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It was around nine at night. The sun had set a while ago, but she had to wait until the cleaning crew had left to sneak onto Grey’s computer. She had been in the office for about 3 hours watching and waiting for something to happen. Grey had given a very pointed smug look towards the corner of the room while leaving.
Just because he had transferred the files from the day onto his personal flash drive, did not mean there wasn’t evidence in his online activity. She phased through the wall into the elevator shaft. The strain of holding the shift for three hours had her breathing hard as she shimmied down the wall, Her fingers almost slipping from the grooves in the cement.
The taps of her boots against the ground as she reached the bottom echoed up and she was thankful that there was just a ghost crew in the building. She paused for a moment to breathe before quickly stepping through the wall and into the alleyway outside, careful to hold the phase until even the tip of her braid was through before releasing the power. With how drained Phase was she would have to walk home the long way tonight ; she didn’t have much juice for shortcuts through any buildings. The alleyway was dark with only a dim light from the street bleeding in from around a corner.
Two figures obstructed the light from the opening of the alley. Standing particularly close together, she wasn’t able to see the exchange but there was definitely something going on. Her steps tapped out against the wet asphalt, bringing one of the men's eyes to her over the other's shoulder. His eyes grew wide, he turned and ran. Ah, just a classic drug deal then.
“Alright Dealer…” The other man, with long dark hair and tattoos down his unsleeved arm had just started to turn when she took him by the shoulder and spun him around, pushing his chest into the nearby wall. “Hold still, hands up and against the wall. Let’s see what you have left”.
Phase wasn’t in the “heroic” mood right now. Her mask was sweaty and her feet hurt from the long hours, but this was right in front of her and she wasn’t going to let another drug dealer wander the streets just because she was tired. So she handled it… begrudgingly. She started to frisk him, starting with his back pockets and working her way down. She made sure to keep a strong hand on his back so he wouldn’t get any ideas.
“Well, aren’t we friendly? Looking for anything specific there?” The smirk in his tone was irritating. At least he wasn’t putting up a fight.
“Just the usual proof of criminal activity”. She pulled him back by his shirt to give herself an inch of wiggle room to reach her hands around and feel his front pockets without turning him around. In his pocket she found a detailed and very oddly-shaped knife which she tossed to the ground beside them.
“If you have something in mind, I can get it for you. We can make a deal.” Rolling her eyes she used one foot to kick his foot spreading his legs a bit further apart and patting down one limb.
“Do I really look like the type to make a deal”? He eyed her over his shoulder.
“You’d be surprised, all souls come to me. I have a… magical way of getting things”. He tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. “For a price of course”. She pulled a small baggy out of his boot containing a few small bunches.
“Riiiight and what is this”? She dangled the baggie in his face. “Magic weed”? He shrugged with a nonchalant smile. He had not fought back in any capacity which, while she was thankful, was also very suspicious and grating on her nerves.
“I’ll be taking you in for possession”. She took the handcuffs from her belt and pulled his hands down behind his back to bind them
“How about I cut a deal with you”. Was he still on this?
“Do I look like a cop, much less a dirty cop,” she asked, growing irritated. Why did she always get the talkative ones? He turned to face her and leaned his back against the wall. Now she could see the tattoos that ran from his face, down his body, where his skin poked through the rips in his shirt. A skeleton? How original.
“You’re not much of a hero by the looks of it, but I can change that. Ask and any power could be yours”. Okay, so he might be connected with the human advancement experimentations that have been going on. She would let the authorities know to interrogate him.
“Well me and my second rate powers didn’t need any help detaining you”. She motioned towards the alley entrance with her head. “Start walking”.
Suddenly her body was being pushed back and Phase stumbled to keep her footing. Her eyes went wide in surprise as there had been no contact. The guy had not moved and when she looked up into his face, his eyes were glowing a pale purple. Shit.
“I would say this has been fun…” he sounded amused. Her hands were now bound, and twisting her wrists, she found that her own handcuffs were now restraining her. Double shit.
No wonder he wasn’t bothered by the encounter. If he was a superhuman she needed to knock him out A-SAP because she didn’t have any power diffusing tech on her. She phased her wrists letting the cuffs clatter on the pavement. Phase regained her balance and threw all the strength she had left in her sore muscles into a punch, aimed right at his face.
Her whole body was tensed up in movement but she wasn’t moving. Well, she was, although very very slowly. Her arm was outstretched and her fist hung in the air. The man gave a cocky smile and stepped around her fist. He bent down and picked up his discarded items and then turned and walked towards the light of the main street.
He did not turn his head as he spoke, “Think about that deal, maybe we can talk about getting you some first-rate powers”. Before he was out of sight, her body lurched into action and her fist drove into the cement wall. She hadn’t had time to even think about phasing. She cried out, clutching her hand but grit her teeth and ran down to follow him. Standing on the street, she looked both ways, but he had disappeared.
Alright, another one for her files then. She would put out a BOLO for him when she got home. Her hand throbbed. Looking down she could see the drops of blood form on the pavement below. The report could wait until after she patched that up.