[h3][b][u]Pistolera[/u][/b][/h3]

I arch an eyebrow at JC, half way between annoyed and amused that he feels the need to have a dick measuring contest with a girl. By the looks of him I'd still probably win. Must be getting his panties in a bunch, thinking I'm trying to usurp him. Well he's right, but I got good reasons too, namely that his run as 'leader' has been a spectacular failure, the worst in Titan's history. I mean, Robin sure as shit never got the team made into pariahs, outcasts, murderers and traitors. No, a shake up in command structure is an absolute must, whether JC likes it or not.

"Sentinel's not coming with. . .” I begin, meaning to explain that for my plan to work in it's entirety then we have to appear to completely Houdini, but with the heat he willingly brought down on himself I can't be sure we wont be seen if he uses the portal with us. He's already got his orders, and besides, he'll have heard all this anyway, so we can meet up with him later. But of course all that becomes moot when Bat-Boy takes it upon himself to go and fetch our Superman imitator. 

I resist the urge to sigh, groan, swear or shoot the flying rodent, or vent my frustrations in any other manner. Instead I just begin to manhandle the rest of the team through the portal before any of the others begin to have some not-so-bright ideas. I take an extra moment on Evan, just to grope him biceps. What, I'm having a stressful day, I need some sorta release!

Eventually it's just me, Magi and Accelerate standing alone in the kitchen. Funny, when I first started I pegged Rufus as the most dangerous one of the bunch, the only member other than Rose who was a real threat to me and my mission. Looks like Rose isn't going to be troubling anyone anytime soon, excepting them not being able to get the day off work for her funeral, and now with my newly discovered responsibility to these kids it looks like Speedy's gonna be the only one I can trust to get things done, and get them done right. Irony, I think.

“Can't leave this portal open any longer, not for those morons. You're the only one fast enough to stop them causing any more of a national incident than they already have. Stop them, do whatever it takes, then meet us here,” I whisper him the co-ordinates for the safe house. I don't bother saying good luck, or giving him advice on [b]how[/b] to stop our pair of over-zealous cowboys. Rufus will have his own ideas on that front, and he's probably the type to chafe under too much management.

“Zane, follow me through then close the portal. The boys can look after themselves.” With that I step through. . . 

. . . And walk smack dab into someone's back. Might be Stunt Devil, but I can't be sure because we're in pitch black. Smooth. I'm standing in the dank, dark gloom of my Star City safe house. I know it by smell, a heady mix of old diesel and gunpowder. First order of business, lights. Takes me a few seconds to find the gennie in the dark, and a couple more to get it to kick into life, then even longer for the energy saving strip lights to burn away the gloom. 

With the lights the safehouse is revealed. A long, rectangular room, the short wall behind me serving as a display for my stache of guns, enough for a small army. Could still stand to get a few more. On the far wall is a series of targets, most of them bullet ridden. Too my left is a doorway that leads to the bedroom/kitchen/living space. I say kitchen, but it's really just a space with racking that holds barrels of purified water, boxes of long life foodstuffs and more than a few crates of candy bars. I've got quite a sweet tooth. To the right is the small bathroom. Not exactly the Ritz, but it'll serve it's purpose. 

“Make yourselves comfortable,” I declare, fully aware that this place was not designed for comfort. It was designed to be a safe place for when the world ends, and I gotta say, this situation certainly seems to be filling those criteria. “I'm gonna check the news, see what the world thinks of us now.” 

I head through to the living are, and try to get the old portable to find a station.