Adelaide looked up at the man who'd called himself Joseph Rogers and saw him for the first time truly. A look of confusion crossed her elfin face as she tilted her golden blonde head and smiled cooly at him. "Thanks for telling the truth. I would've known either way but I must say it's refreshing." Letting her sunglasses slip back over her large eyes she let a true grin cross her face at the explanation of his mutation. Adelaide had always harbored envy for mutants whose powers were obviously powerful, something explosive that they could defend themselves with. All she had was the gift of reading emotions and if she was real calm and collected she could control them. The young girl could barely remember the last time she felt calm or even slightly collected.
"It's nice to meet you Joe, I think you might be the first person here who has actually talked to me like an adult. I appreciate that." The young parisienne finished as she watched the man control the bluish white energy with a small flick of his hand. Bending down she began to pluck at the small white flowers that dotted the lawn, deftly taking the small flowers and swiftly chaining them together. "They're going to make me start classes soon, you don't happen to be a teacher or anything?" She wondered aloud, thinking it might not be too bad to be stuck in a classroom with someone like Joe. He made her feel safe and she hadn't had that since she was ten years old.
With a sudden gasp she lurched forward violently, the stitches holding her still healing abdomen together tearing as a wave of emotions hurtled down upon her. Adelaide was never quite prepared for this kind of thing and to be honest she could go her whole life without feeling it again, but it did make for an excellent warning signal. "It's just like before." She gasped as she grabbed her middle and climbed to her feet, head whipping about in all directions, trying to pinpoint where the enemy was coming from. "They're coming, Joe. They're here." She managed to say more calmly than she felt before she bolted away like a frightened rabbit.
For a moment the emotions ran rampant through her and it felt as if they would tear her apart before Adelaide settled on a thread of determination and was able to to work her way back to the school, to be evacuated once again. She thought they'd be safe, that's what they said in paris and it had been a lie. Addie had known then that it was a lie but had decided to bathe in the comfort of the words for as long as she could. Now that was all over.
Finding herself face to face with a squadron of unmarked soldiers she froze like a deer in headlights before regaining what little composure she had left. Using her gift to persuade them to see each other as the enemy she watched passively as they massacred each other before escaping into a vehicle with a few others who weren't readily recognizable. Addie didn't know where Jamal was but could only hope that they'd both been as lucky as they were in Paris.
Arriving in Louisiana in a dark mood, Adelaide carefully extracted herself from the car she'd spent way too much time in in the last couple of days. Sore and tired, Adelaide warily wandered away from the majority of the group. Intent on finding a moment's worth of tranquility and perhaps a friendly face, Adelaide took a seat on the veranda and waited to be told what to do. Something she was still having difficulty getting use to.
Anastasia grinned to herself as she waited for George to acknowledge her properly as he usually did, he was just a bit absent-minded perhaps. Some might see it as Anastasia not being important enough to actually register on his radar where she saw it as she was so memorable that it was impossible to imagine the mansion without her presence. Reaching out to take hold of his hand in hers she squeezed softly before tucking her hands back beneath her legs. "An omelet sounds perfect, actually." She replied, Anastasia might have just eaten but her metabolism worked at such a high rate that she was usually consuming one food or another. Why not let her ex-teacher make her second breakfast?
"No, you haven't missed me. I just got back this morning. Technically I'm just supposed to be coming back home but you know us S.H.I.E.L.D., we're never off duty." The tall brunette answered, she knew the reason she was back in the states and not in Russia. They could say it was for her own safety all they wanted but Ana was certain that the fact she was one of their best agents and quite lethal in her own right played quite the part in her assignment here. Things weren't going to remain calm for long and when it finally did boil over, she'd be here. Defending her home and keeping the rest safe. Just like she'd always been taught to.
It was then that the chaos began, first in the kitchen. Orfelina passed out, or fainted and Caelan was back within seconds. Seeing the siblings Ana instantly went in search of her own brother, Eric, knowing that Orfy was safe with Caelan and the rest. Entering into one of the main hallways she was met almost immediately with rapid gunfire catching a bullet to the right
shoulder which was quickly taken care of by her rapid regenerative abilities. Still hurt like hell though. Cursing silently to herself she morphed into a copy of the enemy knowing that it'd be much easier to slip in among them and scatter them to pieces that way. Ana was half-afraid that she'd be mistaken for an enemy combatant but took the pains to mentally blast the fact that she in fact was Anastasia McCoy and not a mutant hunter. Quite the opposite of how she usually worked.
Slipping into their ranks, Anastasia quietly and efficiently took out as many of the intruders as she could. A flash of a knife here, a dropped grenade there, rapid blasts of gunfire filled the air and once again, not for the last time that day, Ana was hit. Growing fatigued she worked her way towards Cat's office, knowing that's where they'd regroup and plan any strategy. Masquerade knew in her heart that the estate was lost, that they'd have to move on if they wanted to keep the ones who were still alive safe.
Covered in dirt and blood, though with no visible wounds Anastasia returned to her normal appearance and listened as Cat gave instructions. Acting like the good little soldier she was, Anastasia grabbed a jeep and filled it with whoever was standing. She hadn't found Eric or Markus and she didn't know if they were alive or dead. It was times like this she wished for telepathy, just so she could reach out and find them if they were still there. Slipping into a cold silence she made her way to Louisiana, to Remy's house, one of her father's oldest friends. Perhaps there she'd find her family and if not...then she'd start planning her attack.
Pulling up to the mansion that was to be their safe haven for now, Ana smiled to herself when she saw she wasn't the first one to arrive. There were others, and that gave her hope. Hopping out of the jeep she began to look around for a familiar face, or at least someone who looked like they knew what was going on. Noticing Ulric stationary in a car she gave him a half-hearted wave, unsure if he was capable of actually having any sort of conversation yet. Moving on, she slowly crept into the house and began to explore. Something Ana had never been shy about doing. Someone had to secure the premises, who better than Masquerade?