The rush of a lifetime [Open]

Jackie could feel the wind as it whipped against his face, against everything that he every believed in. Up here, nothing was the same, but he could hear the shouts and everything else of the stupid people down below. What did they know? The wind was his world, everything he worked for. It wasn't something he could control, hell he wouldn't even if he could. He felt his heart slow down as he looked down... the ground even being a dot from up here. The wind screamed in between all the buildings, but this one seemed particularly tall, although he was glad no one could see his face as he looked over the edge.

He could feel his heart beginning to stammer, as he reached into the pack at his side... this pack was his life, everything that mattered to him. He pulled out a small camera, taking a picture or the city from way up top. Photography wasn't his thing, but someone he knew loved pictures like this, and would definitely pay for it... Assuming he survived this...

As he looked down over the edge, finally some one down there began to scream, but from this far up, and with how windy it was, their words never reached him... His voice drifted out out as he turned, his back facing towards the open air, the craving he so well desired against this metal husk of a building. It was just a building after all... they had no life to them anymore.

He looked up towards the sky as everything seemed to stop, even the beating of his heart. This would be amazing... as long as it worked. With the screams and shouts of the people below he felt his legs slowly give out, his back falling backwards as all he saw was open air. He could feel the wind rushing past his face, his heart beginning to speed up as he realized what had just happened. He was falling, gaining speed, rushing past the windows of horrified people as he laughed, amongst all the other things he could be doing, he laughed. However his body began to change, his hearts thumps as the adrenaline finally kicked in, and it kicked in hard. The whole world seemed to open up, to change before his eyes as his body twisted, his arms beginning to shorten as the bones thinned out, and feathers began to grow. The hawk began to show itself, the transformation going quickly, as the ground approached and the outlines of horrified people running for cover. Why did they care? He was just another outcast, one less off the street wouldn't hurt them any. No one even knew who he was... his eyes closed as they readjusted, the hawks scream escaping his lips as it echoed throughout the city with the power of the vibrato before he transformed.

Windows cracked as he flew past them, the slight whoosh sound heard past every single one. As his legs caved in, turned into talons, he couldn't help but smile before the beak took in. He was moments from certain death, and as the fully formed wings open to catch the downdraft, he could feel the strain. It pulled on him, but he finally pulled up, zooming over the heads of horrified people, flying past them at a good 120 miles an hour. the wind behind him was amazing another scream echoing between the dead buildings. Today was going to be a glorious day, and after he had his fun and finally began to slow back down, his heart still wishing he was going faster and faster. He finally found a perch to sit upon, looking over the people who had just witnessed his little jump, watching them unseen from his perch. His senses were fine tuned... this would be a fun day.

~Dispatch to all units in the five-hundred block, need someone to respond a possible ten fifty-six eh at the Bellevue.~

10-56A....Suicide attempt.

Nikola squeezed the shoulder radio. "Dispatch, this Patrol Five-Oh. We're just around the corner. Is it inside the building?"

~Negative, Five-Oh. On top.~

"Christ, it's a jumper," he said to his partner before pressing the button again. "Ten four, Dispatch. On our way."

Nikola and his partner Jonathan Wolfe broke into a sprint to get to the Bellevue. Wolfe was faster, but he also didn't rely on a metal leg to get him anywhere. Nikola was just glad he had given the prosthetic a few extra turns on the clockwork winding mechanism before signing up for beat patrol overtime. The building security personnel had already started to push the onlookers back. A lot of people were pointing and yelling. Some were telling the tiny speck not to jump. That it just wasn't worth it.

One or two wanted to see it happen.

The Bellevue Luxury Apartments was one of the tallest structures in this block of Bastion. If you wanted to make sure you didn't survive the fall, this was the place to do it. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of those buildings with the express elevators seen in the Midtown executive complexes. Nikola shot a sunglassed look to his partner.

"Do you think we'll get up there in time?"

Wolfe had just finished pushing a gawker back before looking up himself. "Not unless your rocket shoe is gassed up."

"I left that in my other foot," he replied. Nikola had lost his right limbs ten years ago. The prosthetics he wore now were repurporsed from a dwarven scout golem. He had worked with one of the dwarves responsible for the injuries a few years later to build attachments in order to help him as a patrol officer. One of these attachments allowed the human to jump higher. However, it was sitting in his locker back at the House.

The cries of the people suddenly became louder as the mystery person began coming down at nine-point-eight meters per second per second. Translation, he had a little help from Gravity. Nikola squeezed the radio again.

"Eleven forty-one at the Bellevue Apartments!" he barked. Ambulance needed. "Everyone get back!" yelled Wolfe.

About halfway down the building, the jumper started to glow blue. Only Nikola could see the aura because of his fake right eye. The dwarves had replaced his real one with the aforementioned golem's in stead of giving him a glass one. The sapphire that now sat in his eye socket was capable of seeing the ebb and flow of magic in an area.

"Something's not right about this."

"Yeah, a man just fell off a roof. Oh," Wolfe said as his partner removed his sunglasses. Nikola always wore them because he didn't like people staring at the gem and scar tissue. "What do you see?"

"I think he's a Shifter." Everyone ducked as the falling man grew wings and screeched like a bird of prey.

"No kiddin'."

The all too familiar sound of glass shattering crescendo-ed down the building. Turned out they would still need that ambulance after all. The officers and the security guards clotheslined the crowd even further back. Shards broke into smaller pieces on the ground. Fortunately, they were all out of the danger zone.

But the young couple exiting the building as the crystal rain fell was not so lucky. "So vandalism and reckless endangerment. Any other charges you can think of? What about assault of a police officer?

"That might be a stretch. I don't think we got cut."

"That's because you have nothing to cut, Tin Man."

Nikola shrugged off the nickname. He didn't care for them, especially because he tried to hide the artificial limbs whenever he could.

~Dispatch to Five-Oh. What's the ten forty-five?~ What's the condition of the patient.

Wolfe took this one. Dispatch, the jumper just turned in a giant hawk and flew away. There are two civilians with possible lacerations from broken windows. We might need a chopper to track down the suspect, and all the traffic cam footage.

~Ten four. Jurisdiction will go over to MHD.~

Nikola jumped in on the chatter. "This is Officer Farnsworth with the MHD, just doing a little overtime on patrol."

~Congratulations, Farnsworth. You just got some Metahuman overtime as well.~

Excellent.

Wearing

The apartment building where Kimber lived, was one of the best in the city of Bastion. She could afford it easily, with her profession. The mute musician stood on the rooftop balcony that she also owned because she owned the entire top floor. Some might call it a penthouse, she believed it was more of a rooftop home than a penthouse. There was an elevator that would only go to her floor with the proper key. She spent more on her apartment than most people made, but it was the only place that she could let her aura go, when she slept, and effect no one.

It was a luxury that thankfully she could afford.

Kimber sighed.

Closing her eyes, she let the wind beat at her hair. Causing the blonde ribbons to snap and play in the breeze like a flag flying on high. The rooftop was one of her most favorite places in the world. Tons of flowers, sprouted here and there due to her excellent care. She found that she adored the small green house where she grew a great number of her own vegetables.

The teal violin in her hands felt comfortable, like an old friend. She sighed, as she placed the violin to her shoulder and closed her eyes. Letting the wind swirl around her, whispering melodies into her mind. The armlet on her upper arm, shimmered in the sunlight of the day as the world went on around her and below her.

Little did she know of the man about to plunge.

The serenade she had been working on came to life. Bringing with it, love, kindness, serenity. The kind of forever love, the ones that songs just like this were written for. But the gasps, cries, and exclaimations from below, surprised her out of her melodic world as she worked her way to the very edge of the roof to see someone falling to his death. Fear struck in her throat, her heart stopped, and she felt as though she too were going to fall as well.

She watched, in terror, as the man plunged, and then began to change. Unbeknownst to her, her hand placed the violin back upon it's perch within her shoulder. And soon, the music accompanied the man. For he was not going to die, she thought, at least, it was not as likely as it had been in the beginning. He was changing. Her keen eyes could not tell into what, until the last moment, but slowly he changed into a bird.

Her music continued to move with the bird, and as he let his wings catch the air and soared over the men and women that were gasping the melody changed, and she smiled. It was perfect, this song, it held with it a great deal of suspense before everything came to the proper resolution. Even as the bird landed in it's perch, the musical prodigy went on.

Jackie couldn't help but notice the mass amount of police officers that were swarmed around the building when he had flew over them... Poor fools, chasing away a poor little bird... "Must hate their jobs..." He thought with a smirk, looking down upon the police officers and the nearby cops didn't seem to take a liking to that.

Someone had been hurt... Well that was... unfortunate. It was only slight cuts, but still. He hadn't intended for people to get hurt, he was just having fun. Dumb people always seemed to get in the way, whether it be his line of work, or his fun... Although for some reason when he had been falling he could have sworn he heard music over the loud commotion. It was... odd. However once he landed and got a good look around he found out the source... a woman, not a bad looking one at that, playing a nice instrument... one very pleasing to his ears. He could barely hear here music, but as he listened.. he wanted to get closer.

However, he could see the movement of the cops, the police were going to look for him... How much fun this was going to be, messing with the police officers of the force. However, they did seem like they were out en force... It wouldn't be wise for him to mess with them at the moment... At least let them disperse a little bit before he truly had his fun.

The hawk hopped down on to the roof, hiding his gaze from any of the police officers, beginning to shift quickly as he felt his bones beginning to snap again. He turned human but didn't stay that way for long. The adrenaline was still pumping through his system, and he was thanking god for it. He turned, keeping his head and face towards the ground as he once against shifted into something smaller, seeing the ground from a much closer view. Tonight was going to be fun, but he might as well enjoy the company of the nice people here...

The songbird flew from the roof, trying to avoid the wayward glances from the police below as he flew over towards the rooftop that the girl was playing on... He didn't know if she had seen him shift, she wouldn't have seen his face and that was all that mattered. For now, he simply took off, landing on the roof next to her, his eyes cocking to the side as he looked up at her, smiling the best a bird could, if that was even possible. The bird jumped twice, singing a gentle song that went very good along with the woman's instrument.

He couldn't help but smirk, the adrenaline was pumping through his veins, and instead of tearing things up, messing with the cops, he was hiding out here with this woman, singing along with her instrument playing. This would be fun. He would truly enjoy today, especially if he got to hang out with someone who seemed so... calm compared to the rest of the world around her.

Wearing

Stepping out of the small bookstore, the breeze caught Kalinda's golden curls and pulled them back from her shoulders. The small bag she clutched in one hand held her latest acquisition, a book of children's fairy tales. Old yes, but she knew some orphans who would love to hear the tales. This was supposed to be her afternoon to herself, of course Kali never could seem to understand the concept of selfishness. Practically every waking moment of her time was devoted to something. Her Practice, the Church, and her million other small projects all dedicated to try and make the city a better place for everyone. So instead of taking some time to relax, she was out shopping for the perfect touches to donate to her favorite Orphanage.

A commotion around her caught her attention and she turned her dark eyes to the people nearest her, trying to figure out what was going on. As a few of them were pointing up and exclaimed in shock and horror, she turned her gaze in the direction they were gesturing. A sharp inhale of breath pulled through her lips as her free hand shot to her mouth. The echoes of her shock rippled through the crowd around her as she momentarily lost control of her empathic abilities. She realized what she'd done and quickly pulled it back, sending out a wave of calming energy that helped to quiet the panicking crowd. That was until the person on the roof allowed himself to fall free of the building. Her aura could do nothing for the panic that fled through the crowd so she didn't waste her energy.

Thankfully there were already police officers on site, though none of them were prepared for the male to suddenly shift into a large hawk and fly off over the crowd. As the glass rained down from the shattered windows, Kalinda knew that her day had just begun. Stepping forward out of the crowd, she stepped up to one of the officers who was calling for an Ambulance. "An Ambulance will not be necessary gentlemen, I can heal their superficial cuts." While healing held it's dangers, such small things as this she could at least stop their bleeding and make sure they were alright. Should the officers try to refuse her, Kalinda would close her dark eyes for moment and allow Aurora to come forward.

It was an odd sensation, and one that was hard to describe. She shared control of her body with a Celestial being, and when Aurora took over, Kalinda felt like she was simply along for the ride. Seeing everything Aurora did, hearing what she said, but not knowing what Aurora was thinking. She was simply an observer in an odd television program. As Aurora took control, the flesh beneath her clothing would begin to glow with a warm golden light. The light would lift up out of her clothing to form three pairs of large golden wings sprouting from her back. When she opened her eyes again, the dark brown would have given way to a vibrant blue. "Trust me officers..let me help."

Nikola could have sworn he felt the ebb and flow of various emotions pulse around him. Then again, he was standing among a crowd that wasn't used to seeing this kind of thing. The cop pushed the feelings back and returned to the present.

"An Ambulance will not be necessary gentlemen, I can heal their superficial cuts."

The copper looked over to see a rather attractive woman stepped up to them. He couldn't take it back. [i]"It was coming anyway because of the situation."[i] Nikola furrowed a brow as the woman closed her eyes for a moment. The way she did it was almost as though a secondary personality had taken over. That might not be a good thing. His jewel of an eye wouldn't register either a psychiatric condition or a Celestial/Fiendish inhabitation, as there was no mana flow to reveal its presence.

"Trust me officers..let me help."

Wolfe turned to his partner. It was now Nikola's case as the resident Metahuman Crimes officer. The bus would be here soon enough. "By all means, Miss ---," he left the statement open for when he'd have to do the report.

"Wolfe, you organize down here. It looked like our POI went back to the roof. I'll see if I can find any trace of him."

The other officer started taking statements from the crowd. Nikola headed inside the apartment complex. If there was a receptionist, he or she was not in the lobby. That would mean any security footage would have to wait till later. He slipped into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

{Wait. Isn't there another level?}

Too late. The doors had already closed and the car had gone up. Nikola would have to find the fire escape that would lead to the penthouse suites. He exited the elevator and located the stairs.

"Time to work off that bear claw." Nikola trudged up a flight. Unfortunately for him, the door was locked from the well. This was probably so that the other tenants couldn't bother the musician. But he needed to get in there. "I think I have probable cause for this. Would have been easier with my boot, thought." The cop had a specialized armor piece that went around his leg. He could channel some mana into the heel to kick down a door.

His prosthetic shoulder was durable enough to do the trick. Nikola would have the superintendent send him the bill alter on. Or just have it part of the insurance claim. There were a bunch of windows to replace, after all. Nikola was surprised to see only one apartment on the floor. Whoever lived here must be doing rather well for themselves. He technically didn't have probable cause to kick down that door.

So he knocked rather loudly and announced himself. "This is Officer Farnsworth of the Bastion Police Department. Is anyone home?" He'd give the owner a small amount of time before trying to jimmy the door. His metal fist against the door should have made a large clatter to begin with.

Kimber stopped playing for a moment, and walked to the edge of the building. Looking over her vast thick railing into the maelstrom below. It was a mess of people. Far below her, screaming, wailing, calling out in surprise. It was intriguing. She had no idea why the man had fallen. However, the thought of an adreneline rush came to her mind. Since he had not plumeted to his death.

That or attention craving.

She bit her lower lip as she stepped back away from the edge and poised her violin on her shoulder again. She began to play. Toying with the song. Tweaking it here and there, to capture the emotions of the moment better than before. It was nearly time, for her to work on a new musical drive. Something to sell to the people that wanted an experience that was outside just notes from a speaker.

She continued to play, enjoying the breeze of the cool day and the sound of the violin as it did everything it could to power through the wind to reach her ears. There was a small bird. Tiny, and singing, and Kimber could not help but smile at the little bird that was so much more than a bird. Not that she had seen him change into a human, she had not. But even still, he was matching her melody perfectly.

She stopped playing a couple minutes later having no idea of the police man that was trying desperatly to get up to her apartment on the top floor. She owned it, the entire floor because when she slept she let her aura go, and if people were too close they would be silenced.

Placing her violin within her case she silently snapped the case shut and moved over to the small little song bird that sat there with his big breast puffed out in pride. She reached out with her tiny fingers, he stayed there, which shocked her. As silent as she was, birds almost never let her touch them. Just as her fingers brushed the feathers on his breast a knock sounded at the door. Motioning with a finger, she seemed to say 'hold that thought' and headed towards her apartment leaving the doors to her balcony wide open.

Just as the Officer was starting to mess with her door knob she turned on the camera outside her door to see who it was.

[Who is calling?] asked a mechanical computer voice from the wall. The sound was female, the words flowed well, but they were not Kimber's own obviously. Upon hearing the answer, she unlocked the door and opened it to see the man standing there. She tilted her head to the side and picked up a small device on the table beside the door and began to type into it quickly.

[What can I help you with, Officer?] asked the device from a speaker that was still on the table.

Jackie had allowed the woman to reach forward, feeling the gentle touch of her fingers. It was very hard to calm the bird's natural instinct of flight when presented with touch, it felt so skittish and fragile this almost never happened. All it would take was a slight twist of her wrist to end his life, but it didn't matter. She seemed of the gentle sorts, something he could very well identify with. However, his specific line of work disagreed with who he was, but it didn't matter. It was his life now, so he would just make due.

But for now he sung with her, trying to ignore the chaos all around them as he enjoyed the melodious sounds of this single woman, she was definitely good with her instrument, and she seemed to have guessed he was different. However, then came the loud banging at the door, and Jackie's song instantly stopped. The instinct in him told him to fly, but there was no reason too... He could always escape if he needed to... but hopefully that wouldn't be necessary, he wasn't the hawk anymore...

He stepped to the edge as the woman walked away, looking over for a second. That's when he spotted the woman with wings... Well this would get interesting. An angel perhaps? Whatever she was, she would prove an issue if Jackie tried to flee, he had to be careful because of her. However, he couldn't just leave the woman, he wanted to stay and sing with her some more, the bird within was asking something else... He gently flapped his wings once, before taking off and slowly hovering above the girl, looking down at the cop from before who now was looking him dead in the eye.

He gently landed on her shoulder, cooing and brushing up against the side of the girl, a few notes escaping the songbird's beak. Today would be interesting... What would this police officer do?

"My name is Aurora, and I'm far too old to be called miss." She wrinkled her nose at him as she smiled and then she strode past him to her new patients. As she moved close to them she sent out a wave of calming emotions, to keep them from freaking out at her presence as well as the situation at hand. She introduced herself, and told them to hold still a moment. Reaching out she placed a hand on each of their faces. A golden glow seemed to ooze from her flesh and into theirs, for them it would be accompanied by a warm tingling sensation that flowed through the bodies, healing the small wounds. Though it seemed the young woman had another problem. Once she removed her hands, she made sure to look the female in the eye. "You need to see a doctor, as I healed you, I felt an illness within you that I do not have the power to stop. I cannot tell you for sure what it is but you must get it tended to immediately." She made sure to pair her words with small feelings of urgency but careful not that they didn't spread into panic.

Once she was sure they were well taken care of, she turned her attention upwards. This was not her battle, as if any battle could rightfully be called hers. Aurora was not a fighter, she was a healer, an observer. She had done all she could do, but she knew she could not yet leave. The perpetrator could fly, and that meant she might be needed, if in ways she might not be entirely prepared for. Flight was the one gift she was glad to finally have back. Kalinda had given her so much, she doubted she could ever repay the girl for all she'd done. She also knew that she couldn't just leave, most likely one of these officers would like to ask her a few questions once this was over. So for now she would stay, putting out as much calming emotion as she could to the crowd that had gathered and even doing her best to send them away. This show was over, and there was work to be done.

"My name is Aurora, and I'm far too old to be called miss." She wrinkled her nose at Nikola as she smiled and then she strode past him to her new patients. He didn't think she was too old, but there were more important things to take care of at the moment.

*

[Who is calling?] asked a mechanical computer voice from the wall. Nikola cocked a brow at the synthesizer. That was a first.

The officer introduced himself. He heard the door unlock and watched it swing open. An attractive blonde stood before him with a tablet in hand. She appeared to type something before the synthesizer spoke again. [What can I help you with, Officer?]

Nikola felt a bit more at ease around the tenant. He usually related to the 'disabled' better than the so-called normal people. That allowed him to lower his sunglasses for the more personal approach. The lens also filtered the arcane sight bestowed to him by the sapphire. He didn't expect the powerful aura surrounding her. For all he knew, that tiny bird on her shoulder was the one responsible for all this and any aura of its own brought on by the transformation was washed out by Kimber's.

But wasn't the jumper now a hawk?

"Did you happen to see anyone outside your apartment not too long ago?' Nikola could see the patio from the front door. He thought it might have provided a good view of the jumper's perch. Surely she heard all the commotion from the street. "Maybe a neighbor out on their porch a little too far out?" He didn't want to startle the occupant if she had missed the whole thing? He also had no idea Kimber owned the entire floor.

The cop found it odd how that tiny bird sat on her shoulder. It looked like one of the sparrows on the street that jump whenever someone stepped too close. Ockham's razor suggested it was a pet. His MetaHuman Crimes training considered she had some sort of animal handling ability. Or perhaps the Shifter had more than one form? There were too many variables. At least if Kimber was able to provide a description of the human side, Nikola could have a composite rendered for his report.

It was an officer.

Thus, Kimber opened the door. The little songbird perched on her shoulder, beside her soft wheat colored hair. Kimber was a very gentle girl. She was also the kind that put spiders in the garden on her terrace when she found them outside, she always had birdfeeders, and hummingbird feeders. She had a fountain for bird baths, and she had a great deal of various plants and flowers not all of which were edible.

The man asked about if she had seen anything a few minutes ago. She chewed on her lower lip. She wished that she had an interpreter on staff at all times, just incase of situations like this. But, she was sadly, used to typing out her information.

[Yes. A man jumped. I saw him fall. Then he was a bird. There was a building damaged. I lost track of him over the crowd.] the synthesized voice said once the girls' nimble fingers were done typing.

She watched him as he listened to her message. She had lovely crystaline blue eyes, but she was entirely silent. Not even her fingers tapping away on the screen of the device in her hand made a sound, and the little bird on her shoulder too could make no sound. Because he was touching her, her aura engulfed him silencing him completely.

She listened to the man's question.

[I do not have neighbors. It is just me.]

She shrugged, it was true. It was important that she was able to let go of her aura when she slept. Or rather, it was just how it was. She couldn't control her aura in her sleep and if people were around her they would be silenced. And she couldn't have that, people could get hurt, attacked, or any number of things and no one would ever hear them all because Kimber decided to nap. So while it cost a fortune, it was vastly important.

[Do you need to come see the balcony, sir?] Kimber typed again. Trying to be as accomodating as she possibly could.