[color=f49ac2][i][b]"And you've got your cell?"[/b][/i][/color] [color=fdc68a][i][b]"Yes Nat."[/b][/i][/color] [color=f49ac2][i][b]"And my number programmed in?"[/b][/i][/color] [color=fdc68a][i][b]"Yes Nat."[/b][/i][/color] [color=f49ac2][i][b]"And the money I gave you for lunch?"[/b][/i][/color] [color=fdc68a][i][b]"Yes Nat."[/b][/i][/color] [color=f49ac2][i][b] "I won't be too terribly long, and I'll call you when I'm done."[/b][/i][/color] Natasha stepped forward and hugged her little brother, whispering her love in his ear. Benjamin hated what she did, saying that she should use her powers for good, like the heroes from his comics. But they needed to eat, needed a place to sleep, and she wanted to make him as comfortable as she could. It wasn't easy living on the run, especially for him. He was young when they'd left their parents, didn't understand why they had to go, why they couldn't get help from the authorities. He was slowly coming to terms with their life now though, but she could see the underlying sadness in his eyes. Especially with their dad's birthday coming up. They called from a burner phone each year on their parents' birthdays. And each year, it ended in tears, begging them to come home, and shouts of anger and frustration. And each year, Ben's heart broke a little more. Nat looked on as he entered the Arlington Museum of Art, paying for his ticket. At least he had his hobbies to keep him busy, leaving all of the worrying to her. She checked her watch. It was about fifteen minutes until the auditor arrived at the First National Bank of Arlington. It had been rather simple to snoop into the less secure offices of the bank and see the schedule. A single man with complete and unimpeded access to the vault. Nat's plan was a bit riskier than normal, but would pay out better. Enough that her and Ben could settle down somewhere, finally have a home. A place to call their own, that would always be safe from the men that had chased them out. Nat quickly made her way to the parking structure of the bank, an underground lot, already making herself invisible to others. She wore her hair in a tight bun, had a pair of cosmetic glasses, and a tight fitting skirt suit, accompanied with a pair of flats, and carrying a bound portfolio, empty of course. One would normally expect heels, but by wearing flats, Nat needn't focus on muffling the sounds she made. A Mercedes pulled into the lot as Nat watched from her place by the secure employee elevator. A well groomed man stepped out, briefcase in hand, looking very much the part of an accountant. This must be him. He made his way toward her, using his ID card to unlock the elevator, and Nat slipped in quietly behind him. She stood behind him, back straight, face grim, still maintaining her unseen nature. Her disguise was simply for the cameras, the security team. They would simply see an auditor and his assistant on the screen, while all others would see the auditor alone. She followed him through the security protocols, through his meanderings to his temporary office, his need to get coffee, and finally, after a couple hours, to the vault. The vault door was left open, so that the auditor could go back and forth as needed. This was Nat's time to complete her theft. She waited until the auditor's back was turned, and she grabbed a wrapped block of hundred dollar bills from the back of a shelf. The moment she picked it up, it would be as invisible as she. She then made the show of moving in front of the auditor, nodding, as if he were talking to her. Nat then turned toward the door, ready to make her rather easy escape. Then the lighter vault gate slammed shut, though the heavy door remained open. The auditor looked up, [color=82ca9d][i][b]"Oh, not again. Why do the guards always pick me to prank like that?"[/b][/i][/color] Sighing, the auditor continued with his paperwork, when a man and woman appeared at the gate. They both stared through glasses at where Nat stood, [color=a187be][i][b]"Oh, but this isn't the prank. The prank is in your "assistant" there."[/b][/i][/color] The woman's voice had been cold and taunting, [color=82ca9d][i][b]"Assistant? I don't have an assistant? What are you talking about? Who are you people, you don't work here."[/b][/i][/color] [color=a187be][i][b]"Then someone should tell her that."[/b][/i][/color] With that, the man raised a hand, and a brilliant flash of light shot forth, blinding both auditor and Natasha. She cried out, dropping to a knee, her invisibility instantly fading. The man cast the woman a look, [color=a187be][i][b]"I know, I know, two minutes left,"[/b][/i][/color] then looking at Nat, [color=a187be][i][b]"Come with us, or stay here and be captured as a fraud. [/b][/i][/color] Nat's eyes still hurt, and she had a splitting migraine. [color=f49ac2][i][b]"Who are you?"[/b][/i][/color] This time the man spoke. [b][i][color=8493ca]"Those who will either help you or destroy you. We must go, now."[/color][/i][/b] They didn't mention anything about Ben, so she hoped that they knew nothing of them. She was certain she could escape later if needed. Nat nodded at the locked gate. The woman rolled her eyes as the gate waivered away, as if it evaporated, revealing that it had never been closed at all. It was an illusion. Nat picked up her money and stepped through with her captors. As they made their way through the bank, she saw the horror they'd wrought on the way in. Every single person had burn holes where their eyes had been, pained faces as they lie there, dead. The woman's illusions must be the only reason the authorities were not yet there. A dozen people dead, just so they could capture her. It had finally happened. The people that had sought after Ben had found her. She walked behind her captors, and now muffled her sound, listening to them, [color=a187be][i][b]"So glad that these Google Glasses were actually useful. Made her completely visible, just as the Quartermaster said."[/b][/i][/color] In her silence, Nat quickly texted Ben's phone with a single word. [i]Run.[/i] The dread in her grew as they left the bank, and toward a van, that beeped as the woman unlocked it. Nat stopped, and her captors immediately turned, under the assumption she was going to flee or refuse. She wanted to flee, to fight, to get to Ben. But her powers were useless before these two. What could she do? Meanwhile, Ben was listening to an audio tour on Victorian Era art, munching happily on caramelized peanuts, paying no notice to the vibration of his phone.