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With the eyes of the Blackbird to guide him Colin sets off to find Alicia.  He leaves his bike, he's seen her move up the sides of buildings, and he knows his bike will just slow him down.  With a deep breath he cracks his neck and let's the world get him to where he needs to go.

It's a torturous thirteen blocks across rooftops.  He dodges unseen obstacles, but the blackbird is an unfailing guide.  A leap into the abyss, an act of total faith, and he crashes into a slide on the next roof.  He skids to a stop on his face.  He is in good shape, but he's breathing heavily, and when he works his way up to his hands and knees, prepared to get up and keep going, he sees her.  Curled up in a ball, shutting out the world and wrestling with her own inner demons.

Alicia hears the rattle of gravel as someone lands on the roof, the exertion evident in his panting. Her nose identifies the arrival as Colin.

A dozen conflicting impulses race through her mind. Run away, hide, scream, cry, laugh. The memory of his warmth against her cheek stabs at her.

Heart-breaker, dream-taker. Maybe he's here to yell at her too. At this point, she's just too tired to care.

"Ogh. Huff. God and Great Spirit, fortunately you're here. A little more and I would have died. Girl, you sure can run." He pants some more, exhaling thick clouds of vapor, he gets his green raincoat off to drape it on her shoulders, and then he sits in front of her, smiling feebly.
"Hey. It's beginning to rain. I don't think you like rain, so I'm going to ask for a moment of respite so we can talk, if you don't mind."
He looks up and whispers something to the clouds. His voice is different when he does, it sounds deeper, fuller, more... ancient.
"What I do is difficult to explain. I'm a sort of shaman. Or a medium. Really, it's complicated. I talk with spirits, and sometimes they listen to my prayers. And I have this special sight. I can see people's auras. It's a bit as if souls had a color. Sometimes I can see how people are connected to each other. I'm telling you this because yesterday, when I looked at the John from another dimension, I saw your aura as well. I meant to talk to you about it, but I was hoping to get to know you a little better, before. You know next to nothing about me, I know I shouldn't ask you to trust me. Trusting people is difficult, and sometimes painful. I know. People have abused my trust before. They've even stole a piece of my soul, and I... I almost lost myself then."
She can clearly see the pain and disgust on his face as he recalls that moment.
"But I also know there is something gnawing at you, that keeps hurting you. It's like a scar that won't heal. And you keep hurting yourself as well, trying to get at it. You didn't have to react like you did today. But I understand if you tell me you couldn't stop yourself. I know what it's like to feel so violated and so angry you could burn down the whole world. I know, and I'd like to try help you, if you allow me."

Alicia lies silent during Colin's speech. It's not certain that she is even listening.

Finally, she rises, flowing to a sitting position to look at Colin. She brings up her legs and wraps her arms around them, resting her head on her knees.

Dark pools of plastic stare at him. Slowly, she raises a hand and takes the shades off. Yellow-green eyes now fix him with their gaze.

The sunglasses are more than just camouflage. They're a shield, a wall, a way of isolating herself from the world. Taking them off is a concession, an unspoken truce to lower her defenses.

She licks her lips nervously and swallows before she dares to speak.

"If... if you lost yourself, and someone brought you back, would you accept yourself? No matter what you may have done while you were gone?"

"If you were lost, you weren't yourself. You should ask yourself who you are now, who you want to be, and live accordingly. Live to show the difference. Only very few things cannot be atoned for. Wouldn't it be better to strive to make both yourself and the world a bit better, rather than keep punishing yourself?"

He looks at her. Her eyes are so deep and mysterious, he could get lost in them.

"Please give me your hands. And relax."

Alicia frowns, unsure. "I don't know how to be anything else."

At Colin's request, she hesitantly complies. She rolls onto her knees, instinctively sitting in a seiza position with her back straight. She holds out her hands, palms down.

"I'll try to show you. Please, close your eyes and relax. Take a deep breath, and imagine to be extremely light, almost like a feather in the wind. Try to let go everything that keeps you down."

And give it to me.

Colin tries to lift her burden, to take the anger and despair inside himself like he did with Darla, and, if he manages, to send her a vision of hope, a vision of how she could be following the best part of her nature, a vision of her through benevolent eyes, not unlike how he sees her himself. A vision of how she could make a difference.

Alicia's eyes close as directed. She inhales deeply then releases her breath in what is recognizably a meditation exercise.


A demonic image assaults his senses. It's a twisted image of Alicia, scarred and bleeding, snarling with rage. It raises its head and screams its defiance.

I WILL NOT BE CAGED AGAIN! NO ONE OWNS ME!

Alicia moans in distress, trembling.

There is a flutter of wings across the image, and a rain fall of black feathers.  When they clear you can see a scene from up high, then is zooms down out of the night.  Alicia runs along a rooftop, the smooth grace of her body slipping under guide wires, over obstacles, and then she's airborne, a leap into darkness.  She drops into a mote of light, rolls across the ground and then is up and running again.  "Alley Cat, do you have eyes on the target?"  The voice is familiar, Sylvia.  It's in Alicia's ear.

"Negative Meme.  Still on the move."  Alicia's voice is barely a whisper.  She launches into the air again, and catches a TV ariel, which snaps with her weight, and smiling she rides the twisting metal in a slow circle, then drops from it to a drain pipe, but only for a moment before she leaps back across the narrow alley for the fire escape, then backflips to land on a dumpster, almost soundlessly.  "I see the car.  No sign of the target."

"If he has the girl."  Sylvia's voice sounds strained.

"I'll ask him nicely to turn her over to me."

"Nicer than you asked the two goons at the safehouse?"

"Much nicer."  Alica purrs.

Then a door opens at the end of the alley, and a man comes out.  He has a girl with him, to the untrained eye she might be drunk.  But Alica is not a creature of mere sight.  She can smell the taint of the drugs, and the gun oil.  His cheap colone, his cheap soap.

With a leap Alicia is on the roof of the car.  A smile curls her lips.  "Poor kid is so doped up she's not going to remember any of what I'm about to do to you."  She lowers into a crouch, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  Jake Lowrey, You're under arrest for kidnapping and a laundry list of bad bad things."  That feral smile returns.  "Time for you to resist arrest."

The world shatters and Colin and Alicia are on the roof, in the here and now.  A black bird sits on a guide wire not far away.  And it squaks once.

Alicia scrambles back to a wall, her body flattened against it. Her eyes are wide as saucers and her breath puffs out in short gasps.

"What... the hell... was THAT?!?"

Colin go sit beside her against the wall.

"It's a possible future. A vision of what might come to pass. I sometimes have glimpses like this, and I wanted to share this one with you. How did it feel to be the good guy?"

He lets her a moment to regain her bearing. He knows first hand the disorientation visions might cause.

"What about you showed to me? I think it would do you good to talk about it. Or to show me, like you did before. But I don't want to force you. It can wait until you're ready."

He turns to the blackbird.

Is it alright? Am I messing up? Thank you, by the way.

Alicia's mind went back to the last vision. "That could be me?"

She pondered the image. The good guy.

She grinned at Colin. "That could be me. It felt... good."

Her grin fell as she recalled the first vision and she felt a familiar pressure on her chest.

"But that was also me."

She looked away. Instinctively, she curled up again, arms around her legs, her head nestled on her knees.

"In the lunchroom, when I realized that it was Sylvia who was making me do those things... I got so angry."

She turned to look at Colin. "You talked about someone stealing your soul, about losing yourself. What Sylvia did... that's what it felt like to me."

She lay her head back down, looking at some point in the far distance. "Next thing I knew, I was on the roof, John was holding me down, Sammy was bleeding..." She stopped, choking a sob. More tears stained her jeans.

Her wound is deep, and invisible even to her.  The knowledge of a deed remains, but it's memories have been taken from her.  A cruel hand was at play.  This will surely be a test of her strength, and your determination.

The blackbird squacks and flies of, as rain drops begin to fall.  They form the steady song of their descent, and Alicia notices that non of them fall on her of Colin.

Alicia lifts her head, her eyes closed, to feel the splash of the rain against her face. Her lips part and her tongue flicks out as if to catch a drop.

There's no sexual intent in the act, yet it is suggestive nevertheless.

"Sylvia doesn't steal souls. She... gives suggestions. She can suggest you not to see her, or to see what you want. I think she was involuntarily suggesting people to be happy, and probably to lose some inhibitions. It's something that usually can be shrugged off with a little effort, not an iron grip. But losing that bit of control reminded you of something much worse, didn't it?"

He moves her wet hair away from her face.

"I'm sorry you got hurt. We didn't mean to. As I said, we can understand hurt. Give us a little time to get used to you, and it won't happen again."

For a moment, he just stares in front of himself.

"This girl was a witch. I mean, literally. She and her friends had found a way to use magic to gain power for themselves. Which is dangerous in itself, magic shouldn't be used that way. When they noticed me and my powers, they decided to use me, as if I was a sort of crystall ball for divination. We confronted them and we tried to restrain their magic, so they couldn't use it to hurt people, but even that wasn't enough. They laid out a trap for me and it worked, because no matter what they did, they were sure I would have tried to help them anyway. The trap teared off a part of myself, my connection to the spirit world. They used it to break their restraints, and to conjure even more power. They tried to kill us with that. We were on the roof of the hospital, and she pushed Sarah off. I thought she was dead. I thought she had stolen everything from me. And I hated myself Because I was the one who allowed her to. For a moment, there was only darkness. I don't know what I would have done to her, but I know that there would have been no return from that darkness."

She can tell that he is still scared.

"I've been so lucky. You see, the world is full of invisible connections, and when you do something right, you sort of create good energy. You make the world a better place. And sometimes, there are rewards for that. Sarah didn't die. As she was plumbing down to her death, she manifested for the first time a new power, she teleported back to the roof, and smashed the witch for good. And so she saved me. But I know that darkness. I know what was there and what it would have done to me. I have seen a boy who was consumed from the inside by a demon, and I've had to kill him. It would have been worse."


He frowns. "Someone has done something terrible to you. You have been made to forget something. That's why you can't heal."

After a pause, he goes on. "I can try to help you. To undo what was done. I have to warn you, it wouldn't be easy neither for you nor for me. Whoever did this was a bastard. It'll be difficult, but I think that's the way to feeling better. To leave it behind, and go on with your life. You don't have to decide now. When you'll be ready, I'll be here."

OOC: I think Darren meant that it doesn't rain on the two of us. :)

Colin sees her act of will, it shakes off the protective aura, seeking the cleansing solace of the rain, and the world feels his intent, and the lets the rain fall on her.

OOC: All fixed.  Just like magic.

Alicia looks at him, eyes narrowed slightly. "Y-yes." She seems reluctant to say more.


Alicia sits silent through Colin's story.

At the end, she haltingly begins her own.

"This group needed someone who could do do the things I could do for a job. But they didn't want any loose ends. Mar... A friend of mine convinced them that I could do the job and not be a 'security risk.' They brought in a guy. A mind-f**ker." She snarls the term between clenched teeth.

"He was supposed to erase my memory of my part of the job so they wouldn't have to 'eliminate' me afterwards. The guy... he did things to my head, made me into his puppet..."

It takes her a moment to collect herself and continue. "The worst part is that he didn't do his part correctly. He erased the details of what I did, but not the fact that I did it. I know I did terrible, horrible things, but I don't know what they were."

She swallows, anguish plain on her face. "The worst part is that I don't know if it's even over, if that pendejo didn't put something else in my head so that he can just come around any time he wants and make me do it all over again."


Alicia stares straight into Colin's eyes. "Why? Why would you?"

"Oh, if he tries anything like that he is sooo going to regret it. We'll never allow it happen again." he says, his knuckles getting white as he clenches his fist.

"I think I can help you open that door, and restore those memories to you. There would be no more dark corners in your mind, but all the ugliness would be in the open, and you'll have to face it, before you can throw it behind. I won't lie to you. It won't be easy. But I think you can do it."

"Would you rather sleep on it? Take some time to decide?"

"I-I'm not sure if I want to remember, if I can face... what I did."

Alicia looks at Colin, sincere confusion in her face. "But why? Why would you do this? What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. I told you before. Helping people out makes the world a better place, and that has its own rewards. And even if there were no rewards at all, why shouldn't I? I like to think things happen for a reason. So I think you ended up in our school and met us for a reason. Maybe this reason is so I could help you out. The world is full of these invisible connections. We swim through them everyday, and we barely notice them. My eyes are open only to a few."

He smiles. "What I'd like from you is to grow up to save that girl in the vision. That'd be enough."

Alicia is still struggling to understand. "Won't you get in trouble with Sarah if you spend time with me? At least, I'm assuming what Donnie said about you and Sarah was true..." Bringing up Donnie sparks another thought.

"And besides, after today, it's not like any of the group's gonna want to have anything to do with me."

"Sarah is my girlfriend and a wonderful person. And she knows I'm here with you, by the way. I called her before running after you. I think she trusts me enough to know that I'm just helping a friend. We're not... possessive as Donnie and Sylvia are. Fortunately. It'd make life more difficult. We know we love each other. That's enough."


"Uhmm, I don't think things are so broken they can't be fixed. I said we try to be forgiving. That means a few 'sorries' need to be uttered. Some by you as well."

Alicia grimaces as she gets up. "You make it sound so easy."

She hands Colin his raincoat back. "I suppose it's 'face the music' time now."

She closes her eyes as she turns her head back up to catch the rain on her face one more time. Her shirt is soaked, not quite translucent. It's obvious she's not wearing a bra.

"Swallowing one's ego is easier when you have Sylvia around to keep it to a manageable size." he says, with a grin.


"What?"


If Alicia knew Colin better, she'd know he doesn't blush, being red enough already, but he's got distinctive wrinkle that usually mark his level of embarrassment. Today they look like the grand canyon, as ostentatiously looks at the clouds above.

"Maybe you should keep the coat." he suggests.

Alicia grins back. "But who takes care of her ego?"


"Well, normally I wouldn't care less about playing hooky, but if I'm going to be a 'good guy' now, that means being responsible. Besides, the longer we go without clearing things with Sylvia and the rest, the worse it will go. Trust me, I know about that."


Alicia catches the tone in his voice.

"What?" she asks, then looks down at herself and then back at Colin.

A wicked smile spreads on her face, but she quickly squelches it. No, not this time. I don't have to be that person and he deserves better than that.

Instead, she politely takes the coat back and puts it on. "You really are a sweet guy, Colin. Remind me to tell Sarah I'm officially jealous." She can't quite manage to totally eradicate the wistful tone in her voice.

She brings out her shades, then hesitates, oddly reluctant to put them back on.

"That would be me. Or at least I try." he says sighing.

"Sylvia's problem is not her ego. Her problem is that with her power, it's like living every hour of every day knee-deep in muddy waters. She hasn't found yet a way to keep the worst parts of human nature from affecting her." he says, more seriously.


"Uhm. I agree with the general sentiment, but I think we ought to give them some time to steam off as well. I'd wait till tomorrow."


"Heh. I'm curious as to what she would say."

Alicia's mouth quirks in a rueful smile. "I can understand that."


Alicia shrugs. "I'll trust your judgment on that. In any case, the last thing I need right now is for my mom to get called 'cause I'm not at school. She's already making noises about meeting you guys after I mentioned you to her this morning."


She quirks an eyebrow at that.

Suddenly she frowns and looks up. "It just hit me. I'm standing on a rooftop... in Chicago... in the middle of January... soaking wet. And I haven't frozen into a corpsicle."

She looks down to fix Colin with her gaze. "Is that you're doing?"

"Ask John to accompany you home. He has a wonderful effect on mothers." He says, this time openly grinning.


Colin takes a look around, uncertain. "Maybe. Well, not really. I asked for shelter from the rain. We're getting shelter from the cold as well, it seems. I'll have to thank them."

Alicia's face drops in mock-horror. "Oh Gawd, no. I show up with John, she'd probably start making wedding arrangements."


She quirks an eyebrow again at the term "them," but takes it in stride. "Give 'em one from me, too."

She puts on the shades. There is an obvious shift in stance. There is a perceptive difference between the Alicia Colin was just talking to and the girl now standing before him.

This time she can't resist. The Cheshire grin is out and on full wattage.

She purrs, "I can think of a better way of keeping warm."

Before he can answer, she's off, laughing, running across the rooftop, sneakers splashing on puddles. With a whoop, she clears the edge and disappears over it with a flip.

As the pair make their way back into the school Mrs. Pulowski waves them into the office.  she writes them both Hall Passes.  "You're a few minutes late, but nothing serious.  We wouldn't want Ms. Vega to get into trouble for being late."  She gives them the passes.  "Off you go now.  Back to class with you."

Alicia looks dumbfounded for a moment, but she's unsure how "normal" this is, so she just goes with the flow.

Breathlessly, she hands the raincoat back to Colin. "I gotta rush. Need to grab my books, squeeze the water out of my shirt and get to class before something else weird goes down."

On an impulse, she kisses Colin on the cheek. "Thanks!" she says with a grin, then rushes off down the hall, her wet sneakers squeaking on the tile floor.

Colin finds himself a little shocked, with a hall pass in a hand, his raincoat in the other, and the warm trace of Alicia's kiss on a cheek.

Ok, this has got weird enough. he thinks to himself, and turns his ghost sight on.

"Ms. Pulowski, excuse me, can I ask you a couple questions?"

Sense Motive check (1d20+8=28) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1843379/)

"Certainly Mr. Crow."  The older woman leans against the counter to look at Colin.

"Not that there is anything wrong with that, but we were sort of wondering why we've had so many new arrivals in the last few days, and well, more specifically, the reason you had for choosing John, John Elliot I mean, to show them the school, and introduce them to the other students. We've found... uh... peculiar coincidences comparing our previous experiences."

Colin observes her face attentively, trying to understand if she knew about them before hand, or she's just an instrument of these 'coincidences'.

"Well, I can't give you an answer as to why we've had so many new arrivals.  It's not uncommon though for schools to ask families to wait until after the first semester ends to transfer though.  And as to why I've asked Mr. Elliott to show them around.  He's polite, an excellent way to present a good first impression to a new student.  He's a Freshman, and I've only asked him to show Freshman around.  And I thought they might have shared interests."  She smiles and leans a little further across the counter.  "And they do have shared interests.  Don't they?"

"You... thought they would?" Colin asks, slightly alarmed. "They indeed have common interests. You must be a very good judge of personality. That, or our dossiers must be quite rich with information."

Mrs. Pulowski laughs.  "We don't call them dossiers honey, they're just your school records.  But I've been here a long time and seen a lot of students.  You develop a sort of sixth sense about these things."  and the older woman winks.

Later, Alicia is in her class, sitting splayed on her desk, arm laid across the top and her head resting on it, eyes glazed as they stare at the teacher, thinking, Bored, bored, bored, while stealing angry glances at the kid who took the one desk with sunlight shining on it.

Colin can't help but feel a little disarmed.

"I... see. Well... Thank you, Ms Pulowski. I should go to class now."

He nods goodbye again from the door, scratching his head in puzzlement. Then he just shrugs. In the end, not everything has to be explained.