2012-08-21 Nothing can stop the Caitlinnaut!

Tuesday night on the street. Wall street that is. The sun has just gone down, and the powers that

be are leaving the skyscrapers and hitting the bars on the lower levels to blow off a little

steam, or are heading out to the burbs. It's raining tonight. A heavy, fat late summer rain that's

driving people from the streets and slowing traffic up just enough to be really annoying.

The bottom floor of the Wells Fargo building has two interesting things. One, is a classy little

wine bar that is popular with the bankers looking for a quick one before they head home. The other

is a small branch office of the bank itself, long since closed, that serves the banking needs of

the movers and shakers of the area.

Fairchild is huddled underneath the overhang of the Wells Fargo building, trying to ignore the

dirty looks people give her as they rush out to waiting cars. She is wearing an old army jacket,

that is a few sizes too small, over a t-shirt and jeans that look like they came from the local

goodwill. Because they did. Her shoes are mostly duct tape at this point, and she's dripping wet,

trying to avoid the worst of the weather.

It's amazing, sometimes, how regular clothes can conceal one's identity. It's not that Diana's

gone out of her way to hide who she is, but take her out of the Wonder suit and out of anything

remotely Ancient Greek in design, and she's almost unrecognizable. Almost. She's still Diana,

which means she still carries Aphrodite's blessings. But this means that she's just a very

attractive woman, rather than -that- particular woman. She walks down the street without an

umbrella, completely untroubled by the rain. She rather enjoys it, in fact. Sam is in town on another errand--walking back to his truck in the rain. He's not minding it much

either. A little nature is always a good thing. Sure he's getting wet to the skin, but he'll dry.

As he swings past the bank, his 'super sibling senses' pick something up and he turns on his heel.

Sure 'nuff, miserable looking kid there. "Hey," he says to her, keeping his body language relaxed.

"You doin' okay there?" She's not doing anything like okay, but Sam knows better than to suggest

it.

He's not a small guy, but he's definitely not got money and he's got a soft, lazy accent that says

he's from way out of town. And, it's Sam. He's just got that whatever it is that makes him less-

threatening than your average bear.

Caitlin Fairchild blinks a few times and then grins. "Sam right? Sammy Gummie or something like

that?" she asks, making her way over a bit and extending a hand. "We met that time the power went

out and everything went crazy." She huddles against the rain a bit more, and is soaking wet, but

seems no worse for the wear. New...ish...outfit though.

It's then that there is a huge crack of thunder from up above. An odd sounding crack of thunder.

Less like thunder and more like someone punched a hole into a steel vault and then ripped the door

of the hinges with brute strength.

People on the street, including Caitlin, all seem to flinch of the thunder sound and the few

stragglers that are left decide that's the time to get off the street. Save for a few headlights,

the streets could be empty. Then the sound of shattering glass as huge steel safe door comes

flying out of the window and starts to skip and hop its way across the street. "COMPUTERS!" comes

a massive sounding male voice. "WHERE IS THE DAMN MONEY!!!!"

Wonder Woman is one of those people standing still rather than running. Still in 'disguise'

(mostly black slacks, flats, a blouse, and a jacket) she runs forward, towards the noise, just in

time to see the huge safe comes flying out of the window. "Well. There goes my quiet night." No

regrets though. She'd rather be here to confront this than anywhere else right now. Sam remembers her now. He just wasn't looking too closely at the time. There were too many young

ladies with torn clothes that night and he was trying quite studiously not to focus anywhere too

much. Place was a minefield, and it wasn't the riots that were the problem.

"Right, Cait..." Sam's just shaking her hand when the outburst comes. He doesn't flinch as the

glass shatters but he does drop Caitlin's hand. With one hand, he raises a shimmering shield to

shelter people from falling glass and he extends his other hand, shooting a ray of gold through

the rain that expands into a curved shield to stop the safe door in its tracks.

The safe door comes to a halt, and falls flat to the street thanks to Cannonball's shield, and the

few people around are protected from the falling glass by the same. From the shattered opening, a

huge hulking form steps through. Wearing a dull red armor, with a dome helmet, this 12 foot tall

massive behemoth leaps from the 5th story to land on the street, sending massive cracks through

the cement. A taxi nearly careens right into the man, and a casual backhand sends it jumping up

the curb and into the stone facade of the bank. "WHERE IS THE MONEY!" he yells again, flexes arms

muscles that are bigger than most steel girders.

Caitlin blinks and looks over. Holy hell. What is it about running into Sam Guthrie that brings

out the crazies. Regular Lois Lane here, folks. "You wanna....or should I?" she thumbs at the

Juggernaut sarcastically a moment, before pulling off her sodden army jacket and tossing it into

the back of Sam's truck.

Wonder Woman looks up. And up. Wow. That is one big angry man. Still, best not look impressed.

Hands go on her hips and she frowns deeply. "They don't keep money on Wall Street," she says,

raising her voice. "Perhaps if you'd done research you'd know that. But since you didn't and

you're here, I'm going to have to ask you to give yourself up." One warning. "And stop terrifying

these poor people." Sam mutters a word or two that would disappoint his Ma as he steps out into the streets. "Y'all

best clear out," he says to the handful of gawkers who're still hanging around. "This could get

ugly."

Hell, it's already ugly. Big, red, and ugly. Sam's tracking Caitlin on the one hand and.. there's

a nice lady looking to get herself squished, if she's average. Sam sizes up her posture and her

tone and files her away under 'less likely to be squished'. Good thing because there are still a

lot of people he needs to look out for. He's pulled up his own shield, a shimmer that covers his

skin. This guy here can hit.

"Beat it princess." the Juggernaut says. He means it as an insult of course, as he almost causally

moves to backhand her while walking forward.

Caitlin has no idea who this rather brave woman is. But a big guy like that? "Lady MOVE!" she

yells, charging forward.

Does Juggernaut know how on the money his declaration of 'princess' is? Probably not, he doesn't

give the impression of being a particularly bright fellow. The casual brush off comes, and Diana

is able to bat it away with both hands. She's still standing and the Juggernaut took a (light)

swat at her. And then Caitlin comes charging to tackle her out of the way; it's unneeded, but oof,

there's the ground. "Thank you, but I was fine..." "Hey. Boyo." Sam is fine with being a target while the girls sort themselves out. He takes off

from the ground in a rush of light at the same time he drops a shield over Juggernaut. He's

positive the girls are both stronger than him--exponentially (learned that word from Doug,

thanks)--so he'll provide a little aggravation and distraction until the ladies can take care of

business. "Over here." He shrinks the shield down uncomfortably tight around the big guy. You paged Cannonball with ‘Mind if I have him shatter the shield?"’ Cannonball pages: Yep. It's got an 8 durability so I'd guess he can punch through with some

effort. It should be irritating, that's all it's meant to do.

The Juggernaut actually looks a little confused as the little raven haired woman bats his strike

away. He glances at his hand, and then to her, and then to his hand, and then Caitlin tackles her.

He starts to laugh as the shield appears, and then growls dangerously. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?!"

he yells, squaring his shoulders and just flexing his arms outward against Sam's shield before

punching it with all the might his frame can muster. The sound is like thunder.

The civilians have all scattered, leaving the street to the four of them as the massive man steps

towards the two ladies just as Caitlin is getting back to her feet. She charges the big man, as he

grins and starts to charge back. They clash for a moment, and the big man plants an straight jab

that Caitlin manages to get both hands in front of. For all the good it does her. The shockwave

the punch creates is visible in the rain as the tall red headed woman goes sailing backwards

through the air to land against a car. Well...more like in a car, as her body rips through the

roof.

Well, no time to remain incognito. Diana stands and draws her sleeves back, revealing the bracers

over her forearms. They cross in front of her, arms forming an X briefly before she starts

spinning, arms hold out from her. Spinspinspin! There's a flash of bright white and the civilian

garb is gone, replaced by the more familiar Wonder Woman costume.

Too late to help Caitlin block the blow, Wonder Woman runs at first and then takes to the air,

grabbing at one of the enormous man's arms before he can try to strike again. "I gave you a

warning. Are you going to listen, or are you going to shout at me some more?" Damn. Sam was right about that lady--nice reveal, too. He's getting better at judging these

things. He didn't expect Caitlin to make a run at the guy solo. He whips past Juggernaut to make

sure Caitlin's okay while keeping an eye on the big guy. "Hey, Cait, you all right?" He's a little

worried about what he's going to find when he looks in the car.

Caitlin groans softly, and sits up, shaking her head. So much for her new(ish) shirt. She sighs as

the rip reveals what's left of her body armor, a green skin tight suit that has been reduced to

pretty much an armored bra held together by duct tape. She waves a little stupidly at Sam before

pushing herself up out of the wreckage. "Not my best move..." she mutters.

Juggernaut has no intention of listening, of course. As Wonder Woman grabs his arm he rolls the

arm closer to his other hand, trying to make a grab with his free hand. "YOU CAN'T STOP ME! I'M

THE JUGGERNAUT !" He doesn't actually say beep. Its just that whatever he was about to say

is cut off as Catilin steps our of the car wreckage, and the car alarm suddenly goes off.

"So I keep hearing." Wonder Woman uses the arm she's 'holding' to (barely) block the incoming

other hand and then twists, aiming a punch at Juggernaut's domed head. She's smaller than him, but

her body possesses obvious strength - but then her strength is magical too, so she is much

stronger than she looks. Unlike Juggernaut, who's massive and looks exactly as strong as he should

be. What is it with people losing their clothing? Sam's grateful that never happens to him. If

Caitlin's up and moving, Sam can get moving as well. He sizes up the big guy and figures that with

the right angle he can come in and take this yahoo off his feet and up. Once the guy's airborne,

he should be easier to wrangle. He pulls up, then waits for an opening to go in.

Juggernaut's strength and size are magical as well. The massive man shakes his head as Wonder

Woman's punch lands square on the helmet, leaving the definite impression of knuckles in the

metal as the man screams in fury. He doesn't stop moving forward however. The man scowls and grabs

an empty car one handed, swinging it at the annoying woman like a giant paddle.

Caitlin starts running back down the street towards the fight, and ducks in low to Wonder Woman's

being high. She plants a shoulder against the big man's knee, as he is mid-step. The move actually

makes the tank of a man stop and wobble a moment. Your likely never to get a better opening on the

Juggernaut than that.

Wonder Woman does not expect that car. She takes the hit and goes soaring much like Caitlin did

moments earlier, hitting a car further down the road with a sickening crunch. She groans and rolls

off the ruined car. No alarm on this one, though. And she tries to stagger to her feet, but

recovery won't be instant. There is one thing in this world Sam does better than nearly anything else. Not quieting crying

babies, not kissing booboos better, not even making hot chocolate for little girls who can't

sleep. Running into things. Hard. As Juggernaut wobbles, Sam dives for the ground right in front

of him like a rocket fired from orbit, breaking the sound barrier in a heartbeat, then pulling up

to catch Juggernaut in a full-body uppercut going full speed.

It's up, up, up...and he's outta here! One of the Juggernauts few weaknesses is having his

momentum used against him, and Sam's shot sends the big man crashing out into the bay where he

hits the water like a...well like a Cannonball.

Caitlin blinks and turns to Sam. "Wow....nice shot Mr. Gummie." she says, before running a hand

through her sodden hair and pulling it out of her face.

She turns and thumbs towards Wonder Woman and starts to trot over. "Holy...you're...I know..." she

stammers, finally get a chance to look at the woman. "Hi." she says at last. Wonder Woman slowly gets to her feet, shaking her head. Ugh. Migraine for a few days, no doubt.

She quickly checks herself over - nothing broken. But by the gods that hurt. A lot. She manages a

smile as Caitlin recognizes her. "Hi," she offers back, offering a hand. "You're a brave young

woman, sticking yourself out there for a stranger." Sam arcs back around to check on everyone else. He's a little bit... shiny. All that impact didn't

get put into the thrust he gave Juggernaut--in case he needed it later--and his batteries are

overflowing. Everyone looks okay, that's good. He comes to a slow landing, quietly, because he's

polite like that. He doesn't want to interrupt the ladies.

Caitlin can't help but fan-girl a moment as she takes the offered hand. "Thank you." she says,

flopping her head forward so that her wet hair covers her face for a moment as she blushes a

little. 'I was just called brave by /the/ Wonder Woman!' she thinks to herself. "Thanks." she says

again, still shaking the hand and then blushing when she realizes she is still shaking it and lets

it go a little awkwardly. "Umm...Hi." she starts over. "I'm Caitlin Fairchild." she says, as if

that explains everything.

Wonder Woman smiles once more at Caitlin, and then at Sam. "Both of you were brave. It's good to

see people act to help and protect others." It gives her hope that the Amazon mission isn't

pointless. Her handshake is firm as one might expect. "A pleasure to meet you, Caitlin." She waits

for Sam to approach before offering him a hand, and a thank you as well. "That was impressive,"

she says, gesturing to show what she means - by the loop she draws out, flying and knocking

Juggernaut off into the air, apparently. "Are you both all right?" "Just fine, thanks, ma'am," Sam says, shaking Wonder Woman's hand. "Sam Guthrie. Just doin' what I

do." He turns to Caitlin, then. "I've got somethin' dry in my truck you can throw on there, Cait."

Poor girl's almost in pieces. "And this time, maybe you'll let me give you a hand. Least a ride

somewhere. Be right back." He ducks off to retrieve Caitlin's jacket and a warm flannel jacket of

his own he keeps behind the seat.

Caitlin fingers the rip in her shirt and grins. "Nothing a little duct tape wont fix." she says,

looking a little sheepish at the put together Wonder Woman. She watches Sam leave and blinks a

second. "Oh, Guthrie. Not Gummie." she says softly.

Wonder Woman looks over Caitlin's clothing for a moment as Sam fetches a jacket. "I apologize if I

sound too forward, Caitlin," she begins, "But... you know who I am. My sisters maintain an embassy

not far from here. If you have a need for anything, you're welcome to come." How many interviews,

how many papers, have run stories about the Amazons and their desire to help the community around

them? "We have a few young women staying with us." Sam makes it back with Caitlin's old, sodden jacket and drapes his warm, dry one around her

shoulders. "If you'll forgive me sayin', Caitlin, you look like you could use a little looking

after," he says gently. "No shame in it, only that it took this long for someone to get the offer

to you. I'm sure you'd be real safe there." Whatever she's ducking--and Sam can think of a list,

some of the options might even be close to the truth--he's pretty sure she'd be better there than

under a bridge. "If you don't want to go, least let me give you some money and a ride somewhere

you can be dry."

Caitlin blushes a little at the offer and stammers a little more. "Umm...I don't wanna get you in

trouble." She says, shaking her head at the offer and running her fingers through her rain soaked

hair in the process. "I do appreciate it."

Caitlin looks up at the sky a moment, blinking against the rain before looking at the two.

Okay...not likely going to be comfortable sleeping much of anywhere outdoors tonight. "Your

embassy...it's like another country right? It has diplomatic immunity?" she asks, smiling at Sam

and taking the warm coat with a soft sigh. "Thanks." she mumbles, looking down. Wonder Woman nods. "Yes. By the laws of this country it's technically the soil of my homeland,

Themyscira." Diana looks upwards at the falling rain. "And Sam would be welcome to visit you at

any time," she adds. "Do you need asylum, Caitlin? Is that why you ask?" "You tell her what you need." Sam's seen enough kids come to Xavier's like this, this scared and

with damn good reason. He'd give her a hug if he didn't know perfectly well it wasn't welcome from

most kids, not at the start. "If you're runnin' from something, and you're too quick to help

others out for it to be anything bad, then you take what you can to be safe. You deserve to be

safe, Caitlin. Everyone does, but most of all those who don't think they have a hope of getting

there."

"Yeah...I could use a place to shake the....ummmm." Caitlin trails off, and looks around a second.

"I suppose I should be honest. The C.I.A. is after me, and I don't wanna get anyone in trouble. I

was thinking about skipping town again anyway...but some new clothes and a hot shower would be..."

she trails off again before smiling. "Awesome."

She turns to Sam and nods her head in agreement. "You may be right Mr. Guthrie. Maybe a day or

two?" she offers to Wonder Woman. "And then I'll be off. Like I said, I don't want to get anyone

who helps me in trouble."

Wonder Woman shakes her head. "A day or two? I won't hear of it." She smiles. "You won't get me

into trouble, Caitlin. I promise. If it's asylum you want, then you will have it." No doubt her

liaison will be on her case for this, but well. It's the right thing to do. "Come on, let's get

you out of the rain..." "Go on." Sam gives Caitlin a reassuring little pat on the shoulder. "Here." He pulls out his

wallet and a pen from his pocket, scrawls his phone number and email on the back of a pizza

receipt. "You call me if you need anything from me. I can be there in no time. Meanwhile I gotta

get back, do some dishes, tell some stories, see the little kids to bed." He offers his hand to

Wonder Woman again. "Really nice to meet you, ma'am. Thanks so much for everything."

Caitlin takes the receipt and nods her head. "I will Mr. Guthrie. Thanks." she says softly, more

than a little overwhelmed at the generosity of these two. She puts the number into the jacket

pocket and gives Sam a weak smile before she turns back to Wonder Woman. "Then...it's asylum I

want, Ms...Woman?..Thank you." she says, moving to follow Wonder Woman. "Thank you." she repeats

again, wiping a bit of rain from her eyes with the back of her hand.