Returning Home

[Beta Strike-1 Pheonix]

Ben sat crouched on the corner of an apartment block. His gaze rested on the landscape that was London City. The Shard stood dominantly on the horizon, it's glass surface reflecting the moonlight gently.
"So peaceful...what happened to the world?" He thought to himself curiously. His fingertips gripped the very edge of the wall he was crouched on, his knees pressing against his shoulders. A gentle breeze brushed through his hair, whipping his fringe from his eyes and blowing it back against his skull. The man savoured the kiss of cold air, his mind clearing slightly as he offered a quick thank you to no-one in particular. He looked down from the roof to the ground below. The 6 storey building was old, the walls worn and crumbling in places. The drainpipe he had scaled was barely attached to the wall anymore, the paint giving way to rust. How it had stayed attached while he climbed he'd never know, and now he was distracting himself with making sure nothing was happening in the city below. His skirmish with the Consortium agents the night before still weighed on his mind, his bruises were still dominant on his back, and he worried about the injuries the others had sustained.
"I think it's time I went to check on them..." He decided. He checked his knife was still secured in its holster and looked down from the roof, scanning for a path down. A power cable caught his eye. The ground point was still anchored to the floor, the top of the cable connected to a relay point on the corner of the building. He twisted and crawled along the wall, keeping as low as he could, one hand leading the other as he balanced along to the cable. He looked down at it andplanted his foot on it to test it's strength. He didn't want to be falling from this height, not on to concrete. The cable seemed strong enough, thankfully, and Ben slipped a pair of leather combat gloves from one of the pockets in his combats and slipped them on. He looked up one last time, drew in a breath, and dropped to the cable. His fingers wrapped around the metal loosely, just enough to support his weight, as the angled cable guided him downwards. Heat spread through his gloves as the friction between the materials built, his speed building gradually through his descent. The ground came faster then he expected, the concrete hard as he released the cable and dropped into a roll. The impact vibrated along his thighs painfully, as he regained his balance and rose to his feet, breaking into a run and rounding a corner, heading back for the speakeasy as fast as he could, sticking to the shadows.
"Whoever invented concrete...needs a slap..." He winced, each stride uncomfortable.

[Beta Strike-1 Pheonix]

Ben dashed round the corner of a building and up a flight of stairs. His eyes scanned the road ahead of him as he run into a wall and pushed off it, launching himself up on to the top. He paused briefly to look around, thanking the fact that it was a cloudy night, further hiding him from unwanted eyes.
"Almost back..." He thought to himself as he turned to the side and vaulted up a second wall and ran along an empty rooftop, his feet falling gently on the surface as he braced for the drop ahead. The cloud cover broke as he jumped forwards, falling the 12 foot to the grass below him. The moonlight danced across the ground and reflected off the leather of his shoulder harness as he fell, hitting the ground seconds later and breaking in to a roll, before twisting and speed vaulting down a wall a split second later.
"Oh crap!" He thought aloud as he saw a set of headlights flash close by. He dove behind a dumpster, slamming into the floor hard, sliding across the rough concrete and in to cover as a vehicle drove past, it's engine loud in the night. He waited for it to pass before looking out from behind the bin. He winced as he added a bruise across his shoulder blades to the collection, crouching silently before jogging across the road and down an alley. He stopped in the darkness and watched the speakeasy from the shadows for a few minutes, making sure it was quiet before climbing a drainpipe next to him and crawling over the roof and back in through his window.
"It's good to be home," He said aloud to himself as he sat silently on the edge of his bed.