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Shay stared intently at the door. "Ty, could you go let Alan in?"

"What are you going to be doing?" He asked with worry in his voice.

"I'm going to see what's in there."

Imani crossed her arms. "And just what do you hope to gain from that? It's been a really messed up day, I really think you'd be better off just forgetting that today even happened-"

"But it did happen and a man is dead. Maybe there are clues inside this room."

"This isn't CSI, Shay. We need to leave this alone before we get mixed up in whatever it was that got him in trouble." She shot back.

"I didn't ask for your help. My intuition is telling me I need to see what's behind this door."

"And my intuition is saying to walk away."

"With or without you, Imani." Shay said firmly.

Tyrese stared between the two for a tense moment.

Imani sighed. "Ty, you better go let Bird-boy in."

Shay shook her head before testing the handle. "He didn't even lock it."

Imani frowned. "I never get to bust down doors."

Shay waited for Tyrese to get inside their own apartment before opening the door.  The scent of cannabis greeted them first. Shay pulled her collar over her nose as she groped around for the light switch.  With a flick of her finger she bathed the room in light reveling a forest of a room. There were plants from floor to ceiling; most were marijuana.

"Oooohhh," Imani drug out as she stepped inside. "Greenthumb, I get it."

Shay looked around, amongst the green foliage were nestled little yellow notes.

"What was this guy's deal with plants and post-its?" Imani asked.

Shay picked up a few reading them off. "No clothes left do laundry. Buy food.  Milk is bad don't drink. " She got to the last one and paused. "Neighbors gave you cake, get them something nice..." Shay took a shaking breath. "Maybe I should have just accepted his stupid weed."

Imani took her hands . "Don't do this Shay. He would have just ended up trying to trade that stuff for something else. You heard the bartender, he'd be warned before. You can't help people who won't help themselves. "

The door opened behind them causing both girls to jolt, but it was only Alan attempting to squeeze into the room. "Shay, what are you doing?" He finally unwedged himself tumbling to one knee. He took a brief second to look the room over with a disturbed expression. "We don't need to be meddling with this."

Tyrese examined the door frame. "Who leaves their doors unlocked?"

Shay motioned for them to cover their noses. "Try not to get a secondhand high, you two."

"I don't think it works that way," Tyrese said moving past her "but I'll crack a window."

Alan realizing he'd been ignored crossed his arms and looked around. "I really, really don't think this is a good place to be. What if the killers knew where he lived? If the issue was drugs I don't think they're just going to leave all of these sitting here."

"That's true." Imani said her face tightening. "What if they come here to collect these things?"

"Crap, man." Tyrese called as he forced the window all the way open. "This window was already cracked and it still smells like that in here? And what kind of crazy cracker leaves the fire escape open?"

Imani rubbed her forehead. "I'm serious Shay. If they are willing to kill someone over pot I doubt they are just going to leave all these plants here to rot, they'll figure out where his supply is eventually-"

"Those monsters aren't getting a damn thing." Shay hissed pulling off her glove. She grabbed a fist full of the nearest plant and watched as it darkened and withered. With all the plants growing so close the decay moved through them easily. Stems and leaves collapsed under their own weight opening up the room and revealing furniture that had gone undiscovered minutes before. The plant in Shay hand crumbled away into nothingness. She shook away the last of the debris and carefully slipped her hand back into her glove.
"There, nothing for them to steal-"

"Shay..." Alan yelped pointing toward a corner of the room.

She rushed to his side, her heart nearly stopping in her chest. On the floor, partially covered by dead leaves was a strange bundle wrapped with electrical tape and attached to part of an alarm clock.

"I-is that what I think it is?"

"Fire escape!" Shay shouted. "Get out now!"

Tyrese didn't need any further prodding and scrambled out onto the shaky metal structure.
Shay and Imani were out only moments later, but Alan quickly found himself stuck in the window frame.

"Alan!" Shay gasped darting back to help him. She grabbed him by the wrists and started pulling. "Clamp your wings together!"

"I'm trying!"

"There's no time for this!" Imani snapped shoving Alan back inside. She slammed her forearm into the frame buckling it. She then kicked in the other side widening the hole.
"Try now."

Shay helped him squeeze through the window.  He popped out, just as an explosion rocked the building. The resulting shockwave easily blowing him out of her grip.

"Al!" She screamed.

Imani jerked her down on to the floor of the fire escape just as another bomb exploded .
The metal groaned and creaked as it broke away from the crumbing bricks of the apartment.
"Hold on!" Imani ordered wrapping one around Shay and anchoring them to the metal grate.
The stairs fell away as more explosions rained debris down. There was a crash nearly knocking them from their position, but Imani held fast.

Soon it became quiet except for the terrible ringing in their ears.

Shay coughed and peeped over her shoulder. There was grass only inches away. "You can let go, we're on the ground."

"What?!" Imani said all too loudly.

"Let go!" Shay shouted back.

Imani released her grip letting them both fall back onto the earth. She let out a puff of breath blowing dust into the air.

"Ty? You okay?" She called.

"Mmm'yeah..."

She turned toward his voice to see him still clinging to the stairs.

"Let go, so I can get this thing off of us." Imani said.

Tyrese dropped down into the grass with a thud. With him safely out of the way Imani was able to push the heap of twisted metal up and away. Shay staggered to her feet, her skin stung with a hundred tiny nicks, but she seemed no worse for wear.

"Where's Alan?" Shay asked looking around. She suddenly spotted him lying at the base of a tree. "Alan!" She gasped running to him. "Alan are you alright?!"

His eyes fluttered and he seemed confused. "What?" He frowned. "Did I hit a tree? I think I hit a tree..."

Shay let out a sigh of relief. "You probably did. Are you okay? Is anything hurt?"
"I think I'm-" He shifted and cried out. "Not okay! Not okay!"

Shay fretted unsure how to help, but Imani quickly yanked him to his feet relieving the pressure on his wing. Alan gripped her shoulder tightly.

"That hurts, that hurts." He whimpered through  clenched teeth.

"I imagine so," Imani said knocking his hands away "but watch those claws."

Now that he was upright Shay could see the blood on his feathers and the odd crook to his right wing. "Oh God, it's broken." She reached toward the source of the blood, but he jerked away.

"Don't touch it! Please don't touch it!"

"I'll be careful!" Shay insisted. "I need to see if that's a cut or-" She gently lifted a feather causing both of them to wince. "That's a bone... Oh God..."

Tyrese paced "We're going to have to find a doctor."

"Doctors were the first ones out of here and you know it. We'd be lucky to find a vet." Imani grumbled.

"A healer?" Tyrese asked. "If I can walk through walls surely someone around her got healing powers or something."

Shay rubbed her forehead. "When this first happened that poor woman from down the block searched for weeks for someone to help her sick kid. He died, remember? There is no one around here that can heal!"

"Old Town? Downtown?"  He suggested.

"Both are really dangerous, but we can't just leave him like this-"

Imani cut Shay off, "Well, we need to go somewhere." She pointed to the ruins of their apartment, people from the lower floors were gathering outside. "Several bombs just went off and those people are going to want to point fingers, so the obvious Muslim would like to get out of here."

Tyrese made a face. "Point taken."

Description
Shay stared intently at the door. "Ty, could you go let Alan in?"

"What are you going to be doing?" He asked with worry in his voice.

"I'm going to see what's in there."

Imani crossed her arms. "And just what do you hope to gain from that? It's been a really messed up day, I really think you'd be better off just forgetting that today even happened-"

"But it did happen and a man is dead. Maybe there are clues inside this room."

"This isn't CSI, Shay. We need to leave this alone before we get mixed up in whatever it was that got him in trouble." She shot back.

"I didn't ask for your help. My intuition is telling me I need to see what's behind this door."

"And my intuition is saying to walk away."

"With or without you, Imani." Shay said firmly.

Tyrese stared between the two for a tense moment.

Imani sighed. "Ty, you better go let Bird-boy in."

Shay shook her head before testing the handle. "He didn't even lock it."

Imani frowned. "I never get to bust down doors."

Shay waited for Tyrese to get inside their own apartment before opening the door.  The scent of cannabis greeted them first. Shay pulled her collar over her nose as she groped around for the light switch.  With a flick of her finger she bathed the room in light reveling a forest of a room. There were plants from floor to ceiling; most were marijuana.

"Oooohhh," Imani drug out as she stepped inside. "Greenthumb, I get it."

Shay looked around, amongst the green foliage were nestled little yellow notes.

"What was this guy's deal with plants and post-its?" Imani asked.

Shay picked up a few reading them off. "No clothes left do laundry. Buy food.  Milk is bad don't drink. " She got to the last one and paused. "Neighbors gave you cake, get them something nice..." Shay took a shaking breath. "Maybe I should have just accepted his stupid weed."

Imani took her hands . "Don't do this Shay. He would have just ended up trying to trade that stuff for something else. You heard the bartender, he'd be warned before. You can't help people who won't help themselves. "

The door opened behind them causing both girls to jolt, but it was only Alan attempting to squeeze into the room. "Shay, what are you doing?" He finally unwedged himself tumbling to one knee. He took a brief second to look the room over with a disturbed expression. "We don't need to be meddling with this."

Tyrese examined the door frame. "Who leaves their doors unlocked?"

Shay motioned for them to cover their noses. "Try not to get a secondhand high, you two."

"I don't think it works that way," Tyrese said moving past her "but I'll crack a window."

Alan realizing he'd been ignored crossed his arms and looked around. "I really, really don't think this is a good place to be. What if the killers knew where he lived? If the issue was drugs I don't think they're just going to leave all of these sitting here."

"That's true." Imani said her face tightening. "What if they come here to collect these things?"

"Crap, man." Tyrese called as he forced the window all the way open. "This window was already cracked and it still smells like that in here? And what kind of crazy cracker leaves the fire escape open?"

Imani rubbed her forehead. "I'm serious Shay. If they are willing to kill someone over pot I doubt they are just going to leave all these plants here to rot, they'll figure out where his supply is eventually-"

"Those monsters aren't getting a damn thing." Shay hissed pulling off her glove. She grabbed a fist full of the nearest plant and watched as it darkened and withered. With all the plants growing so close the decay moved through them easily. Stems and leaves collapsed under their own weight opening up the room and revealing furniture that had gone undiscovered minutes before. The plant in Shay hand crumbled away into nothingness. She shook away the last of the debris and carefully slipped her hand back into her glove.
"There, nothing for them to steal-"

"Shay..." Alan yelped pointing toward a corner of the room.

She rushed to his side, her heart nearly stopping in her chest. On the floor, partially covered by dead leaves was a strange bundle wrapped with electrical tape and attached to part of an alarm clock.

"I-is that what I think it is?"

"Fire escape!" Shay shouted. "Get out now!"

Tyrese didn't need any further prodding and scrambled out onto the shaky metal structure.
Shay and Imani were out only moments later, but Alan quickly found himself stuck in the window frame.

"Alan!" Shay gasped darting back to help him. She grabbed him by the wrists and started pulling. "Clamp your wings together!"

"I'm trying!"

"There's no time for this!" Imani snapped shoving Alan back inside. She slammed her forearm into the frame buckling it. She then kicked in the other side widening the hole.
"Try now."

Shay helped him squeeze through the window.  He popped out, just as an explosion rocked the building. The resulting shockwave easily blowing him out of her grip.

"Al!" She screamed.

Imani jerked her down on to the floor of the fire escape just as another bomb exploded .
The metal groaned and creaked as it broke away from the crumbing bricks of the apartment.
"Hold on!" Imani ordered wrapping one around Shay and anchoring them to the metal grate.
The stairs fell away as more explosions rained debris down. There was a crash nearly knocking them from their position, but Imani held fast.

Soon it became quiet except for the terrible ringing in their ears.

Shay coughed and peeped over her shoulder. There was grass only inches away. "You can let go, we're on the ground."

"What?!" Imani said all too loudly.

"Let go!" Shay shouted back.

Imani released her grip letting them both fall back onto the earth. She let out a puff of breath blowing dust into the air.

"Ty? You okay?" She called.

"Mmm'yeah..."

She turned toward his voice to see him still clinging to the stairs.

"Let go, so I can get this thing off of us." Imani said.

Tyrese dropped down into the grass with a thud. With him safely out of the way Imani was able to push the heap of twisted metal up and away. Shay staggered to her feet, her skin stung with a hundred tiny nicks, but she seemed no worse for wear.

"Where's Alan?" Shay asked looking around. She suddenly spotted him lying at the base of a tree. "Alan!" She gasped running to him. "Alan are you alright?!"

His eyes fluttered and he seemed confused. "What?" He frowned. "Did I hit a tree? I think I hit a tree..."

Shay let out a sigh of relief. "You probably did. Are you okay? Is anything hurt?"
"I think I'm-" He shifted and cried out. "Not okay! Not okay!"

Shay fretted unsure how to help, but Imani quickly yanked him to his feet relieving the pressure on his wing. Alan gripped her shoulder tightly.

"That hurts, that hurts." He whimpered through  clenched teeth.

"I imagine so," Imani said knocking his hands away "but watch those claws."

Now that he was upright Shay could see the blood on his feathers and the odd crook to his right wing. "Oh God, it's broken." She reached toward the source of the blood, but he jerked away.

"Don't touch it! Please don't touch it!"

"I'll be careful!" Shay insisted. "I need to see if that's a cut or-" She gently lifted a feather causing both of them to wince. "That's a bone... Oh God..."

Tyrese paced "We're going to have to find a doctor."

"Doctors were the first ones out of here and you know it. We'd be lucky to find a vet." Imani grumbled.

"A healer?" Tyrese asked. "If I can walk through walls surely someone around her got healing powers or something."

Shay rubbed her forehead. "When this first happened that poor woman from down the block searched for weeks for someone to help her sick kid. He died, remember? There is no one around here that can heal!"

"Old Town? Downtown?"  He suggested.

"Both are really dangerous, but we can't just leave him like this-"

Imani cut Shay off, "Well, we need to go somewhere." She pointed to the ruins of their apartment, people from the lower floors were gathering outside. "Several bombs just went off and those people are going to want to point fingers, so the obvious Muslim would like to get out of here."

Tyrese made a face. "Point taken."