<span style="color: #BFFF40"><span style="font-weight: bold">The Office of Dr. Julien Summerfield:</span></span><br/><br/>Jess had kept her eyes on both Julien and Carly while she spoke, watching for any sign, any signal that would spell the end of a purely verbal exchange. Carly continued to remain inert and apparently dead to the world, whilst Julien remained seated. His expression was composed and distant, but his eyes were glowing red; alert and vigilant. The narrowing of his brow and the dark smirk that passed across his features were the first warning Jess had that time was up. That warning was swiftly followed by the Luker suddenly rising and striding across the room to stand before the mirror. Though the words he spoke next were spoken very softly, Jess could make them out plainly, since the angle he now stood at enabled her to see his reflection in the mirror, allowing her to lip-read. Seven words, but they confirmed all that she suspected:<span style="font-style: italic">"I know where you are, my dear"</span>. As Julien suddenly turned, hurling a blast of wild, crimson energies to the floor in front of him, and disappearing amidst them, Jess swept the rooftops with her keen gaze. He could reappear anywhere! However, the sounds of a void opening, accompanied by a smokey red aura manifesting, soon gave her an exact location. She rose from her position by the skylight, standing to her feet and taking a combat-ready stance just seconds before Julien appeared, rising to stand tall as the piercing red light that had marked his arrival faded.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="color: #BFFF40">Skyscraper Rooftops</span></span><br/><br/>“Have we approached a time of reckoning?” Julien asked, threatening undertones in his voice. He eased up a bit as he studied Jess more closely. “Your kind seems familiar. Perhaps not purely one or the other of what<span style="font-style: italic">I</span>had in mind,” the amethyst beast smirked lightly, before hardening his gaze “how about you enlighten me with what your motives really are before I proceed and plague your very existence?”<br/><br/>Jess noted the darkness and gloom that arrived along with the Lurker. The moonlit tiles were now almost the only source of illumination. The light from street-lamps, which reflected up the sides of buildings did still provide some illumination, but much less than it should have done, far less than mere moments before. The encroaching darkness wasn't her largest concern though. The Lurker's presence seemed to bring with it a more insidious problem. She flexed a hand lightly, experimentally, as Julien spoke, seeking to confirm the suspicion forming in the back of her mind. She was still quick, lively, but the action was fractionally slower than usual. It wasn't that she was tired, or that Julien's presence was draining her but... it was a suppression field. A proverb came to her mind:<span style="font-style: italic"> 'If the axe is dull, more strength is required'</span>. That about summed up the nature of the suppression field Julien exuded. Designed- as far as she could tell- not to leech power, but to blunt it, to cause an opponent to work harder to get the same results- fighting with a blunted edge. It wasn't even that it blunted much, just enough to be noticable, but the effect of having to fight under such an adverse condition over time was a gradual skewing of the odds in Julien's favour, unless she had the stamina, power and endurance to out-last and out fight him. Jess still placed the odds at fifty-fifty, but there was still Carly to consider. Out of the corner of her eye, through the skylight, Jess noticed Carly starting to stir. She hid that observation, keeping her gaze on Julien as she answered his challenge.<br/><br/>"Coming to visit me out of office and dimming the lights?" she remarked, "you do move fast Dr. Summerfileld; makes a girl feel special don'cha know? I don't meet your expectations though? Doctor, doctor, I'd be offended if I weren't your walk-in girl! As for my motives-," she paused dramatically before continuing, "Should I really tell you Doctor? I know you're a respected psychiatrist and all, and of course you'd give me your assurance of client confidentiality. However, you weren't entirely honest with me about your plans, were you Dr. Summerfield? Or do I just call you Julien now you're out of office? So I'm afraid unless you're planning on being more forthcoming with me, I can't be more forthcoming with you- an answer for an answer Dr. Summerfield. Plus, a girl's gotta have her secrets after all! For the moment, suffice it to say doctor, I'm here to waste your time".<br/><br/>Throughout the exchange, Jess kept her eyes on her opponent, watchful for any moves, sudden or subtle, that would suggest an attack. Inwardly, she hoped that Carly had at least had the wherewithal to make a bid for freedom while the going was good. She met Julien's red eyes with a level gaze from her own silver-blue ones as she spoke again. "Plague my existence you said? That's hardly friendly for a first date doctor. Are you sure you don't want to get to know me better first? Perhaps we could chat a little more- or maybe you'd care to dance?"