I do want to add some caution to this chapter. There are hints at violence made that may be uncomfortable to some but I tried to make hints obvious and not overly intrusive.  

Rallying the team together to decide what they wanted for lunch took a lot longer then Noll anticipated. Sure like Mai mentioned they did agree on the location of where they wanted their food from but also like she said the menu was pretty vast in selection. Noll originally planned on settling on the first thing that sounded interesting but when everyone else voiced their indecisiveness he decided to pay more attention to the menu. The first thing he originally would have settled on ended up being his last choice as it turned out.

A few minutes later and he was sure of his decision but the others were still being uncooperative so he took this time to study Mai under the guise of holding the menu before him. Today she wore her hair down and it cascaded in gentle waves against her shoulders. The top she wore was sheer and transparent paired with a camisole trimmed with lace underneath. As his eyes wandered and dipped to the visual hint of cleavage Noll took a breath sharply through his nose and gripped his menu tightly. Because she was seated he couldn't visually appreciate how the flowing floral skirt she wore teased the tops of her knees. Nor could he admire the creamy skin of her calf muscles that were pronounced by the heels she currently wore on her feet. He felt eyes on him and knew he didn't have to look around to see that his brother was most definitely smirking in his direction.

About ten minutes later and the team had finally made their selections. Noll called the order in, giving his credit card number to foot the bill. "So, while we are waiting on the food to arrive why don't you tell us about this case, Oliver."

He thought he had made progress with her over the phone yet she was still being stubborn by calling him Oliver. He wanted to demand she call him by the nickname she had given him but knew that he would get an unsavory reaction from the people seated around the table so he merely gave her a cold look before opening the manilla folder. "The company that hired SPR for this case own several factories and warehouses. There is a set of old ones that they haven't utilized in years because of strange occurrences. There has been reports of several people going missing over the years. Only a handful of people were found again but they were always..." Noll stopped reading. "That will probably ruin our appetites. I'll table that portion for later. But needless to say the company hired SPR to try to determine why these people are missing."

"Is there a spiritual element? I mean so far it sounds more like a crazed maniac on the loose or something." Monk voiced his confusion.

"There was a notation that one of the previous owners would hear things when no one was there. We will have to interview him of course for more details but that is all that is in my file." Other then the gruesome things I feel should be tabled for the moment.

Gene looked at his brother. Do you think that father was vague with his questioning on purpose?

I don't know why he would be inclined to leave his questioning of the subject vague. The only thing to do about it now is get Yasuhara to dig up as much information as he can.

The food finally arrived and the whole team was making pleasant conversation between each other. The meal went on rather slowly for Noll's taste but there was something about the whole scenario that felt calming to him. He gave an annoyed look at Mai outwardly but inwardly he was more content then he would ever let on.

The group was gathering their trash together when the door to the meeting room was opened. Daichi peeked in. "Mai, we have a live one."

Mai's cinnamon eyes widened as she nodded and the whole PRI team began speeding off in different directions. It was as if they had been alerted to some defense condition and all were taking their proper posts.

Noll strode over to Mai. "What is this commotion all about, Mai?"

"Oh," she began to chew on her bottom lip. "Well, I guess you can come with us. That's the easiest way to explain what is going on."

He followed. Daichi, Atsuko, Gene, and Monk were already in the van that Mai led them to outside. He was surprised he didn't notice the lack of his brother in the conference room only moments before. PRI sure did move fast. Monk was in the driver's seat while Daichi was in the passenger seat. The van started, and Daichi began to give verbal directions. It was then that Noll remembered Daichi's ability. He was sensing someone with psychic capabilities in trouble in the vicinity. Wait, isn't it just a child with psychic abilities he can sense? Noll would never openly admit it but he was a bit confused. He was about to formulate a round of questions for the answers his brain was not able to make on its own when suddenly they were stopping the van at the mouth of a litter riddled alleyway. He would have hated to admit his confusion aloud and the fact that the van had suddenly stopped saved him from that possible humiliation.

Daichi ran down the direction toward the alleyway and everyone else followed. It was only a few feet further in between the two buildings where they found two people.

One was a young woman, she was leaning against a wall beside a trash dumpster. The stockings she wore were torn, and the gauzy material was practically nonexistent anymore, only scraps that fell from her knees downward remained. The dress she wore was torn in places at her chest and the bottom had jagged places where it had been ripped. There was noticeable bruising on her arms and legs.

The other body was that of an unconscious man. Monk checked on his body but the rest of the team didn't pay him much mind. It was quite obvious from the evidence in front of them what the man had been inflicting upon the tattered woman before them.

When the woman in question finally noticed the strangers around her she cowered. Atsuko and Mai looked at the male members with them. In their eyes was an unwritten plea that the male members understood immediately. The men backed off so the women could handle it. "Shh, you are okay now." Atsuko attempted to reassure her. She turned to Mai. "She's not terrified only of the men. She's terrified of herself. She's terrified of what she did, and what she is capable of."

Mai touched the woman gently on the arm. "From the visual evidence in front of me I can tell what that man tried to do to you. I won't make you relive that. But, can you tell me how you stopped him?" The woman's eyes turned to Mai. They were a bright vibrant bluish-green and they were quite panicked. "No, it's okay. I won't judge you. You won't scare me. I am already aware that you have some sort of psychic ability. I just want to know what it is so we know how to help you." When the woman looked even more confused Mai took a breath. "Perhaps I should start over by introducing myself. My name is Taniyama Mai. I run a company called Psychic Research Investigators, or PRI for short. I'm a bit precognitive, retrocognitive, and I have also demonstrated the ability to astral project."

Noll would have argued how she was demeaning what she did by saying it in so few terms. But it was obvious she was only trying to save time to get the information that was needed from the girl in front of him. Noll realized that the way she was handling the situation was the way he should have handled introducing his own abilities to the team years ago. But there was nothing to be done of that now. The past laid dormant in the past and all he could do now was make certain he didn't make similar mistakes in the future.

Monk interrupted Mai's conversation with the stranger and Noll's reverie when he stood up from the body he had been scrutinizing. "I think we should call an ambulance for this guy here. But I don't want to be here when the paramedics arrive. Perhaps we should continue our introductions at the office."

Atsuko touched the woman's arm gently. "I promise no harm will come to you. We are only looking out for your best interest." Curiously those lone words had been enough to help the young woman to her feet and escorted into PRI's van.

Once huddled back in the van on the way back to PRI the rest of the group introduced themselves. Of course Noll kept his introduction vague because he was unsure where she would fit in the future as of yet. Plus, he didn't want to overly scare the girl by talking about his PK, at least not without knowing her own abilities first.

Gene of course was enthusiastic to share who he was and his power as a perfect medium. He also let in on the fact that because Noll was his twin the two shared a telepathic link. Noll deliberated with himself on how much sharing that detail bothered him and found he wasn't overly fazed by it. After all it has been scientifically documented that many twins share some enhanced metaphysical link.

The group arrived at PRI and led the stranger to the conference room. Mai left her to prepare tea for everyone. When she came back John had also come in the room and quietly observed from the doorway. Mai was a bit confused by the lack of expression on his face but shrugged it off and refocused on the new person in their midst.

Mai introduced John by name before sitting down beside the scared young woman. "Now that you have been introduced to everyone can you tell us about yourself?"

"I'm Kimura Akane. I...I've been on my own for the past five years. I've been moving from place to place because while I don't intend to I somehow manage to hurt people with this ability I seem to have." Her hands were shaking as she tried to explain this to the people she only just met.

Mai cast a worried eye at Atsuko. "Akane, I'm what you might call an empath. I can feel your worry and your fear. I can also feel your self deprecation. You can't put yourself down so much when all you did was protect yourself. I don't think you need to tell us what brought on your attack but we are curious to know how you attacked him."

"When he..." She took a deep breath. "I kept myself from hurting him. I am so tired of hurting people. But when he ripped my stockings I was filled with anger and fear and I just couldn't help it. I...I somehow pushed my mind into his brain. I focused on the part of the brain that a migraine would form in and I encouraged his brain to immediately inflict the worse possible migraine imaginable. I didn't mean to make him lose consciousness. I honestly feared I had killed him but I couldn't pull myself up from where I fell on the ground to check." A large tremor shook her slight frame. "I didn't want him to touch me again."

From what Noll observed of the scratches healing on her body, and the information she had just provided them he was able to make a hypothesis. So he interrupted the pause in conversation to share his findings. "Your ability is based on a body's metabolism. I am guessing you don't have to eat much to fill full. Also, that you rarely ever get sick, and when you do it lasts for only a day or a few hours. I also imagine that once you feel rested those bruises on your body will disappear. That power is psychometabolism, but somehow you were also able to focus it on another. It is like you combined your psychometabolism with a psychokinetic ability. The first is quite rare. The second I am not sure I have heard of."

"Do you think she could learn to control her abilities?" Mai asked Naru.

"I don't see why not. Honestly her psychometabolism she seems to already have a grasp on. If I had inflicted a similar kind of psychokinetic attack upon someone I would surely be in the hospital but because of her own healing abilities that doesn't seem to be an issue. I believe it's only her psychokinesis psychometabolism attacks that require some training. I am sure Lin wouldn't mind."

Mai looked up at Naru. Her expression was asking without words. What about you? But she didn't verbalize it. Instead she turned back to Akane. "Let's get you comfortable. You should fit into my clothing. You can take a shower and I'll let you sleep..."

John interrupted. "She can sleep on my bed. I'll take the couch in the recreation room."

Akane looked at John. "Oh no, you don't have to do that."

"Don't you worry yourself about that. It will make me feel helpful. I haven't truthfully felt that way in awhile." His blue eyes smiled down at her.

Akane nearly asked why not. But realized it was none of her business. These people around her were doing so much for her. She didn't feel like they were pitying her, nor did it feel like charity. No, she somehow knew they were all doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.

"Since you have nowhere to go we will get something more permanent set up at a later date. We definitely have plenty of apartment space on the top floor."

John felt so strange in the moment that the broken woman was brought in. His own self deprecation was pushed back to the recesses of his mind like they no longer mattered. All that mattered in that moment was making sure she was taken care of. He had volunteered his bed without a single thought. But once the words were out he realized how right they felt.

He also realized how thankful he was that she hadn't been hurt. The group that came back with her in tow hadn't really said much about the situation they found her in. But judging from the purplish bruises in the shape of fingerprints, the scratches on her legs that were already healing, and from her tattered remnants of her clothing John could easily guess what had occurred.

He was quite thankful to hear how she was able to take care of herself. He found himself relieved to hear that unlike how Oliver would become hospitalized with his gifts, Akane had little to no fear in that regard. It relieved some tension that built around his chest he was unaware had even settled there.

John did have an inkling of worry that the team would offer her a position and want her to learn to heal other people. It wasn't that he wasn't supportive of the idea to help his friends in this matter. But his mind immediately conjured her up in situations where she would have to heal on the fly, and those situations were always dangerous. Something about putting this woman in harm's way didn't sit right in his stomach.

He eventually put all his worries on the back burner in his mind. His mind began to take inventory of how things had drastically changed in a small fraction of time. They had changed when he looked directly into her bluish-green eyes. Because somehow regardless of her predicament and what she had been through in her eyes he saw hope. Perhaps this woman that had fallen into their laps was somehow his saving grace, or better yet his own personal miracle.