ng_zodiac:

Scorpio. Aries. Taurus. Gemini. Cancer. Aquarius. All of them had been captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and were now imprisoned. Half of the Zodiac were gone. Another one, Capricorn, was back with the Avengers. It left Leo, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Pisces free. Leo had gathered the remaining members of the Zodiac together to talk about their options.

He had something in mind. A fresh start for all of them. Something that wasn't so fool-hearty and stupid as trying to take over S.H.I.E.L.D. Mikel was the one with big plans. Wen was the one who thought on a smaller scale and more realistically. He had been tempted to do what he had in mind alone, but having the others, especially Therese, there would help. She would make things easier for him and his plans.

"We leave for San Francisco tomorrow," he said as they sat around in the kitchen of the small apartment. Wen had set this up a long time ago as a safehouse. Now he was glad he did.

It was time to move on to better things.

marlow:

Marlow was a solitary person by nature. While at the Defenders compound, she practiced her magic and observed her new companions. They were quite a bit different than the demons of the Dark Dimension. They were tight-knit group, which she admired a lot. Little by little, she was learning their quirks while she waited to find out why this group of people would be important in a future event.

Svalin had been a good choice as a roommate for her. The Asgardian was quiet and didn't complain when Marlow's head was in another space and she neglected to pick up some item she left lying around their small cottage. Capitalizing on the newly acquired information that Svalin loved chocolate as much as she did, Marlow began making hot chocolate each evening in the tiny kitchen before bed and offering it to the other woman when she came in to go to bed.

Tonight was no different. Tiny pinpoints of light darted around the cottage kitchen and Marlow hummed a tune and poured milk into pan on the unlit stove. She didn't bother with turning on the heat, magic did a much better job of warming the milk as she poured in the chocolate syrup.