Bullet Proof (I wish I was) [Open! Hop on in!]

Gun shots. The last thing she could remember hearing was gun shots. Then it all went black. Lily’s silver eyes slowly opened to see blood on the pavement. A decent sized puddle was forming under her. Her white t-shirt was stained beyond repair, but that was obviously the least of her worries. Slowly she pulled herself up to a sitting position. Standing wasn’t much of an option for her at the moment- the pain that radiated through her shoulder was too great. Yes. That’s where they shot her. The memory came flooding back to her mind.

Two girls, couldn’t be over fifteen years old, were being pulled away roughly by a group of three or four edgy looking men. Human traffickers- she had seen their mugs in the text that Will sent her. He said to be on the lookout; that these thugs were preying on young girls in her area. She had been following the group ever since they had intercepted the two girls on their nightly walk. Of course, there was nothing she could do to stop them personally, not without the help of another metahuman or super powered being. But if she could find out where they were taking the girls, or at least what vehicle they traveled in, she could contact the police and have them go right to the spot. Her plan backfired, however, when she tripped over a trashcan and made a racket of herself. She was back on her feet in no time and was able to run some distance before they could chase her down. She didn’t expect them to not even try to catch her. One of the men just pulled out a hand gun and straight up shot her as casually as if he was tying his shoe. They must have mistaken her for a male and not have been interested enough to add her to the collection- it was a common mistake with her. Down she went, the shock from the bullet knocking her out as soon as she hit the ground.

And now, there she sat. They must not have checked to see if she was really dead or not. Either that or someone of authority heard the gun shots and started towards them, sirens blazing. Whatever the reason, she couldn’t sit there pondering with her bleeding shoulder and two innocent girls in the hands of those barbarians. Reaching up to her shoulder she gingerly felt the wound, wincing as another gush of pain filled her nerves. Her eyes brimmed with tears. She knew she had to get used to this kind of pain if she wanted to be the hero that Will had been and it was frustrating knowing that she was this weak. After wiping her eyes with her good arm, she put her hand over her injured shoulder again. It started glowing faintly. A refreshing feeling rushed over the wound- like cold water was slowly being poured over it. The pain slowly faded away and the wound was closed after about ten or so minutes. After a few deep breaths she shakily rose to her feet. She would never find those girls now… Why’d she always have to mess up so badly? With gritted teeth she turned to find something in the dumpster to soak the blood on the cement up with. It would be rather alarming if someone was to find that in the light of the morning.

The Dumpster area Lily approached would turn out to be far from empty. A small group of homeless people - hobos- were lining up to get some aid from an unusually tall figure in a coat and hood. Every now and then there were people like that, anonymous souls who know that, they might not be able to change the world, but making a difference in the day of a few people counts as something.

An old office desk, likely tossed out as old junk, had a few boxes on it. Most of the hobos got a bottle of water and a hot packaged meal, and anyone who was sick got some medical supplies. As expected, the tall figure got sincere "thank you" 's and "bless you" 's from the destitute she was helping.

One of the hobos, an aging bald white man wearing veteran's attire, saw Lily. Immediately he called to the line, "...Hey guys, make some room. We got a girl here, looks hurt pretty bad." In a display of good will they do so, bringing Lily to the front of the line, coming face to face with the good samaritan. Turns out it was a tall, lean girl in her late teens, with a distinct asian face. Xiao looked at Lily's injury and asked,

"Who did this to you?" She asked with a mixture of concern and anger. She seemed like the person who didn't let things like these slide.

Lily wasn’t expecting the area around the dumpster to have anyone in it, let alone this many people. It seemed like a group of homeless people were getting free handouts. It didn’t seem like an organization was responsible either; just one person helping all these beings in need. Lily watched for a second, a warm feeling coming to her heart. It was a welcome sight after what she had just been through. But there was cleaning to be done and she had to figure out what to do about the human traffickers she encountered.

She was just turning to leave the scene when the elderly veteran saw her and called to the others. It wasn’t but seconds later that she was being gently ushered to the front of the line. “W-wait! I’m fine… There’s no need… I-I-I…” She stammered before giving up and letting herself be pulled along. She looked up at the hooded figure sheepishly. The girl towered over the 5’ Lily, but the way she showed such concern for a total stranger put the small girl at ease somehow. “Oh, this? I-I… Well… It’s an… An art project! Haha! Yes! I was working with some paint, is all. It was a really messy project, too- tore my shirt and everything!” Lily wasn’t a good liar in the least, but she thought it would be a good cover, especially since the wound itself was gone now. She didn’t know just how good this tall girl’s senses were, though. Then again, even someone with a sub-par sense of smell would be able to tell that the red liquid that covered Lily wasn’t paint, being how she reeked of blood and gunpowder. “I-I’m sorry to have worried you, Miss… I’m fine, really. I just have to go home and get changed. Th-thank you for your concern!”

She stopped as she was about to leave the desk and turned back to the girl. “Uhm… You didn’t happen to see a group of five or six people while you were setting up here did you? Two girls and some men? The girls were about fifteen or sixteen. One had her hair up in a ponytail…” Maybe this group could point her in the direction of those she had been trailing. The ones who got her into this mess in the first place.

Sniff sniff. Xiao audibly took a whiff from arm's length away. Lily didn't have to say a word for Dragon Girl to figure it out. The smell of blood, petrol and gunpowder were familiar scents inside the city. For a moment Xiao said nothing, and even turned back towards the homeless she was helping... like hesitating to do something about it.

The homeless folk look among themselves. One aging man in a wheelchair spoke up. His tone was bitter, and he smelled of faintly of alcohol. he wore a military jacket indicating his veteran status. "Yeah I saw... Poor gals, didn't seem like they wanted to go. But what can you do? World's going to hell... and I've got a front row seat." He said, then wheeled away to eat his free meal.

"I can do Plenty." Xiao muttered and looked at Lily once again. She knelt down on the road where the crippled alcoholic veteran pointed. Then Xiao looked at Lily. "They're probably headed for the docks or the airport." She said after a minute of examining the tracks.