It was a warm, humid night. The streets were crowded, but nothing stood out as what we were looking for. I took a turn down a dark, narrow brick street made narrower by the cars parked along both sides. Saw several figures there in the dimness, recognized the way they moved and casually thumbed the panic button on my phone.
    "Hey, chick-chick-chickee...." one of them crooned; I heard someone behind me as well.
    Perfect.
    "So whatcha doing here, chica?"
    "Leaving," I muttered, glancing back. Two back there, four ahead. I looked for cats, spotted a small aura crouched near a tire farther down the street. I stooped and found a loose chunk of brick. Now to keep them from running before my backup could arrive....
    Fortunately, they seemed pretty intent.
    "You don't look like you're normally in this neighborhood, you lost?" the guy continued slyly.
    "Ooh, she's got a rock," another one remarked.
    I chucked it at the cat; square hit. It yowled and skedaddled.
    "Lady, you got the worst pitching arm I ever seen," one of the human Alley Cats sniggered. They were closing in around me at that point, herding me deeper into the alley. I didn't particularly want witnesses either. One grabbed my arm harshly.
    A little more than a year ago I would have been justifiably panicking at this point. Now, while my fight-or-flight reflexes were definitely working, I mostly felt annoyed.
    Phoenix Talon appeared at the end of the street, took a running leap onto a car and off that into their midst, and fired off a pinburst of light, using his mirrors to direct the light into the gangers' eyes. One of the Cats was blinded, and the rest cringed away, surprised.
    I put my shield up, forcing the Cat's hand off my arm. He jumped back with an expression of dawning realization. "Oh no!"
    "Oh, yes," Talon grinned ferally. He punched one square; the kid fell and didn't get back up.
    Scott reached out from a storm grating with a vastly long psuedopod and smacked an Alley Cat with it, then withdrew into hiding.
    "Ow! They're everywhere!"
    Thunderbolt appeared, took a moment to assess the situation, and took out the two who had blocked the end of the alley with a couple of precise strikes. [Josh finally gets good rolls!]
    There were two nonblinded Alley Cats near me. Their escape was cut off by my teammates.
    "You guys could make this really easy and just give up," I invited. Loyalty prevailed over good sense; they were reaching for their guns. I flipped mental switches in the one on my right, and he slumped to the ground. "Now will you put the damn gun away?" I asked the remaining Cat.
    He fired three times. I looked at him patiently. He looked at his gun, puzzled and a bit panicky now as the bullets glanced off my shield. He tried again, jerking the trigger convulsively. Click.
    "Did you not hear me?" I asked when my ears had stopped ringing. God, I hate getting shot at—there's always a chance that my concentration will waver at the wrong time—but I'd be damned if I was going to let this little punk make me nervous. "Put the gun down, and I won't let Phoenix Talon hurt you."
    "She can't back that up," Talon growled.
    He was too slow in making up his mind. Phoenix Talon grabbed his wrist and made him pistol-whip himself.
    "I can see!" The one Talon had blinded recovered. He looked around and tried to make a break for it. He didn't get far before he foolishly looked back and saw Thunderbolt's fist descending on him.
    I glanced around to see if any more cats had turned up; nope. I called Reilly to request an unmarked car to pick them up, in hopes of keeping our little action out of Tybalt's hearing as long as possible.
    Phoenix Talon kneeled on the one I put to sleep. "Which one of you is in charge?"
    "What?" was the groggy reply.
    Talon got off and hauled him upright. "Which one?"
    "Uh... he was?" He pointed at the one who had tried to shoot me; it was pretty obvious he was lying.
    "We're gonna take both of these guys and see Albert."
    "Uh, no, Phoenix," I informed him.
    "That was the whole point of this raid," he protested.
    "The cops are on their way," I pointed out.
    He nodded. "Right. We'll let 'em book 'em all, then we'll take two of them over to Albert."
    I sighed. "Maybe we could just have Albert meet us at the station."
    "No, we're doing this in private," he insisted.
    "Phoenix Talon, if Reilly releases these guys into your custody, he's stupider than I think."
    He smiled grimly. "There won't be a mark on them."

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