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Ooc:// I'm here! Sorry I've been kind of absent...I've been really busy lately.

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Jace slipped inside easily, her eyes scanning the rather familiar interior. Still a bit...worn, but clean, which was surprising considering the state she knew Trey's room was often in. She smirked at that particular memory, but frowned at Louis's comment. "I don't have parents," she stated bluntly. Which wasn't technically true, but she didn't consider her guardians her parents. Yes, they were legally in charge...but her mom and dad had died years ago. And there was no replacing them, no matter how hard they tried.

Oh, sure, she cared for them. But they could never fill that place inside of her that had been emptied when her parents died. Lily, who had only been four when they died, easily called them "Mom" and "Dad". Jace could never bring herself to do that. Absently, she fingered the small locket hanging around her neck, swallowing hard as she forced herself away from those thoughts. Even after all these years, it still hurt.

"I know a place we can hide, though," Jace said quickly, refusing to elaborate on what she said earlier. She didn't need their sympathy, and it would only make that deep ache inside of her - the one that had never really gone away - ache all the more.

Trey sighed at Louis's suggestion, but suddenly went quiet when Jace elaborated on her situation. He eventually nodded to break the sudden silence, but it still concerned him ever so slightly that his friend was pretty much alone. Granted, she had guardians, but other people could probably never replace your parents. He would never know the pain she went through, and knowing Jace, she preferred it that way. She didn't want others to feel sorry for her possibly because it showed weakness... It was absurd, but in a way, Trey could see why she would do so. He didn't feel much of a bond with his own parents and cared not if someone told him sorry that they were never home.

"I'm sure it would be great to have someone on our side," he said half a minute later. "But I can't think of anyone who'd care about a couple of teenagers, not to mention believe all that's happened so far." He furrowed his eyebrows as he closed the last blind. "Look, Jace has no one to confide in and neither do I. My parents are never home; they're too busy with work to care about much of anything. Wonder why the school system has kinda given up on having the whole teacher-parent conference thing with me? Yeah. That's why whenever I'm called in, it's automatic detention." He shrugged minimally, thinking in a disappointed state of his parents, who he used to get along with so well until they received great jobs that required traveling often without him. "You say you have this... erm... Jack? I'm not so sure I trust anyone except you two at the moment, but if you think he can help, so be it. I'll go with Jace's hideout as well, but first I need some food. Playing hooky sure is harder this time around! Anyone else want something?" He began rummaging through the fridge.

Entering the house, Louis was quite taken aback. He scratched at his arm nervously as he tried to find the words to show his sympathy, but not. As Trey and Jace both didn't seem to want it. 'But wouldn't it be a bad friend to not show some kind of compassion?' In his confusion he probably stumbled over his words a bit, but he tried. He answered Trey's question first then got serious. "No thanks. And I'm sorry." He turned to Jace as she probably related more, "If it's any consolation though, mine died before I really knew them. I've been living with my step-dad, Jack, all my life." He scanned the seemingly untouched rooms. Dust that was undoubtedly an inch think covered most surfaces. The house just about as neglected as their son, Louis wondered if Trey's parents ever even hugged their child. Told him they loved him or cared. Asked him about his day. Jack wasn't the warmest of people, but he did try. Then another thought occurred to him as Trey stepped in for his friend. "But you know. It's the people who stay in your lives and by your side that are really your family." His eyes darted between the two, Trey rooting through the fridge and Jace fingering a locket around her neck, before adding, "I really think I should call Jack. He's never had reason to doubt me. I'm sure he'd understand." His fingers grazed his cell in his pocket, "If that's okay with you guys, can I do that while you discuss where we go from here?"

Jace scowled. "My guardians aren't my family." She glanced up at Louis. "Sometimes...I wish they had died before I wasn't able to know them. Then...then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much, you know?" Immediately, she shut her mouth, cheeks flushing a bright red. Curse her and her big mouth! She never could leave things alone, could she? All she had succeeded in doing was making herself look weak and reopening painful wounds.

"Go ahead and call Jack," she mumbled after an awkward moment. "If you trust him, that's good enough for me." She paused, then turned to Trey. "Got any OJ?" she asked, walking over to peer curiously into his refridgerator.

Trey shrugged at Louis's comment. "Guess I don't have much of one then, unless you count the friends. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents to death, but..." he trailed off, not feeling like it was worth it to reveal anymore. Instead, he got lost in his refrigerator, scanning for anything mildly edible. He had recently gotten to get more groceries with the wad of money his parents left behind, but he had never been a good person to keep track of what he ate when... "Aha!" He said and snatched a can of soda out, plus a burger that was already cooked but needed to be reheated. He put it in the microwave, then went back to see if there was anything else. "Yup, got some right here." He handed Jace a large bottle of orange juice as he turned to Louis once more and said, "Just call him then. Either way, it's not like he can find us if he doesn't agree with this."

"Let's talk about all this madness for real, though," he said once he finished gulping another sip of cola. He opened the microwave and started eating his burger as if he had never eaten before, although they had had lunch recently. It was as if he couldn't get enough fuel. His metabolism was running on overdrive, and it felt oddly as if he was powered with electricity. "And we'll start once Louis gets off the phone," he added, taking another bite. "You guys want anything else, feel free to pilfer the fridge and cabinets."

OOC: Sorry for the lateness. Weekends suck for posting as I get lack of computer time and blah blah blah. Let's get rolling again.

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Louis want to laugh a bit at Jace's first comment. She must not have caught or understood his glance between the two standing in the room with him. "Family's not only in blood you know. Or by being legally proclaimed as your guardians even." He wanted to look her in the eyes. So much could be said from the eyes. But he could only read her voice as she turned away. "Sadly I don't know what you mean." He was thoughtful a moment before pulling his flip-phone out and staring at the front of it. "I sometimes wish I had a memory of them. I know nothing of them."

He smiled at Trey as he seemed to get what he was implying. "Yea something like that. And thanks again, but no. We did just have lunch you know." He gave a weird gaze to his new friend as he punched in '9' for speed-dial to Jack's cell. "Only be a moment." He maneuvered to another room. Just as dusty as the last two, he noticed looking around while he listened to the other end of the line ringing. Didn't take long for Jack to pick up.


"Shouldn't you be in school? Very unlike you, Louis."

"I know. You wouldn't believe the day I've been having."

"I don't already. You need help?"

"Yea... Something like that. More moral than anything." He explained to his step-dad about what had happened. From his strange friends, to what had happened at the nurse's office, to running away from school. He was hesitant to share his suspicions of Trey and Jace having superpowers. It sounded crazy no matter how he thought about explaining it in his head, so when he said it out loud, he expected Jack to demand he come home right away so he could haul him off to the funny farm. But what he said in reply took him by complete surprise.

"Oooh, InGen what else did you bring to life..."

He got the Jurassic Park reference, and resented it. "What's that supposed to mean?" Surely he wasn't being mocked. Not by one of the most serious people he knew.

"It's a long story I'd rather share in person, but right now I'm worried about the cops getting involved. You do plan to change location right?"

"Of course."

"Good. Do text and let me know where. In case you need back up." By that he likely meant either himself or Louis's 'second pair of arms'. "I'd like to be there and help, but I doubt your new friends would trust an adult at this point. ...Actually since they've only known you for not even today as you've said, I'm surprised they let you call."

"Yea, I was a little taken by surprise about that too..." He glanced over in the other room. Trey contentedly munching on a burger while Jace drank some orange juice. "But I guess they're just the trusting type." To have friends was to trust. A key point. Or so he heard. He never really had friends. It felt nice to have some. To be trusted.

"Just watch yourself, a'right? And your friends. You are capable of more than you know."

"Right. Later, Jack. And thanks." He hung up before the last bit of Jack's sentence really sunk in. '...Capable of WHAT?' He wondered. Sure he had some weird super-hearing and smell going on, but he didn't see how that was anything important. Did Jack know about it? Sure sounded like it. If so how? What did he know that Louis already didn't know about himself? So many questions and no answers were beginning to give Louis a headache. He stuffed his phone back in his pocket and took off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose as he was drowning in thought.

He sighed and headed back to the kitchen. Putting his glasses back on as he started to wonder the even more serious of questions. 'What have I gotten myself into...'

"Family's not only in blood you know. Or by being legally proclaimed as your guardians even," Louis responded. Jace paused, frowning slightly. Her guardians would never replace her parents; no one would. But..she still had Lily. And...was Louis suggesting that they were her family too? Maybe. But Jace still wasn't willing to look him in the eye to find out for sure. Instead, she drank the orange beverage as Louis left to go call Jack.

Jace began to, as Trey had put it, "pilfer the fridge and cabinets" as the orange juice reminded her that she was a little bit hungry. She hadn't had very much at lunch, and her headaches had used up a surprising amount of energy. Staring into the cabinets, she shrugged and pulled out a box of cereal, eating it dry.

Louis then walked back in, and Jace swallowed hastily. "What did Jack say?" she asked curiously. "Was he okay with all of this?"

As Trey finished his burger, he turned expectantly to look at Louis, who had reentered the room now. He didn't need to ask because Jace had done so for him, so instead he moved to grab two huge pieces of bread, some peanut butter, jam, nutella, literally whatever else he could find that tasted alright enough. He put it all together and chewed it thoughtfully. He should do some research to see if they could find some answers there. He could say so when Louis relayed whatever information he had gotten from Jack. In the meantime, he finished his sandwich within those few minutes of silence and was going over to the fridge yet again, taking out two green apples and beginning to munch them both. "Man, I've never been this hungry in my life," he commented, taking another bite of the juicy fruit.

With a sigh, Louis answered Jace the best he could. Leaving out the bit after the 'InGen' comment, he replied, "Actually yea. Little more than I expected, but he offered his help in anyway possible. You mentioned before about knowing of another place we could go to hide? It'd probably be best if we went there now. I'm shocked as it is that the cops aren't breaking down the door."

He hesitated a moment as he noticed Trey with an apple in each hand and Jace with an empty box of cereal. "What's with all the food...? We just had lunch and you two act like you're starving?" Side effect to their power maybe? He didn't say that out loud though. Just the thought of it sounded weird.

"Well, I didn't eat much at lunch. My head was still hurting then," Jace explained quickly, cheeks flushing slightly as she wiped crumbs off her fingers. "And...this is gonna sound pretty weird, but I think...whatever I did in there, if it was really me, it used up a bit of energy." She stared at the tiled floor, a frown on her face as she thought.

"Okay, ignoring the nerdiness of the fact that I still read some old comic books," Jace began, swallowing nervously as the words spilled out, "It seems kinda like we're getting superpowers. I mean, for me, it seems like telekinesis. I've been thinking about it, you know? My headaches, combined with the door...I think I mentally made it unlock somehow. And...and there have been other moments, where I can tell how people are feeling...like I can feel their anger, or sadness, or whatever."

Jace's gaze was still focused on the ground. "I mean, I haven't been playing in toxic waste or anything, but it really does seem kinda like that. And...that doesn't really sound any weirder than what just happened, does it?"

Trey nodded towards Louis's suggestion, finishing both the apples and sighing contentedly. He seemed full enough... for now. He looked over at Jace as she began talking and said in response, "That actually would make a lot of sense, as crazy as it would have sounded this morning." He arched his back a little to stretch and headed towards the stairs. "Where's this place we're going to, anyway? I think I should check if they've got the place wired or not before we start heading over there." He began walking up the stairs, not taking any heed to whatever either of them could have possibly said in protest. Calling down from the stairs he said, "Look, I've always had an inclination towards technology even though my parents barely have a clue at working their cell phones. If I can... control electricity or whatever with my emotions? Whatever the heck went down over there? I may only be half surprised - although don't get me wrong, it feels weird just hearing the words come off my tongue."

"Okay I guess that makes sense. I don't read comics, or watch the movies really, and had I not seen it with my own eyes, I'd say you were both insane. But circumstances as they are, my rationality isn't really given I choice. Questions that now remain are 'how did this happen' and 'how to control them' are at the top of my list, I don't know about you guys." Knowing how they were this way would help them control their 'gifts', and control would keep themselves and everyone else safe. Maybe even more.

He right then and there decided to spill his guts early about Jack. If they were destined to really be friends (or 'super' friends at this rate), then they had a right to know, and might even be able to help him figure out what Jack said about himself. "And I don't know where you have in mind Jace, but I think we should meet Jack. He seems to know something we don't of vital importance. Seemingly involving how you- we... are this way and why." He hesitated in including himself for as far as he knew, he only had some heightened senses and nothing else impressive or worthy of notice. But Jack's words rang through his ears about him being capable of more. What that was though... he had no idea what so ever.

"We should really brainstorm as we get out of here though. Surely the cops are on their way. Trey what are you even doing up there?" He was hesitant to follow, so he just stared up from the bottom of the stairs waiting for a reply.

"I agree. We should work on controlling our powers...it seemed to help with my headaches, at least," Jace responded. "I dunno how we got them though...I don't remember being part of a lab experiment or anything." A weak grin followed her even weaker attempt at humor. "Why would Jack know anything about this, though? Nevermind, you probably don't know either. I think we should meet him too." She kind of ignored Trey for the moment, knowing he had to be messing around up there for some reason, and she would find out eventually.

Instead, Jace's eyes narrowed questioningly as she glanced at Louis. "Louis...has anything weird been happening to you?" she asked. She had noticed his slight hesitation and discomfort at including himself with them, but she found it hard to believe he would just accept this so easily without dealing with these...powers, too.

Upstairs, there was a loud fizzing noise as one of the wires near an old monitor started going haywire. Cursing under his breath, Trey quickly managed to get rid of the problem before anything else happened. He simply handled the wire and threw it in the trash, knowing full well that to avoid a possible fire, he should put it in water, but water conducted electricity, so that wasn't a good idea either. After the wire landed in the trash, it seemed to stop fizzing. Trey visibly relaxed, causing all the whirring computers around him to finally calm down. He perked his eyebrows up. "Dang, I won't get used to that yet... whatever this is, I better figure out how to work it before I electrocute someone." He muttered to himself.

A few keystrokes later brought Trey to the security feeds from all the police stations in their state, which was quite a lot considering. He enlarged the screen so that each feed was gigantic compared to its normally minuscule size - the entire screen was spread across four different computers. There were tons of wires and plugs everywhere you looked in Trey's room, and one barely had a place to step if they planned on not crushing the wires beneath their feet. Trey didn't mind it so much, though, and since he lived by himself more than half the time, and his parents never came in his room the other half other than to check on him once in a while, it didn't matter much.

His relaxed state visibly left his body as his shoulders slumped. "Oh no... oh no, this is bad. GUYS!" He called to them. "You need to have a look at this!"

Hearing the worried urgency in Trey's voice, Jace didn't waste anytime in abandoning her conversation with Louis. She rushed up the stairs, light brown eyes narrowed as a brief flash of adrenaline coursed through her veins. "Trey, what's wrong? What happened?" Her voice cut off as she made her way carefully over to the computer monitors Trey was huddled over. Her eyes widened fractionally as she saw what looked like hacked feeds...

"You hacked police cameras?" she asked, unsure whether to feel shocked, fearful, or amazed. Her voice ended up conveying an interesting mixture of all three emotions, and she fingered her locket absently.