Night by the light of the fire. (Delilah/Crows)

[Marcus Prasad]

It was a clear night tonight, a rare treat since without the light pollution a city normally has, one could easily see an entire blanket of stars in the sky. A Cool winter breeze blew through the compound as Marcus and his team sat atop of the roof of the house just across from Silks own. A Platform of sorts had been made, part of Marcus' Parkour training grounds since the plaform semi connected to platforms on each of the other rooftops, creating a bizzare system of catwalks that connected everything together like a spiderweb.

Sitting on the small wooden platform, boxed in with sheet metal walls on three of four sides with nothing but the sky high above them, Marcus sat with his back to the wall with his team sitting in a loose circle around a small campfire. To his right was Bucket Playing a patched up accoustic guitar Nobody asked him for requests, his music seemed lonely, yet defiant which resonated with the rest of them.

Beside him sat Old man Frosty, his diminutive frame perched casualy atop of a foot stool. Face the picture of contentment as he drew in the smoke from his ornate pipe. Never before had Marcus seen a man so completely at peace with himself.

Joe was next, Back leaning on a pile of boxed as she fiddled with her Metal Punching gloves, starring into the fire as if doing so gave her a small measure of peace to her violent spirit. She was an angry girl, born into an abusive family. This war gave her the outlet she so desperately sought.

Next to her was Croaker, who brooded over todays events. Marcus had been hard on him during Parkour training, the man had been cocky and nearly paid for it with a broken leg. All he was trying to do was impress the lady folks around the base......

Thistle was beside him. Telling one of his stories of the wastes beyond Long Beach again. A New Zealander by birth, the man wove a tale of blood and betrayal, looking to Marcus every so often for the nod and a few spoken words that would lend credance since the younger man had followed those trails as well on his way to the City.

Next was Sleepy, his droopy eyes giving him a bored expression which was completely at odds the fact he was enjoying every minute of this. They accepted him here, warts and all. They would never know how much he cherished this feeling of Commaraderie. Flicking a spent cigarette away, he reached into his pocket to pull out another one. He liked listening to Thistles stories. They so reminded him of the campfires tales of his youth.

Doc was next, accepting a lit ciggarette from Sleepy. He spoke to Marcus over the fire about plans. Plans to deliver medical aid to some of the citizens in the Neutral zone. He respected Marcus. The man seemed to genuinly be concerned for every miserable life out here.

Sarah sat, ignoring the others, her face buried within a book she had found while out scavanging. The worn title read 'Metro 2033'. It was a spooky book, she could only imagine how claustrophobic those abandoned Subway stations were. It made her jump everytime the shadows played menacingly around her, casted by the fire and Thistles hand gestures as he spun his tales.

And finaly there sat Fox, with Silent curled up beside her, resting her little blond head in the young scarred womans lap. She gently stroked Silents hair. Her own sister would have been that age had she survived the Great Fall. If only she was able to save her......

Silent? She napped and dreamed strange dreams.

Silk herself could not join them, having been struck bed ridden with the flu. Marcus had to nearly chain the spanish woman to the bed when Doc ordered her to stay indoors. She always did have trouble with authority.

[Delilah A. Black]

Coming from the outside of the camp, a few sets of deliberate footsteps would be heard, though impossible to tell how many for they were all stepping in time.

Soon, standing off just outside the light of the campfire, four sets of bodies and faces would appear in the dim, flickering light.

One was that of a rugged, not-very-handsome Irishman who appeared portly in stature when in fact he was solid muscle and agile at that. His large, battered hands, equivalent to his 6'4" frame spoke of s brawler while his eyes bespoke an almost unnatural intelligence. He would grin in the faint light, revealing a crooked set of brawlers teeth.

Beside him on his left would be a shorter, though handsome man with blonde hair and green eyes, smiling like the Cheshire cat. His build was toned rather than muscular, designed for agility but nothing special, a man the gods had surely designed to blend in and be over looked. His eyes would roam the group, fixing the ladies with s devil-may-care wink as he eyed each of them in turn.

The third, who was not smiling, but looked politely grim stood tall and lanky, the red hair of his unstyled mohawk falling in his angular face. He looked like the man he had been in his former life: a streethood, a drug user or dealer, the sort no one wanted to meet in s dark alley. Still, he seemed alert as his eyes quickly roamed the group, nodding respectfully.

The fourth face would be a familiar one, and female, warm and smiling, if a little weary. The fire would dance in her blue eyes as the black of her hair blended with the night around them. She was dressed simply, refusing to stand out though she tended to. In her arms she held a child with white hair protectivly to her chest as he slept with her shoulder as a pillow.

Talon, Birch, Cain, Delilah and Oliver, respectively.

"Evening Marcus...friends of Marcus." she would smile at each if them, her gaze lingering on Marcus as she spoke in hushed tones to keep with the mood of the campfire. "You sent for me?"

[Marcus Prasad]

The sound of ten heads snapping around to regard the newcommers echoed as the guitar music abruptly stop.
The look on Marcus' face was PRICELESS!

"How did you..."
"When did she..."
"God DAMN...."
"Croaker didn't I tell you..."

"Guys!"
Marcus would hiss as he waved his hand sharply. Last thing he needed was them to wake Silent or Oliver up. Old man frosty would hop off of his seat and stand before Delilah, dipping into a courtious bow.
"Ah! First Black, welcome. And welcome to you, friends of the fine lady."
The others would nod and mutter thier own greetings as Bucket picked his guitar back up and continued to play. Stepping around the fire, Marcus would approach Delilah and her group, a look of concern on his face.

"I thought you guys were going to be here in the morning! I- Awwww Is that Oliver?"
He would whisper, immediatly destracted by the cute little kid craddled in her arms.
"Errrrk, sorry! Anyway, Yeah I Called. Ummm...."

Marcus looked around himself for a moment. This was DEFINATLY not when and where he wanted to do this. Marcus began to fidget, wringing his hands together. Trying to reorginize the sequence of events he had planned out for tommorow in his head. Looking quite lost I'm afraid.

[Delilah A. Black]

"How did you..."
"When did she..."
"God DAMN...."
"Croaker didn't I tell you..."

"Guys!"

"Jumpy bunch, aren't they?" Birch tittered.

"Hush."

"Ah! First Black, welcome. And welcome to you, friends of the fine lady."

Delilah would beam. How polite! She would incline her own head with a smile and a nod. "Thank you! Sorry to interrupt."

Marcus came over and Delilah felt her heart skip. She squashed the elated feeling and gave him a warm smile.

"I thought you guys were going to be here in the morning! I- Awwww Is that Oliver? Errrrk, sorry! Anyway, Yeah I Called. Ummm...."

Delilah laughed quietly as Marcus got flustered and the men standing behind her exchanged a glance. "Yes, this is Oliver. He wore himself out exploring on the way here, but he'll have his energy back by tomorrow.

"Sorry I'm early...I just wanted to get a head start for tomorrow. Up bright and early, that sort of thing. Oh, before I forget..." she nodded her head at the three men she brought with her. "Some of my own team. This is Talon, Birch and Cain. Brought them along as a little extra protection for Oliver. You could probably show them a thing or two, but that can wait for tomorrow."

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus became such a shmuck around kids. It brought out the child in himself, In fact Delilah and her crew should notice a slight....bounce in Marcus' step and a renewed enthusiasm the second he saw Oliver.

"Ya know, I'd love to show the place off, besides the Night hides all the rust spots, haheheh heh. Common, Frosty and I'll give you guys the tour."

Suddenly Marcus would pause as if he had forgotten something before slapping his palm against his forehead.
"Shit, sorry. Talon, Cain, Birch, Delilah. This here is Old Man Frosty, Joe, Croaker, Thistle, Sleepy, Doc, Sarah, Fox and the Nappy little one is Silent. Yeah, I kinda code named a bunch of them...."

"It's an....Interesting habit of his."
Fox would comment with a smirk of her own as she continued to focus on keeping Silent comfortable. Sleepy let his cigarette slide from one corner of his mouth to the other before adding his own two cents in.
"Yeah, Hah! Ask us real nicely and we might tell you our real ones."

"Speak for yourself."
Joe would mutter darkly, prompting a reproachful tap from Thistle.
"Oh don't mind our dear Josephine. She's one of our more hot headed additions to our little family you see."

"Unfortunatly Silks out with the flu as well. So!"
Stepping to the end of the slanting rooftop, Marcus found the ladder the gang had used to go up. He then whirled around with a bow and a smile.
"Shall we?"

[Delilah A. Black]

"Ya know, I'd love to show the place off, besides the Night hides all the rust spots, haheheh heh. Common, Frosty and I'll give you guys the tour."

"Sounds like a plan!" She chirped, adjusting Oliver in her arms. Delilah would dip her head again in salute as Marcus introduced his team, chuckling at the nicknames. "A pleasure to meet you all. Gotta say though, this is the first I've heard of this habit." She quirked an eyebrow at Marcus over Oliver's white hair.

"Wonder what kind of nickname he has for her--OWFUCK"

The smile on her face didn't even falter as her heavy steel toed boot came down on Talon's foot and he jumped back. Cain and Birch snickered.

"Unfortunatly Silks out with the flu as well. So! Shall we?"

"Lead the way," She looked over her shoulder at her men who were starting to get cozy around the fire. Birch would take a seat next to Fox, smiling his most charming smile while Talon plopped down beside Bucket. "You boys not coming?"

"NO, my foot hurts."

"Baby."

"Pleasant as your company is m'lady, I think my time would be better spent ah, acquainting myself with our recent additions~."

She frowned at this and turned her gaze to Cain. He caught her eye and sighed.

"Fine, I'll keep an eye on them" It was plain that by 'them' he meant Birch.

"Thanks," she turned back to Marcus and walked over to the ladder.

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus cringed inwardly as he watched Talon get a knock.
'Great. So does everyone know then?'
"It's....Lilah if you must know."
He answered before putting a hand on Talons shoulder and favoring him with his wolflike grin.
"And Congratulations man cause you are now Mouth."

And Mouth he shall forever be in Marcus' mind. He hated, HATED that awkward feeling of not knowing someones name when he knew he really ought to remember, hence the Nicknaming which was a habit he picked up sometime after he graduated from 552.

Watching the exchange between Delilah and her crew, Marcus nodded knowingly. To be honest, he wasen't too worried about Birch getting too friendly. His team WAS jumpy, but that was more due to the fact that it was a nessesity being out with no direct line to Crow territory and facing a nice fat wall of Red zone south to them.

Turning back to Delilah, he would walk with her down the ladder with Frosty infront.
"Now as you can see, Mr. Prasad here has done a remarkable job renovating a typical suburban block into a viable field base of operations!"

Marcus would sigh and interject.
"The problem though is everything falling apart. The pipes leak, I cant get the heaters in the houses to work without risking an explosion, Hell the fact you guys just waltzed in without us knowing means the front gate is busted again."

As they reached the middle of the street, Marcus would extend his hands out gesturing to everything around him.
"Everything I made here, I had to do through trial and error and reverse engineering. Which means Jury rigged patch jobs that are fucking up faster than I can fix em."

The compund was in fact divided into four sectors using junk and scrap metal walls. In fact the extensive use of garbage gave the area a spooky Video gamey aspect. The surroundings were lit by Solar powered lawn lamps suspended overhead by cloths lines that criss crossed between the houses.
"Now what you see here, with the gantries and ramps and debris is actualy a VERY extensive obstical course. I'm teaching my boys and girls Parkour, More on that later."

Marcus would pause, just in case Delilah had a question or two.

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah would leave her team behind (noting with a chuckle the slight look of fear Talon had shown when Marcus grinned at him), walking down the ladder with Marcus and glancing around at her surroundings as though she had no trouble seeing in the low light.

"Now as you can see, Mr. Prasad here has done a remarkable job renovating a typical suburban block into a viable field base of operations!"

"The problem though is everything falling apart. The pipes leak, I cant get the heaters in the houses to work without risking an explosion, Hell the fact you guys just waltzed in without us knowing means the front gate is busted again."

As they reached the middle of the street, Marcus would extend his hands out gesturing to everything around him.
"Everything I made here, I had to do through trial and error and reverse engineering. Which means Jury rigged patch jobs that are fucking up faster than I can fix em."

She hummed to herself as they spoke, singing a lullabye softly to the boy in her arms as he stirred in his sleep. Her eyes travelled over the area as she picked things out here and there that she would need to remember in the morning.

"Now what you see here, with the gantries and ramps and debris is actualy a VERY extensive obstical course. I'm teaching my boys and girl's parkour, more on that later."

Delilah nodded as she continued to glance around and hum, swaying in time with her music. "Where do you, keep the battery cells for the solar power?"

[Marcus Prasad]

"Where do you, keep the battery cells for the solar power?"

Marcus couldn't help but grin in self satisfaction.
"Gimme a sec and I'll show you."
With that, He walked over to one of the dividing walls and ran three steps up it, hopping off and grabbing hold of one of the gantries above. From there, he was able to pluck one of the disk shaped lamps.

Dropping down with a grunt, Marcus brought it over for Delilah to inspect. The object looked like a flying saucer with the light bulb shining out from the bottum.
"Alot of the back yards around here had these. The Solar panels are on the top here, so they recharge during the day and turn on at night."

The top of the lamp was a matte black and housed the panels.
The light continued to shine, illuminating thier pants and shoes as well as the ground below them.

[Delilah A. Black]

She inspected the lamp with great interest as the cogs turned over in her mind. A plan was starting to formulate there, something taking shape in her minds eye. She held on to it for the moment, knowing Marcus still had things to show and tell. Delilah would nod for him to continue his list of grievances.

Delilah was always the solution for grievances.

[Marcus Prasad]

Handing over the Light to Frosty, Marcus put his hand on the small of Delilah's back and guided her to the 'farms'. The farms being the back yards to the houses which Marcus converted and treated to grow crops. The farms were gridded by thick copper and iron pipping.
"Now here is where we grow the food. What I managed to do was Redirect the water Pipes to keep the crops growing. problem is they Leak, and I've been having a bitch of a time trying to automate the whole thing. Not much of a Electrician you see."

The gate was another intersting site to see.
"I made it from a couple of garage doors and thier motors. So they're Supposed to be able to open and close with a click of a button. Unfortunatly I think there was some corroding in the wires or a short circut somewhere.
After that, it's the wiring in the houses that I need to fix. That's about it really for now. Plus I wouldn't mind you thoughts on improving our defences and booby traps and stuff. Plus giving me a hand fixing up a few wrecked vehicles we found.
"Marcus would then take Delilah down to the other end of the street where two rusted out vans and a bus were kept.

"My eventual plan is to fix the houses outside the compound and pull in all the people living in the neutral zone here and foster a new community."

[Delilah A. Black]

She smiled quietly at the hand on the small of her back, continuing to hum in Oliver's ear as he slept. She listened to his listas she ticked off a mental one of her own, her calculating mind now whirling at full tilt as her plan started to come together.

Leaking pipes and water distribution? Electricity and wiring? Repairing vehicles? Booby traps?

Honestly, apart from Marcus himself, there were very few people better for the job than Delilah. Fighting and causing pain was one thing: This was something Delilah had made a living off of. The making things explode bit was something she threw in for free.

"Alright," she would say with a confident nod. "It'll take me a bit, three four days. Five at the most if the weather turns to crap. I should have a plan drawn up for you by the morning."

Which, of course, meant that Delilah wasn't planning on sleeping anytime soon.

"Til then, I'm yours to command. This is your turf and you're the boss as far as I'm concerned."

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus wasen't planning on sleeping either to be honest.
Suddenly a thought would occure to the man, making him shift his weight to one leg and grin.
"Well....Since it sounds like you have energy to spare. And I know I definatly have energy to spare......."

Marcus would clear his throat theatricaly.
"I order you to Spar with me."

INSERT DRAMATIC PAUSE HERE!

He would smile that Eager smile of his as if it was almost his turn to play a long awaited video game.
"I mean I've seen you in action plenty of times, but never got a chance to get the measure of you myself ya know."

He would extend his hand to Delilah like a suitor offering a chance to dance.
"Well? How about it? Would be a shame to waste a night like this."

[Delilah A. Black]

"Well....Since it sounds like you have energy to spare. And I know I definatly have energy to spare......."

"I order you to Spar with me."

Her eyebrows jolted up and she blinked in surprise. Then a slow, wicked smile curved her lips as he smiled eagerly. Ohhhh, this was either an awesome idea or a potentially painful one.

Either way, Challenge Accepted.

He would extend his hand to Delilah.

"Well? How about it? Would be a shame to waste a night like this."

She'd continue to smile devilishly at him, chuckling low in her throat. "Birch."

The blonde man stepped quietly out of the shadows behind them, not in the least bit put out he had been discovered. "Yes m'lady?"

"Please take Oliver inside and put him down for me, would you?"

"Ever your servant, m'lady." he would take the sleeping boy from Delilah's arms and carry him out of sight. His first stop would be back at the platform, to ask if they had a room for the little one...

...and to tell EVERYONE that something epic was about to happen.

Relieved of her son, Delilah slid her hand in Marcus' and let herself be led to wherever the bout would take place. "As you wish... sir.~

[Marcus Prasad]

Birch would find the crew essentialy where they were left as they mingled with the boys from Delilahs group who stayed behind. The two groups seemed to be mingling well enough, trading stories and swapping boasts from across the fire.
As he inquired about the Guest rooms where they would be staying, Fox would Lean her head back and look over her shoulder which would cause her firey red hair to cascade over the scarred half of her face, giving her a sultry air.
"Ready for bed I see? Oh, you meant the young man."

"Oh god damn fox....."
Sleepy would snicker under his breath as she continued.
"You're actualy Standing atop of the barracks house sweety. If you want I'll show you to you're rooms."
She looked back down at Silent and let a smile creep across her lips.
"Might as well put our little quiet friend to rest as well."

After recieving the invite from Fox, Birch would nod happily. "Thank you kindly~" He turned to depart, walked a few steps and then craned his neck around at them. "Oh, before I forget, our superior officers are about to, ah, get hot and sweaty, if you catch my meaning. Ciao~!"

And with that, he would leave. Talon and Cain connected alarmed gazes, of course assuming Birch had meant something a little less innocent than a spar was about to commence.

"She wouldn't..."

"There's no way."

"Hold a sec, the HELL did he meant by that?"

"NOT What you're thinking, at least I hope not."

"Ewwww! Not if the Old man is still with him!"

They stared at another a moment longer before hopping to their feet. "Goddamn Birch."
The rest of the team would Leap to thier feet as well, Fox and a freshly awoken Silent having already gone down the ladder with Birch.

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The way she said sir sent an electric thrill through the mans spine as he lead Delilah to one of the only wide open part of the Compound, the Motor pool where The vehicles awaiting repair sat. Standing in the middle of the street, Ringed in by Vehicles of all makes and models, Marcus would hop himself up onto the balls of his feet and stretch his arms out wide to the side, feeling every crack and pop before bringing them into a Southpaw Boxers position. He bounced on his feet eagerly. He'd scale himself back for now. Keep himself close to what he felt himself to be her level of ability and slowly turn up the difficulty as the fight went on.

"Would you like to lead M'lady, or shall I?"
He would ask with a grin. Feeling that familier thrum of anticipation whip crack itself throughout his body.