Outcast Villiage

"Go back and tell them, I'll keep an eye on it." She told him.
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((That would be fun though because he numbers want to end we haha))
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"Good." She told germ sitting beside her. "Because he never stopped loving you."
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"Ranger relax I'm alright."

((I was thinking, she realises nothing works and just opens fire on one of them perhaps?))

"How about you warn the others, and I stay?" Ephraim argued. "I can't be injured."

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"He doesn't like to look at me any more," Citlali said quietly. "So I thought...thought I'd done something wrong."

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"It's leftover habit," Ranger finally replied. "Of caring for the numbers, shuttling them back and forth, moving other test subjects out of the line of fire. I don't like needless violence."

"Neither can I." She told him. "How about we both go?"
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"Me neither." She sighed as she made a ball of her shield energy appear on her hand. "But it's been necessary more times than I would like."
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"He thinks you're scared of being near him."

Ephraim went quiet for a moment and then said, "Ariadne needs you more than me, so it stands to say you should keep out of danger."

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"On the day of the escape I had to leave behind over sixteen children," Ranger suddenly confessed. "But killed a dozen guards on my way out by my hands and whatever I found around me. I still couldn't take them with me because the numbers were more important at the time."

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"No, no...I know that he's not going to hurt me now. It was difficult to start with, but it's all okay now. But I thought he was angry at me, o-or hated me."

"Dad loves you, when you first left he was pretty down." Anjuli told her. "So was I...you were my only mum figure and then you weren't there.... It was hard but when dad got taken for this mutant thing that turned him into a walking electrical Jewel he needed you. He's not mad at you he just doesn't know how you feel about him...or us..." She sighed.
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Evelyn took his wrist and pulled him over to Ariadnes tent.

((Good idea by the way))
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"I've killed people to save my granddaughter." She told him. "A lot of people want Anjulisnwings."

"Well, surely you know now, right?" Citlali cocked her head to the side in question. "I do still love him. And I don't think anyone could hate you, you're too adorable, and I'm firmly in that corner too, so..."

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Ephraim stumbled after her, wincing briefly as he moved but otherwise swallowing the pain reaction down.

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"It's just...how do you explain to a little girl you're there to help, but not to help her?" Ranger twisted his fingers together absently, almost a nervous tic.

"It's hard." Moira agreed. "But you have us now and when you're all better and up to 100% we can get them out."
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Evelyn looked at him in apology before the helicopter started to land. "We need to get the others up, it's that bitch who took you."
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Anjuli smiled. "Then tell him." She was suddenly on her feet her wings bristling as she heard the hellicopter.

"Oh, they're probably dead by now. It's a nice thought, to think they're alive but..." Ranger shrugged awkwardly and then visibly froze at the sound of the helicopter.

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"Split up to wake them up? We'll cover more ground that way."

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Citlali went very, very still, completely still aside from her quick breathing, seemingly unable to do anything other than stare at her hands.

"We need to get back and find my dad."
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Moira nodded and she got to her feet. "Come on we need to wake the others."
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Evelyn nodded. "Good idea."

"Ah...?" Citlali asked, voice high and reedy with fear as she looked up. She seemed unable to move.

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"I can thin out the numbers. I'd take the whole helicopter with me but something that dense would tear something. You get the others, I need to collect the numbers best I can."

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Ephraim kissed her forehead. "Stay sage."

She nodded and she got up running off to find Evelyn, Xander, Alex and the children.
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Evelyn pressed her lips to his in a fleeting kiss. "You too." She then went off to get their daughter.
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"Trust me?" Anjuli gently took her hand.

Ranger glanced briefly in the direction the helicopter had landed and couldn't help touching the back of his neck before he headed the opposite direction of Moira.

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Ephraim jogged in the direction of the main camp.

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Citlali was trembling very noticeably but carefully took her hand.

Anjuli brought her back to camp. "Don't let go." She told her. "I'll protect you."
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Moira found Alex and Xander and Alex was looking for his daughter whilst Xander was looking for Chiquita.
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Evelyn ended up waking Ariadne up and she picked her up into her arms holding her close as she found the others.

"They're going to..." Citlali said between gasps. "She - She's going to - "

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Ranger rounded up Clockwork without trouble, fighting to get Death out of the tent. Two tents over, Chiquita scrambled out of her tent, the whole thing going up in flames with her panic.

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"Come on you lazy bastard," Ephraim muttered, dragging Disaster out even as the other yawned widely.

Xander got to her. "Easy calm down you're alright." He told her.

Anjuli looked at her. "You'll be alright Citlali she won't do anything to you, I won't let her, I promise."

Evelyn got to Alrx and Moira as Ariadne clung to her mother.

Chiquita moved to grip tightly onto his arm in fright, staring into the distance with wide eyes where the helicopter noises had come from. The sleeve of her shirt was steadily burning, and she was breathing so quickly it was nearly hyperventilation.

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"She always gets what she wants, we won't...what if she..." Citlali trembled violently.

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Ranger and Ephraim met up with the others, Ranger silently and quickly head counting before asking quietly, "Citlali?"

Anjuli looked at her. "She won't get you." Anjuli sounded so certain she actually sounded like Alex.
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Evelyn looked for Ephraim as she held her daughter close and as the helicopter got closer, it almost landed on her but she managed to get out of the way, even though it meant almost throwing Ariadne out of the way.

"Mummy! Daddy!" Ariadne shouted when she was on the ground before she was suddenly swarmed by soldiers all aiming for her.

"Get away from my daughter!" Evenlyn told them.
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"Trust me." Dander told her, gently sliding his fingers between hers and her power was hers to control.

Months had gone by, they were still being hunted but Evelyn and the others had brought the group to a fortress where there was other people like them. They had been there for months, the numbers having more chance to be free and be themselves.

Evelyn had helped Ephraim to enjoy having his daughter around and helped them bond.

Alex had helped Citali and he was close to asking her for a relationship if she wanted.

Moira had tried to keep her feelings from Ranger but she was not doing much good.

Xander had taken to training Chiquita to use her powers in easier ways.

"So," Ephraim said, watching Ariadne closely, still a little nervous of getting to close or making contact with her, as if afraid she'd break. "I got a letter the other day. Barrett is thinking of coming back."

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"Oh, Chiquita," Citlali breathed, eyes wide with wonder as she watched Chiquita make a small, blue flame in her cupped hands. "It's so pretty. And it doesn't hurt?"

Chiquita gave a wobbly smile, letting the blue fire flow around her knuckles like water before settling back down, and then whispered, "No. Xander, he's been helping, a - a lot. Some days it doesn't even burn."

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Ranger was in the dining room, quietly counting Clockwork through a panic attack, hand gently rubbing her back. Death was watching nervously from the other side of the table.

"That would be wonderful." She told him. "But how do you feel about it?" She asked him, she hadn't forgotten the history that the three of them had.
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Xander and Alex were watching them and they smiled at how well the two of the had settled.
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Moira was sitting Anjulis room, she was knitting and Anjulis was seeing.

"It'd be nice to have a familiar face around," Ephraim admitted. "And he deserves safety just the same as the rest of us."

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"You look well, too," Chiquita added, closing her fingers around the flame. It went out with a quiet sizzle.

Citlali nodded, winding her fingers in her lap. "Ranger's been making me eat a lot, to catch up, he says. A couple more months and I should be a normal weight again. I still..." her voice lowered briefly, and she looked nervously at Xander and Alex, as if expecting them to snitch on her as she whispered, "I still want to run. To just...move. But..."

Chiquita just smiled sadly, staring at her own hands.

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"Do you feel any better now?" Ranger asked quietly, and Clockwork nodded, even as her chest heaved desperately for air. Death picked her way around the table to take Ranger's seat when he stood.

"I'll get you a glass of water. Just make sure to keep breathing, okay?"

Evelyn nodded watching as Ariadne crawled over, holding a stuffed animal.
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Alex and Xander were having their own conversation, Alex telling him.quietly how he felt about Citali.

"Ranger will skin you." Xander warned.
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Moira walked into the kitchen to get Anjulis some.juice.

Ephraim slowly folded himself down so he was sat crosslegged on the floor, watching her approach.

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Chiquita glanced over at Xander and Alex herself, and then suddenly said, voice pitched low so only Citlali could hear her, "Just go. Now. You know your limits."

Citlali froze up briefly, eyes wide but then, almost as quick as a blink she was on her feet and gone, Chiquita sitting back and fully prepared to accept the blame.

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Ranger went still from where he was filling a glass from the tap, but simply murmured, "Afternoon."

She out th stuffed toy into her father's lap, waiting to see if she could join it.
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"I was waiting for her to realise that she could do that's" Alex told her with a laugh.

Xander watched them.
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Moira nodded. "Good afternoon."

Ephraim hesitated, looking up to Evelyn as if for help.

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"She's been so pent up," Chiquita said defensively, squeezing her fingers tighter as they crackled, tiny flames rolling around her knuckles. "And Ranger isn't watching her like a hawk today. He always tells her no, but she shouldn't have to listen to anyone anymore."

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Ranger stared at the full glass in his hand, as if thinking about what to say next.