~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Despite the situation, the fact that he had more or less made himself a prisoner, and the fact that practically every time he looked up, 'she' was there glaring at him from somewhere nearby, Raven had to admit that he hadn't quite had so much fun in quite some time. LeShana was such a shrewish, contrary, vile sort of person that if she wasn't so unimaginably beautiful, he doubted that there was a soul on any world who would actually go near her. He was convinced of his opinion shortly after their third meeting, when she had decided it was a smart idea to apply a little exercise to the conversation. He wasn't entirely sure why, knowing his facts to be indisputable, that he still couldn't shake the deeply seeded need to get to know her and ultimately to get closer to her. It was very odd for him to feel that way, making the emotions both deeply troubling and vastly unsettling for him. While he was by no means 'inexperienced' when it came to the delights of relationships, especially those of the opposite sex, his unspoken feelings for Sione had long ago made any relationship unwanted; there was no woman who could quite compare to her in his way of thinking. His deep attraction, therefore, to someone who could nearly drive him to the end of losing his well controlled temper with just a single glaring look was very deeply troubling.
He had not known that the source of many troubling things was, in fact, the group’s leader, until long after he had turned himself over into their care. He had no way of guessing the events of the previous day which had taken place, besides the ones he had been directly involved in. As much as he was troubled over the hubbub about himself, he couldn't help but be flattered that so many were going to considerable lengths over his humble self. Although he joked with no few people about the situation his appearance had caused, in truth, he was very much concerned about the whole situation. It was the first time in his life, after all, that he had caused not only an international incident, but an inter-planetary one. While it was quite an accomplishment for someone who rarely left his apartment, Raven’s perverse sense of humor only carried himself so far before his more noble instincts started to get all out of whack over the heaping piles of problems he had inadvertently caused. Despite his comments to Mr. Montoya about the strong protecting the weak, Raven had known for his whole life that he had almost no inclinations to ever playing the hero. He was not a crusader, not really a protector, certainly not a hero in any of it's forms, and he was most definitely not a leader in any way. If a book were ever written about his life, he would not even be considered a main character, especially when compared to those he knew or had known throughout all the preceding years.
It just so happened that the quickest route away from the area where Raven had been ‘captured‘ by the two men left behind to watch him, passed almost directly through his 'home turf' on their way to the off-site facilities, so Raven had talked them into stopping by his apartment. While he really did want to get some clothes and a few items that would make an extended stay away from home a little more comfortable, the truth of the matter was that he mostly wanted to retrieve the copies of the stolen documents. While he might make up some excuses as to why, the truth was that he was hoping that he might be able to buy a little forgiveness for his dirty trick at the restaurant. Of course, a facility like the one at the Weslyn building was practically stuffed full of official and unofficial documents, that much pretty much went without saying. What Raven had ended up acquiring, however, was not even a common collection of top secret documents. Dr. Ronen had obviously been one of those people who had spent just a little too much time behind the scenes in the worlds of politics and secrets. Raven's invasion of his mind had taught him a great deal about that man, and the people he was fully prepared to betray at some point in the future. All the files Raven had taken were from the good doctor's safe, not his filing cabinets. It had turned out that his efforts to collect talents of all kinds had also provided him with the means and opportunity to collect a spy network of his very own. He had been using those people to locate and steal top secret documents from governments all over the world, including his own, so that he could use his secret collection to blackmail any number of governments and people at some point in the near future, using them to buy his own island somewhere.
While the good 'Dr. Moreau's' plans would not likely workout for him, his one man conspiracy was providing Raven's friends a great deal of protection, and his 'captors' an all too vital source of information. If anything, his troubled and troubling decision to surrender into their custody might have long since become a source of doubts and regrets, had it not been for the fact that all the widely dispersed, twice stolen information was producing a combined reaction of anger and outrage that was if anything more intense than his own reaction to it. As for them, after having been given such a vast source of information across such a vast array of topics, their attitudes towards Raven had quickly turned around, and many of them seemed to be deep in plotting and scheming since much of those files contained the kinds of things those behind the plots would never have wanted that group to see. As for Raven, he wasn't certain of much about them, other than the fact that he trusted their motivations a great deal more than the others who wanted him for their own ends. All of the files had provided him with just enough insight to prompt him into many startling revelations. The biggest revelation was the fact that the group was not of Earth, which had become very clear to him. Where or how they had reached Earth were still questions without answers, but no less so than their ultimate designs for Earth and its' inhabitants. Given the situation that had made them cautious allies, whatever they might be, whom they might be, and wherever they had come from were small concerns to Raven at the time.
Though his concerns would not likely go away any time soon, he doubted that many of his new 'friends' would be forthcoming with all the answers he might wish to ask of them. Fortunately, his extra senses offered many compelling feelings, letting him know that he was not wrong to put his trust in such complete strangers. His arrival had been unannounced, so the previous night had provided him with the first actual, factual clues that he was indeed caught up with people who were not of his world. Many of the people he encountered the first morning did not appear to be human, including one of those people who had been close to LeShana the previous evening. All things considered, including how exotic some of them looked without concealment, Raven couldn't help but feel like he was handling this realization quite well. He certainly hadn't gone screaming into the streets the first time a male bipedal wolf had come into view, nor did he just stare blankly at the many others who could by no means be seen as human.
"And where did all this come from?" LeShana demanded. Raven had already explained this to at least a dozen of the people that swirled in and around him through the course of that first strange day, but it seemed that with LeShana, anything and everything that was even vaguely relating to him would always leave doubt about the facts. Her burning dislike and unhidden contempt for him was clearly displayed in her expression, but that only tweaked his need to further complicate things by giving the same mid-level nastiness right back to her.
"My printer." He snapped in return, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms behind his head as he gave her a smile he knew she hated so very much. The eyes of the other 'Agents' around her all went wide as the sense of great danger bubbled up within her. Most of them backed away, as if to distance themselves from any chance of friendly fire coming in their direction. It was perhaps fortunate that the female something, Solair, elbowed him sharply in the ribs before glaring at him with an unspoken reprimand. ".. when I made these copies of the documents I took from Dr. Ronen's safe." He finally continued. "It seems that he and the Admiral were so excited by my abilities, that he dropped his barriers, and I learned about his plans for widespread blackmail and early retirement."
"You stole them!" LeShana growled angrily at him.
"Well excuse me, Lady, I seem to have a moral blind spot when it comes
to those who would drug and kidnap me just so they can make me one of their toy soldiers!" Raven snapped back at her almost instantly, his own anger only too readily surging up to meet the fiery core he sensed in her. "Next time I'll make sure to ask the bad guy if it's okay for me to steal his stolen blackmail stash."
"And where are the originals?!" She snarled down at him.
"I gave them to a friend who needed them more than I did." He hissed back her.
"YOU WHAT!!?!" She screamed. He was just about the launch up to his feet so that the two of them could have it out once and for all, when one of the agents grabbed LeShana by the arm and pulled her away, even as another grabbed Raven, yanked him to his feet, and forced him to walk in the opposite direction.