The Thief

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Quin slid behind the pillar just in time. The team rushed past him.

"Okay Jaden, where now?" He whispered quietly.

"Take the next right, there's a door. Take the stairs down then your home free." Jaden said.

"Why do I have a feeling your not telling me everything?" Quin said as he did as he was told.

"Probably ‘cause I'm not." Jaden chortled. Quin shook his head, irritated.

As he reached the end of the stairs, he realized what Jaden omitted.

"Jaden, you ass!" Quin exploded, in front of him stood a manhole that no doubt led to the sewers.

Screw duct tapping the computers, I'm shrink wrapping them together and dropping them in the sewers. He thought mutinously as he climbed down, holding his breath, making sure to close the manhole behind him.

Tamera glared down the SWAT team leader who sat demurely as if waiting for a dressing down like a child.

How the heck did he get away this time?! There were at least fifty men looking for him!

She sighed, "Lay it on me. What happened?"

The leader went into his report, "we didn't even catch a glimpse of him. We were forced to split into teams. When the building finally gained power again, one of our men discovered a manhole covering that was slightly pushed back. We suspect he used that to get away and are following it as we speak. But it’s unlikely we’ll find him. On the upside, this is the first time we made actual headway in catching him."

Tamera frowned it wasn’t like Mystique to leave a clue behind for them to follow. But there was nothing to be done now; it was time to get home.

Quin finally reached his destination. If he never saw a sewer system again it would be too soon. Taking hold of the rings, Quin climbed the ladder to the manhole. He heaved the heavy metal disk away as silently as possible, not knowing who could be out for a morning walk at the crack of dawn. Seeing no one, he swiftly clambered out and shifted the manhole back in its place.

"Jaden, you there yet?" When he received no answer, Quin muttered a curse. He had lost contact with Jaden down in the tunnels. Hopefully that won't be a problem anymore because Quin seriously needed to go home, take a shower, beat Jaden up, and burn his old clothes. Not necessarily in that order.

As casually as he could, Quin broke into the nearest apartment building. It was better to be inside in his outfit then it was to be outside waiting for the good boys in blue to catch him.

"Come on J. I need you. Answer me." Quin muttered to his communicator. He needed to find out where the closest safe house was.

"Aww, didn't know you cared so much Quin" Jaden finally pipped up.

Quin barked out a relieved laugh, "I'll send you a gift basket. Where's the safe house?"

“There’s one waiting for you about two blocks from here but you’ll have to stay put, the cops have put a look-out for you. Stay where you are unless you can get your hands on some civs.” Civs was the nickname for civilian clothing. It's definably easier to move around in the daytime with clothes that look like they belong in the daytime.

“Gotcha, I’m in an apartment so it shouldn’t be too-” Quin was cut off by a loud crash. He turned just in time to see three men dressed in complete black land on the broken glass from the door that was no longer there. One man quickly launched himself at Quin who quickly sidestepped the attack. He maneuvered his body to keep the three henchmen in his sight, on guard for any sudden moves.

“J, I have to go.” Quin said calmly. He tapped his earpiece, shutting it down and ignoring his friend’s frantic questions. The four of them stared at each other for half a moment and drew there weapons. The three who actually “broke” and entered drew a pocket knife, snapping it open with a flick of his wrist.

Quin had to scoff at that, “A pocket knife, how cliché!” He reached in his pocket and grabbed his manrikigusari, careful to hold the entire length of chain in his hand. Quin struck out quickly against the man closest to him. He flung one of the weighted ends and released the chain in a fluid, well practiced movement. The weighted end struck the opponent hard in the forehead, causing the man to stumble several feet backward but he stayed on his feet.

Quin's next victim made his move, charging at Quin with a war cry. Quin, anticipating this movement started swinging the chain, causing the weighted end to start spinning, creating a kind of shield between his opponents. Undaunted, or simply had too much momentum, the stranger continued his charge onward with his knife outward. The manrikigusari wrapped itself around the man’s arm while Quin made another sidestep to avoid the knife. The weighted end made a sickening crunch as it crashed into the man’s elbow. The man gave a howl of pain, releasing his knife. Quin kicked the man away and into the third man who was already starting to stalk toward him. The manrikigusari unraveled as the two men crashed into each other.

“FREEZE!” at this all four of them ceased what they were doing to look at whoever dared disturb them. There was Detective, whoops Agent Pierce, staring wide-eyed at the door way holding her gun, switching targets between the four of them.

She couldn’t process what was happening at the first floor of her apartment. All she wanted was to lie in her tub for a nice long soak. But it appears all hope of that was shot to hell.

“Oh, come on!” Mystique exploded looking at the ceiling in exasperation, “I just can’t get a break today! What the heck did I do wrong?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Tamera couldn’t help but jibe. She could’ve sworn she could see Mystique smile under his mask. He took a breath to answer but the man who got hit in the forehead started charging at him.

“LOOK OUT!” she shouted, firing at the man. Mystique quickly got out of the way. The bullet slammed into the intruder’s shoulder, causing him to stumble. The two others rushed Mystique who swung his chain across. It wrapped around one of the men’s neck. A quick tug from Mystique sent him crashing into his friend. All three were on the ground either moaning or unconscious.

Tamera walked in the room her gun lowered but still cocked, “Who were these guys?” Mystique walked over to one and crouched over one. He turned him around and ripped off his ski mask. There, on his neck was a tattoo of a snake. She heard him suck in a breath. He stood up and staggered away.

“Mystique?” she asked tentatively, “What’s wrong?” He looked at her, all good humor gone. He started to answer when one of the men scrambled up and bolted out. Mystique cursed ran after him.

"A Snake" Quin thought bitterly as he ran, "how the heck did they find me?"