[color=f6989d][center][h1]Natasha & Ben Felds[/h1]
[h2]Featuring The Director[/h2][/center][/color]

The first thing Nat felt was a throbbing pain behind her eyes, a deep, throbbing headache that felt as if something were trying to escape from the center of her skull. This was followed by the feeling of hard table on which she laid. Why was she lying down on something hard? Her mind was confused by this, but a single thought whispered itself in her ears. [i]Open your eyes.[/i] She stirred a bit, feeling the cold metal against the exposed skin of her arm. She only now registered the pink sight of the back of her eyelids, indicating there was light nearby. [i]Open your eyes.[/i] So she did. And immediately regretted it, hissing in momentary pain at the overhead light above her. She brought an arm to shield her from the pain, when she noticed an IV in her wrist. Why was that there?

Her ears started picking up noises. She could hear the slight thrum of some machine, the mild buzz of the lights, and the soft rise and fall of someone breathing. She knew that sound, she’d listened to it every night for a few years now. Ben. It was Ben’s breathing she heard. Ben! She instantly sat up now, looking over toward the sound of her brother’s breathing, and sighed in relief. He wasn’t on a table like her, he was on a lounge across the room, curled up in his hoodie, a comic splayed out in front of him. 

She immediately began getting her bearings, momentarily satisfied that he was fine. Where were they? With the Shadows? Sector X? Just a regular hospital? Probably not the latter, she’d be in a hospital gown if that were the case, probably handcuffed to the bed with guards in the room. And Ben certainly wouldn’t be there. She looked around for some obvious, egotistical sign, a name, anything that would give it away, but found none. Her room was fairly standard it seemed, had many of the things that might be needed for most standard medical situations. There was a single observation window that showed the hallway. It didn’t seem that anyone had realized she was awake yet.

Trying to ignore the throbbing in her head, she got up, pulling the IV stand with her as she checked over the room, and checked the door. Unlocked. Her pack was on a counter, and it seemed Ben had his own things as well. It didn’t matter which group that had them, Nat wanted out. They weren’t safe with these people, whoever they were. She pulled the IV free, and gathered up her backpack, slinging it over her shoulders. She then gently stirred Ben as she always did, a gentle hand on the cheek, a light cooing, [color=f6989d][i][b]“Wake up Benji Wenji, it’s time to save the world.”[/b][/i][/color] This was something their mother had done for him, and she had kept it going.

The boy stirred groggily, and woke up, and would’ve exclaimed and hugged his sister if she didn’t have a finger to her lips, indicating him to be quiet. [color=f6989d][i][b]“It is time to go. Get your things, we’re leaving, now.”[/b][/i][/color] He nodded, though there was a look of indecisiveness about him, one she never saw before. He’d always followed what she said, never bothered to question it. Had something happened? Once he was up and ready, she led him to the door, which she now opened, hoping getting out would be easy enough.

There was a rather intimidating woman with an eyepatch sitting across the doorway in the hall. “I figured you’d try to flee, given your history. Good luck though. You don’t know where you are, and neither does your brother. Also, your possessions are in possession as it were. You have caused us a fair bit of trouble Natalie. That isn’t your real name, but it was the one your brother gave us, so we’ll roll with it for now.”

Nat’s eyes had grown wide at the sight of the calm, relaxed woman sitting there. The way she spoke was unsettling. Her mind was screaming run. She looked up both ends of the hallway, finding them identical, and without signs or exit indicators, even emergency ones. She quickly felt at her pack, only now realizing that it was lighter than before, empty. She inwardly cursed herself, having not paid any attention to that. She wasn’t a fighter, and this woman looked as if she were. So for now, she resigned herself to the moment, waiting for even the slightest glimmer of hope of escape, anything at all. [color=f6989d][i][b]“You don’t know my history, nor anything about us. I don’t know which group you are, but I’m not going to be kept a willing prisoner, and neither is my brother.” [/b][/i][/color]

The woman pulled out a file. “Wanted for grand larceny, larceny, breaking and entering… But you did all of this for your brother. Natasha and Benjamin Felds. Reported missing a few years ago. Miss Felds, technically you could be arrested for kidnapping your brother, since he is a minor and you are of age. However, none of that is what interests me. In fact we can even help hide that record and make it go away. And who said anything about being kept prisoner? We will be more than happy to let you go once you have fully recovered from passing out. I do just ask that you hear me out before you leave.”

If Nat wasn’t in full on flight mode before, she certainly was after the woman read off her crimes, their names, and even revealed the kidnapping bit that she hadn’t even realized. But then offered to make it all disappear? Why bother? For a willing and grateful pair of servants probably. Ben could probably recite several comics where that plot point had been used. Then she felt the tug at her arm from her brother, who she had been standing in front of defensively this whole time. He whispered into her ear,[color=fdc68a][i][b] “I don’t know about this pirate woman, but she’s probably like Director Fury. He had an eyepatch and he was a good guy. These people aren’t bad Nat, they’ve been nice to me so far. I made them fix you up, without handcuffs and everything.” [/b][/i][/color]

Nat looked back at her brother in surprise, they had done something to him, he’d never had even considered anything other than her plans before. But the look in his eyes was a pleading one, a sincere one. [color=f6989d][i][b]“Who are you people? And what do you want from us?” [/b][/i][/color]Cutting straight to the point. Everyone wanted something. 

“I want to offer you a job. We at Sector X are here to help psychics, and someone with your talents would be of value to us. We would give you the standard package, six figures, help find a place for you and your brother to live.” The director looked at Nat and paused for a moment. “But, if a steady job doesn’t interest you, I can not guarantee your safety once you leave this facility. You’ve already attracted some attention for some less than honest people. I am guessing they probably lied to you already? Told you that we were horrible people?”

Nat snorted derisively at the supposed offer. Six figures and a home? What sort of bull was that. Nat knew she wasn’t worth that to anyone. And how does rounding up psychics make money? It was completely ridiculous. And she’d never needed her safety guaranteed before these people got involved. If anything, they stopped their escape from that dark man and blonde girl. Hell, they might even be working with them.

[color=f6989d][i][b]“Kinda hard to tell who is lying when I don’t know who any of you are. You could just as easily be doing the same. And your offer is funny, but not believable. That much money on me? To what? Chase and terrorize others like me?”[/b][/i][/color] 

“You can start with me. Go ahead, and read my mind. And no, not to ‘chase and terrorize’ other psychics. I will admit your experience is not the typical one. We were hoping to find you before others did, but that did not happen. I apologize for the distress it caused you, and your brother. He was quite worried about you. However, if we were Shadow, we’d just wipe your brain and put you to work. Not offer you a salary.” The director frowned. It seemed she did not like what Nat was saying. 

Nat grew a bit self conscious at this offer. She knew that her and her brother had that little bit of power that all psychics seemed to have, but she’d never been comfortable using it. It was so… invasive and personal. But she needed to know the truth, to know if it really was all too good to be true, at least for Ben. She even ignored the fact that the other group, this… Shadow, had said they were hoping to find them first as well. How similar they were. Her mind probe forth, tentatively, timidly, seeking out the eye-patched woman’s mind, not sure as to what she would find. 

The woman’s mind was open, and there was no indicator that she herself had any powers. There were flashes of a red-headed woman sobbing as she told the director about the man that had died in front of her, her watching as a young blond woman tried to talk to a man who was tied to chair, yelling that Shadow would make everyone like them. There were other snippets of peaceful recruitments, including the same red-head from earlier, as well as  others. Then it zoomed in on another recruitment who had passed on the job. Then flashed to a newspaper clipping of the person missing. None were lies. 

“Is there anything else you’d like to see while you’re in there?”

Nat immediately retracted her mind after seeing the newspaper clipping. That was enough, she’d already seen the ones that were sent out for her and Ben in their hometown and that had nearly broken her heart. She looked back at Ben, who couldn’t help but keep staring at the eyepatch, everything she’d done so far was for him, was what was best. For him. Would this be better than being on the run? She’d almost lost him today, when she’d told him to run and leave her behind. He would have been missing, not just to the world, but from her as well. That wasn’t a good plan, and she now admitted it. She’d taught him well, but he wouldn’t last long on his own, she didn’t think, he was too… nice. A kind, sweet boy. Nat shook her head at the woman.

[color=f6989d][i][b]“If I take this offer, can me and my brother walk away at any time? And I won’t let you put him in danger either, he’s just a kid, not some… field agent.”[/b][/i][/color]

“Of course. Any time you want. As I said, you’d be an employee, not a prisoner. That is not how we work. As for your brother, he is free to come and go as he likes. With his talent he’d be more useful in the lab. But that is for another time. Right now, he should be in school, like any other boy his age. What he does is up to the two of you. But as I also said, if you leave, I can not guarantee your safety. But I will never keep anyone here against their will. And Miss Felds, you can find a position here you like as well. You don’t have to be a field agent all the time. Many of our staff have other tasks. For instance, Miss Autumn, whom your brother is familiar with, also works as a diplomat for the UN.”

Ben could go to school? She’d seen the way he’d looked longingly at them anytime they happened to be near them. He could be around kids his own age, have… friends, go to college, he was certainly smart enough. She didn’t care what they had her do, if they let him be, let him do what he wanted, and they just protected him, and let her protect him. It was too late for her to have any of those things, but she could still give them to him. She realized for a moment that if the other group, this… Shadow had given the same offer, she’d have taken it as well. She found herself nodding at the woman, relaxing just a bit, [color=f6989d][i][b]“Fine, I’ll work for you. But Ben goes to a fancy private school on your dime. And a college fund for him. We’ll pick our own place to live.”[/b][/i][/color] She didn’t really have any demands for herself, they’d already agreed to clear their, well, her records.

The director seemed to think for a moment and then nodded. “Sounds fair to me. But, if you do choose to leave, those will end, but I figure you already knew that.” 

Nat nodded, figuring as much. Besides, six figures a year could go a long way toward being ready for anything, including leaving. [color=f6989d][i][b]“So I imagine there’s paperwork and other annoyances now?”[/b][/i][/color]

“Yes, but we can do that another day. You are still recovering from overextending yourself. Ben will be able to stay with you till we have one of our doctors check you out. From there, we’ll help set up a place of temporary residence while you look for a place for you and Ben. Luckily, it is early enough that we can still enroll Ben in school before it starts.”

Nat nodded, only now noticing the migraine was worse, probably from reading the woman’s mind. [color=f6989d][i][b]“Yeah, I should rest. We’ll take care of that later, miss…?”[/b][/i][/color] As she waited for the answer, she turned back to her room, to lie down, and sleep this off.

“You can call me The Director. Welcome to Sector X.”

Nat laid down, chuckling lightly. Sector X, The Director, the eyepatch. This place had a level of humor Ben would truly appreciate. Ben nodded at the Director, finally pulling his gaze away, and sat back down in Nat’s room, and opened his comic once more, a smile growing on his face.