up and it wouldn't budge. She pulled again in a different direction thinking it might be a more discreet kind of door that just slid, but it wouldn't budge. Finally she tried as many ways as she could think that the door would open. It wouldn't.

"What is the point of an emergency escape door if the damned thing doesn't open?!" Mairead cried out in frustration as she jumped on the door.

The door clicked and dropped half an inch. Oh s**t. she thought as the door swung inward and she slid down the tunnel. Well in reality it was more like a slide. Mairead slid feet first and used her hands to break along the slick walls. The slide took her in all directions that she was lost by the time she realized the was a door at the end of her dark tunnel. She knew this because she bumped it with her feet. It didn't move.

"Really? I have to do this?!"

She climbed back up the tunnel as far as she could and slid down again. She skipped breaking and lay down flat to give herself more speed and momentum, hopefully enough to open the door. When she crashed into it the door swung open and into the alleyway. She tumbled along allowing her momentum to carry her along in a ball. Finally her momentum slowed enough for her to stand and walk without falling over. And she walked out into the street that was swarmed with knights and people. No one noticed her. She didn't have the time but she needed to get underground. There were a few things she had to deal with and she needed more information. Mixing in the crowd she was able to nick a dark cloak without anyone being the wiser.

Moving along the crowd pretending to be in a hurry she gathered what remained of her gown that peeked out beneath the cloak ran off to a drop site. One of several she knew she still had in the city that had everything she would need, weapons, clothes, money and identification. Checking every few blocks for a tail, as the nearest site was her best stocked she didn't want anyone nicking any of her gear. She disappeared down an alleyway removed her pretty silver heels and dumped them into the nearest bin before entering bar through the back door.

She walked in and took a seat at the bar careful that her cloak left her shrouded in darkness. She couldn't do much about the lack of shoes, but this place was as close to a comfort zone as she was going to get. Filled with thieves, liars, cheats and the like, it was practically home sweet home. She knocked on the bar using her ring which created a specific pitch that informed the barkeep she was there. He had perfect pitch so he could identify her by the sound of her ring banging on the counter. He finished with his customer before turning to her.

"And what can I get for you?" he asked gruffly.

"A room for the night would be a good start and the new bourbon I hear you've been selling." Mairead said dropping her voice so it was low and quiet and passing him a coin she pulled from the cloak she stole.


The coin would have been enough for the room but definitely not for the bottle of bourbon she ordered. Then again when she said bourbon he knew she wanted news from a certain district.

"Here's the key, I'm sure you can find more cash later for the bourbon later." he said passing her the key.

Damn, she thought, he doesn't have any news for me. Well time to go fishing then. Mairead took the key and making sure to stay swathed in the cloak headed toward the stair and double checked for a tail before heading underneath the stair into the broom closet. Closing the door she hefted a few of the floorboards out and squeezed her small self into it and slid into the darkness before sliding the sliding the floorboards back. She crawled on her stomach along the passage way until she found a panel blocking her way. She pushed that down and kicked it up when she passed it before dropping into the room below her. She flipped the switch and light flooded the room.

It was a small room filled with everything any thief would be jealous of. One wall was filled with weapons of her choice, swords, daggers, knives, and a few guns. It even had a few bows and arrows all with strings, along with some uncommon weapons, throwing darts. The table below was filled with accessories, jeweled but they were gilded weapons. The next wall was a closet filled with clothes for all kinds off occasions covering everything from formal to casual and even included boys clothes. The last wall was more of a case of cash and Identification and Passports.

Mairead stripped out of the green gown dropped her clutch on the center table and dressed in black pants with knee high heeled boots and a fitting top that would pass her as a bar girl. She removed the pins and clips and placed them on the table along with the other accessories and did her hair in a bun using the throwing spikes to hold it up. She picked up an apron and filled it's hidden pockets with an assortment of knives, magazines and a pair of knuckles. She picked up a pistol and tucked it in her pants and covered it with her shirt. Selecting her favorite pair of twin dao swords and dumping them into a bag with selected Identification and cash she felt set.

Aiden's limited visual on Chance through the swirling of flame and billowing smoke of the once prestigious structure would end with her watching him leap from that third story balcony - an act most would view as suicidal. He was quite unaware of being spotted as he went about his business of checking the two bodies he'd created but moments ago. Eyes fixed on the corpse of Vossler Stone without the faintest hint of emotion, and not even a blink to interrupt the cold stare. Crouching down with his weapon still in hand, he used the free one to begin patting down the ex-High Commander for anything of value, speaking in a low voice as if conversing with the recently departed. "Call me crazy, but I knew from the first time I saw you that I'd be the one to ice you." Sleight hands had gotten away with a few items, though he knew little of what they were since further inspection only put him at further risk of exposing this incident.

As he finished up, still hunched over the body he gave a brief smile as he looked into those dead eyes; one half lidded as he pat the man on the chest just above the gunshot wound that was growing an ever larger pool of blood around him. "Well brother, I'll see you around." Chance stood and backed away just in time to avoid the oncoming pool of blood from tainting those expensive shoes. Clothes fell back into place as he turned from the body and hands worked to place the 'taken' items into various pockets. "Don't wait up, though." Giving one last wave of his hand as he walked calmly away from the calamity at the front doors to find a round-about way back to his hotel; lest he fall victim to the many yet unknown enemies lurking in the city. The night was cool, even cold to an extent, but as he strolled down along the length of the once grand structure, the hellish heat from the inside heated the outer walls and gave a soft glow of warmth around him.

Well the night had been more exciting than he thought it would have been, but thoughts of the fate of his own personal guard lingered; and the few personal items he had left in their charge. They were a crafty lot, like rats they were, but it seemed no one was immune from the savage ambush that had taken place. It was these thoughts and more that made him deaf to the soft sound of delicatw feet approaching from around the same corner he was about to round. Just as he was eyeing his pistol back into it's shoulder holster, a flash of motion caught the corner of his eye and he stopped cold as if his last moment was upon him. After the stunned moment the face became more familiar, even now as the flames from within the building danced shadows across her face. "Aiden.. I'm.. Glad to see you made it out of that mess." The struggle with his speech came from thoughts of his own rushing to the forefront of his mind; not the least of which was Aiden and her connection to the now deceased Commander Stone.

( Oh.. And I'm not sure what I would have gotten off Vossler. If anyone has any ideas. Just throw them into the hat. )

Chance was unsure just how deeply this might go, but he tried his best not to show any unnecessaey outward concern in case he was face to face with the cobra - so to speak. Stance taken to round the corner left a gap between his bulk and Aiden's line of sight, and one could not ignore the obvious signs of bloody death that was in Chance's wake. He made little effort to hide it, knowing the astute woman would have already likely scoped the bodies and made her own connections. "So.. It seems the people of Lucidus know how to throw a party after all.. I doubt I'll have any guests at my after party after this though." Hand slipped from his jacket to motion around the crumbling state of the building and the obvious carnage that had taken place.

Suffice it to say that the sudden outburst from the relatively small woman gave Chance a start, shown physically by a small jolt in his body before eyes darted around to assure himself no attention had been drawn. It was in that sudden prey-like accuteness to his surroundings that his right hand cupped Aidens shoulder and guided her around the corner and into the shadow created by the overhang in that alley. "Dammit, woman. Keep your voice down." He said in a whispered exclamation, still stirred up by her sudden appearance and what it could mean to be discovered in such close proximity to two dead bodies with law enforcement pouring in from all over the city.

The tension in his body escaped him with one great exhale before his hand fell away from her, regretting the unintentional rudeness in his daze. Clearing his throat before straightening up, clearly deminished from sleeplessness and the nights events; shown with his head bowed forward in that poor posture before hands slipped into the folds of his pockets - that lively twinkle gone from his eyes. What he had assumed he could turn into a vacation had turned into deja-vu of his earlier years of gangsterdom. "How I got out?" Head turned to view the balcony he'd been standing upon as if to recall what had happened only mimutes before. "Well.. I jumped.." Speaking rathet unenthusiastically as he turned his head back to face her, a dim smile playing on his lips beneath tired eyes. "How about you? Looked like a rat race down there.. Guess the rich and famous aren't too proud to trample over one another." Voice had grown raspy as he spoke on, probably a mixture of thirst, fatigue and the old familiar feeling of near out of body.

( Pfft. Why would Chance want a shot up piece of armor? Haha. Could use it as a groin protector I guess. xD )

Mairead removed the extensions and shook her short cropped hair out. She even scrubbed off as much of the make up as she could. If she waited too long, information could seep out the cracks. Mairead then applied dark eyeliner and mascara to accentuate her eyes in contrast to her make up from earlier and she crossed her fingers hoping no one would recognize the resemblance. She couldn't see any, but you never knew.

"Finally into something more comfortable." She said.

Climbing back into the tiny tunnel hole after turning out the light she finally made her way out the broom closet and dumped her bag on top of the bar and pretended to straighten out her clothes as if she were done for the night.

"I'm out for the night. Bye Bax!" She called to the barkeep as she sauntered out the bar.

"Ceron! Don't be late next time!" Bax called after her.

Mairead now in her full Ceron persona, walked deeper into the alley and pulled back the tarp that covered her bike. It was a sweet racing bike and would get her where she needed to go. Best of all it was matte black. She put on her helmet and revved the engine checking it. She double checked the gears and breaks, it was better than the last time she used it. She had to remember to pay the barkeep extra for maintaining her bike. Revving the engine she peeled out into the main road driving back to the fire. Perhaps someone had more information than the barkeep.

The "Ceron" persona was a personality she had created, developed and worked tirelessly on. It was metaphorically a house within a house. Her liar house, if you will, where she could slip in and lie as she would and no lie detector or magic could crack it. She had spent years developing it and testing it, even now among liars and thieves she still worked on it. It was a never ending project but it was in this persona that she had done jobs for and developed a very large clientele. In fact her reputation as Ceron was well known among thieves and she was proud of this, but "Ceron" wasn't as well known as as assassin and she needed to work on that. Hopefully, with some digging tonight it would add to her repertoire.

Pulling up to the mob scene that erupted and parted for her, all considering they preferred not to get run over by her huge bike which was easily bigger than her, she pulled up next to the ambulance where Aiden talking to Chance whom she had done some work with before as Ceron, and hopefully wouldn't be recognized as Mairead.

"Oh Chance, please don't tell me this was because you weren't invited to the party." Ceron said by way of greeting.

Aiden allowed herself to be taken around the corner, although her expression showed dislike for anymore hurried action that night. One push from Chance was six tiny steps by Aiden. Almost immediately, she wiggled and stepped away from the momentum brought on by the man's hands once Aiden and Chance both were items in the shadowy alleyway. Her eyes went somewhere, to two noticeable lumps in the distance, and then back to Chance, while she now instinctually listened for all the busied commotion that was just just just behind her. "I thought that's what they do - they trample over one another? Should I beat around the bush? What's up over there?"

She started making her way over to the bodies. "Sounds like you made it out easy? I was burned head to toe. You should have seen it -nasty s**t." She hugged herself. The shoes hammered into each other. "I'm still grossed out."

Aiden could be casual too.

Hey guys...I'm really sorry I've been an rp godzila tromping and stomping on everyones posts...I honestly do not normally post this way...So please bear with me until the godzila mode kind of goes away...and I'll edit the posts where and when I get the chance...again I'm really sorry...