It seemed that one warning wasn’t enough for Wraith; Ditch knew her apology, all of her apologies were all fake. How? Because Ditch had been exactly the same. That rebellious headstrong teenager who thought every damn thing she did was for all the right reason. Ditch could see right through Wraith’s facade. And she wasn’t amused.

“Listen, dumbass.” Ditch said. “Don’t apologize until you fucking mean it. I do not care if you’re worried about seeing your ghosts. Whoever this kid is, if you lay a fucking finger on him, you [i]will[/i] regret it.” Her words were not angry, or fueled with the wrong emotions. Instead they were sharp, pointed like knives. 

From that point, Ditch ignored Wraith. She had other problems to deal with besides a stupid teenage girl. “Every superpower has weaknesses. My first assumption is that their mind control is related to fatigue and energy - if we can wear the super out, we can take him down. And I have no doubts that there’s more to it than that. We’ll find him, and when we do, we’ll be ready.” 

Her head turned to Omega at his comment about how ruthless Umbra could be. She cast her gaze downwards and exhaled. “If you think this is ruthless,” She muttered. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

[i]"There's a place for him. A good one, where he'll be safe. Trust me, the girl taking care of him is an... Angel."[/i] A small smile crept upon Ditch’s lips as she nodded. She stepped up to Tank, putting a hand on the sleeping child’s arm. “I want to make this place suitable for living soon.” She said quietly. “I practically live here already, anyway.” She said with a grin. “But maybe - when I fix this place up all the way. He could stay with me.” Her voice was soft and sentimental, and she looked at the boy with hope and sincerity. 

“I guess that’s the end of our meeting.” Ditch said, crossing her arms. “I’m sorry I called you here without any real leads, just speculation. But it was something you had to know.” She nodded.

~~~~~~

[i]"They found the child."

A small, dark smile rose on his face as he turned the faucet on, the blood on his hands trickling down the drain. 

[b]"It's about time."[/b] There was silence, and the smile had yet to leave his face. [b]"Speak your mind."[/b] He said, feeling his companion's uncertainty.

"I can't understand why you let him go. We got nothing out of him, and if you'd just given me more time I could've--"

[b]"It was not your fault."[/b]

"It wasn't?"

[b]"Not at all, my dear boy. You did all you could. Besides. The child is much more useful this way."[/b]
[/i]

~~~~~~
[h3]End Chapter 3
Downtime Begins[/h3]