Heroes Storybook

May I join in? I hope that okay.

Name: Maria-Janet (MJ) Cromwell

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Appearance: Strawberry blond hair. Green eyes. Is a punk, often wears black & dark make-up. About 5'10".

Ability: Telekinetic.

Occupation: Nature photographer/high-schooler

Background: MJ grew up in Niagara Falls, Canada. Her parents, Jane and Richard, both worked the night-shift at the local police station, so she hardly ever saw them. She started wearing black when she was ten -- it was just another way to get her parents attention, back then. Now she can't stand not wearing black, she likes to have the ability to fade into the background. She was always that kid sitting at the back of the classroom, listening to her mp3 and chewing her fingernails. At school she doesn't have many friends, but is very popular with teachers. She is an Honers student, and in a lot of advance classes. She is very intelligent.

MJ -- Niagara Square, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

I glanced up at the movie screen. The movie had ended and I hadn't noticed. With a sigh, I gathered up my homework and headed to the exit. An acne-ridden teen about my age was cleaning up a mess of spilled popcorn right beside the door. He smiled at me as I walked past. I glared at him, hefted my backpack over my shoulder and left.
In the lobby there was no one but employees. That movie I had just seen was the last showing of the night. The theater would be closed in ten minutes. Good thing I got out in time.
The night air hit my face when I walked outside. It was colder than I had expected it to be. I wrapped my bare arms around myself and shivered. Man, it was cold!
Stumbling down the street to my house, I notice a black minivan following me. No, that couldn't be right. Who would want to follow somebody? That only happened in movies.
I continued to walk down the street. I swore it was getting colder with every step I took. The black van was still behind me. Going at a leisurely pace. Less than 12 miles an hour, just behind me. I kept glancing back -- that's not normal.
I started to run. I didn't know why, but I had a bad feeling about that van. The windows were tinted. It was dark. And it WAS following me!
The van sped up. I was getting really scared. What was going on?
The van pulled up beside me, going about as fast as I was. The window rolled down, to reveal Jack Nicholson, the quarter-back at my high school. My stomach fluttered, and I stopped. So did the van.
"Hey, MJ, what's up?" he said with a smile. I stared at him. How on Earth did he know my name? He was a grade twelve. I was a grade nine. He was popular, I was a ghost.
"Nothin'," I said. He grinned.
"Do you want to go to the dance with me?" he asked. I stared at him. Was he for real?
"OK!" I said eagerly without thinking. I knew it was a trap as soon as the words left my lips. There was a lot of laughter from the backseat of the van. The door slid open to reveal Wendy Thompson, Lilly Rustin, Greg Fox, Albert Butcher and Michael Kesley. Cool kids. Plus, Wendy was holding a video camera. A little green light told me that it was on. My face flushed red.
"OK!!" mimicked Lilly, smiling from ear to ear. "So eager. Pathetic." I deflated. My worst nightmare was coming true.
"Another wimp to add to your 'Girls Who Love Me' page on Facebook!" said Wendy, smiling at Jack. "Tenth one this week!"
The van door slid closed, and it took off at an alarming speed down the street. I was so dead. My cheeks flushed red and hot. To say the least, I wasn't cold anymore.

Leaning back in the swivel chair, West started to wonder what she was going to get.' What is she doing? Does she know something? Did she see me flying? At least that will make less secrets between us.'

Slowly withought realizing it, he began to drift up towards the ceiling. Looking to the right, he saw Gracie come in the room, but for some reason was far below him. She looked around and smiled.

"West, were are you now? No hide and seek today, last time Aunt Adeline tripped over your legs when you were hiding under her bed." looking around slowly, she smiled again.

"Are you in the closet again?" she said, peering her head in the door.

Dropping to the chair, he looked straight at her and said." No, im right behind you."

She jumped to her feet, with a terrified look on her face." Were you hiding under the desk?"

"Of course, i thought you would have noticed, I mean, its a pretty obvious spot." said West with a grin.

Gracie-

"Oh," I said, "Dont do that! You scared me!" how had he gotten from under the desk and into the chair so quickly and quietly? Oh well. I jumped back on the bed and opened my laptop. Why was our office so messy? I began researching unconsious levitation. After about five minutes of silence West became annoyed.
"sorry," I said as he opened his mouth to say something, "I'm looking some stuff up, for an online class I signed up for." he furrowed his brows together.
"I thought you said you were done with school forever."
"well school can be good...for you...knowlege and stuff." I couldnt have made up a lamer lie but I didn't know what else to say. I couldnt tell him the truth, mostly because I'm not when sure If what I am seeing is real.

Sable: Hitchen

The two men sat at the large desk, looking at one another face to face across the clear white expanse. Desmond reached into his briefcase and extracted a thick manilla folder.

"Your's is an interesting case Mr Smith."

"How so?" said Sable, "I just got into a fight with some teens who were shop lifting. I'm sure a high-profile lawyer such as yourself would have dealt with far more interesting cases."

Desmond stopped leafing through the folder. He closed it and looked up at Sable.
"This is not the case I was refferring to. The charges aganst you will be dropped or easily debunked, as they are quite petty. *You're* case, on the other hand is interesting, as you are possessed of a rather unique ability."

"Ability?" Sable scoffed, "You must have me confused with someone else. Who did you say had hired you to represent me?"

"I work, quite simply Mr Smith, for the Company. To bypass the usual incredulous response, I would like you to have a look at this photo."

Desmond reopened the manilla folder. He quickly leafed through it until he came to a picture of some sort, in black and white. He turned it around and pushed it across the table toward Sable.

The was a boy, probably in his mid to late teens. He was well-protected against the snow in which he stood by a thick fur cloak. He grinned widely.

"Is this the boy you know as Janus, Sable?"

Name: Desmond

Gender: Male

Age: Unknown

Location: Hitchen

Appearance: (Most often & current) 6 foot tall, wavy brown hair, with a well trimmed beard. Sometimes wears thick

Ability: Shapeshifting (in the most awesome of fashions). As well as being able to alter his physical appearance, he can heal his own wounds. However this power requires conscious effort, so unlike good ol' claire from the tv show, if you kill this guy, he'll stay dead.

Occupation: Works for the company as a recruiter/tracker. IS rather high up in the company and kept on a long leash.

Background: Though he joined the Company ten years ago, little is known about Desmond. Even the Company, which researched his past, was able to find only a litte, as Desmond could change his identity so easily. Rest assured he'll be a quite nasty and you other writers better be careful when you toy with him.

Gracie-

West pushed the lap top away from me.
"Hey!" I exclaimed reaching for the lap top.
"Come on let's go do something." he stood up and I followed. When I opened the front door to the apartment I did not expect to see my dad, but he was there.
"Dad? What are-"
"Gracie I have come to take you home." he cut me off.
"Excuse me?"
"I dont think that's your call Mr. Niel." West said pulling me closer to him. It half surprised me that he was being so protective. Ihad played this scenario in my head before. Usually West just stood and watched as my dad put me in his dark tinted windowed car and drove me away.
"That'll be enough from you boy." my dad said in a gruff tone. West now had his arms warpped around me completely and he was slowly backing away from my dad. It was now that I noticed two of my dad's goons standing behind him. They tensed up and moved a little closer to the door frame.
"Gracie is eighteen years old, she can make her own desicions. And you were the one that sent her here so you wouldnt have to deal with her in the first place."
"That is none of your buisness." my dad said taking his first step into the apartment." West backed up even more, I noticed, in the direction of the window. But that wasn't the window with the fire escape.
"you see Mr. Niel it is my buisness because I love your daughter, which is more than you can say." he reached behind himself and opened the window. Then all of a sudden we were standing on the window sill, my dad on the other side of the glass.
"What are you doing!" I screamed grabbing onto West tighter.
"Its okay," he laughed, "just trust me." I nodded my head, closed my eyes, and buried my face in his chest. Then he lept off the building. I was ready to splat on the cold pavement below. When we didn't, splat I mean, I opened my eyes and noticed the ground was getting farther away, not closer. I looked up at West. Five minutes later we landed in the middle of a Forrest we had been in last week. West was out of breath and laying on the forrest floor. I sat down next to him.
"Now you know my secret." he breathed.
"Why didn't you tell me before." he pushed himself up on his elbows.
"I wanted to it was just hard. I didn't know how to tell you. Plus your dad works for the Company. That's probably why he was here today." I pulled my knees close to my chest.
"Dont be mad." he pleaded.
"I-I'm not mad. Its just a lot of stuff to handle."
he sat up on his knees in front of me and took my face in his hands. "Its still the same me." he reassured me.
"I know." Did I know? I hadn't quite processed everything. West brought his face close to mine and kissed me.

Gracie

After about ten minutes of watching West pace back and forth in front of me I became restless.
"How long before we can go home?"
"No we can't go back there now."
"What?! Why?" I stepped in front of him to force him to stop pacing.
"Gracie your father works for the Company! Whether he already knew about my ability before he came or not doesn't matter because he knows now. Plus he has probably reported you kidnapped by now which means the police will be looking for me."
"Maybe they just want to help you."
"You dont understand Gracie! If I go into that place there is a good possibility I will not come back out. They will run tests on me, and probably you too."
"But I dont have an ability!"
"But we have ... Been ... Intimate." he said, and I understood.
"This is pretty bad isn't it?" West nodded his head.

Storm- Hong Kong

The rainstorm had well and truely hit the city by the time I reached my hotel. It was a decent place, nothing special though, it was in the middle of the downtown so it was the perfect place to dissapear in. And it had a pool, I know, my standards are pretty low.

I glanced out the window, watching lightning flicker across the sky, like always I felt like I was being drawn into the storm. It was too bad but the job would have to be put off for awhile, it looked like this was going to take awhile to blow over. It was to dangerous to do a job, when the air was so charged with electricity. In the meantime I had time to kill. Rubbing the towel over my head, i sat on the bed and dried out from the rain.

The company had figured out I was El Sverte, it wouldn't be long before they sent a hunter after me. Never the type to run away, I figured I may as well dig in for a long fight. Luckily the weather was on my side.

*I can't go any further until LightDevil posts*

Marianne Saunders, Hitchen

"You want me to come in with you?" The car asked as it pulled up outside the police station. Marianne smiled to herself and shut off the engine, also cutting the flow of power into the car.

"This already looks crazy enough, without a talking car," she sighed as she headed to the door. She hesitated, her hand resting on the handle as she thought of the consequences this might have. What am I doing? Someone mentions ability and I rush down here without thinking? She smiled wryly and entered the atrium.

"Can I help you miss?" The officer behind the desk asked in a deep baritone.

"Yes, I need to speak with Desmond... if he's available..." The officer frowned.

"Are you one of his clients? He's with someone at the moment but you could wait until the session is over..."

"Oh... uh, no, that's okay. If he's busy, I'll... I'll just leave it. Thank you," Marianne's cheeks flushed with colour as she turned to go, suddenly certain that this was a very bad idea.

"Wait, if you give me your name, I'll let him know you was here," the officer said.

"No, no thank you."

Sable: Hitchen

Sable sat, looking speechlessly at the photo. The boy looked to be enjoying himself immensely, despite the cold climate. He looked a little younger than Sable's constant companion, but the similarity was unmistakeable.

He looked up as Janus walked through the closed door. "There's this most interesting woman outside, you really should see her she..."

"Take a look at this"

Sable was pleased at the look of confusion that flashed momentarily across Desmond's face. Janus walked soundlessly up to Sable's elbow and took a look at the photo.
"interesting. Does this mean that you're willing to accept my existance?"

Sable sighed, "I guess so."

Desmond sat silently through the exchange, a knowing grin creeping across his face.

"Great. Well I think you should know that this man, Desmond, is quite dangerous, and that you need to get out of here."

"What?!" Sable exclaimed

Desmond started forward in his chair, as if to ask the cause of Sable's discontent. At that moment, his phone rang. Desmond flipped it open with a practiced ease.
"What," there was a moment's pause, "she's here? This is....unexpected. I will deal with her momentarily."

The tone of those final words frightened Sable, a man who had never experienced fear since the doctor had told a worried child that he was crazy so many years ago.

Marianne Saunders, Hitchen

"Are you sure you don't want to wait?" The officer asked, rising to his feet, "He wont be more than another ten minutes." Marianne hesitated. Had she really come this far only to turn back and go home?

"Is there anywhere I could get some coffee?" She asked decisively, digging in her pocket for a black, leather purse. The officer nodded.

"Just down the hall there's a machine," he replied before sitting back down, his portly figure looking quite out of place, squeezed into the small office chair behind the desk.

"Thank you," Marianne responded as she walked away. She found the machine easily enough and inserted some money before pressing the button for a strong coffee. As she waited for her drink, she glanced back towards the atrium. You could still leave, she told herself. There's no reason for you to stay. But she decided against it and drank the coffee quickly to steady her nerves.

Sable: Hitchen

"Thank you Mr Desmond, but I think I shall have to decline..." Sable began.
"No, no, no! This man is too dangerous for this, you can't deny him. Tell him that you need time to make a decision."
"No," Sable corrected himself smoothly, "I am actually very interested in your offer, but I need time to think. I'm still a little shaken up from the fight with the kids."

Desmond frowned, "As I see it, you have no real option Mr Smith. Without my help you may well end up spending the next three to eight years in prison."

"Still I would like time to considedr my options."
A look of anger flashed across Desmond's face, and was gone. "Very well." He stood to go," if you will excuse me, I have something else to attend to."
He reached out to shake Sable's hand.

Janus had moved behind Desmond, and was eyeing the sheets of paper that lined the MAnilla folder. "This isn't good Sable. He's been tracking us for years." He suddenly flicked his head up, in Sable's direction. 'The girl, he's....Sable we have to get her out of here!"

Sable paused mid-shake, ignoring the fact that Desmond could not hear Janus's voice, "What? Who ar you even talking about? Why would they be in danger?"

Desmond's grip tightened around Sable's hand. Sable came to the abrupt conclusion that perhaps Janus was right. AS in the market, he let his instinct get the better of him. He slung the well-dressed man backward, knocking him off his feet when he collided with the chair.

Leaning forward, Sable grabbed the photograph of JAnus, and the Manilla folder and fled from the room.

"Left, She's down the left hallway Sable," Janus shouted. "And be careful, there are others."

Others? How could there be others? What had his schizophrenia got him in for?

Marianne Saunders, Hitchen

"Hey, you!" I turned to see a tall, African man with sharp, rough features and a jagged scar that was stark against his dark neck. He came running down the hall towards me and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me along with him so that I spilled the remaining dregs of my coffee and dropped the cup.

"Hey," I protested, "what's going on?"

"We need to leave," he replied, turning his head to the side for a moment and then "he's following us and he's... fast," he added.

"Who's fo... are you Desmond?" I asked, abruptly jerking my arm away from him but maintaining the fast pace, into the atrium and out of the entrance much to the surprise of the officer.

"No, that's who's following us... where are you going?" I hurried on, already pulling the door of the car open and flooding it with power without even turning the key in the ignition.

"Get in the car," I told him as I climbed across to the passenger seat and she obediantly wrapped a seat belt around me. The man turned to the right and scowled.

"I know it did, I saw it but that's not possible."

______________________
OOC - Hope that fits your character, if not I'll gladly make changes, just pm or write in the discussion or here.

Gracie-

We flew all the way to Glasgow, without ever stepping foot on a plane. We stopped a lot along the way and the whole thing took around three days. When we landed in Glasgow we were in a soft, green, backyard. West was exhausted. We were in his uncle's backyard, that much i knew. I helped West into the house through the back door. His Uncle, a tall dark haired man with pearly blue eyes and a muscular build, carried his up the stair to one of the bedrooms. He never said anything to me, just laid West dowm and closed the door sharply as he left. I stared at the door until i heard West cough.
"Gracie?" he whispered.
"Yeah?" i said turning around to see him pull the comforter up to his chin.
"Well, come here!" He was trying to brush of the whole situation, as usual, so for his sake i faked a smile and skipped over to the bed. I sat down on the edge of the bed and kicked my shoes off.
"I hate it when you do that." he said, regaining some strength.
"What?"
"Pretend you are okay."
"I'm just worried about you."
He ran the back of his hand down my arm, "You're cold." Then, without warning he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me over him to the other side of the bed.
"Whoa!" I said landing on the soft pillow. I pulled the covers over myself then stared up at the ceiling. I was doing a lot of staring lately.
"I'm sorry." He said, turning towards me.
"For what?" I said monotonely, still staring.
"Everything."
I scrunched up my face in a half confused look, "It's not your fault, you were just born that way. Besides it is pretty awesome that you can fly!"
He half smiled then found my waist beneath the covers and pulled me closer to him, forcing me to stop avoiding his eyes. The onlky sign that he was still tired was his blue blue eyes. The lids of which were drooping slightly. Everything else about his appearance hinted no sign of drowsiness.
"How long does it take?" I asked, interupting him before he could even start talking.
"What?"
"For you to bounce back, from flying i mean?"
"Not long." He leaned in towards me but I faked a yawn and covered my mouth.
"Hm, I'm tired." I turned over in his arms and began staring at the wall. He pulled me even closer to him- if that was possible- and nessled his forehead against my shoulder and tightened his grip around my waist.
"I guess it wouldn't kill to catch a few z's." I pulled my eyelids shut and immediatly fell into an unpleasant sleep.