The attempted intrusion on her mind caused Sparks' eyes to narrow at the person before her. She wouldn't be able to snatch the Nanocell from him as easily as she thought. Of course<i>she</i>would have to run into a telepath on what was supposed to be a simple mission. Where had this guy come from, anyway? She hadn't heard of any telepaths in the city; that kind of information would have spread like wildfire. But before she could react, a gunshot was fired from behind her.<br/><br/>Sparks whirled to see a bullet floating in the air and several more join it. The mystery man stepped past her in the isle, his hand up and eyes glowing, as the guard's gun exploded and he was lifted into the air. Holy shit! A telepath AND a telekinetic? There wasn't time to ponder this, as the guard came hurling at her through the air while the man shouted that the Nanocell was his. She managed to dodge out of the way just in time, only to see the Nanocell on the guy's back disappear around the corner.<br/><br/>Swearing to herself, she sprinted after him. She caught up quickly in an outer room. The telepath was stopped by four guards, who were all shooting at him. He was obviously concentrating on catching all of the bullets. Assessing the situation and coming to a quick decision, Sparks closed the space between them, slipping her hand underneath the base of his ski mask to touch the skin on his neck. She didn't have control enough over her abilities to be able to target someone while leaving those in close proximity untouched, but by grounding the mystery man to herself though physical touch, she could spare him.<br/><br/>Before he could do much more than flinch away from her touch, she released some of the pent up electrical charge inside her, filling the entire room with small lightning and sparks. The guards all seized as the electricity arced through them and fell to the ground. Unconscious or dead, it didn't much matter. They were no longer a threat. She kept her hand on the stranger until she could sense the remaining charge in the room had dissipated enough for it to be safe. The dissipation wasn't quick enough; she felt herself begin to pull energy from him. Fuck. This is why she didn't like to touch people.<br/><br/>She tried desperately to stop the in-flow of energy from him, but was less than successful, managing only to slow it. She wanted this guy--whoever he was--to be intact. Not only would she likely need his help to get out of here, but he would make a great addition to the Firebrands under Anarchy. Finally, the ambient charge was low enough for her to release him, and she snatched her hand back as if she'd been burned.<br/><br/>Then came the overwhelming wave of memories picked up from the little bit of energy her body had taken from him. She bent over, hands on her knees, as she tried to sort them quickly. It hadn't been a lot of energy, so the memories she had picked up were few and recent. A vision of the bullets wavered in her mind, but from his perspective, not hers. She was running along the hallway, but she wasn't, because now she/he was here, cornered by the four guards. A feeling of desperation as he caught each of the bullets, because he couldn't get himself hurt. Couldn't let anyone find out who he was. That he was...<br/><br/>Sparks looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock. "You're... Headcase? But that's not possible. You're dead." Of course he was dead. The whole city knew that Headcase was dead. He'd been killed last year by Mindbreaker, along with 1,000 other people and one of the city's best Marshals in the Mindbreaker Incident. Sparks had never met Headcase personally, but again, everyone in the city knew who he was, even before his death. A hero to the Metahumans, he fought for justice without selling out to the government or corporations and actually becoming a Marshal. It had been a terrible day when news of his death was announced.<br/><br/>What the hell was he doing here? What did he need a Nanocell for? And how was he still alive?