Freedom always has a price.
The incursion into the Weapon X facility had resulted in the liberation of its inhabitants - one of them being Evie. During the chaos, she'd managed to slip through the building to a door... a door to the outside. The collar inhibiting her abilities was removed, broken into tiny shards, and Evie was free to use her powers as she wanted. Finally. Fear, panic and the need to flee had her lifting off the ground and flying as fast as she could away from the building. She didn't have any direction in mind, hell, she didn't even know where she was, but she wanted to be away. Far, far away.

She barely paid any attention to the landscape as she passed, merely trying to find a place she could easily lose herself in. A city came into view, one teeming with life and bodies and places easy to disappear into. Landing on a rooftop, she collapsed to her knees. Adrenaline and stubbornness had gotten her this far. She was already weakened from a week with no food - a punishment for disobedience - and needed a moment to catch her breath before attempting to fit in with the bustling bodies down below.

When she'd calmed enough and felt more steady on her feet, she went to the side of the building lined by an alley, making sure the coast was clear as she quickly lowered herself to the ground. She knew she shouldn't use her abilities in public; a fact that had been drilled into her by her handlers for the time when she'd been broken enough to be a useful asset. Landing in the middle of the alley, she leaned back against the brick wall, feeling her heartbeat slow from a thundering roar to something almost normal.

She couldn't believe it. She was free. A strangled sob left her, one she quickly swallowed back down. Now was not the time to fall to pieces. She needed to--

"Well, well, well. Look what the alley cat dragged in. What's the matter, Red? You get a little lost on the way to Grandma's house?"

The voice came from her right, three bodies coming from around the corner of the building and making their way over to her with smiles she recognized all too well. Mean, bullying smiles. Predatory smiles. The guards had worn those smiles. She'd hated them. Looking at the three of them, she pushed off from the wall and turned to walk to the other end of the alley. To the street filled with people that was visible from where she stood. She'd made it five steps before she felt her arm grabbed and she was whirled around, held face-to-face with that leering smile that made her hunch her shoulders out of habit.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you it's bad manners to ignore someone? We asked you a question, Red. And now you've gone and hurt our feelings." He was a bulky, dark haired man, teeth yellowed and eyes cruel as he looked down at her.

The thin blonde with the darting eyes snickered from beside him. "I can think of a few ways she can kiss it and make it all better."

"Great idea, Stan. Whaddya think, Red? Where you wanna kiss first?" One of his hand slid up her arm, cupping the back of her neck.

And Evie had had enough. Enough of the leering. Enough of the mean smiles. Enough of being defenseless. Without the collar, she was anything but, even at low reserves. Her hand came up and grabbed his wrist, an action that had him laughing for a heartbeat before there was a sizzling sound and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Then he was howling, jerking himself away from her and cradling his arm to his chest. "Bitch! Freak bitch!"

The whistle through the air warned her of the pipe aiming for her head, one she stopped halfway to its mark with a thought, turning to glare at the third male, one currently wearing a look of surprised fear. Another mental push, and the man - and his pipe - went flying into the opposite wall, a satisfying crunch as he landed face first, nose gushing blood as he slid down to land in a heap on the ground. The skinny blonde's eyes were darting even more as he hid behind the dark haired thug, tugging and screaming at him to get him to leave. Rage fueled the handful of flame that manifested in her palm, flames that grew bigger as she hurled them at the pair. A scream left her as she stood there, watching them both be enveloped in a pillar of fire, all the rage and fear crawling its way out to make a hideous pained howl.

The fire disappeared abruptly, a wave of dizziness flooding over her as her exhaustion finally began to win out over the adrenaline rush. Backing away from the charred corpses, she stumbled through the debris in the alley, not making it to the corner of the building before she collapsed, watching the world swim in front of her eyes, the colour leeching from it until everything was a blank slate of grey - then there was nothing.